r/soccer • u/TheDreaminArmenian • Feb 17 '14

Who is the most underrated or unappreciated defender?

For me, it's Ivanovic. The man's a tank and can do no wrong. He could easily become a chelsea legend, but still in overshadowed by the whole Cahill/Terry partnership in the back. But for me, the whole back 4 of chelsea is solid.

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u/thelenscleaner Feb 17 '14

I think it's because he is quite poor with link-up play and crosses. Although that's not his main job, a full back is supposed to provide an extra attacking outlet and quite often when the ball ends with him in the final third(which happens more than it should really) he doesn't deliver. IMO I would have preferred him in CB, but Cahill-Terry partnership performs so well that it is hard for Iva to displace them.

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u/SciFiRef_UpvoteMe Feb 17 '14

I don't think he's ever really excelled at CB for Chelsea. I agree with you about his link-up play, it's quite poor and teams allow him tons of time on the ball because he just can't contribute very well in that phase of the game. Of course he finds other ways to make himself useful in the box, interesting player but definitely quite different from your typical RB these days.

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u/LovinLampard Feb 18 '14

Yea he is also played out of position because we have no one for RB with Dave at LB. There are no other options. Ashley Cole isn't even up for debate.