After reviewing the legend midfielders and forwards, We have reached the end of the series of legend reviews in eFootball PES 2020. We will finish off today with each and every legends defender and goalkeeper in PES 2020.
The job of a keeper is to keep out the goals and initiate attacks as sweepers if necessary. The defender is a very careful worker as he is very vulnerable to make mistakes if the attackers press aggressively. They need to have a lot of composure and be good on the ball to provide stability at the back. Whereas the job of the fullback is to provide width to the defense by marking the wingers and also provide width to the attack.
Central Defenders
With people depending on a lot of long balls, One of your center-backs needs to have the Build-up play style who likes to drop deep to receive the ball and initiate attacks from the deep. So, the center-backs need to be fast and you should be careful in playing side passes and back passes if you are wide apart from the goalkeeper or supporting players. Extra-frontman players tend to move ahead to join the attack which messes the defense line but they are mostly aerially strong.
Franz Beckenbaeur (CB)
Playing Style: Build-Up
The Bayern Munchen defender is regarded as one of the greatest of the legends this game has ever had and is one of the new additions to PES 2020. Nicknamed as Der Kaiser, he started his career as a midfielder. His legend version has nice passing stats and shooting stats but lacks the aggression of a natural CB who sticks to your attacker who is trying to escape. Also, His positioning is odd as a DMF and loses the ball easily. There are far better orchestrators in the game compared to him so his passing stats shouldn’t blind you.
Probably, position training him as an RB would work in a formation with All-Out Defense as a defensive tactic. Beckenbauer works as a defensive fullback. As a result, He stays back and it is difficult to get past him, thanks to the highly physical game this year. His ability to play long balls to attackers and players around him is aided by his passing and ball control stats.
Best Formations to use in: As stated above Beckenbauer’s best position is in RB. He can protect the flank as a defensive fullback or a wide CB. It can also help him to play long balls to wingers in 4-1-2-3 of L.Roman or 4-3-1-2 of F.Santos.
Franco Baresi (CB)
Playing Style: Build-Up
Baresi is one of the best defenders in the game despite the over-reliance of online users for the likes of Matthijs De Ligt, Van Dijk, and Koulibaly. His tackling is neat and has a decent speed to keep up with attackers. His height and physicality are an issue though. For example, he is not tall enough to win headers and highly physical attackers like Lukaku or Mbappe push him off the ball easily. He is quite good on the ball and is good for the build from the back with his passing stats for possession and counter-attacking managers. He is short in stature but has got good aggression and defending stats which allows him to mark a single attacker at a time.
Best Formations to use in: He is best paired with a tall, ball-playing defender who is also fast enough to cover some ground in the 4-3-3 of G.Zietler and 4-3-3 of Y.Grimault.
Paolo Maldini(CB)
Playing Style: Offensive Fullback
The legends version of Maldini has solid defensive stats with excellent ball control and pretty good stats in PES as a defender. His form ‘8’ is extremely valuable. He is probably the best wide fullback/center-back. The former AC Milan is an expert defender who protects the left flank with ease. He is the best defensive fullback in-game and can launch attacks with his long passing traits. Unusually, he is not the best CB in the middle of the park as he does have to go against the quickest of attackers. So, moving him to the flank is advantageous as he defends better there.
Best Formations to use in: The first go-to option as an LB/CB in a formation where the job of the Left Back is to protect the left flank in formations of 4-3-3 of Luis Enrique or Y.Grimault. He can also function as a left Center-back in 3-2-2-3 of R.Martinez or G.Gasperini.
I.Córdoba (CB)
Playing Style: Extra Frontman
Cordoba has the best aggression and heading among the legends defender and has a great amount of pace to keep up with the best of attackers in PES. The only downside is his defensive awareness as he is not always perfect with his positioning. His playing style of an Extra Frontman makes him push up the pitch and join into the attack which messes up. So the defensive tactics should be set to All-Out-Defense if he feels a bit out of position. Cordoba has decent speed and good strength to stick to the attacker to force him to commit a mistake.
Best Formations to use in: He can be used quite well in of 4-3-3 of G.Zietler. He is fast so he can work as a wide CB in 3-defender formation such as G.Gasperini’s 3-2-3-2.
