The 200 best players in the world: 121 - 117

Another day another update.


Introduction to the list

The list:

Introduction to the list

200-195
200: Alberto Zapater - Genoa - Spain
199: Nikola Zigic - Valencia - Serbia
198: Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid - Spain
197: Lucio - Inter - Brazil
196: John Obi Mikel - Chelsea - Nigeria
195: Sergio Busquets - Barcelona - Spain
194-193
194: Philippe Mexes - Roma -France
193: Anatolij Tymoshchuk - Bayern München - Ukraine
192-189
192: Theo Walcott - Arsenal - England
191: Aaron Ramsey - Arsenal - Wales
190: Pepe - Real Madrid - Portugal
189: Sergei Semak - Rubin Kazan - Russia
188
188: Alberto Aquilani - Liverpool - Italy
187-185
187: Clarence Seedorf - Milan - Holland
186: Diego Capel - Sevilla - Spain
185: Yossi Benayoun - Liverpool - Israel
184-182
184: Riccardo Montolivo - Fiorentina - Italy
183: Kolo Toure - Manchester City -Côte d'Ivoire
182: Yuri Zhirkov - Chelsea - Russia
181-177
181: Martin Demichelis - Bayern Munich - Argentina
180: Marouane Fellaini - Everton - Belgium
179: Cristian Zapata - Udinese - Colombia
178: Tim Cahill - Everton - Australia
177: Paul Scholes - Manchester United - England
176-173
176: Arda Turan - Galatasaray - Turkey
175: Ezequiel Lavezzi - Napoli - Argentina
174: Klaas Jan Huntelaar - AC Milan - The Netherlands
173-170
173: William Gallas - Arsenal - France
172: Shaun Wright Phillips - Manchester City - England
171: Pavel Pogrebnyak - VBF Stuttgart - Russia
170: Darijo Srna - Shakhtar Donetsk - Croatia
169-167
169: Bojan Krkic and Pedro - Barcelona - Spain
168: Ronaldinho - AC Milan - Brazil
167: Tranquillo Barnetta - Bayer Leverkusen - Switzerland
166-163
166: Stiliyan Petrov - Aston Villa - Bulgaria
165: Amauri - Juventus - Brazil
164: Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool - The Netherlands
163: Bruno Alves - FC Porto - Portugal
162-160
162: Lorik Cana - Sunderland - Albania
161: Carlton Cole - West Ham - England
160: Lukas Podolski - FC Köln - Germany
159-155
159: Felipe Melo - Juventus - Brazil
158: Craig Bellamy - Manchester City - Wales
157: Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger - Palermo and Liverpool - Denmark
156: Alessandro Nesta -Milan-Italy
155: Aly Cissokho - Lyon -France
154-152
154: Walter Samuel - Inter - Argentina
153: Diego Lugano - Fenerbahce - Uruguay
152: Mauro Zarate - Lazio - Argentina
151-148
151: Sebastian Giovinco - Juventus and Luca Cigarini - Napoli - Italy
150: Taye Taiwo - Marseille - Nigeria, Rod Fanni - Rennes and Benoit Tremoulinas - Bordeaux - France
149: Domenico Criscito - Genoa - Italy
148: Fernando Llorente - Atletic Bilbao - Spain
147-144
147: Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Sebastian Veron, Lucho Gonzalez, Pablo Aimar and Javier Pastore - Boca Juniors, Estudiantes, Marseille, Benfica and Palermo - Argentina
146: Alexis Sanchez - Udinese - Chile
145: Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham - England
144: Gerard Pique - Barcelona - Spain
143-139
143: Raul Meireles, Porto - Joao Moutinho - Miguel Veloso, Sporting Lissabon - Portugal
142: Bacary Sagna - Arsenal - France
141: Eljero Elia - Hamburger SV - Netherlands
140: Marko Marin - Werder Bremen - Germany
139: Giuseppe Rossi - Villarreal - Italy
138-135
138: Raul - Real Madrid-Spain and Ruud Van Nistelrooy - Hamburger SV-Netherlands
137: Konstantin Zyryanov - Zenit Saint Petersburg - Russia
136: Simon Rolfes - Bayern Leverkusen - Germany
135: Ze Roberto - Hamburger SV - Brazil
134 - 129
134: Mauro Camoranesi - Juventus - Italy
133: Simone Perrotta - Roma - Italy
132: Marcelo - Real Madrid - Brazil
131: Christian Chivu - Inter - Romania
130: Simäo - Atletico Madrid - Portugal
129: Marcell Jansen - Hamburger SV - Germany
128 - 122
128: Hatem Ben Arfa - Marseille - France and Goran Pandev - Inter - Macedonia
127: Rafael Marquez - Barcelona - Mexico
126: Nigel De Jong - Manchester City - Netherlands
125: Grafite - Wolfsburg - Brazil
124: Pablo Hernandez - Valencia - Spain
123: Daniel Guiza - Fenerbahce - Spain
122: Ramires - Benfica - Brazil


121:

Mohamed Sissoko

Juventus

Central midfielder - Mali



Sissoko might just be the most physical imposing midfielder in the world and on top of that was Juventus best player in the 2008/2009 season.

I really did want to rank him higher and more than most he has taken a nosedive down the rankings.

Partly due to continued bad luck with injuries that has seen him miss a lot of time and naturally partly as well due to spending too much time for me to ignore (albeit like everyone else) looking really bad on a team that's mighty struggling.

Mischaracterized and often misused when he is playing primarily as a defensive midfielder where it's really important to also have a sound passing game, which even with signs of improvement he just hasn't yet, Sissoko is much better as a two-way player going forward also part of his role, where his powerful running can benefit the team greatly.

Last season as part of Ranieri's solid mainly four man midfields there was a lot of that dynamic play taking place. This season however when not injured and part of mostly 3 man experiments gone wrong, sometimes even spending (wasting) time more wide where it isn't power that's integral but pace, it just hasn't been happening for Sissoko.

If playing him mainly as a holding midfielder limiting that running tactically and giving him the ball in costly places if you don't do decent things with it, just isn't getting the best out of him. Have Sissoko cover as much ground as possible so he can really put those incredible physical talents to use as many places as possible. That's what I would love to see.

In Serie A at times Sissoko is almost too strong a tackler for his own good and I'm guessing more than anyone else finds himself booked for perfect challenges where even all ball impact is just too great for a weak referee to control that irresistible urge to caution.

120:

Dejan Stankovic

Inter

Midfielder - Serbia



Deki for the last 10 years has been one of the better two-way players in the world.

From his early days as a skillful dynamic attacking midfielder, sometimes left-wing, transforming into a hard working aggressive allround midfielder ready to do anything to win, including of course putting the needed effort in defensively.

Up until recently when at his best I would say he spent quite a few years where he was kind of both at the same time making him extremely valuable, but for most of this season, hurting his ranking, I would say Stankovic has only been a little of both and sometimes not even enough to do the sufficient job, neither when going forward or when defending.

In both ends it has looked liked like the work rate hasn't quite been there resulting in less dynamic runs forward where his great shot is always a threat and when defending at times his pressure hasn't been good enough and other periods he's been caught out of position looking tired meaning less balance for the team.

