What a F***ing ton of talent we've had at right back.
From Chrissy Lawler in the 60s, right through to Nathaniel Clyne now. I'd go as far to say none of them have been special players but every one of them have been solid, dependable, consistently good. Even the stand in full backs seemed to do alright by and large, thinking primarily of Tommy Smith and Carra here.
There's three stand-out choices, Lawler, Neal and Nicol. Lawler was the attacking full back before it became a poncy modern day term that we all love to hear about now. 61 goals for a right back, with every one of them being from open play. Not F***ing bad is it? Phi Neal, Liverpool's most decorated player. Only player to win four European Cups with the club. I think he also holds the record for the most consecutive games for an outfield player for the club. Zico will always be the club's greatest right back. And then Stevie Nicol who continued the tradition of being an attacking right back. Got a hat-trick during his time here. Can't remember if he ended the season as top goalscorer or he was top for most of the year. Something like that. All three, great "attacking full backs" who at the end of the day were defenders first and foremost. How difficult is that to translate to today's game?
Unfortunately though, other than the very end of Steve Nicol's time here, I'm only going off videos and word of mouth to make my judgement for these three.
So in my lifetime, there's still been some quality. Rob Jones, Markus Babbel, Steve Finnan, Alvaro Arbeloa and Nathaniel Clyne. (yes I did purposely miss Glen Johnson out because he was F***ing sh*te)
Clyne, we'll rule him out for now because he's only had one full season with the club. In four or five years time though, he'll be right in the mix for our best Premier League right back. Arbeloa, I F***ing loved. And had he stayed here a little bit longer, he'd have given me more of a difficult decision. Rob Jones, again loved him. Solid and always got stuck it. He was actually decent going forward, despite never scoring.
For me though, the choice is between Babbel and Finnan. Babbel, on a free, was up there with the signings of Gary Mc and Sami Hyypia for value for money. He was only really in the team for 2000/01 before that horrific disease cut his time with us short, but in that time he was ace. First choice right back when we won the treble - playing more than anybody else other than Westerveld. And he has a Derby Day goal to his name.
But I'm gonna plump for Steve Finnan just for his solid, no frills attitude to football. He was in the team longer than Babbel. Was always a favourite of mine when he was here. And what I really liked about him, every year we would sign a new right back and he'd still hold that position as his own.
So for me it's Steve Finnan (although it's really Phil Neal)
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