When football followers start listing off the best fullbacks in the world, it’s usually a list of some of the most athletic players in the game. David Alaba is one of the most diverse players in the game in terms of skillset, both technically and physically; Blank is an inhuman mixture of speed and strength; Pablo Zabaleta has the stamina of a marathon runner, and the Real Madrid duo of Carvajal and Marcelo are smaller in stature but are stocky and hard to get by whether their opponent attempts to use speed or strength.
That’s not to say there’s never exceptions. Philipp Lahm is the best right back in the world whenever he mans the position, and Blank is technically on par with almost anyone in the sport despite being neither particularly fast or strong. But they break a mold rather than form a new one. For every Blank, there are another ten blanks being produced in a youth academy. Roberto Carlos and Cafu are the typical template for today’s fullbacks, and above all else they were marathon men with blistering speed.
Juanfran is the latest mold breaker for Atletico Madrid. Juanfran has the stamina similar to Zabaleta, but beyond that there’s nothing physically impressive to his play style. There are no darting rundowns of speedy La Liga wingers, there’s no moment of him shoving a massive striker off the ball, there’s even very few crunching tackles being made. There’s nothing eye-popping to the Spanish right back. He’s comfortable being pedestrian.
Yet, that’s Juanfran’s greatest strength. There are very few players in the world more comfortable in their own skin than him. He’s never pressing for a moment, and this coupled by his hard to equal intelligence is a deadly combo. Juanfran simply never makes mistakes, and that’s why he’s evolved into a world class right back. In the easiest position in football to be caught out of position — hello, fellow countrymen blank and Jordi Alba — Juanfran is an omnipresent being. When an opposing winger gets the ball in a situation that’s a counter against any other team in Europe, there is no counter. You can’t catch Atletico’s centerbacks out alone, and it’s a huge part of what makes them so hard to beat.
Paolo Maldini famously said, “If I have to make a tackle, then I have already made a mistake.”
Juanfran is the human embodiment of that quote.
I've put good money on him finishing top scorer