There was a time within soccer when we were blessed with a player who, despite his age, has a mentality that makes it seem that he’s been playing the game for over a couple of decades. And this is exactly the type of player whom we’ll be discussing today, The Portugese, and, in my opinion, the current best natural Defender in the game, our very own, Ruben Dias.
The Potugese got his Soccer development within the Estrela Da Amadora youth set up where he always played in the center of defence. Although he had the best physique for a D(C), it was his mentality and leadership that separated him from the rest, which then caused Benfica to sign the then 11 year old back in 2008, and it only took 8 short years until Ruben was a regular starter in the backline. The thing about the type of D(C) that Ruben is, if he never had that sort of development at this earlier age he may have never turned into the World Class player that we see today.
Ruben was on the radar for a lot of elite level teams between 2019 and 2020 but, thankfully (lol), it was the Citizens that captured the then 23 year old, and using his leadership skills and phenomenal physique, he has come leaps and bounds ever since, with the pinnacle of his young career so far being that M.O.T.M performance against Inter in the Champions League final.
PLAYER BIO
For someone who is only 6’1″, Ruben stands tall above ALOT of opposition Forwards, and he is literally a man mountain who is OUTSATNDING in the air, as well as being strong and decisive on the floor
SM23 ATTRIBUTES
Here is a sample of what you should expect not only from Ruben, but from almost every ‘Stopper’ within the modern game since the role is very specialized in terms of the style of player you can expect to get. I added in his ‘Control’ (which is 77) since I didn’t want you to think that it’s just all about Defending for them, because they can play, abit…. 😁
BEST ROLES
One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the fact that Ruben Dias is the ONLY D(C) of his kind that is currently World Class within SMW ( 😳). If you consider players such as Vidic, Carvalho, Lucio, Puyol, Kompany, Varane, etc you start to realize how absolutely insane the fact that Soccer is moving away from developing players of this elk…
As the best ‘Stopper’ in world football, there should not be any mucking around in terms of where you choose to play Ruben. He should be considered apart of the ‘spine’ of your team and play no where than dead center…The same thing goes for any type of back 3 or 5 formation. Ruben should be your anchor at the back reading the play, instructing his defensive partners on where to position themselves, as well as being the main provider of cover (especially in a back 3) to his defensive teamamtes
HOW TO BEST USE HIM
No matter what formation you choose to use, Ruben should always be the central focal point where the rest of your back line is then structured to fit his attributes. He is such an integral part of your X1 that I highly advise that you should consider making him your captain and leader on the pitch
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMMATES
The thing about Ruben is that he’s a ‘Defender’s defender’ which basically means that his first instinct is going to always be about what he can do to impact the game defensively even when your team has possession of the ball. Therefore, it will be of huge importance that you have more creative minded players surrounding him who will take care of the on the ball stuff, while Ruben focuses on potentially stopping the opposition on the counter via his leadership and understanding of the game‘Stoppers’ are a unique bunch of players and don’t really require a lot to get the best out of them. But, you must ensure that they have a B.P.D, as well as a creative orchestrator (be it a D.L.P or P.M) within the midfield so that Ruben (who is the ‘Stopper’) doesn’t have to try anything crazy on the ball but instead shift it to the more creatively astute players within the teamIn a back 3 formation like the following two, Ruben has to be the Central part of the defence which will put him in a better position to instruct his teammates on where they should be throughout the course of the matchBased on the type of formation that you aim to use, it will determine wether you choose to play with B.P.D’s or G.D’s next to him, as well as your decision of who is going to be the hub of your team within the centre of the park
Ruben Dias has been on a constant wave of progression ever since his move to Manchster City and it’s frightening to consider the fact that he is only 26 years of age (which is a baby in D(C) terms)!
He has established himself into one of the most important members within the Manchester City squad with some of his teammates jokingly stating that he’s the manager’s enforcer on and off the pitch.
But, there is another player within the Manchester City dressing room who might even be considered Pep Guardiola from a playing point of view, and is absolutely indispensable for the team. As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for him, we may not be able to call oursleves the treble winning team… So, stick around for our upcoming episode as we take a look at a man who’s stock continues to rise season after season.
The Soccermanager Experience 