The 200 best players in the world: 67 - 62

This one got a little delayed unfortunately but other than that not much to say other than I hope to have the next update posted some time tomorrow. Maybe just maybe reach the top 50 even. We shall see.


Introduction to the list

200 - 101 (and every writeup+honorary mentions)

100 - 95
100: Jose Bosingwa - Chelsea - Portugal
99: André-Pierre Gignac - Toulouse - France
98: Andrés Guardado - Deportivo La Coruna - Mexico
97: Ricardo Carvalho - Chelsea - Portugal and Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United - England
96: John Terry - Chelsea - England
95: Mark Van Bommel - Bayern München - The Netherlands
94-83
94: Alejandro "Chori" Dominguez - Valencia - Argentina
93: Claudio Marchisio - Juventus - Italy
92: Michael Carrick - Manchester United - England
91: Darren Fletcher - Manchester United - Scotland
90: Miralem Pjanic - Lyon - Bosnia-Herzegovina
89: Santi Cazorla - Villarreal - Spain
88: Samir Nasri - Arsenal - France
87: Luis Suarez - Ajax - Uruguay
86: Mario Balotelli - Inter - Italy
85: Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina - Italy
84: James Milner - Aston Villa - England
83: Mikel Arteta - Everton - Spain
82-77
82: Thierry Henry - Barcelona - France
81: Thomas Müller - Bayern München - Germany
80: Ivica Olic - Bayern München - Croatia
79: Branislav Ivanovic - Chelsea - Serbia
78: Nemanja Vidić - Manchester United - Serbia
77: Giorgio Chiellini - Juventus - Italy
76-68
76: Marcos Senna - Villarreal - Spain
75: Lass Diarra - Real Madrid - France
74: Francesco Totti - Roma - Italy
73: Antonio Di Natale - Udinese - Italy
72: Emmanuel Adebayor - Manchester City - Togo
71: Mirko Vucinic - Roma - Montenegro
70: Antonio Valencia - Manchester United - Ecuador
69: David Pizarro - Roma - Chile
68: Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United - Bulgaria


67:

Juan Manuel Vargas

Fiorentina

left-back/left-winger - Peru



Dynamite two-way player with a fantastic left foot.

After being moved from left-back to left-wing before last season, giving him more attacking freedom he really broke through and is still regularly put in connection with big clubs, not least Real Madrid.

He is pretty fast, really strong and works very hard both on the attack and when defending.

His left foot is capable of some of the hardest deliveries known to man and obviously with that kind of thunder in his boots, the shooting ain't too bad either.
I've also witnessed some impressive accurate long range passes coming from him. His short passing game on the other hand, doesn't really stand out as anything special.

Even though he has good enough control to maintain nice speed with the ball at his feet when on the move, he isn't really the kind of winger well capable of dribbling past opposing backs using flair, he will get his great deliveries in consistently though making him effective.

Being a good left-back as well puts him just ahead of another very effective hard working winger like Valencia (who has more upside though) and even if Vargas isn't quite as fast, his defending sets him apart.


66:

Robinho

Manchester City

Attacking midfielder/Winger - Brazil




Easily one of the most talented attacking players in the world. So much so that it has taken quite the history of self destruction by him in order to not hold a (much) better ranking.

When he has the ball he is so good it's almost impossible to stop him from racking up the goals and assists over a season, but like similar immensely talented ball artists, Cassano and Ronaldinho, he always seems to walk a fine line between actually helping or hurting his team.

Without the ball he is very inconsistent but when his team is in possession at least, still nowhere near as bad as the older Ronaldinho (both curiously enough tagged by none other than Pele as cocaine users in one of the few interesting statements ever coming out of the great one's mouth), but defensively both for Real Madrid and Manchester City he has been consistently hopeless which just isn't good enough for someone often occupying a wing.

This like Cassano would suggest a more protected role behind a lone striker and in front of a defensive midfield would be better but Robinho perhaps doesn't have kind of 'fantasia' creativity in tight space central, especially when it comes to passing which has to be excellent to thrive there, and instead is better with space coming from out wide using his pace and his spectacular dribbling ability. Even if that ability, as everyone knows, is sometimes overdone.

By the way, on that note for plenty of thoughts on the difference between Italian style fantasisti and Brazilian style choreographed dancing this article offers some interesting perspective.

