Calafiori builds his perfect defender and reveals his own best quality: ‘Aura’
Riccardo Calafiori has named Italian legends Leonardo Bonucci, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta in his list of players he would use to build the ‘perfect defender’, and has revealed what he thinks his own best quality is on the pitch: ‘It’s not exactly one specific skill.”
Calafiori was a featured guest on the Supernova podcast, discussing the start of his career with Roma, life in London with Arsenal and his hopes for the Italy national team.
During his podcast appearance, Calafiori was also asked to build his perfect defender using traits from various different stars he has played with, against or watched over the years. There were no limitations on the defenders that Calafiori was allowed to pick based on the era in which they played.
Unsurprisingly, Calafiori named Italian players in the majority of the given categories, but did find space for the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Sergio Ramos.
Calafiori’s perfect defender
The physique of: “I would say Virgil van Dijk. Because he’s tall and not exactly slow.”
The anticipation of: “Nesta, I think. Nesta or Cannavaro.”
The slide tackling of: “Always those two (Nesta and Cannavaro), two maestros.” Calafiori admitted that he was a bit too young to see the best of Paolo Maldini in his prime years, but said that “as an icon, I’d put him above everyone.”
The positioning of: “Bonucci.”
The heading of: “Sergio Ramos.”
Right foot: “I said Bonucci before, who else? I don’t know. Also Van Dijk. I’m definitely forgetting someone.”
Left foot: “Left foot? I’ll say Bastoni.”
Calafiori was also asked what he thinks is his own best quality.
He replied: “I think what I like is that maybe I can do a few different things at the same level. It’s not exactly one specific skill, more like that. I think the energy I bring onto the pitch that kind of changes the team, I think that’s it.”
“The aura?” the podcast producer asked from behind the camera. “Aura, yeah,” Calafiori somewhat reluctantly replied.