Is Ramos the best centre-back in the world?

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  • Sergio Ramos.

    Sergio Ramos is in his 12th season as a regular for Real Madrid and continues to deliver huge displays.

    The Spaniard powered home an injury time winner as Zinedine Zidane’s men beat Deportivo La Coruna to go six points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.

    As a result of his recent solid performances, we ask: Is Ramos the best centre-back in the world?

    ANDY WEST, La Liga Correspondent, SAYS YES

    Okay, let’s be honest: Sergio Ramos is far from perfect.

    He is impulsive, hot-headed, error-prone and liable to get himself sent off at the drop of a hat. But tell me this: would you really want anyone else in the centre of your defence in the key moment of an important game?

    If your team is holding a narrow lead in the latter stages against an opposing team who are desperately throwing everything forward, there is nobody better than Ramos to manfully hold the fort and withstand a physical battering to repel anything that might be thrown at him.

    And, as recent evidence has overwhelmingly demonstrated, if your team is in dire need of a late goal, Ramos is, without any doubt, the man you need.

    Of course, any question attempting to determine the ‘best’ player requires a fair degree of subjectivity, and there are certainly other candidates for the world’s No1, with Gerard Pique and Diego Godin presenting particularly strong cases.

    But neither have achieved as much as Ramos, and a key aspect of the Madrid man’s greatness is he has performed consistently at the very highest level for more than 10 years.

    Since moving to Los Blancos from Sevilla in the summer of 2005, he has made nearly 500 appearances, at least 33  every season, and remained an automatic selection under no less than 10 different managers.

    He has also excelled for Spain, winning 140 caps and playing a fundamental role in three major titles.

    More than facts and figures, though, Ramos stands out for his intangible qualities of leadership and confidence.

    Real Madrid is a complex, hierarchical club where political intrigue can often threaten to undermine on-field achievements, and it takes a special character to withstand the pressures and perform at peak level at the Bernabeu.

    It takes someone with the kind of mental strength which has encapsulated the club’s remarkable current run of 35 games without defeat. Someone who is stubborn, ferociously competitive, never prepared to back down and always supremely confident of his ability to triumph, no matter how perilous the situation.

    Someone like Sergio Ramos.

    JAMES PIERCY, Deputy Editor, SAYS NO

    Football’s rules may be now firmly tilted in favour of attacking players, limiting a defender’s influence and ensuring genuinely iconic centre-backs are almost something of folklore. But to regard Sergio Ramos as the best of a dying breed feels desperately wrong.

    The Madrid centre-back is clearly a hugely influential and important figure in the Bernabeu and has anchored the team impressively for more than a decade. Remaining one of the few constants at the club, even more so than president Florentino Perez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    His goalscoring abilities are also a tremendous attribute for a team to have and despite turning 30 he’s a player who is said to have worked relentlessly on his heading and timing of runs onto set-pieces. But is this enough to place him as the master of his trade? Of course not.

    Taking Real Madrid’s last 180 minutes as a small sample size offers a revealing snapshot as to why Ramos, the defender, is still short of elite.

    On Wednesday, as Borussia Dortmund came back to draw 2-2, he was slow on his heels to track Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as he darted into the penalty area to score the Bundesliga side’s first; instead gesticulating wildly at the assistant referee for offside. He was then poorly positioned, and failed to read Julian Weigl’s through-ball, as Aubameyang accelerated past him to cross for Marco Reus to score. Two key goals and two instances where Ramos, and not just because of a mismatch in pace, was directly culpable.

    On Saturday against Depor, it was more of the same. Ramos allowing Joselu into his blind spot and then run goal-side of him to convert Florin Andone’s low cross.

    This is all inside a week. Watch Diego Godin Monday, he may be up against the quicker Luciano Vietto but he won’t get caught wrong side very often, if at all.

    Jerome Boateng is better in the air and a considerably more effective passer; Leonardo Bonucci an outstanding reader of the game; Thiago Silva technically perfect while Toby Alderweireld and Laurent Koscielny are physically dominant and excellent tacklers.

    All have their own strengths but fundamentally can do the basics to an elite standard. Something sorely lacking from Ramos’ game.

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