It also seems like on the surface everything point towards Robinho actually having the physical capability to put in work defending his wing well. Why not him when just about every other good winger in the current game does it?
I'm sure they don't exactly love it all that much either but they're professionals paid to do a job for their team.

Naturally some are better at it than others which there are many examples of throughout this list, as well as often being important enough to be the deciding factor in who I think is the better overall player.

That Robinho at times (maybe even most of the time) for the well organized Dunga Brazil team did put in something resembling the required effort just makes it all the more frustrating when he doesn't and further suggest unprofessionalism on his part. Despite all the talent, to get much higher on this list, that's something that sooner rather than later will have to change.


65:

Patrice Evra

Manchester United

left-back - France



Maybe the best left-back in the world. He has good control and passing ability. Great pace and stamina. Plenty of strength spiced up with lots of aggression.

He was very good going forward from day one arriving at United and that is still where his true strength lies. He will go up and down the line all game and occupy left-midfield, making numbers, be a constructive part of possession and helping his team as well as almost any other fullback.

Defensively he has steadily improved over the years to become a good defender and I think it's rare for an example that he is caught out of position. He is also a strong tackler but I don't think quite as good a one on one defender as for an example Ashley Cole. Not as comfortable as him either (but better than most fullbacks) when doing more centre-back type of defending (ground and lot least air) whenever that's required in the box.

All in all, perhaps the best left-back in the world. But not quite on my list.


64:

Michel Bastos

Lyon

Attacking midfielder/Winger/Left-back - Brazil



No he is not a Robinho clone since he is a lot more versatile, offers more teamwork and also does not possess the same attacking talents with the notable exception of his great shooting and set piece expertise which always means a good amount of goals.

In the 2008/2009 season playing for Lille he took the league by storm racking up assists and spectacular goals with his excellent left foot.
Had it not been for an even more outstanding season from Yoann Gourcuff in a beautiful titanic effort leading Bordeaux to the title, breaking the Lyon stronghold, he could easily have been player of the year.

This year for a Lyon team that much of the season struggled to find its feet wasn't as good. They came good in the end but in the meantime Bastos had been used all over the place, not unusually benched in Ligue 1 then starting in the Champions League, in different roles and positions and his form was at times uneven.

I'm not even sure where he is best. From the left-wing where he has had most of his success he can provide great deliveries into the box but it's not like he has the blazing speed and dribbling ability to take advantage of space as best as possible (or as the true elite) and torment an opposing fullback. He might actually have better odds at that moving into space in overlaps from a leftback role coming from further back, we saw that for Brazil, but there his defending isn't top notch.

He is probably at his best if not parked permanently out left but for an example in a 4-2-3-1 has someone in attacking central midfield he can switch around with, or on the opposite wing for that matter, and be versatile. Just so his game doesn't become too focused on beating a fullback one on one, but puts an element of being a good goal scoring threat into his game as well, in good shooting positions central or cutting inside from the right, where he of course can be very dangerous.
15 goals in all competitions in a season not unanimously seen as good, I think speak volumes of how effective he can be.

To conclude, Bastos is a very good versatile allround player with a great left foot but other than that not quite with the kind of flair and creativity you usually associate with the best players from Brazil.
What in my book puts him ahead of some of those, and other talented attacking players behind him on the list, is his team work, including ability to be part of a team defense but also good decision making and work rate without the ball in attack. When you add that to what his left-foot produces of goals and assists, you have a very effective player.

63:

Seydou Keita

Barcelona

Midfielder - Mali



For quite a few years known as very good defensive midfielder. That alone being something which would have earned him a decent ranking on my list.

But ignoring whether I was late to the Keita party or not, helped along by all that tika-taka Barca stuff, this season he has gone up quite a lot in my estimation with some excellent two-way midfield displays.

It makes sense that he is able to do it. He has great stamina, is strong with balance and has always been good on a technical level as well whether it's passing or control. He also has the intelligence to know where to be. That's mostly been when defending, but that he now makes well timed runs forward too makes sense then and if Barcelona didn't happen to spend all their time in the opponent's half you could even refer to him as box-to-box!

In a way this progress has been aided by other people's problems.

Henry completely collapsed meaning Iniesta (he himself often struggling or out with poor form) got games as left-forward rather than left-central midfielder (thankfully for Barca there was also the emergence of Pedro) so there were holes to fill right there left central in midfield, -rather than central itself where Busquets now was breaking through- and Keita proved to be just the right man for the job being a more dynamic player than for an example another (not so) potential contender, Yaya Toure, who can't move into open space out wide like the quicker Keita.