G. Bergomi(CB)
Playing Style: Extra Frontman
Bergomi is one of the most underrated defenders in PES and he is a great technical legends defender. He doesn’t have the best ball-playing abilities to launch attacks but has excellent aggression and defensive awareness. He is good at heading and quick on interceptions owing to his pace. Thus, Bergomi works best along with a build-up CB alongside him. Bergomi has decent speed and good strength to stick to the attacker to force him to commit a mistake.
Best Formations to use in: He can be used quite well in 4-1-2-3 of P.Boer or 4-3-3 of G.Zietler as he has also got good defensive awareness to man-mark and distribute the ball.
D.Lugano (CB)
Playing Style: None
The Uruguayan captain of the 4th finishing Uruguay team in the 2010 World Cup is one of the rarer gold legends defenders in PES. He has got a low pace and stamina. But his off-the-ball positioning is quite good to intercept attackers. This is aided by his defending stats and aggression.
He can be played as a right-CB as he is right-footed which helps him to build from the back. Because of his low pace, he requires an All-out Defense formation to make him stay back. He doesn’t build up well enough and therefore one should use him in a no-nonsense fashion.
Best Formations to use in: He has good positioning to back up as a Right-Centre back.Managers include: 4-3-3 of C.Tunal and 4-2-2-2 of C.Valbuena.
S.Campbell (CB)
Playing Style: None
Campbell is one of the great physical legends defenders along with Koulibaly or De Ligt in PES 2020. He is tall enough to win the headers and has great physicality and pace to deal with the quickest and strongest attackers. He has rightly got an update from his gold ball version last year and quite deserves that. The only downside is his nil playing style which makes him eager to push up higher in the pitch. He thus should be played in an All-Out-Defence tactic where he needs to stay back. His downsides include his ball-playing attributes which include inaccurate passes. Campbell is a beast in the defense of a team. He has immense strength to hold off attackers and bursting pace to drive out the ball from the defense in a Frontline Pressure defensive tactic.
Best Formations to use in: He needs to be played along with a Build-up CB who can distribute where Campbell does the dirty work in defense. The formations where he can thrive are L.Roman’s 4-1-2-3 or Quique Setien’s 4-3-3.
R.Rocha (CB)
Playing Style: None
Rocha is a decent card to come off the bench and provide strong performance for your team. His downside can be his pace which can be a problem if he pushes up the pitch. He is a physical defender who can make interceptions and hold off attackers with his strength. Get his familiarity up to 100% and you’ll find he is smooth on the ball with good positioning. He has a decent low pass so can build up in short passes.
Best Formations to use in: He should be played in formations with defending tactics of All-Out-Defence as he is not quick enough to recover ground if he is pushed higher up the pitch. Thus, he finds his place in D.Millesi’s 4-2-2-2 (right CB) and G.Gasperini’s 3-2-3-2 (central CB).
W.Samuel (CB)
Playing Style: None
The Argentine legend has been upgraded to a black ball legends defender in PES 2020 and honestly, he has been always brilliant which includes his tackling, physical presence, and heading. He has as all the required skills like man-marking, heading, interceptions, and fighting spirit. He bullies the hell out of attackers owing to his physical strength. The only downside is his pace which is quite low for his stature as people generally tend to prefer faster CB’s nowadays to cope up with quick attackers. Because of his low pace, he requires all-out defense formations to make him stay back. He can be played as a left-CB as he is left-footed which helps him to build from the back. He has a demonic presence in the back 4 where he can win headers and clear with no-nonsense.
Best Formations to use in: He should be played in formations with defending tactics of All-Out-Defence as he is not quick enough to recover ground if he is pushed higher up the pitch. Thus,he can be used in G.Southgate 4-1-2-3 (left CB) and S.Inzaghi’s 3-3-2-2 (left CB).
Full-Backs
Fullbacks are generally wide players who support the defense of the team. Nowadays, in modern football, they join the attack to land in dangerous crosses and shots, so they are known as offensive fullbacks when given a chance.
R.Carlos (LB)
Playing style: Offensive Fullback
The legendary Brazilian defender is one of the best fullbacks among the PES legends. He defends quite well which his stats don’t suggest. It is very difficult to get past him with a winger and he has a good amount of pace to keep up with the winger and get the ball off him. Brilliant set-pieces and excellent long-range shooting aids to his phenomenal attacking gameplay which he is known for. You can also get his signature free-kick run-up which feels amazing. He can cross the ball in low for the attackers to get on the end of. Carlos is magnificent in his attacking gameplay and thus an automatic choice for LMF as well. He is truly an offensive fullback and can work wonders going up the pitch.