Whether it's age catching up to him or rather what's recently been discussed in Italy, where Inter at the time of writing sensationally has been overtaken by Roma at the top of the standings, Mourinho failing to rotate the squad well enough, is a good question. Could of course easily be a combination of both.

Not the fastest, strongest or even most technical Stankovic strength have been good ability in all areas + the great work rate making him able to contribute game in and game out, box to box.

He can't afford to continue losing ability in any of those areas or he'll soon turn into a much lesser player. Perhaps starting less games can delay that and he'll continue to be a valuable, but not absolute key, player for quite a few years still.

119:

Stefan Kiessling

Bayer Leverkusen

Striker - Germany



Patrick Helmes, Leverkusen's top scorer last season has missed most of the season recovering from knee surgery and instead it's been Kiessling who has managed to step into that role, make it his own and become the team's main goal scoring threat. So much so that he is a good candidate to finish as the Bundesliga top scorer.

He is a tall striker who is good in the box and air but also very lanky with good pace.

Most impressive is his Dirk Kuyt like work-rate, he kind of looks like him too, and he offers his teammates constant movement throughout a game anywhere really in the final third.

There is a danger he's being ranked a little too high too early. This is the first season where he has been a consistent goal scoring threat anyway and it's possible he'll revert back to more of a second striker/forward role if Helmes ever finds his form again (very impressive/promising looking Derdiyok will be another obstacle for Helmes) , but still a tall striker with that kind of work-rate and generally impressive team work coupled with decent pace and technical skills I just can't see, in whatever role, not being a very valuable player for years to come.

He only has 3 caps for Germany but been in the squad recently and should make it to the World Cup I think.


118:

Frederic Kanoute

Sevilla

Striker - Mali



Very impressive looking and highly gifted striker who with his athleticism, size and considerable skill has tormented La Liga defenses for years.

He is likely on the decline though and at 32 years of age has started just 15 league games this season struggling to find his top fitness thereby hurting his ranking.

But when at his best he remains a graceful player who not only has size but the agility, pace and ball control to go along with it enabling him to be effective anywhere in the final third. From making runs from outside the box to inside it being a strong skillful presence.

Kanoute finally found his consistency in Spain and over this period really has been a striker close to having it all and that he hasn't been able to contribute nearly as much this season for the first time in years has to be one of the main reasons for Sevilla's very unexpected bad season.

With various Sevilla attacking players still to come on the list you'd think they had enough depth to withstand that decline but the Kanoute partnership with Luis Fabiano (and Fabiano has started even less La Liga games this season) and what they brought together specifically seems like it has been a very big part of what Sevilla did so well in recent years and even with many other good players, including another excellent striker in Negredo, it suggests that they just haven't been able to find their way when without that duo up front.

In fact they've rarely started together this year (if at all actually) and in none of Sevilla's 12 defeats this season (counting both La Liga and Champions League) the starters have been Fabiano and Kanoute.

117:

Jermain Defoe

Tottenham

Striker - England



Old school sniper who is one of the most reliable goal scorers in the game.

Defoe has great quickness and finishing skills in and around the box. His shooting especially has always been impressive.

While his technical skills such as ball-control and passing definitely are strengths rather than weaknesses he really isn't someone who offers much more than goalscoring to his team meaning this is probably as far up the list he can go.
Actually that he is even up this relatively high is a testament of just how impressive I think that goalscoring ability of his is.

Defoe probably couldn't function all that well without a strike partner who he can work together with to create space central to take advantage of in the final third, so tactically he is rather limited (and not least limit his teams) and that way he is a dying breed of strikers and not really the type (die poachers die) that you'll see on most top teams these days.

Which is probably why he has never received the chance on one of the top teams and also why I wouldn't be surprised if Tottenham as they continue to develop into that will look for someone who will bring more to the team than Defoe does.

Then again Defoe is a Harry Redknapp favorite and I would also guess Redknapp in his managerial career has mostly played with two strikers typically in some kind of 4-4-2 variant.

Now ordinarily I would just have to think that there was a clear limit to how far that can go when the competition will be more flexible systems featuring strikers (Rooney,Drogba,Tevez, Van Persie and yeah Torres too) who do so much more than just score goals and who make people around them much better.

It should be said though that Tottenham has at least one and maybe even two players who much of this season has made up for that, lets say "stationary weakness" with extraordinary attacking play while at least holding their own defensively. First and foremost Luka Modric but to my great surprise Aaron Lennon as well before his injury. And if his play was a real improvement and the level he showed is here to stay, then perhaps mainly those two can lift a 4-4-2 with a couple of outright strikers in the lineup to heights that I didn't really think was possible in the current football environment.

We shall see.

The 200 best players in the world: 128 - 122

For once these writeups were done pretty quickly and I can just about smell the top 100 now.

I haven't even done any real adjustments to the list in a while so no hours wasted on that either.

Expect another update tomorrow.

Introduction to the list

The list:

