Did you see Andy Gray's team of the decade?

[Fosterbloke]

Bergkamp should be in there for sure.

[MrsB]

You called him Gaz for starters.

That made me cringe too.

[Exiled_red]

Sami at cb!

Obviously the fact that Terry and Ferdinand are English has nothing to do with their selection

People also seem to forget Ferdinand had quite a few dodgy patches in the early part of the decade

[GraciousGooner]

He's also won more leagues than any other centre back. He's been their first choice CB for the decade and England's. He's also been the best centre back of the decade, aside from Campbell and Gallas.

[Shaggy]

He's also won more leagues than any other centre back. He's been their first choice CB for the decade and England's. He's also been the best centre back of the decade, aside from Campbell and Gallas.

No bias there then.

Mind you you're right about Ferdinand.

Gallas and Campbell

[GraciousGooner]

No bias there then.

Mind you you're right about Ferdinand.

Gallas and Campbell

Funny Chelsea lost the plot a bit after selling WG eh?

I'm not going to waste my breath talking about the merits of Sol Campbell. He'll be at a top 7 club by the end of Jan, which says a lot about a player at his age.

Taking out Arsenal players, this is how i'd rate centre backs of the last decade:

Ferdinand

Terry

Carragher
Carvalho

Vidic
Hyypia

Dunne
Distin
Larrson
Woodgate


Looking forward to being ridiculed for this post, but Ferdinand should be the first choice of every 'pundit'. Every error he makes (and he does make some) are fired under the microscope, similar to Benitez IMO. Unwarrented. And it's funny how his team manages to be so successful in spite of him. Must be the qualities of Brown, Silvestre and the oft-calamatous Vidic mopping up after him.

[Exiled_red]

I still think my point about Ferdinand is valid, I'm not disputing the level he has reached at present, and he's been playing well for a few years say ~5 years, these sorts of teams always seem to be biased towards current players. As it's a team of the decade I think you should look at players that have performed at the top level consistently for 10 years, it was widely acknowledged a few years back that Ferdinand had issues with this concentration and was prone to make mistakes. Ok I'm biased but I would put someone like Big Sami in ahead of him as he's been playing at a similar level and has been consistent for the whole decade.

[GraciousGooner]

He's been first choice England centre back ALL DECADE.

[saj]

He's also won more leagues than any other centre back. He's been their first choice CB for the decade and England's. He's also been the best centre back of the decade, aside from Campbell and Gallas.

OK Campbell was a very good defender. But Gallas - ha ha ha ha ha you ****. Even Richard Dunne is far better than him (Dunne is very underrated). In fact, Galllas didn't even play at centre back for Chelsea so you've labelled him as one of the best Centre backs based on 2 and a half mediocre seasons at a mediocre team (Arsenal). He's been so bad that even Wenger stripped of the captaincy. And remember when he cried like a bitch at Birmingham.

[GraciousGooner]

OK Campbell was a very good defender. But Gallas - ha ha ha ha ha you ****. Even Richard Dunne is far better than him (Dunne is very underrated). In fact, Galllas didn't even play at centre back for Chelsea so you've labelled him as one of the best Centre backs based on 2 and a half mediocre seasons at a mediocre team (Arsenal). He's been so bad that even Wenger stripped of the captaincy. And remember when he cried like a bitch at Birmingham, Cunt off you cunting cunt

That was all the same incident. So i'd be hard pressed to remember one without the other.

I was also arguing about good centre backs, not best captains. Though Gallas is still our most vocal player, he just had an odd period about 2 years ago.

Can i just clarify that Gallas never played centre back for Chelsea?

[Exiled_red]

He's been first choice England centre back ALL DECADE.

So?? England aren't the be all and end all, that proves that he's a good English player, that doesn't mean that there's no one better than him. Like I said, he made alot of mistakes in the early part of the decade and I think there are other players who have played at the top end of the Premiership that have been more consistent than him

[GraciousGooner]

So?? England aren't the be all and end all, that proves that he's a good English player, that doesn't mean that there's no one better than him. Like I said, he made alot of mistakes in the early part of the decade and I think there are other players who have played at the top end of the Premiership that have been more consistent than him

I know, i named them both.

Ferdinand is criminally under rated, because people who read tabloids hear about the odd mistake he makes and live off it for 6 months before his next one.

They do the same each time Benitez makes an odd team selection or substitution. The same Soccer AM fans don't bother actually watching football. It's a mystery United have been so good for a decade and that Benitez has ever won a trophy.

[Exiled_red]

I know, i named them both.

Ferdinand is criminally under rated, because people who read tabloids hear about the odd mistake he makes and live off it for 6 months before his next one.

They do the same each time Benitez makes an odd team selection or substitution. The same Soccer AM fans don't bother actually watching football. It's a mystery United have been so good for a decade and that Benitez has ever won a trophy.

Yes Ferdinand makes the odd mistake now, which I will admit are over analysed, but a few years back he was making bad mistakes that cost goals regularly, back then they weren't receiving as much attention as they do now. And it is for this reason that I wouldn't have him in a team of the decade, team of the last 5 years yes, last 10 no.

[GraciousGooner]

Yes Ferdinand makes the odd mistake now, which I will admit are over analysed, but a few years back he was making bad mistakes that cost goals regularly, back then they weren't receiving as much attention as they do now. And it is for this reason that I wouldn't have him in a team of the decade, team of the last 5 years yes, last 10 no.

Fair enough. Nice to have a discussion on here for a change.

Who'd you pick?

[Exiled_red]

Fair enough. Nice to have a discussion on here for a change.

Who'd you pick?

Maybe you think there's a Liverpool bias here but I'd go with Sami Hyypia, his signing in 1999 changed us from having a joke of a defence to one of the tightest defences in the league, he played over 50 games a season for 8 seasons since signing and in that time I can't remember him making mistakes, and he chipped in with a few goals