Basically here is a complete midfield two-way player. Those could very well be my favorites. I guess rest of the list must be (better be!) really special...

62:

Javier Zanetti

Inter

Right and left-back/Midfielder - Argentina



Quite simply a force of nature. He plays every game every year. Has probably had one semi serious injury in the last fifteen and that was 10 years ago when he only played 29 of the league games...
He has missed just two league games in the last four seasons at an advanced age.
7 of the last 8 seasons he has played 50 games or more, rarely if ever as a substitute, and almost never badly. If ever at all. He is one of the most consistent players around. He is 36 years old. The oldest on the list.

He has great stamina and is seemingly never tired. When he plays fullback he still gets up and down the line and if he is midfielder, more common in recent years, he defends well and still makes those trademark (Il Trattore) tractor style runs forward with cannot be rocked balance, the ball glued to his feet. At 36 he is still somehow a dynamic player.

First time I saw him was early 1995, the first Confederations Cup being played (then actually less prestigious than it is these days) and the final between Argentina and Denmark.

Denmark had the Laudrups and Argentina still young ones such as Ariel Ortega, Batistuta, Ayala etc etc and then there was Zanetti who's class immediately stood out. He had made his debut late 1994 post the Argentina/Maradona World Cup collapse in America that year.

At this point he was an exciting right-winger who with pace and skill gave Denmark all kinds of problems and if I remember correctly one year later for the incredibly exciting and talented Argentina 1996 Olympic silver medalist team (but with respect to the gold medalists Nigeria by far the best, they had Ayala, Chamot, Ortega, Crespo, Simone, Sensini, Claudio Lopez, Delgardo, Almeyda and Gallardo,) it was similar though looking at those names it's possible he was right-wingback with Chamot, Sensini and Ayala the central defenders. He was very attacking I do remember that.

In the following years for Inter that was also his role. Under ever changing coaches they had many spells where they played 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 if you will and during those years, where they just could not win, whether he was a wing-back in one of the above systems or fullback in a back-four, in my mind it was always between him and Cafu for the title as the best right-back in the world.

Unfortunately for Zanetti he was "stuck" on both an underachieving club and national side, while Cafu even at Roma won a Scudetto and then there was his highly praised work, and the trophies to show for it, for Brazil and later AC Milan.


Cafu therefore understandably got the more attention and was of course an excellent, one of the best ever, right-backs, but was he a better player than Zanetti?

Personally I think it's up in the air but towards the end of Cafu which coincided with Zanetti starting to play other positions I do think Il Capitano as Inter fans call Zanetti, was the more complete and better player. And I won't rule out that he was in fact all along.

Of course Inter would later get the current best right-back in the world Maicon and as he came into his own (himself a former winger) Zanetti started to play most of his games in midfield, either as a defensive midfielder or right-central midfielder in a diamond during the Roberto Mancini years.

He was now at a point. A point he is still at where he could do a great job in several positions and as Jose Mourinho took the Inter seat, that is what he did, right, left, center, midfield or defense leading the team to great triumphs culminating of course this year with the European Cup and treble.



Mourinho who after his first season in charge said this:

"The player who surprised me the most was Zanetti. His passport cannot be telling the truth (claiming he's 35), it must be ten years out, he's incredible,"

He is indeed incredible and when I started this list I really didn't think I would rank him this high. But as the season went along he just kept proving again and again that he was still going strong, showing no signs of slowing down yet another season at an advanced age defying nature, and then his amazing physical ability, good technique, intelligence, leadership and not least unique versatility makes him one of the better players in the world.

World Cup 2010 Best of round 1: First team

No the list isn't dead but any hope of finishing it before the World Cup obviously is...

Right now I'm living and breathing the World Cup 24/7 so realistically I don't know how likely new list entries will indeed be. Probably not all that likely to be honest.

I might write something about the World Cup though, but already do plenty on forums or blogs...

But what I will and can do (right now) with every country having been in action is put down my 1st round of fixtures all star team. A first and a second team of the players and coaches I think have been performing the best.

I'll compile these teams for each round of fixtures right till the very finish with the final itself and the 3rd place game.

By then of course there won't be many performers left to choose from but hopefully at the end, if nothing else just by looking at who has the most Long throwins all star entries, we'll have a very good idea of who (according to me!) the real stars have been this World Cup.