New order

200-195
200: Alberto Zapater - Genoa - Spain
199: Nikola Zigic - Valencia - Serbia
198: Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid - Spain
197: Lucio - Inter - Brazil
196: John Obi Mikel - Chelsea - Nigeria
195: Sergio Busquets - Barcelona - Spain
194-193
194: Philippe Mexes - Roma -France
193: Anatolij Tymoshchuk - Bayern München - Ukraine
192-189
192: Theo Walcott - Arsenal - England
191: Aaron Ramsey - Arsenal - Wales
190: Pepe - Real Madrid - Portugal
189: Sergei Semak - Rubin Kazan - Russia
188
188: Alberto Aquilani - Liverpool - Italy
187-185
187: Clarence Seedorf - Milan - Holland
186: Diego Capel - Sevilla - Spain
185: Yossi Benayoun - Liverpool - Israel
184-182
184: Riccardo Montolivo - Fiorentina - Italy
183: Kolo Toure - Manchester City -Côte d'Ivoire
182: Yuri Zhirkov - Chelsea - Russia
181-177
181: Martin Demichelis - Bayern Munich - Argentina
180: Marouane Fellaini - Everton - Belgium
179: Cristian Zapata - Udinese - Colombia
178: Tim Cahill - Everton - Australia
177: Paul Scholes - Manchester United - England
176-173
176: Arda Turan - Galatasaray - Turkey
175: Ezequiel Lavezzi - Napoli - Argentina
174: Klaas Jan Huntelaar - AC Milan - The Netherlands
173-170
173: William Gallas - Arsenal - France
172: Shaun Wright Phillips - Manchester City - England
171: Pavel Pogrebnyak - VBF Stuttgart - Russia
170: Darijo Srna - Shakhtar Donetsk - Croatia
169-167
169: Bojan Krkic and Pedro - Barcelona - Spain
168: Ronaldinho - AC Milan - Brazil
167: Tranquillo Barnetta - Bayer Leverkusen - Switzerland
166-163
166: Stiliyan Petrov - Aston Villa - Bulgaria
165: Amauri - Juventus - Brazil
164: Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool - The Netherlands
163: Bruno Alves - FC Porto - Portugal
162-160
162: Lorik Cana - Sunderland - Albania
161: Carlton Cole - West Ham - England
160: Lukas Podolski - FC Köln - Germany
159-155
159: Felipe Melo - Juventus - Brazil
158: Craig Bellamy - Manchester City - Wales
157: Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger - Palermo and Liverpool - Denmark
156: Alessandro Nesta -Milan-Italy
155: Aly Cissokho - Lyon -France
154-152
154: Walter Samuel - Inter - Argentina
153: Diego Lugano - Fenerbahce - Uruguay
152: Mauro Zarate - Lazio - Argentina
151-148
151: Sebastian Giovinco - Juventus and Luca Cigarini - Napoli - Italy
150: Taye Taiwo - Marseille - Nigeria, Rod Fanni - Rennes and Benoit Tremoulinas - Bordeaux - France
149: Domenico Criscito - Genoa - Italy
148: Fernando Llorente - Atletic Bilbao - Spain
147-144
147: Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Sebastian Veron, Lucho Gonzalez, Pablo Aimar and Javier Pastore - Boca Juniors, Estudiantes, Marseille, Benfica and Palermo - Argentina
146: Alexis Sanchez - Udinese - Chile
145: Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham - England
144: Gerard Pique - Barcelona - Spain
143-139
143: Raul Meireles, Porto - Joao Moutinho - Miguel Veloso, Sporting Lissabon - Portugal
142: Bacary Sagna - Arsenal - France
141: Eljero Elia - Hamburger SV - Netherlands
140: Marko Marin - Werder Bremen - Germany
139: Giuseppe Rossi - Villarreal - Italy
138-135
138: Raul - Real Madrid-Spain and Ruud Van Nistelrooy - Hamburger SV-Netherlands
137: Konstantin Zyryanov - Zenit Saint Petersburg - Russia
136: Simon Rolfes - Bayern Leverkusen - Germany
135: Ze Roberto - Hamburger SV - Brazil
134 - 129
134: Mauro Camoranesi - Juventus - Italy
133: Simone Perrotta - Roma - Italy
132: Marcelo - Real Madrid - Brazil
131: Christian Chivu - Inter - Romania
130: Simäo - Atletico Madrid - Portugal
129: Marcell Jansen - Hamburger SV - Germany

128:

Hatem Ben Arfa

Marseille

Attacking midfielder/winger/forward - France



and

Goran Pandev

Inter

Attacking midfielder/Forward - Macedonia



Ben Arfa, right from a very early age compared to none other than Zinedine Zidane, a supremely gifted 23 year old started the season mostly coming on from the bench but during Marseille's recent title challenge surge in Ligue 1 thankfully coach Deschamp has had him featuring more, including starting resulting in a player of the month award, giving me all the excuse I needed to include one of the best dribblers in the world.

Ben Arfa has speed, agility and ball control in abundance. So much so that he is second to only very few players when it comes to those kind of difference-making skills.

What he hasn't had so much is consistency and his history already in his young career of various trouble with teammates and not least coaches haven't helped either when it comes to fulfilling his enormous potential.

If something like his team work will ever improve is doubtful since he has already had every chance to improve both for Lyon and Marseille yet failed, but the individual difference-maker he can be in attack, at a level probably higher than anyone on the list so far not named Ronaldinho (and no even Arfa is not as bad as Ronaldinho when it comes to hurting his own team) I think justifies putting him ahead of many more complete players ranked so far.

I feel Ben Arfa with the kind of attacking skill-set he has is someone who "just" needs the right setting suiting his strengths and then we will really see him explode to a point where I'm sure lots of people will be calling him one of the best in the world. Then perhaps it will be me only having him in the top 60 or so while he'll be in the top 30 or whatever for everyone else.

Well who knows but he is another player who's star I could see really rise for an attacking team in the Bundesliga, La Liga or EPL.

On to Pandev who missed most of the season forced to sit out when he was involved in a contract dispute with his club at the time Lazio and their boorish president Claudio Lotito.

Lotito getting so worked up that Pandev refused to extend his contract that he ordered him isolated from the first team.

That went on for months and mainly resulted, in one: Lazio's attacking game without Pandev stagnating to such an extent that they spent much of the season battling relegation, and two: Pandev taking the matter to the courts eventually winning his freedom and being free to go (for free!) to whatever club interested in his services.

He went to Inter of course where he quickly became another piece in getting the passing game working that the Ibrahimovic-less Inter so desperately needs.

With his fine technical ability and final third movement he is someone very suited to complement Wesley Sneijder the new Inter centerpiece, as well as strikers Milito and Eto'o, both unlike Ibrahimvic dependent on good short passing surrounding them.

Position-wise Pandev can do a good job in all the attacking midfield positions as well as be more of a second striker. He also has a good work rate and will defend his position.

Unlike previously for Lazio and I assume unlike when he represents his country Macedonia, for Inter he is very much a tactical role player mainly present to the benefit of the even more skilled on the team, and as a result of that he might not shine as brightly there, but he has just enough skill, just enough pace, hard work and cleverness to make Mourinho prefer his contribution over for an example immensely talented Mario Balotelli. Even with Balotelli still being a total headcase often ruining his own cause, that is an achievement in itself.

127:

Rafael Marquez

Barcelona

Central defender/Midfielder - Mexico



The Mexico captain and icon (and not least U.S soccer fans number one heel) has been an excellent player for something like 10 years now and in a number of those previous years, as well as even last season, would have ranked higher.
Perhaps even much higher considering his ability in two different positions which in many ways is what saves him some spots still.
Because this season much of his central defender play has been shocking and full of mistakes and with a seemingly lack of focus often resulting in bad decisions.

I suppose he is someone who could always lose his cool but more than that this looks to me like a classic case of a player when he starts losing some of his athletic ability, mainly pace (not a strong point to begin with), isn't adjusting well and still tries to do what he can't quite do any longer, resulting in at times bad timing both when it comes to positioning and tackling.
Crucial stuff for a defensive player and normal Marquez strong points along with his very good, not least for a central defender, technical ability.
Ability over the years enabling him to also do well in midfield.

His range of passing especially, has always been very impressive and he has to be one of the best defenders in the world at that making him a great fit for the way Barcelona plays where any defender with below par technique could mess up that all important passing fluidity.

Since he was never the fastest or strongest in the first place and it's not really what his game has relied on over the years, losing some athleticism shouldn't have as many bad consequences as it has looked like it really did this season for Marquez, so I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't just early stages or decline panic and that Marquez sooner rather than later will adjust (cut down on the mistakes) and with all the non athletic class still intact, enjoy quite a few more years at a high level.

All in all though the defensive parts of his central defender play lately just hasn't been good enough to justify a much higher ranking.

126:

Nigel De Jong

Manchester City

Defensive midfielder - Netherlands



A pure defensive midfielder who doesn't offer much at all in attack.

I've noticed I've used the term two-way player quite a lot when describing various midfielders, well here finally is someone I can call a one-way player!

De Jong has one of the best work rates of everyone and his athleticism gives him good ball winning ability.

