What position do you play?...Left-back? Left back in the changing room, more like! Hahaaaa!
Yep, the left-back. The butt of all the "funniest" football jokes. Rarely has a child grown up dreaming of occupying the most unfashionable corner of the pitch (closely followed by Gary Neville and the Right-Back's Union).
But the evolution of football has brought about a change in the full-back's reputation. The left-back is no longer the nerd with rectangular glasses and yesterday's lunch permanently stained on his jumper. He's a leather-jacket and shades-wearing, slicked back hair-sporting and stick it to the man-rebelling no-good-doer.
He's a bad-ass.
In modern day football, there are five left-backs who just do it better than everyone else. They're the coolest cats in the alley. They are all Top Cat. But which is the leader of this gang? 90min ranks the five best left-backs in the world.
5. Theo Hernandez
This guy encapsulates what being a left-back is all about nowadays. Is he a good defensive defender? Who cares? Because with the ball at his feet and open yards of green grass ahead of him, Theo Hernandez is the entertainer.
The Frenchman was Milan's only saving grace in the first half of the season, and he continued to impress when his teammates finally decided to show up in 2020. Hernandez was I Rossoneri's top scorer for a period this campaign, ending with six goals and five assists - which is not bad at all, considering he was the only player up to scratch for half the year.
Fortunately, he's actually a very good defender, too. He often finds himself in the right place at the right time to repel attacks - and if he isn't, he can get back into position extremely quickly.
Carrying only 22 years on his shoulders, Hernandez plays with no fear, a full heart and fire in his belly. The Milan man is worthy of starring in any top tier side, and if he can't reach those heights at San Siro, he'll have plenty of offers to fulfil his destiny elsewhere.
4. Robin Gosens
If you hadn't realised that Atalanta are the best football team in Europe before the 2019/20 season, then you probably had no idea about Robin Gosens, either. Well, another electric Serie A campaign and one daring Champions League escapade later, now you do.
Full-backs can go unnoticed on the football pitch at times, but in Gian Piero Gasperini's set up, these bombers are the protagonists, stars and lead roles. Gosens operates higher on the left flank than a typical wide defender, but that doesn't mean his duties are lessened.
The 26-year-old is sturdy in defence, offering immense physical presence and pace when retreating towards his own goal. He is most in his element when flying towards the oppositions' final third, though.
Blessed with the killer instinct of any top forward, Gosens charges into the box, assaulting the far post as he thunders past his marker to crash the ball into the net, often meeting the cross of fellow wing-back Hans Hateboer.
And if he's not finishing them, he's supplying them. A truly exciting player.
3. Jordi Alba
You're gonna have to be pretty good to nail down a place in Barcelona's side for almost a decade. So it's no surprise that Jordi Alba has made that left-back spot his own at Camp Nou for the past eight years, and has done so in style, too.
For much of the 2010s, Alba was the best left-back in the world. His offensive and energetic style of play epitomised Barça's fluid football, and his telepathic connection with Lionel Messi made him untouchable in the Blaugrana side.
The 31-year-old is the king of the overlap, timing his advances over the halfway line to perfection, receiving the ball on the run and dispatching a perfect delivery into the path of an onrushing teammate. They may have had years of experience together, but Alba and Barça are now woven into each other's fabric.
The ultimate, celebrity superstar left-back?
2. Alphonso Davies
Beep beep! The roadrunner is in the building - and in a flash, he's out of it again. Alphonso Davies, or the reverse Gareth Bale (minus the golf), arrived at Bayern Munich as a winger, and it quickly became apparent that his particular skillset was much more suited to another position.
Still a teenager, the Canadian star has plenty of time to morph back into his dreams of starting the game higher up the pitch, but at left-back, he has discovered a way of offering so much defensively to his team, while also finding time to rip his full-back to pieces.
The first thing you inevitably notice when watching him play for 20 seconds is his pace. Clocked as the fastest man in the Bundesliga, Davies is able to learn his trade on the job, compensating for any mistakes by ghosting back into position and stunning the significantly slower wingers.
If his first season at elite level is anything to go by, the Bayern star has what it takes to become the best left-back in the world - for the foreseeable future, too.
1. Andrew Robertson
As far as rock and roll defenders go, who better to top the list than the man that has blossomed in Jurgen Klopp's heavy metal philosophy? Andrew Robertson went from a relegated Tiger to a Champions League winning lion in the Liverpool defence over the course of two seasons.
The 26-year-old is the most complete left-back in the world. Fierce in the tackle, bags of energy, a tireless desire to join the attacks and the mentality of a serial winner - it's all there.
Robertson is so talented, frankly, it's unfair. As he racks up assist after assist, and grounds hundreds of wingers with crunching recovery challenges, the fiery Scotsman's stock will only continue on its vertical trajectory.
A generation of children will grow up wanting to become the next Andy Robertson, and that says it all.
Source : 90min