Passed away today at the relatively young age of 78.

When I first started watching the game in the early 80s, he was considered one of the 3 all-time greats along with Pele and Cryuff. Now all 3 are gone :-(

Al Kamista wrote:

> Passed away today at the relatively young age of 78.

> When I first started watching the game in the early 80s, he was considered one of the 3 all-time greats along with Pele and Cryuff. Now all 3 are gone :-(

In all the silly all-time best XI, Beckenbauer is always the automatic choice at central defender (typically with two attacking full backs, a goalkeeper, and seven forwards/strikers in an improbable 3-4-3 formation). But, at least going by the most popular YouTube videos, it's not that clear whether he was actually anything special on the defensive side of things. They all show his brilliance at passing, dribbling and finishing, but defensively? Who knows? (That is true of most other all-time defenders, to be honest)

Still, one could make the case that with the growing importance of building from the back, Der Kaiser would not have embarrassed himself at all in the modern game.

RIP

On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 1:56:05 PM UTC-5, Futbolmetrix wrote:
> Al Kamista wrote:
>
> > Passed away today at the relatively young age of 78.
>
> > When I first started watching the game in the early 80s, he was considered one of the 3 all-time greats along with Pele and Cryuff. Now all 3 are gone :-(
> In all the silly all-time best XI, Beckenbauer is always the automatic choice at central defender (typically with two attacking full backs, a goalkeeper, and seven forwards/strikers in an improbable 3-4-3 formation). But, at least going by the most popular YouTube videos, it's not that clear whether he was actually anything special on the defensive side of things. They all show his brilliance at passing, dribbling and finishing, but defensively? Who knows? (That is true of most other all-time defenders, to be honest)

What Steve Nicol often says about Alan Hansen (widely considered LFC's greatest defender ever) is that barely ever broke a sweat during a game because his read of the game and positioning was so immaculate. I haven't seen much of FB apart from the usual short clip here and there, but it's possible that he was similar.

On 2024-01-08 13:23, Al Kamista wrote:
> On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 1:56:05 PM UTC-5, Futbolmetrix wrote:
>> Al Kamista wrote:
>>
>>> Passed away today at the relatively young age of 78.
>>
>>> When I first started watching the game in the early 80s, he was considered one of the 3 all-time greats along with Pele and Cryuff. Now all 3 are gone :-(
>> In all the silly all-time best XI, Beckenbauer is always the automatic choice at central defender (typically with two attacking full backs, a goalkeeper, and seven forwards/strikers in an improbable 3-4-3 formation). But, at least going by the most popular YouTube videos, it's not that clear whether he was actually anything special on the defensive side of things. They all show his brilliance at passing, dribbling and finishing, but defensively? Who knows? (That is true of most other all-time defenders, to be honest)
>
> What Steve Nicol often says about Alan Hansen (widely considered LFC's greatest defender ever) is that barely ever broke a sweat during a game because his read of the game and positioning was so immaculate. I haven't seen much of FB apart from the usual short clip here and there, but it's possible that he was similar.

He was also a very good midfielder for the early part of his career,
and the 1966 WOrld CUp (possibly 1970 as well - that was not clear, but
it looked more like he was in midfield to me).

As for his position as Libero the whole point, I guess, was that he was
not supposed to do much one on one defending. In a man-to-man defensive
system he did not have a specific marking assignment, but was there to
mop up and redistribute. In the 1974 team, all of Breitner, Vogts,
Schwarzenbeck, Bonhoff had specific marking duties.

Remarkable how many of the 1974 finalists are already dead before
reaching 80 - Grabowski, Beckenbauer, Müller. Overath is 80 and still
alive. Cruyff, Rensenbrink, Wim Jansen, Suurbier, and Jongbloed gone
from NL.

From 1970 Everaldo (Car accident at 30), Pele, Carlos Alberto, and
Felix are dead from Brazil. From Italy, Burgnich (82), Rosato (66),
Facchetti (64) are gone.

From 1966 only Geoff Hurst is left from England, now. From Germany,
Schulz, Weber, Schnellinger, Overath and Held are still alive.

The best defender in the world, ever?

On 2024-01-09 01:10, Mark wrote:
> The best defender in the world, ever?

Probably not. As mentioned above, it is not clear to what extent he was
really a defender, and he certainly wasn't for much of his career.

A case could be made for Bobby Moore, Maldini, Desailly (also a
midfielder for a long time, though), and Rijkaard - and that is just off
the top of my head. Kohler ? Ruud Krol ? Thuram ?