It also goes without saying that the accompanying writeups will be a nice excuse to put some thoughts down on both players, teams and matches that have been played.

FIRST TEAM:


Goalkeeper:

Vincent Enyeama - Nigeria



A number of keepers made bad errors these opening matches. Enyeama made none and then quite simply, and quite clearly I think, was the keeper with the highest number of spectacular and difficult saves to keep his team in a match were they were under a lot of pressure.

The Nigeria team recently taken over by longterm Sweden national coach Lars Lagerbeck didn't really yet look like one of the rigid 4-4-2 Sweden teams. One those that put a stop to Bielsa's exciting 2002 Argentina team. Something for which Lagerbeck rightly feels proud.

This however was a far cry from that and there were plenty of holes between the Nigerian defensive lines to exploit for the Argentinian attackers, and more than anything it was down to Enyeama that Nigeria stayed alive in the match right until the very end.

Unfortunately for Nigeria though that didn't result in them getting a point, but that's no fault of Enyema who was outstanding.

Left-back:

Phillipp Lahm - Germany



Contrary to the right-back position I had enough trouble finding excellent left-back candidates, that I'm going to cheat and put the best right-back in the first round, on the left instead.

On that note I've always felt Lahm was more excellent on the left anyway.

I'm not sure why exactly but it could be that I don't really see Lahm as the type of fullback who is relying on being dynamic or athletic limiting himself almost to the type of play where the great fullback-life objective is to deliver crosses into the box from his natural right side, not that there is anything wrong with that, but Lahm is more than that.

I like him more getting lots of touches, including cutting inside more central, and with his excellent technique and intelligence be very involved in possession. Then good things happen.

That can happen on the right as well of course but I just feel he is more of a standard fullback out there, while on the left his craftsmanship makes him unique.

With all that being said though, playing on the right he definitely had a very good start to this World Cup.

He defended with his usual class (when it comes to defending actually I do think it's safe to say he is more comfortable on the right) and in true Lahm style he was consistently able to occupy the right-midfield and there, like I just talked about what I love from on the left, with skills and intelligence make great (or simply very constructive) contributions whenever Germany were in possession.

Centreback:

Antolin Alcarez - Paraguay

Italy didn't really have trouble getting the ball in and around Paraguay's box area in the sides 1-1 draw and I thought clearly won the midfield battle in front of a defensive line pushing high up.

Where they didn't win however, despite wide forwards moving central to increase pressure further, were the individual matchups against the Paraguay defenders.

Alcarez in particular was good and while scoring a good goal, which he also did, isn't a qualification itself, it certainly doesn't hurt!

Centreback:

Isaac Vorsah - Ghana



In Ghana's match against Serbia he completely matched giant opposing striker Zigic in strength and outplayed him in all other areas, taking completely out of Serbia's game what playing with two strikers was perhaps the only getaway for their outnumbered - under pressure midfield.

From early on it was apparent that feeding Zigic with longer passes was going to get them nowhere and instead Zigic was forced on an uncomfortable mission seeking passes further back in midfield, away from where his true strengths are, trying to help out his midfield in different ways.
Predictable to no avail though and Ghana could control most of the match. When Antic finally acted and brought on Lazovic a player providing different movement than big Zigic and potentially able to help out the outgunned midfield, it proved too late with a red card soon after and then Ghana scoring with Serbia not able to come back.

All in all then a clear effect on winning the game by a centreback. I like it.

Right-back:

Maicon - Brazil



Many good candidates here and I'm gonna mention them when I get to the 2nd. team.

Lahm was probably the best but like I said I'm cheating and placing him on the left, which then leaves Maicon as the right-back prime candidate.

There really isn't a more dominating right-back in world football and after a slow start to the season he has been back to his best for a while now, marauding up and down the right wing, with not least power, but good skills as well.

In a largely uninspired Brazilian performance against a North Korea team showing exemplary team work it was from Maicon's qualities that Brazil were at their most dangerous throughout and eventually where they broke the deadlock as well through an extraordinary goal.

I have a feeling this won't be his last appearance.

Midfielder:

Sebastian Schweinsteiger - Germany



The versatile midfielder has played a new deeper central role all season and with Ballack missing out on injury it was "Schweini's" time to take control.