Importantly his short passing game is secure and he has good tactical movement consistently defending his position throughout a game.

He'll be a key player in Roberto Mancini's likely project of installing better defensive discipline or balance into what's mostly been a wild Manchester City side and also at the World Cup for Holland De Jong's defensive contributions will be vital playing behind plenty of attacking talent.

125:

Grafite

Wolfsburg

Striker - Brazil




The above goal wasn't only goal of the year in Germany it became kind a symbol or exclamation of Wolfsburg's incredible title run last season and the travesty that was Klinsmann's Bayern team. One team Wolfsburg had a great attack providing endless highlights. The other Bayern a defense that provided holes to whoever their opponents.

Now to be fair it should be said that in reality just about every Bundesliga defense was kind of like that last season as the league quite simply exploded with goals and attacking play.

But it was Wolfsburg through the brilliant trio of Misimovic, Dzeko and Grafite who was the best attacking team of all and provided goals galore with none less that 80 in all.

Grafite himself became league top scorer with 28, his partner Dzeko had 26 and playmaker Misimovic provided an incredible 20 assists

This season compared to all of that has been a disaster and while both Dzeko and Misimovic generally have shown good form on what's an incredibly inconsistent Felix Magath-less team, Grafite has really seen his form plummet and that he kind of came out of nowhere (or journey man career) at an advanced age to begin with could suggest a much lower ranking would be more correct.

Still, while Grafite will probably never reproduce anything like we saw last season and given that he is 31 would no doubt continue to drop in the rankings if indeed this list did become neverending (more than it is already!)he is still an impressive looking striker with excellent tools worthy I think of a spot.

His great strength (or should I say power) technique combination made him almost impossible to stop last season, isolated 1on1 with a defender it was impossible, and even when struggling this season it's something that still gives him 1 goal about every other game and from what I can see this effective skill combination of his looks as good as intact.

124:

Pablo Hernandez

Valencia

Winger - Spain



25 year old Pablo actually had his breakthrough a couple of seasons ago for Getafe and was even a contender for Spain's EURO 2008 squad, but following that when he came back to Valencia last season, where he had originally been a youth product, the right wing was still occupied by (mostly former) star Joaquin and Pablo saw limited playing time.

This season however Pablo impressively has managed to reverse those roles and it's him who is the first choice right winger at Valencia and in the process even winning a few hotly contested Spain caps.

Pablo is in many ways a typical wing, who unlike for an example even more talented teammates Juan Mata and not least David Silva, it is hard to see really excel more central in tighter space.
While he is a good dribbler he is not David Silva good and his pace is best used when there is space to exploit on the wing. He is far from a Theo Walcott though and is a much more complete player with plenty of excellent technical skills to use whenever he gets the ball. His first touch especially is exquisite.

Without the ball he is actually a hard working player who can pull his weight defensively, really valuably for a skillful winger I think, and that little bit of more robustness in his game plus the seemingly very common theme for Spanish skill players of very good team work, make him for the time being more complete than his younger maybe even more talented winger rivals, and is what has him ahead of the pack so far.

My one concern about him would be consistency. He started this season very well and I was ready to place him even higher but being very good every single game has lately turned into something like being good every other game and with some really bad performances also thrown in, actually opening a little door for some more playing time for Joaquin.

123:

Daniel Guiza

Fenerbahce

Striker - Spain


Guiza has been Spain's third choice striker (with a big gap to the obvious two) for quite a few years now but is hard to rank because for the second season running he plays his football for Turkish giants Fenerbahce where I have close to zero idea how he is currently doing.

His numbers alone of 16 goals last season and 16 so far this one I suppose look decent enough but perhaps to Fenerbahce fans quite the contrary and very disappointing if you consider Guiza joined them as the reigning top scorer in La Liga.

Anyway, without seeing him and the team in action they're not worth much standing alone and could have to do with all sorts of things depending on his role on what kind of team, their tactics and style.

Guiza is a hard working striker who is probably best with another striker or forward he can work together with. Complement and vise versa. I don't know if he has quite enough individual quality (physical or technical) to play alone up front and be an integral part of a really good attack.

However he does have just enough size and strength to be a threat in and around the box and also just enough acceleration in order to in typical good striker fashion be able to make good runs between defenders seeking passes from behind. I wouldn't say either of those departments are elite or anything but nonetheless it's a good combination to possess.

A Guiza specialty worth noting is his chipping ability, so goalkeepers be careful to step too far out or you gonna get chipped!

It does look like Guiza will make the Spain World Cup squad but I do think he has been surpassed as the third striker option by someone still to come and I would also think the earlier ranked Llorente with the size and strength he could bring should be a tempting option to at least have in your attacking arsenal.

122:

Ramires

Benfica

Midfielder/Winger



From one tough player to rank to the next!

First time I saw Ramires for Brazil I noticed what you usually notice about Brazilian players, some nice technical skills.

Then I was impressed by his running and how it looked like he fulfilled his defensive duties on the Brazil right wing quite well. There was definitely stamina and plenty of raw athleticism as well.

In the meantime Ramires made the move to European football joining Benfica and as the hype surrounding that team and its success started spreading, with Ramires a part of that (though a smaller part than teammate Di Maria), I was pretty sure Ramires had to make the list.

Not hurting either is my growing suspicion that roughly speaking it's Ramirez physique that Dunga will prefer for the World Cup over Elano's technique for the starting Brazil right central midfielder spot, but we shall see.

Less encouraging was when I watched Ramires against Liverpool over a couple of games where he didn't really impress in either of the two.

The work rate was definitely there but the technical skills didn't look as good as my earlier impression and not all that much dynamic play came from him either.

Still the suspicion of a very good player is just too strong. I've seen physical and technical ability. Two-way play and the impressive versatility meaning he can play different midfield roles.

The 200 best players in the world: 134 - 129

Introduction to the list

The list:

New order

200-195
200: Alberto Zapater - Genoa - Spain
199: Nikola Zigic - Valencia - Serbia
198: Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid - Spain
197: Lucio - Inter - Brazil
196: John Obi Mikel - Chelsea - Nigeria
195: Sergio Busquets - Barcelona - Spain
194-193
194: Philippe Mexes - Roma -France
193: Anatolij Tymoshchuk - Bayern München - Ukraine
192-189
192: Theo Walcott - Arsenal - England
191: Aaron Ramsey - Arsenal - Wales
190: Pepe - Real Madrid - Portugal
189: Sergei Semak - Rubin Kazan - Russia
188
188: Alberto Aquilani - Liverpool - Italy
187-185
187: Clarence Seedorf - Milan - Holland
186: Diego Capel - Sevilla - Spain
185: Yossi Benayoun - Liverpool - Israel
184-182
184: Riccardo Montolivo - Fiorentina - Italy
183: Kolo Toure - Manchester City -Côte d'Ivoire
182: Yuri Zhirkov - Chelsea - Russia
181-177
181: Martin Demichelis - Bayern Munich - Argentina
180: Marouane Fellaini - Everton - Belgium
179: Cristian Zapata - Udinese - Colombia
178: Tim Cahill - Everton - Australia
177: Paul Scholes - Manchester United - England
176-173
176: Arda Turan - Galatasaray - Turkey
175: Ezequiel Lavezzi - Napoli - Argentina
174: Klaas Jan Huntelaar - AC Milan - The Netherlands
173-170
173: William Gallas - Arsenal - France
172: Shaun Wright Phillips - Manchester City - England
171: Pavel Pogrebnyak - VBF Stuttgart - Russia
170: Darijo Srna - Shakhtar Donetsk - Croatia
169-167
169: Bojan Krkic and Pedro - Barcelona - Spain
168: Ronaldinho - AC Milan - Brazil
167: Tranquillo Barnetta - Bayer Leverkusen - Switzerland
166-163
166: Stiliyan Petrov - Aston Villa - Bulgaria
165: Amauri - Juventus - Brazil
164: Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool - The Netherlands
163: Bruno Alves - FC Porto - Portugal
162-160
162: Lorik Cana - Sunderland - Albania
161: Carlton Cole - West Ham - England
160: Lukas Podolski - FC Köln - Germany
159-155
159: Felipe Melo - Juventus - Brazil
158: Craig Bellamy - Manchester City - Wales
157: Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger - Palermo and Liverpool - Denmark
156: Alessandro Nesta -Milan-Italy
155: Aly Cissokho - Lyon -France
154-152
154: Walter Samuel - Inter - Argentina
153: Diego Lugano - Fenerbahce - Uruguay
152: Mauro Zarate - Lazio - Argentina
151-148
151: Sebastian Giovinco - Juventus and Luca Cigarini - Napoli - Italy
150: Taye Taiwo - Marseille - Nigeria, Rod Fanni - Rennes and Benoit Tremoulinas - Bordeaux - France
149: Domenico Criscito - Genoa - Italy
148: Fernando Llorente - Atletic Bilbao - Spain
147-144
147: Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Sebastian Veron, Lucho Gonzalez, Pablo Aimar and Javier Pastore - Boca Juniors, Estudiantes, Marseille, Benfica and Palermo - Argentina
146: Alexis Sanchez - Udinese - Chile
145: Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham - England
144: Gerard Pique - Barcelona - Spain
143-139
143: Raul Meireles, Porto - Joao Moutinho - Miguel Veloso, Sporting Lissabon - Portugal
142: Bacary Sagna - Arsenal - France
141: Eljero Elia - Hamburger SV - Netherlands
140: Marko Marin - Werder Bremen - Germany
139: Giuseppe Rossi - Villarreal - Italy
138-135
138: Raul - Real Madrid-Spain and Ruud Van Nistelrooy - Hamburger SV-Netherlands
137: Konstantin Zyryanov - Zenit Saint Petersburg - Russia
136: Simon Rolfes - Bayern Leverkusen - Germany
135: Ze Roberto - Hamburger SV - Brazil


134:

Mauro Camoranesi

Juventus

Right midfielder - Italy



Uh oh this was probably a mistake.

Back when I started this list Camoranesi was playing his best football in years and for a while at least was the best player on a very up and down Juventus team. The up part would soon disappear by the way.
The injury bug however soon caught Camoranesi again and as time went by I did move him down some, but here he is months later still not really having done anything since that good period of form and he should have been moved down more. Especially if you consider that his last few seasons haven't exactly been all that great either.

When healthy he is a feisty hard working player who is disciplined defensively but who is also really good technically and can even be creative going forward whether it's with a pass or most often a clever dribble. He also crosses the ball well.

That's enough talent for an even higher ranking but as his health has gotten worse with age his temperament and focus haven't really and he'll still make really bad decisions sometimes.

Kind of like me keeping his ranking this relative high!

Oh well hopefully he'll enjoy a good healthy spell from now on and while it's downright impossible to impress at Juve at the moment, hit some good form when the World Cup arrives.


133

Simone Perrotta

Roma

Midfielder - Italy



One of the most underrated players for much of the previous decade and a vital member of Italy's World Cup winning side four years ago starting every game.

Despite that though he wasn't even close to the list at first. Post World Cup 2006 Perrotta has not only aged but been plagued by injuries and with that is actually one the few 06 veterans that hasn't been in the national team picture recently.

This season however, to the great benefit of his club team Roma pushing for the title, is his strongest in years, and perhaps for one final time he is back being the Simone Perrotta of old.

A player not with great technical skills like any kind of passing out of the ordinary but someone who through a great work rate and strong tactical play (not least his outstanding movement offensively and defensively - that's where he is really special) is capable of performing strong two-way play in every midfield position. Be it attacking or defending, central or wide.

For teams emphasizing attacking without compromising the defensive side of things he is something of an ideal player. He'll work hard defensively and make all the right runs in transition. Then not miss a beat defensively.
Even in established attack if it's direct play his runs seeking passes in between defenders is a thing of beauty making him a decent goal scoring threat (yes between 5 and 9 goals for a midfielder every year is actually very good in Serie A!).

With those skills Perrotta was an important part of Spalletti's innovative Roma systems (like the 4-6-0) where the closest thing to a striker was Francesco Totti often dropping deep still reliving his younger playmaker days. Him and the team then needed people to make runs, not least forward, around him and no one did that better than Perrotta.

Curiously enough born in England, even though he hasn't been in the national team picture for a while, don't rule out a surprise World Cup comeback for Perrotta if can maintain his fitness.

For Italy that is...


132:

Marcelo

Real Madrid

Left-back/Left midfield

Brazil



Despite what a disappointing Champions League exit to Lyon in a closely contested tie might lead you to believe, Real Madrid this season is an excellent team.

After all they're neck and neck with the just about undisputed best team in the world Barcelona at 77 points and a goal difference of 57 after 30 games.
One better than Barca and an 8 point and 19 goal improvement if you compare to the same stage last season, where it should be said that in the league at least they were actually considered to be rolling to such an extent that towards later stages of what was Barcelona's historic improvement of a season, there were actually some Barca nervousness (paranoia) if Madrid like they had done before could sneak up on them and steal another title.

What happened instead of course was Barcelona in early May, at the Bernebau no less, completely putting any doubt to rest and destroying Real Madrid 6-2 in what was yet another magnificent performance.

At the time of writing they're facing each other in just three days and it of course can't be ruled out that history will repeat itself, but this time it's only early April+closer in the standings and if you consider Barcelona currently through lots of injuries really are seeing their depth put to the test, then even if Barca sets things straight and win, this more than ever clash of giants, a much strengthened Real Madrid could still end up stealing the title later focusing their vast resources on the league entirely while Barca once again will be busy playing and preparing for massive Champions League games.

I won't say Barcelona absolutely must beat Madrid again to retain the title but getting even the smallest of margins, with both teams so dominant, would certainly be very useful.

Of the various expensive Real Madrid additions to their squad some have been as good as advertised, some worse and others about what you would expect.
Of the players already in place, some have struggled and are seeing less playing time but then there are those who seemingly have lifted their game and fitted in very well with their new excellent teammates.

