A defender belongs in this argument. Beckenbauer captained West Germany to the 1974 World Cup, but our case for him starts with how a defender can direct possession rather than merely stop attacks. We put him tenth for combining defensive responsibility with the freedom to shape play. The objection is to our list itself: rewarding attacking invention so heavily makes defenders fight uphill. If controlling danger matters as much as creating chances, he should rise. Which forward would you remove to give defending equal weight?
Source: FIFA.
Photo: DerFalkVonFreyburg · CC BY 3.0. Resized and recompressed; same license.