In midfield for Bayern he has helped control games all season and predictably enough Australia were not the team who was going to put a stop to it.

Hard working, disciplined combined with decent skills from his attacking midfielder background and then that very good range of passing means this probably won't be Schweinsteiger's last appearance either.

Midfielder

Ji Sung Park - South Korea :



Fantastic trademark two-way performance. Park controlled central midfield outworking and outplaying any nearby Greeks and then in his usual relentless style managed to contribute just about everywhere else both attacking and defending. Can't ask for more and don't need to.

Attacking midfielder:

Mesut Özil - Germany



Already a star in the Bundesliga and just like that, one World Cup match performance doing what he usually does, and now a star everywhere!

Supremely gifted playmaker who creates and scores goals.

Right-forward:

Alexis Sanchez - Chile



He did all the things I was hoping to see for Chile and with a striker presence around him which was lacking in Chile's first game, unfortunately Suazo was out injured, I think Sanchez can be even better.

Like I said in the profile of him in that "2oo best players in the world entry, this is a cannonball of a player. Very explosive and skilled making him a persistent danger in Chile's dynamic attacking game.

He is also very hard working and therfore also a real defensive asset in Bielsa's high pressing game where he'll often win the ball back quickly.

Left-forward:

Lukas Podolski - Germany

As always he is coming of yet another terrible club season but as soon as he puts on the Nationalmannschaft jersey he becomes great. Go figure!

No I don't really think it's some strange psychological effect. Overall he is just a great fit for the way Löw wants to play and many of the players surrounding him. Not least Klose of course.
Though that doesn't explain then, as I remember it anyway, that when they were together at Bayern, Podolski still wasn't able to perform.

So yeah, maybe after all this born Pole is just a great German patriot saving himself for national duty!

Forward:

Lionel Messi - Argentina



This was Messi's best performance in an Argentina shirt for a long time.

Probably the best ever for Maradona, by some distance, and while it may not have been anything extraordinary by Messi's own godly standards, I think it's fair to reward him for finally getting over that very frustrating hurdle.

With two other forwards in the Argentina lineup (both Higuain and Tevez) there were finally somewhat similar conditions to Barcelona with people around Messi making runs, being threats, being dynamic with their movement, creating space so that Messi himself could work himself into positions where he was fronting the goal.
Messi consistently with his back to the goal is just something that should make everyone who loves football sad and it seems finally Maradona (or Bilardo) had seen enough.

Now unlike at Barca there isn't a Xavi to find him like that almost anywhere no matter where he is, in comparison Argentina's passing game is much slower (thank you Veron), so sometimes he had to come quite deep before he would get it. The truly amazing thing though was that almost where ever he would receive the ball, just as long as he was fronting the goal, with skill and pace, he was able to create a dangerous situation for himself or someone else. Time and time again. From out wide or some way back central, it somehow never failed. No one else in the world could have done that. He has to be on the team.

Coach:

Ottmar Hitzfeld - Switzerland



We just saw Switzerland pull of a great upset by beating Spain. I don't really know if what we saw were true defensive greatness or just the day where everything went well for the Swiss and the final touch never for Spain.

No matter what though, it was a very good defensive performance and no doubt organized by the veteran master on the sidelines.

Stopping the World Cup favorites who have gone from victory to victory and doing it with exactly the same tactics that so many have tried yet in the end failed with, IS an achievement. No matter what.
Therefore it just has to be Hitzfeld then, who steals the 1st team coach spot on the last day.

I'll post the perhaps more interesting 2nd team tomorrow.

The 200 best players in the world: 148 - 144

Another update featuring not least 5 Argentinians sharing one ranking, and no that won't happen again.

There will be a couple of more spots shared by two players and then in the top 100 it's all one player per spot. I swear!

That five player shared spot took quite a bit of time to write and it also includes all kind of talks about Argentina and Messi, so the following writeups are a little shorter.

I've also decided that either when the list is done or maybe when I get to 100, to fix the 200-144 order. For reasons already touched upon, and perhaps already predicted back in the introduction, the lower ranked order has become pretty messed up.

The list so far:

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:

A bunch of veteran Argentinian playmakers + a young one.

Juan Roman Riquelme - Boca Juniors



Juan Sebastian Veron - Estudiantes

and

Pablo Aimar - Benfica




Lucho Gonzalez - Marseille


Filming, not Aimar and Veron, but someone's finger!

