Who is better in the role of left full-back, Maxwell or Chivu?

[BlueWhale]

In the first knockout round of UCL, our left full-back will facing Cristiano Ronaldo. Obviously it's not an easy work. Do you think who is better, Maxwell or Chivu?

And how about Jeremy Mathieu? He will be free this winter.
http://www.goal.com/en/people/france...jeremy-mathieu

[Ilkinio]

Chivu is better tactically, he has better vision and passing, Theoretically he is better in crossing.
Maxwell is better runner, has better ball skills and dribling.

Overall, because Chivu don't run forward so much, i rate them equally and i think they should be used in the different type of games.

[minterke]

I like Chivu as a CB, when he's healthy he should be a 100% starter. Of course he can be played as LB or DM...which is what makes him gr8.

[Ehsan]

As Ilkino mentioned they would each be better in different games. Regarding your specific question on UCL, then Chivu would be better at stopping Ronaldo. However we should not consider man marking anyway because they are a dynamic team up front and will take advantage of tied up defenders.

[Ilkinio]

I would play Chivu. Just to create good backcover for Maicon's runs.

[Handoyo]

Poll added, I vote for Maxwell. I think with out defensive mids, we can afford to take more risk down that left flank.

Remember, on the right, Maicon can afford to keep bombarding not because Maicon's defensive quality is superior but it's because J.Zanetti covers him well. I think if Muntari can adjust to Maxwell's overlap and cover him up, we can afford to take the more riskier approach with Maxwell.

[Ilkinio]

Problem is, Muntari is far more offensive than Zanetti.

[CafeCordoba]

Yep, the problem will be who covers Maxwell's runs. Maxwell is better crosser than Chivu and generally with Chivu our left flank is just dead offensively because he doesn't do anything there.

[kylan05]

What about play 'em both. Chivu for Max, like JZ for Mai?

[tritolone]

What about play 'em both. Chivu for Max, like JZ for Mai?

not a bad idea, think mou should try it at least. but this way our midfield would create even less than it already does

[mike_inter]

It depends on the opponent we face..Against United,Chivu would be the most appropriate player to mark Ronaldo since he's by far a better defender than Maxwell...Most of us here,have already mentioned that Maxwell is not that good defensively,and that was proved against Siena as well.Ronaldo can easily bypass Maxwell and mistakes against him are forbidden in such game...And as a pure defender,Chivu has faced many great strikers all these years and can take care of Ronaldo in my opinion..More experienced with better vision,can be of great help against top sides when we need to defend..

Also,Chivu can play as a defensive midfielder,and create our offensive play from behind,providing more cover to our offensive midfielders like Stankovic and Muntari..

Maxwell should be used against theoritically "easier" teams when we need to play very offensively with crosses from both flanks and quick movements up and down the left flank..His crossing is better than Chivu's as well as his speed..

Against United,a defence line with Maicon-Cordoba-Samuel-Chivu can handle United's guns better IMO..

[Alex de Large]

The question is only logic if all the team is healthy and we will never be 100% healthy, probably when chivu comes back, cordoba will get injured, so chivu CB.

[rockball]

Don't forget the last time Chivu played Manu in CL

[A.l.i]

[Azzkikr]

Definitely Maxwell, although he is not exactly a worldclass player. Chivu should be 3rd choice, after JZ as well. Chivu should only be used for CB and occasionaly DM.

Chivu at LB limits the play way too much. He has nothing going forward. And to further limit our already very limited offensive capabilities by completely taking out the offensive play on the left side means you might as well forfeit the game.

[M.Adnan]

Maxwell by far.

Besides, I think that Maxwell has some good defensive qualities, but sadly he misses one of the most important things that a defender should have: concentration and aggressiveness.

Playing Chive as a LB is like playing with 10 players. There's no point of fielding a LB who can't attack, unless you have no other choices.

[mike_inter]

guys,don't forget that last year Chivu played many games as a left midfielder and performed fairly well...He had a great game against Milan(our midfield then was Cambiasso-Zanetti-Chivu-Jimenez) and I can still remember some decent offensive moves against Siena and Torino..He proved to be very helpful from that position..

I don't think he's such useless when we need to attack..

[Stefan]

It probably depends on games but I like maicon-cordoba-samuel-chivu as a back line. For the man utd game I would play chivu without even a seconds thought.

[Barbas]

Maxwell weakness is his pressing is almost non existant. He tend to follow the player and try to minimize his option. Against a player with ronaldo abilities, we need someone who can shut him down, do some chalenge coz he is not very stable emotionally. Maxwell will have a hard time against him. This is where chivu comes. eventhough both of them are not really good in covering their area when an attack coming from maicon's side.

At this moment, with both of them able to play and cordoba-samuel are healthy, then i'll pick chivu. Still, february is a long way to come. Too many unknown variables exist.

[Azzkikr]

Yea we all saw how well Chivu managed to "shut" down Ronaldo and united in Roma's famous 7-1 defeat.

Chivu was the worst player on the pitch and responsible for 4 of the goals.

Ridiculous defending.