4 - Ronald Araújo

ajnotkeith

Senior Member
A World Class player should be a rare commodity by definition. Firstly, let's forget all the bias and try to assess this:


Your definition just makes it way too easy to be world class. You are making the phrase sound too ordinary. It should be ridiculously tough to be a proper World class player.


To be world class, you should be able to get into a hypothetical World 11 team's full, extended squad. A full squad has 6 CBs.


There should be 6/7 CBs in the world class category at any given time.


If you include 10 players from one position, that would mean there are around 100 World Class players overall in the world currently, which is laughable and extremely underwhelming. I'll never be comfortable calling the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Marcus Rashford world class.


Be reasonable and name 6 or 7 CBs you consider World Class. The rest are sub-world class/quality players just below that elite list. Mean no disrespect to them whatsoever.
The other problem is that this changes from season to season. The best players seasonally are always very different, players regularly have off years, some play like superheroes one season then fall off entirely, so were they world class for only one season, or never world class?

I think consistency is what makes it for me. A player who is consistently good/great for top clubs could make it in there.
The other problem is you're going to have dozens of players of a similar level, at the top, and it's not fair to exclude some and include others.

VVD
Dias
Saliba
Bastoni
Stones
Araujo

Are some names that come to mind, but in general, there's a lot of good CBs who are pretty hard to meaningfully seperate, which is why I say that.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Militao and Rudiger are top 5 both for me. Strong, athletic, fast, good in the air both offensively and defensively. Militao has been having problems with injuries lately, but he's a top class CB.

That's how Madrid has been able to get so many CLs. Tough and fast defenders like Ramos, Pepe, Varane, and Rudiger and Militao are not that different quality to those 3. This leads to great ability to absorb pressure sitting back, and then they make a difference on the counter with some explosive players.
 
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jamrock

Senior Member
Militao and Rudiger are top 5 both for me. Strong, athletic, fast, good in the air both offensively and defensively. Militao has been having problems with injuries lately, but he's a top class CB.

That's how Madrid has been able to get so many CLs. Tough and fast defenders like Ramos, Pepe, Varane, and Rudiger and Militao are not that different quality to those 3. This leads to great ability to absorb pressure sitting back, and then they make a difference on the counter with some explosive players.
What about Alaba? Militao and alaba are real Madrid' s starting CB partnership when fit, and he won the CL a few seasons back.

So real Madrid have 3 of the top 5 CB.

Damn
 

serghei

Senior Member
What about Alaba? Militao and alaba are real Madrid' s starting CB partnership when fit, and he won the CL a few seasons back.

So real Madrid have 3 of the top 5 CB.

Damn

Quite possible. This is probably part of the reason why they are the only team to reach the CL semis in each the last 4 seasons. They don't dominate teams. They often defend and play on the counter. To do that, you need a top class defense and fast, clutch attackers. They obviously have both.
 

khaled_a_d

Senior Member
Rudiger has just assisted City last goal ffs :ROFLMAO:
Their whole defense suffered in that game, including Rudiger. And he isn't that great on ball as you making him out.
 

Messigician

Senior Member
Tier 1 source

🚨🚨🌕| BREAKING: Ronald Araujo is NO LONGER un-transferable! FC Barcelona WILL listen to offers for him this summer — the club wants at least €100M for him.

His mistake vs PSG has made his future more uncertain than ever; Barça believe Cubarsí can replace him. @Alfremartinezz
 

serghei

Senior Member
Rudiger has just assisted City last goal ffs :ROFLMAO:
Their whole defense suffeced in that game, including Rudiger. And he isn't that great on ball as you making him out.

He was the best CB of the 2021 Champions League winners.

Always funny to see fans disregard experience, winning mentality and ability to deliver under pressure. These are only some of the most vital attributes of a top class player. :lol:

Always crack me up to be honest.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Alaba is not world class CB.

He's not to be honest. He plays as a starter because he is a ball playing CB, while Militao and rudiger, although better, don't pair as well since they are both the physical type.

Both Militao and rudiger are superior to Araujo for now. But Araujo is still young as CBs go, so he has time to improve his level in the near future.
 

feggydinho

Senior Member
I think I later understood Araujo's position, he knows he's got a big chunk of the blame for the red and loss against PSG. However, Gundogan wasn't supposed to out him like that. Better to speak with Araujo one-on-one, same logic was echoed by retired players when the issue was discussed(No need to out your teammate to the public, it does more harm than good cause you may now create a scenario where teammates are outing themselves to the public and doesn't make sense).
 

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