Which are the more important Central Defender attributes,

Anticipation, Concentration, Decisions and Positioning

or

Heading, Jumping, Marking and Tackling?

Say you had to make a choice between a defender with 20 in each of the top four attributes but only 10 in the bottom four, and vice versa -- which do you choose?

Personally I would never buy a defenders with 10 for any of the attributes you listed. I can cope with 12-14 for the top four and 15 plus for heading, jumping, tackling and marking.

None of the above... or all of the above, how ever you want to look at it.

Think of it this way... if a player knows how to mark a player or is a good tackler, what good will it do him is he's not paying attention to the play, doesn't know when to make that tackle, etc.

If you have a CB with one or the other he's not going to be a very good CB. Need that balance to have a real class act, even if that balance means he's 2-3 points lower in some of them, he'll still be better then a guy that's higher but only one sided.

Edit: Regarding Acid's post... those numbers are based on what league? Can't just dish out numbers like that because depending on what league you're working in they are all relative, if you play low enough a guy with 10's would be amazing lol.

You are also forgetting teamwork, bravery, aggression and speed/strength.

I mostly aim for Jumping and Concentration. The rest I'm not too concerned about. In the lower leagues anyway. 15 Jumping and 12 Concentration. Preferably with Pace and Accel of 10. That wont really change as I move up the league but I will start expecting more from the other attributes the higher up I get.

Edit: Regarding Acid's post... those numbers are based on what league? Can't just dish out numbers like that because depending on what league you're working in they are all relative, if you play low enough a guy with 10's would be amazing lol.

You are right I should have been more specific to what I mean. The numbers I said were for EPL. In League Two 10 for all would be fantastic.

You are also forgetting teamwork, bravery, aggression and speed/strength.

Of course it would be lovely to have a CB with all the attributes I listed plus yours, but in my experience it's very rare to find someone who ticks every single box. From what I've read in various places the eight that I mentioned are the most important though.

Also, I concede that my hypothetical in the OP was a little bit unnecessary. I was just trying to see whether the mentals or technicals/physicals were more important.

Of course it would be lovely to have a CB with all the attributes I listed plus yours, but in my experience it's very rare to find someone who ticks every single box. From what I've read in various places the eight that I mentioned are the most important though.

Also, I concede that my hypothetical in the OP was a little bit unnecessary. I was just trying to see whether the mentals or technicals/physicals were more important.

All depends if you want an all around guy, or if you want to appeal a little more to cover or stopper roles.

I've got a guy in the MLS who has a 12-15 in every defender related category, well he has 16 mark actually. To look at him he's nothing all that special, but he's got consistency in his attributes like that and is generally one of the top CB's in the league even though most of them are either faster, or stronger, or have better concentration, etc. So I always look at all of them, there are ones that hold more importance then others of course.. but if I see a guy that is really good in like the main 8 you started with but has a teamwork that's lower then average i won't even consider him, I'm immediately going back and looking for someone else.

I probably pay more attention to technical attributes, I find mental attributes are easier to train up.

So it'd be Heading, Jumping, Marking and Tackling for me.