Best Formations to use in: Due to his offensive trait, he is vital in formations of 4-1-2-3 of L.Roman or 4-3-3 of G.Zeitler where fullbacks operate higher up the pitch. He can also work as an LMF in the formation of 4-3-1-2 of N.Manalt or Fernando Santos.
Javier Zanetti (RB)
Playing style: Offensive Fullback
Zanetti is the complete RB you would be lucky to get in any team. Great speed, stamina, positioning, tackling, and crossing, the Inter Milan captain is brilliant in every aspect a full-back should excel in. Zanetti is also a good utility card and can play as a CMF, DMF, and CB. So, If things go wrong ( injuries or bookings) you can always count on him to perform.
Best Formations to use in: He is an all-round fullback in PES in the formation of 4-2-1-3 of P.Boer or 4-3-3 of Y. Grimault where you need a player to defend the wing as well as support the wide spaces in the midfield.
Cafu (RB)
Playing style: Offensive Fullback
Cafu is one of the best attacking RB’s in the game with a Brazillian flair attached to his gameplay. He is excellent on the ball with good ball control and dribbling. He crosses the ball well into the box with his Pinpoint Crossing Trait and is one of the most attacking RB’s in the game. His maxed out version (92) has 99 stamina that means he can take up pressing duties despite being deployed in the flanks. Cafu is almost similar to Roberto Carlos as he has excellent attacking gameplay.
Best Formations to use in: He is lethal in RMF/RB in formations of 4-2-3-1 of D.Deschamps or an RWB in the 5-2-1-2 of O. Solskjaer among other formations which supports attacking fullbacks.
Goalkeepers
The last and the final person standing between the sticks is none other than the man with the gloves, the goalkeeper. His job is to keep the shots aimed at the goal outside it and thus prevent the opposition from scoring. There are generally two kinds of goalkeepers:
- Keepers who function as sweeper-keepers (Offensive GK’s) to participate in the build-up phase
- Keepers who are orthodox (Defensive GK’s) who prefer to stay near the goal line.
Oliver Kahn (GK)
Playing style: Defensive GK
Kahn has extraordinary stats and easily one of the best defensive GK’s along with Oblak and Handanovic in-game. He can distribute the ball in a decent manner. Der Titan has excellent reflexes and Reach which helps to save different kinds of difficult shots closer to the goal line and is extremely dependable. He is also excellent when he is rushed out as that happens only manually and thus can close in angles for the attackers.
Best Formations to use in: Defensive GK’s find their use for managers in the All-out-defence tactic. Managers include M.Sarri’s 4-3-3 and C.Ranieri’s 4-2-2-2.
Francesco Toldo (GK)
Playing style: Defensive GK
The former Inter Milan Shot Stopper can be used in managers playing in Defensive tactics as he is a defensive GK. High GK Reach is an advantage for such keepers and Toldo has low GK reach compared to other great Defensive GK’s like Kahn. His performance is highly inconsistent in matches. He also doesn’t help to distribute as well.
Best Formations to use in: Defensive GK’s are used for managers in the All-out-defence tactic. Managers include Y. Grimault’s 4-3-3 and C.Valbuena’s 4-2-2-2.
Dida (GK)
Playing Style: Offensive GK
Dida is the Brazilian legend GK and can really help in Managers preferring Frontline Pressure defending tactics where he can come off his lines to distribute the ball and use with GK Low Punt trait. With increased familiarity, He can be really helpful in saving a lot of great shots. The Milan shot-stopper has a height of 195cm which helps along with his reflexes and reach.
Best Formations to use in: Offensive GK’s find their place for managers in the Frontline Pressure tactic. Managers include L.Enrique’s 4-3-3 and D.Millesi’s 4-2-2-2.
Christian Abbiati (GK)
Playing Style: Offensive GK
One of the best gold ball legend GK’s in PES, Abbiati has better gameplay than the likes of Toldo or Dida. Abbiati is an offensive GK and skill training him with the GK low punt would help him in his distribution. He is far better in gameplay than what his stats or maxed-out rating suggests. Get him to high familiarity and he will be one of the best gold ball GK‘s in-game.
Best Formations to use in: Offensive GK’s are used for managers in the Frontline Pressure tactic. Managers include G.Zietler’s 4-3-3 and J.Loew’s 3-2-2-3.
Did we miss out on any legends defender on the list who has worked well for you online in PES? Feel free to mention them in the comment section below!
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