The most spectacular example of that (and he was already very good) is of course Gonzalo Higuain who has exploded with 24 goals in 20 games, but also Marcelo though more under the radar is enjoying his career best season and has shown, perhaps for the first time in 4 seasons at Madrid, where people are extremely hard to please, good enough play to be viewed as an actual strength to the team rather than a weakness.

A big part of that has been getting moved away from a position where he spent a good part of the time doing what he did worst. At left-back defending often one on one which is his clear weakness.

This season he has been moved up to midfield playing left-central in Pelligrini's flexible system often referred to as a 4-2-2-2.

There it's much less one on one defending, especially when he often has two excellent defensive midfielders (Alonso and Diarra) behind or around him and he is just another part of the team defending and staying disciplined occupying his left midfield position.
Again something easier than time and time again after an offensive raid playing as fullback having to track even further back only there to be caught up in difficult one on one matchups against whatever La Liga winger on the given day.

Instead in the 27 league games Marcelo has started (more than any other Real Madrid player) it's been his excellent technical skills and the quickness/flashiness he can use them with that's been on the forefront and with them (he leads the team in assists), perhaps surprisingly, he has become an important part of a very strong team, after being a weak link on a much weaker one.

Funny how football works sometimes.

131:

Christian Chivu

Inter

Defender/Midfielder - Romania



Not much funny about Christian Chivu's various injuries though and in a long career of many minor and some major his latest injury was his worst when he early this year fractured his skull.

Thankfully though he now has made it back and is just starting playing games again for Inter.

Back when Chivu first caught people's attention as a young player at Ajax, as I remember it, the sky was seen as the limit for Chivu and he was very highly regarded.

Here was a young player, a leader even, who looked very complete already and who could do a great job playing a number of positions. That's great value.

But Christian Chivu while a very good player for many years now I don't know if he ever became the major star that people thought he would become or improved even from when he first broke through.

Maybe at one of his positions with more experience he is better than ever, as a central defender, over time the preferred position (at least until Mourinho started liking him as his left-back), possibly cause injuries took away some of his pace and when playing midfielder or fullback these days he isn't very dynamic and in some ways is restricted to primarily defensive duties.
Duties that he fulfills well and even if he isn't dynamic he'll always have his great left foot and can contribute good things through that. On set pieces as well as a nice range of passing.

Still mainly what's edging him ahead of a lot players is that he will do a good (especially defensive) job as a left-back, central defender and defensive midfielder. Value.

130:

Simäo

Atletico Madrid

Winger - Portugal




Simao has been one of the better wingers in the world for a good part of the last 10 years but whenever a player much reliant on pace has hit 30 years of age and is having his worst season in a while you do wonder if he is starting to slip.

He still looks fast to me though and it could just be another one of those inconsistent spells that has plagued him for most of his career and I guess prevented him from reaching the very elite. We'll know soon enough anyway and obviously no matter what he will have far from 10 more years left as one of the better wingers around.

When at his best he is still fast, skillful and able to create for himself and others (passing and shooting), not just on either wing but in most of the attacking midfield area and he was an important part of Atletico's very exciting attack last season, that if it wasn't for Barca's even more spectacular exploits, probably would have received more attention.

He is another small somewhat fragile player that doesn't add much weight defensively. His work rate is good at times (perhaps especially for the national team) but even in the typical 4-2-3-1 systems where he has usually roamed protection from "only" two defensive midfielders haven't always been enough protection to keep things balanced.


129:

Marcell Jansen

Hamburger SV

Left-back/Left wing - Germany



So many Hamburg players and I'm starting to feel uneasy about the lack of especially Schalke and Dortmund players (and no there won't be any) who are both having stronger seasons than Hamburg, but I just couldn't find any great candidates on either of those teams, though I'm sure there are some who'll have a good case for a spot on the lower part of the list.

Marcell Jansen unfortunately suffered an ankle injury late March and it's unclear what his level of participation, if any, will be for the rest of the season.

Hopefully it's not something that will endanger his place in the Germany World Cup squad.

Jansen is unusually tall and strong for someone who has played both left-back and now mostly left wing but still has good pace and is a very dynamic player. An excellent combination!

For Hamburg he plays mostly as a left-winger where he can really make use of his great crossing ability. He is also a capable dribbler meaning that crossing ability definitely isn't going to waste.

While I would say his work rate is good I'm not sure he is as good defensively as someone with his non fragile physical ability perhaps ought to be at a position involving lots of two-way play.

Finally like a whole host of German midfielders at the moment he possesses a powerful shot.

The 200 best players in the world: 138 - 135

This without a doubt is the entry featuring the highest average age.

Introduction to the list

The list:

New order

200-195
200: Alberto Zapater - Genoa - Spain
199: Nikola Zigic - Valencia - Serbia
198: Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid - Spain
197: Lucio - Inter - Brazil
196: John Obi Mikel - Chelsea - Nigeria
195: Sergio Busquets - Barcelona - Spain
194-193
194: Philippe Mexes - Roma -France
193: Anatolij Tymoshchuk - Bayern München - Ukraine
192-189
192: Theo Walcott - Arsenal - England
191: Aaron Ramsey - Arsenal - Wales
190: Pepe - Real Madrid - Portugal
189: Sergei Semak - Rubin Kazan - Russia
188
188: Alberto Aquilani - Liverpool - Italy
187-185
187: Clarence Seedorf - Milan - Holland
186: Diego Capel - Sevilla - Spain
185: Yossi Benayoun - Liverpool - Israel
184-182
184: Riccardo Montolivo - Fiorentina - Italy
183: Kolo Toure - Manchester City -Côte d'Ivoire
182: Yuri Zhirkov - Chelsea - Russia
181-177
181: Martin Demichelis - Bayern Munich - Argentina
180: Marouane Fellaini - Everton - Belgium
179: Cristian Zapata - Udinese - Colombia
178: Tim Cahill - Everton - Australia
177: Paul Scholes - Manchester United - England
176-173
176: Arda Turan - Galatasaray - Turkey
175: Ezequiel Lavezzi - Napoli - Argentina
174: Klaas Jan Huntelaar - AC Milan - The Netherlands
173-170
173: William Gallas - Arsenal - France
172: Shaun Wright Phillips - Manchester City - England
171: Pavel Pogrebnyak - VBF Stuttgart - Russia
170: Darijo Srna - Shakhtar Donetsk - Croatia
169-167
169: Bojan Krkic and Pedro - Barcelona - Spain
168: Ronaldinho - AC Milan - Brazil
167: Tranquillo Barnetta - Bayer Leverkusen - Switzerland
166-163
166: Stiliyan Petrov - Aston Villa - Bulgaria
165: Amauri - Juventus - Brazil
164: Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool - The Netherlands
163: Bruno Alves - FC Porto - Portugal
162-160
162: Lorik Cana - Sunderland - Albania
161: Carlton Cole - West Ham - England
160: Lukas Podolski - FC Köln - Germany
159-155
159: Felipe Melo - Juventus - Brazil
158: Craig Bellamy - Manchester City - Wales
157: Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger - Palermo and Liverpool - Denmark
156: Alessandro Nesta -Milan-Italy
155: Aly Cissokho - Lyon -France
154-152
154: Walter Samuel - Inter - Argentina
153: Diego Lugano - Fenerbahce - Uruguay
152: Mauro Zarate - Lazio - Argentina
151-148
151: Sebastian Giovinco - Juventus and Luca Cigarini - Napoli - Italy
150: Taye Taiwo - Marseille - Nigeria, Rod Fanni - Rennes and Benoit Tremoulinas - Bordeaux - France
149: Domenico Criscito - Genoa - Italy
148: Fernando Llorente - Atletic Bilbao - Spain
147-144
147: Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Sebastian Veron, Lucho Gonzalez, Pablo Aimar and Javier Pastore - Argentina
146: Alexis Sanchez - Udinese - Chile
145: Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham - England
144: Gerard Pique - Barcelona - Spain
143-139
143: Raul Meireles, Porto - Joao Moutinho - Miguel Veloso, Sporting Lissabon - Portugal
142: Bacary Sagna - Arsenal - France
141: Eljero Elia - Hamburger SV - Netherlands
140: Marko Marin - Werder Bremen - Germany
139: Giuseppe Rossi - Villarreal - Italy

