Another window, another ridiculous splurge on forward-thinking players by Premier League clubs. Of course, one club in particular scaled new heights of ridiculousness.

 

 

 

Some £65m of the £835m spent by PL clubs in the summer window was shelled out by Manchester United on Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao.

 

They may both turn out to be shrewd acquisitions and neither Di Maria’s significant talent nor Falcao’s scoring record can be questioned (though the latter’s age and injury log certainly can). But when Tyler Blackett has replaced Nemanja Vidić in your defence, you’ve got bigger problems to solve.

 

Similar levels of attacking infatuation came on deadline day from Arsenal. With just 6 recognised defenders on the books, Gunners fans could be forgiven for thinking that the arrival of a centre-half at London Colney on 1 September was inevitable.

 

Instead, Arsène Wenger decided - from the dugout of an “irreligious match for peace” charity game in Rome - that £16m man Danny Welbeck was a more important addition to his squad. Again, that seems a good price for a 23-year old, title-winning, England regular schooled at Carrington. But all the best to Arsenal fans when Nacho Monreal is lining up alongside Calum Chambers against Cesc Fàbregas, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard.

Defenders out

• Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Carl Jenkinson (West Ham - loan), Ignasi Miquel (Norwich)

• Manchester United: Rio Ferdinand (QPR), Nemanja Vidić (Inter Milan), Patrice Evra (Juventus).

 

Some clubs did invest heavily in defenders, with the 2 clubs derided above for daft deadline day decisions going part of the way towards addressing their defensive concerns:

Defenders in

• Manchester United: Luke Shaw (£27m), Marcos Rojo (£16m) and Daley Blind (£13.8m)

• Arsenal: Mathieu Debuchy (£12m), David Ospina (£3m) and Calum Chambers (£16m).

Eliaquim Mangala (£32m to Man City) and Dejan Lovren (£20m) were other notable exceptions.

Record breakers are not goal protectors

But, when it comes to smashing a transfer record, football clubs don’t look anywhere near their back line. In the Premier League era, the world transfer record has never been set by a transfer involving a defender or goalkeeper.

 

While it seems perfectly reasonable that Gianluigi Buffon remains the most expensive goalkeeper of all time (at least until one of world football’s Oil Rich FC sides forks out for Manuel Neuer or Thibault Courtois), it seems unfair and bizarre to have to type that no defender has ever commanded a higher transfer fee than David Luiz.

10 biggest transfers fees

1. £86m, Gareth Bale to Real Madrid

2. £80m, Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid

3. £75m, Luis Suárez to Barcelona

4. £71.5m, Neymar to Barcelona

5. £63m, James Rodriguez to Real Madrid

6. £59.7m, Angel Di Maria to Manchester United

7. £59m, Zlatan Ibrahimović to Barcelona

8. £56m, Kaká to Real Madrid

9. £55m, Edinson Cavani to Paris Saint-Germain

10. £51m, Radamel Falcao to Monaco

Neither are award winners

The song is the same old one when it comes to formally recognising the contribution that defenders make to the success of a team.

 

Of the 19 winners of the old Fifa World Player of the Year award, which ran until 2009 before merging with France Football’s Ballon d’Or, just 2 were defenders. Lothar Matthäus won the inaugural prize in 1991 and Fabio Cannavaro picked up the award at the end of his World Cup winning 2006 season.

 

Of the 38 2nd and 3rd placed players between 1991 and 2009, there were only a further 3 defenders (Paolo Maldini, 1995; Roberto Carlos; 1997; Oliver Kahn, 2002).

 

The old Ballon d’Or trophy, which ran from 1956 until 2009, was won by a defender or goalkeeper on just 6 occasions in 54 years - and 2 of those went to the same man.

Paltry recognition for history’s great defenders

• Lev Yashin (1963)

• Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976)

• Lothar Matthäus (1990)

• Matthias Sammer (1996)

• Fabio Cannavaro (2006)

 

In the 4 years since the 2 awards were merged, years dominated by Messrs Ronaldo and Messi, just 1 defender (a goalkeeper) has been voted into the top 10:

 

• Iker Casillas: 7th in 2010, 9th in 2011, 6th in 2012.

 

 

So, in rejection of all this disgusting fawning of the football fraternity over attack-minded pin-ups, in my next article I will offer a celebration of 4 brilliant defences from my lifetime.