Player of the Decade: Alessandro Nesta?

By: cathal | November 20th, 2009

Sorry for the lack of posts in recent days, I got rather embroiled in my home country’s Henry-incident which you may have read about (still hurts) and spent much of the last few days voicing my opinions on matters that may not be closer to my heart, but matters that certainly turned that way over the course of the week. I’m working on quite an exciting project for the blog too which I hope to unveil next week. Keep your eyes peeled for that. For now, I’m posing a poll with a difference to you. A fortnight or so ago, the Offside bloggers were asked to give their opinion on the top 20 players of the decade that is soon to be passed. I put forward a potentially controversial candidate for my “Player of the Decade:” Alessandro Nesta. Call me biased, but he just so happens to be an ex-laziale. Am I an idiot? You will decide.

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Firstly, I would like to point out that compiling a list of this nature is no easy task and it took numerous hours of thought. One of the main problems I had was how I should judge the players; on their ability? On their achievements? On their personalities? On their influence on the game? There are various slants one could take. However, as I considered all these factors, I quickly realised that Ale’ ticked all the boxes. As the likes of Zidane, Messi, Ronaldo and Henry (angry face) top the majority of people’s selections, I ask myself two questions; have they delivered for a 10-year period and are they regarded as being among the best in the world? Well, the aforementioned names are similar in that they are all attack-minded players who will rarely be mentioned in the same breath as a certain Brazilian and an overweight Argentine. On the other hand, if I asked you all to name me the best defender of all time, many of you would say Nesta. I know you would and therein lies the difference.

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He is quite simply an astonishing act; a defender who can read the game like a book, who delivers every time he sets foot on the pitch and a guy who rarely makes a mistake of any importance. We are not talking about someone who has yet to peak here or a man who likes to headbutt his opponents in World Cup finals or even a player who can destroy a reputation with sleight of hand. We are talking about a model professional, a true great who has achieved as much as anyone in the game. He has almost literally won everything, having been Serie A Defender of the Year on five occasions, in UEFA’s Team of the Year on four occasions and he is one of an illustrious bunch in the Fifa 100. Did I mention his Scudetti, three Coppa Italias, the UEFA Champions League or the World Cup? I think I’ve proved my point.

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The rest is up to you. Does anyone out there dare to disagree with me? Do you think another ex-laziale would be a better candidate? Or do you believe my bold choice is the correct one. Vote below and let me know. Forza Lazio!

Alessandro Nesta: “Player of the Decade?”(polling)