138:

Raul

Real Madrid

Forward - Spain


and

Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Hamburger SV

Striker - Netherlands




That at 32 years of age there are several much better strikers than Raul, club and country, doesn't make him a bad player.

The previous seasons when he was relative healthy and unlike now actually started games Raul proved that he is still a really good goalscorer netting 20+ in both of those seasons.

This season however he has only started 8 games in La Liga and there are even rumors he'll be leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season. On the one hand if he feels he still has something to offer (and my ranking would suggest so!) I can understand if he wants to go somewhere he can get more playing time, but of course on the other hand anything than having this unique (especially post-Bosman) undisputed legend/champion/symbol finish his career at the club where he since the age of 17 earned that status, just seems wrong.

Raul still has that will to win and technique that for years made him one of the best in the world but the pace that is so needed to go along with that is if not lost then definitely diminished.
He'll still work hard off the ball in the attacking midfield area but with the ball these days he doesn't have the pace to be an effective player there and even though his team work is as great as always he's never been what you would call a great creative player when removed from his striker position, which several coaches did over the years.
No these days once and for all his effectiveness has been reduced to the box area and even there with less pace, individually he just can't create like he used to (for an example his own shot so to speak) and is much more dependent of the work of others compared to back when he was at his best.

Now that's not a disaster or anything, it's the reality for most players, strikers too, it just means that Raul at 32 years of age is far removed from the excellent level the likes of Higuain, Torres or David Villa currently are displaying.

Doesn't make him a bad player.

Then what about the man they called horse-face?

Ruud Van Nistelrooy who I confess is a last second entry, thought of in the middle of the Ze Roberto writeup, the last of its kind definitely, who wasn't anywhere near the list when I first compiled it and didn't even get much closer through one adjustment after another. Is he a bad player cause with age he is having an increasingly hard time staying healthy?

Yes health is a skill and if your health is bad it seriously hurts your value to your team and naturally your rank on this list. In Nistelrooy's case so bad it meant he almost didn't make it.

However what he brings when he plays, all in all I think is just enough to justify including him. Justify a much higher placing than this with so few games under his belt in the last couple of seasons, absolutely not, but here at 138 with another former great player both spiraling down the ranks? It made sense to me at least, so here he is. I do feel bad about having him ahead of the top ranks in the new order but that's the case with a lot of players.

Why he is on I'm sure is known to anyone reading this. It's the same reason it's always been with Ruud. The only difference is the massive negative that is his health, but as usual when where and whenever he plays, he is an amazing goalscorer. Right up there with the best in the world and very few can even rival his work in the box where he just continues to be extraordinary.

I'm not saying even when healthy he is as good as he used to be. Serious injuries has robbed him of the pace that made him close to unstoppable for PSV and the first seasons for Manchester United where you would even see him dribble and create goals on his own machine-like, but strength, placement and finishing skills in the box have made sure that despite all the injuries whenever he has played the goals would always come.

And they'll keep coming I predict, which also has to do with him being included. After rehabbing like a man possessed to continue his career he found himself way down the pecking order when he finally did come back at Real Madrid. The situation Raul is also in. Nistelrooy however got out and has landed in what I think is a very good situation in Hamburg, both for him and his new team.

With a lot of attacking midfield and forward talent already in place, some to be found on this list, a great presence in the box is exactly what Hamburg needed. And for Nistelrooy what better way to enjoy the last time of his career than in an attacking league with the kind of service that almost guarantees a striker as good as him to rain in the goals. In the process it might even land him a World Cup spot and national team comeback?

The great challenge won't be scoring, that comes easy to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, it will be staying healthy.

137:

Konstantin Zyryanov

Zenit Saint Petersburg

Midfielder - Russia



I just couldn't let go of including this wonderful player on the list and the only reason he is not ranked higher is some last minute restraint.

The Russian Premier League players are hard to rank since it's not a league I watch other than in glimpses. Glimpses only occurring when national icon Michael Laudrup takes the Spartak hotseat and whaddayaknow suddenly football from Russia was on danish television! That didn't last very long though and here I am back in the dark.

There is no doubt though that it's a league that's become stronger and stronger for quite a while now. That obviously wouldn't happen without many good players so not having any on the list would seem like a mistake.

I included Rubin Kazan captain Sergei Semak as sort of a cadeau to that team's success and at the time of writing the great job they did against the best team in the world, Barcelona.

To be fair though Russia has a number of central midfielders at a similar level who would have a decent case for one of the lower places and then there is Ruben Kazan's best player and unanimous 2009 player of the year in Russia, Alejandro Dominguez, who has since perhaps unwisely switched to forward rich Valencia, he is someone who is still to come on the list.

2008 player of the year Zhirkov (Zyryanov incidentally was 2007) I included when he was yet to make his Chelsea debut and in the new order have him at 176. Likewise tank center forward Pogrebnyak also having his first season outside of Russia, he too made the list.

Other high profile former successful Russian premier league strikers with good cases are Vagner Love and Roman Pavluchenko. The latter was coming of a terrible start for his new club Tottenham and under new manager Harry Redknapp was yet to be given much of a chance. That has since changed and if I was to include him right now I think he could go as high as 160-159-158, or something like that.

If it was 2008 Vagner Love would be hard to overlook but if as he apparently did, started to slump or play bad in what is still a non top league, I don't think you should be included on this list.
Instead with seemingly almost every decent Brazilian player going the opposite direction he made his way back to his home country where of course I have even less of an idea how he is doing. Therefore all in all no Vagner Love on this list!

But of course these are all former Russian Premier League stars which I guess is pretty telling. It's when they leave we get a chance to watch them after all. Just think about how many years the highest ranked Russian player on this list, Arshavin played without getting noticed outside of Russia and Zyryanov (who I will get back to!) even worse sadly "already" 32 years of age and soon, if not already, declining, him I only got to see when Zenit started outplaying teams in Europe in 2007 and the national team under Hiddink finally stopped under achieving that same period.
Take this quote from Arsene Wenger about Arshavin (who he would later sign of course) during EURO 2008:

"Russia is the only country where a guy like him comes to the attention of the world at the age of 27. Suddenly, you discover him. It's not possible. You know every 21-year-old in France, Germany, Italy etc, but in this case we knew his name – but we had to see him play in a tournament like this."

