Was Roberto Carlos a Great defender?

Finding it hard to decide who was the worse defender between him and Marcelo.

Didn't have the privilege of consistently watching him in his prime but in the latter stages of his career I honestly believe Marcelo was the better individual defender.

Gil wrote:Finding it hard to decide who was the worse defender between him and Marcelo.

Didn't have the privilege of consistently watching him in his prime but in the latter stages of his career I honestly believe Marcelo was the better individual defender.

Roberto Carlos was a very good full back.

In his prime he played in two of the best attacking sides of all time, Real Madrid late 90's early 2000's and the Brazil 2002 side.

I would personally say he's one of the best full backs of all time, that must surely answer your question as Marcelo isn't even close to being the best in this era.

You ask "Was Roberto Carlos a Great defender"?

Then you say you find it hard to distinguish between him and Marcelo....

You probably answered your own question...

Recovery speed covers up a lot of cracks, especially the 3-5-2.

He wasn't a "great" defender but he was a "good" defender. Miles better than Marcelo.

As an overall Fullback, one of the best of all time.

Roberto Carlos was a beast. this  Marcelo is nowhere near him. Marcelo was miles better 2 years ago.

He practically played as a wing back in Madrid's 3-5-2 and for the national team too with both he and Cafu bombing on.

In short he was a decent defender, nothing outstanding but his offensive talents far outshone that.

I'd say his defence was probably around Alves level.... good but not great.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:He practically played as a wing back in Madrid's 3-5-2 and for the national team too with both he and Cafu bombing on.

In short he was a decent defender, nothing outstanding but his offensive talents far outshone that.

I'd say his defence was probably around Alves level.... good but not great.

Thanks best answer so far.

Gil wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:He practically played as a wing back in Madrid's 3-5-2 and for the national team too with both he and Cafu bombing on.

In short he was a decent defender, nothing outstanding but his offensive talents far outshone that.

I'd say his defence was probably around Alves level.... good but not great.

Thanks best answer so far.

Why ask a question and then pick out one single negative Carlos opinion and decide that is the one I'm going to go with?

It's like you already had the answer in your head and wanted someone to tell you you're right, the truth is you will never find a single football pundit or anyone with notable football knowledge that would claim Marcelo (not assured of a first team place at Madrid) is anything near as good a footballer as a Roberto Carlos.

Lol you will get used to him The Devil

The Devil wrote:

Gil wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:He practically played as a wing back in Madrid's 3-5-2 and for the national team too with both he and Cafu bombing on.

In short he was a decent defender, nothing outstanding but his offensive talents far outshone that.

I'd say his defence was probably around Alves level.... good but not great.

Thanks best answer so far.

Why ask a question and then pick out one single negative Carlos opinion and decide that is the one I'm going to go with?

It's like you already had the answer in your head and wanted someone to tell you you're right, the truth is you will never find a single football pundit or anyone with notable football knowledge that would claim Marcelo (not assured of a first team place at Madrid) is anything near as good a footballer as a Roberto Carlos.

The original question was intended to pertain to his defending ALONE not his overall qualities. I think even the most casual football fan would be able to allude to the fact Carlos was exceptional going forward even though his free kicks were massively overrated.

Mole is the only poster to describe his defensive qualities in detail so far.

We all know Marcelo is utter shit defensively, wanted to see if Carlos was just as bad, simply a marginal defender or better.

Seems like he was just average throughout his career.

Gil wrote:

The Devil wrote:

Gil wrote:

Thanks best answer so far.

Why ask a question and then pick out one single negative Carlos opinion and decide that is the one I'm going to go with?

It's like you already had the answer in your head and wanted someone to tell you you're right, the truth is you will never find a single football pundit or anyone with notable football knowledge that would claim Marcelo (not assured of a first team place at Madrid) is anything near as good a footballer as a Roberto Carlos.

The original question was intended to pertain to his defending ALONE not his overall qualities. I think even the most casual football fan would be able to allude to the fact Carlos was exceptional going forward even though his free kicks were massively overrated.

Mole is the only poster to describe his defensive qualities in detail.

He was underrated as a defender as he didn't have to do much but when called upon he had enough pace and power to get back from a wing position and help defend for his team. Do you honestly think Real Madrid won two Champions league's and Brazil won a world cup with a player so weak at full back?

As for Mole I don't know the lad and I would never question his football knowledge as he could be well up on the sport but he's 23 years old and when Carlos was in his prime he was about 9 to 10 years old.

Personally his power and strength make him a better player than Dani Alves has ever been, that's not knocking Alves as he's a great full back. I certainly would never judge a player on his ability to hit a free kick, otherwise I'd think Nakamura was a greatest of all time.

The truth is we're judging outstanding players against outstanding players and it's pretty pointless.

He was a good defender but he was capable of making some god awful errors. Much, much better than Marcelo though.

Yeah Devil i'm just saying from what i remember, not saying any of it is fact.

Also i agree he's better than Alves i was talking about purely defense.

Was Maldini classy, was Nesta good looking, does Rooney look like Shrek, is John Terry a scum bag, does s**t stink?......

i've never seen him play but i think he was a horrible defender.

He was no Maldini in defense, but he was a very solid one on one defender.

Defensively he was a Maicon (prime miacon) offensively he was even better. He might have a reputation that is a little bigger than his actual abilities thanks to some amazing goals but calling him a bad defender or comparing his with Marcelo is stretching it too far in my opinion.

Roberto Carlos, one of my all time favourites, he was a monster. Going forward he walks over anybody today as well. He was second best player in the world for a year behind Ronaldo.

Defending obviously not as good, but not bad, but prone to be unsafe and mistakes....otherwise great pace and takes care of his side....