But what about the current best players (other than Zyryanov!)?

Well other than Rubin Kazan who I've already covered and where Semak was also named defensive midfielder of the year, the obvious place to look would be CSKA Moscov who are enjoying a great Champions League run but then as these things often go had a subpar league run, finishing 5th.
The main creative force on that team seems to be Milos Krasic and it's possible he could end up as one of the big omissions on this list but from limited viewing he is still not a player I have a great idea of and how good really is. Other possible stars of the future would be Keisuke Honda and former Russian young player of the year, still only 19, Alan Dzagoev.

Back in their defense however I'm a little upset I missed out on what could have been the most correct shared ranking of all had I just included identical twin beasts Aleksei and Vasili Berezutski.

Also in defense quickly establishing himself as one of the better left-backs in the league 18 year old Georgi Schennikov looks really good especially going forward in a Zhirkov kind of way but has big holes in his defensive game.

Perhaps it should also be noted that Krasic wasn't even the best right winger in the RPL last season.
That honor goes to pacy Vladimir Bystrov who played a big part in Spartak Moscow's resurrection from recent nightmares and tellingly he was also the most fouled player in the whole league.
In the middle of Spartak's run though he would make an in season 15 million euro switch to Zenit (yes lots of money in Russian football), the club where he started his career. There his great form continued, maybe even improved, but I've seen some reports that it was that switch which cost him the player of the year award that instead went to Dominguez.

Zenit this season (just starting in Russia) managed by former Roma 4-6-0 revolutionary Luciano Spalletti, will have both Bystrov and Zyryanov (as well as Denisov who is another very good looking player AS WELL AS former Torino best well kept secret -actual good playmaker- Alessandro Rosina) and if I was in any way religious I'd be saving a little prayer that they'll get through Champions League qualification so we get to see whatever comes out of this very intriguing mix. As well as getting to see wonderful play from Zyryanov for perhaps the final time.

Thankfully indications are that he is still going strong. He was named left midfielder of the year for starteres! A place where I haven't seen him play all that much but he is a very versatile player and with Bystrov checking in on the right that's where we'll see him from now on I guess.

Zyryanov with his great stamina and work rate he has been able to take care of central midfield work throughout his career and with his vision, intelligence and ball control he'll also create from attacking midfield whether it's on the wing or central.

Zyryanov (Zyrianov or Zuruanov, I'm seeing all three out there) is a unique mix of complete central midfielder, wing and playmaker all rolled into one great player.

136:

Simon Rolfes

Bayer Leverkusen

Midfielder - Germany



The Leverkusen captain has really struggled with injuries lately and is having to come back from knee surgery twice between last season and now.
He started this season well enough and early on was another great influence in steering Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga table but then injury reappeared and late January he underwent a second knee operation.

That these troubles after years of game in game out service have surfaced during a World Cup year of course makes it extra bitter for Rolfes and I wonder if his place in the squad, let alone as the starting central midfielder he was establishing himself as, isn't now in serious danger.

Recent German national team central midfield mainstay Torsten Frings is long gone from contention, coach Joachim Löw has made that clear some time ago, but there is still plenty of competition from old names and new.
If we start with the oldest first, Michael Ballack, has slowly but surely seen the more defensive midfield roles mastered at Chelsea find their way onto the national team as well and even the younger but still national team veteran, Sebastian Schweinsteiger, for club team at least, is occupying more of a central midfielder role than before this season at Bayern München and doing well.

The most interesting of the younger names such as Sami Khedira and especially the more attacking midfielders such as Mesut Özil, Toni Kroos and the versatile Thomas Müller aren't direct competition for Rolfes, but they're still players it would (or should!) be tempting to make room for various places in the attacking midfield, by placing certain starters Ballack and Schweinsteiger further back.



To describe what Rolfes bring to the team I like this quote that I found from Raphael Honigstein:

Sometimes you feel that German football specifically invented this type of player to lull the competition into a false sense of security before a tournament ("They've got who in midfield? Ha, ha, ha. Oh bugger, they're in the semis again").

It might not look impressive, the balance his teamwork brings to a team but it's valuable.

Most impressive is probably Rolfes stamina that has to be one of the best around and it makes sense that he is known as a workhorse also when it comes to training. If that stamina and the impressive work rate and ground covered that comes with it is the reason he can do his job without being a so called "midfield destroyer" I don't know, but much more important anyway than flying around in tackles is being in the right defensive position. Actually if you do too much of the first it could easily be a sign of the latter lacking. That's not the case with Simon Rolfes and that's a good thing.

He isn't just a runner though but has enough skills to be a good two way player and perhaps most noteworthy his nice first touch passing game that's very valuable to the players mostly in front of him.

If it wasn't for his current injury problems he would be ranked higher and both Leverkusen and Germany will be better with a healthy Simon Rolfes.


135:

Ze Roberto

Hamburger SV

Midfielder - Brazil



A long time ago when he first arrived in Europe, Ze Roberto was a left-back and if I remember correctly at the time Brazil's second choice at that position.

Of course it just happened to be so that the team who signed him Real Madrid in their typical way of doing things not so sensible when it comes to transfers had already secured Brazil's undisputed number one at that position none other than Roberto Carlos.
Carlos of course would go on to have a great career at Real Madrid before losing his speed and towards the end fading badly.
Ze Roberto on the other hand went on to only play a handful of games for Madrid cause there just wasn't room for him, but perhaps in part thanks to Roberto Carlos stronghold of the left-back position, sought new territory in midfield, central and wing, and is still going strong now 13 years later aged 35.

Unbelievably after Ze Roberto left Real Madrid they signed another one of the best left-backs at the time Croatian Robert Jarni who had been excellent for years but also found himself behind Carlos.

Anyway to get back on track Ze Roberto has had a good long career in Germany with many seasons in both Leverkusen and Bayern München where he won four championships and over the years has even amassed 84 Brazil caps.

If this was last season where he was a most of the time starter on an underachieving Bayern side I probably would not have included an old player like Ze Roberto on this list and would question if he had that much more to offer at the highest level, but for his new team Hamburg he is having a very good season. Especially in the beginning he was quite sensational before getting injured but it's not like he is playing bad since coming back.

For a 35 year old he isn't slow but he is definitely more at ease in central attacking roles these days, and have been for a while, where he can exploit and find space not with great winger like pace, but through great technical skills and creativity. Those are definitely his main assets and always will be but to really function in a central midfield role, even if attacking, in a top European league, the work rate has to be there, defensively as well, and Ze Roberto still brings that which is impressive.

There was some controversy when he missed a mid-season training camp like Brazilians heading back to Europe after visiting home sometimes do, but the lazy Brazilian football player cliche isn't one you can put on Ze Roberto. He is in excellent condition and puts it to use.