And finally the kid

Javier Pastore - Palermo



Riquelme and Lucho have been on the list all along. Then one after another (of the others) entered the picture and I had to stop when I suddenly found myself researching "El Burrito" Ariel Ortega as well! Who I haven't seen play in years and these days apparently have alcohol rehab clauses in his contracts...

The biggest reach of this group could be Juan Sebastian Veron and incidentally he is the only one likely to play for Argentina at the World Cup.

When I first saw that he was an integral part of Diego Maradona's Argentina at 35 years of age I had a difficult time seeing any positives and I'm still very skeptic thinking it's a huge step backwards when considering the superior Argentinians out there, players who are still to come on this list, but to be fair to Veron he is actually playing pretty well.
Likely he is still too high on this list though and something of a reach but when I felt Pablo Aimar had to be included Veron just had to come along too. Otherwise he would feel left out!


As I remember it, back in the day for Sampdoria, his first club in Europe, Veron was quite the attacking midfielder and very dynamic one at that (completely unlike now) making great forward runs and looking very strong while doing it. I remember one of the very first descriptions I read of him in an old Goal magazine was that this guy was like a powerful race track horse with all his running.
Behind that description must have been tireless Serie A fan Kristian Borrel who was the only worthwhile thing about it in and who I just want to add on a further sidenote I will always be grateful to for his massive Serie A previews where he went through the defense, midfield, attack and coaching on every single team. I definitely didn't agree with everything but it was rare (and still is in a language I can understand anyway) to see something so thorough that also offered opinion and ambitiously tried to analyze tactics,coaches and players.

Anyway those early Veron impressions didn't really offer much of a glimpse of any great passing or playmaking coming coming from him but it's possible Sampdoria at the time played very direct mostly counter attacking and that's the reason the game he since became so known for got masqueraded.
Interestingly I think to a lesser extent it could be argued that there were similar circumstances at play years later when he was seen as something of a flop at Manchester United.

At his next club Parma (where he was a key player in wining a back then very strong UEFA Cup. Sometimes arguably stronger than the Champions League) and certainly the following seasons at Eriksson's Lazio (where he was perhaps THE key player in winning the Scudetto) and for the national team at the same period, was where we saw the "real" Veron.
A player with a very good work-rate who was a great distributor in midfield.

I think the best description I can come up with of my impression of him at the time was that due to his running he was always in good position to get the ball and when he got it he would always make some kind of good pass. I think if you compare him to prime Riquelme or Pablo Aimar it wasn't as much in the final third where he would consistently create or dictate, that's what Manchester United was looking for him to do and he could do that some but not enough at a high enough level like those other two and definitely not dribbling at great speed like Pablo Aimar, or anything like that, but conducting possession in midfield, the longer the possession (and from deeper) the better almost, that's where he would excel.

Now when I see him, though he has slowed down some, I still see decent work rate and movement making sure he is an passing option and the passing skills and ball control is obviously still there.
There is just less pace, and there wasn't even that much to begin with, and generally his play just isn't very dynamic. Maybe that wouldn't be a problem if he was still playing from deep in midfield and just covering ground there but from what I've seen his current role for Argentina is very much as an attacking midfielder and he just isn't much of a threat there at all, himself, when space is tight.
I think it's great in theory that whoever the skill players for Argentina will be up front (of the many still to come on this list only Messi is certain) can have Veron as an ever present wall almost that they can play against and have the ball bounce back, but it does leave them with huge responsibility to make great runs and create almost any dynamic themselves.

Apparently in South America these days Veron does a lot more. He's been South American player of the year twice while in his 30s and I can see he has a pretty good goal scoring record for his club team, but from what I've seen so far on the national team there isn't much more than solid passing coming from him.
No decisive passes or runs in narrow space and I'm not sure that's enough from an attacking central midfielder for a wannabe World Cup contender.

Not helping is that Messi for Maradona's Argentina is more of a second striker operating centrally than he is for Barcelona, paradoxically resulting in fewer goals. For Barcelona Messi has space to create on his own. There are two more forwards and there are dynamic midfielders. For Argentina the midfielder is non dynamic Veron and there is only one more forward. Instead there are a couple of wingers, one of those Di Maria on the left could be a good forward in 3-forward line but on the right (English first division star!) Jonas Gutierrez spends way too much time occupying the space Messi could fill so much better.
Basically the less Messi finds himself playing with his back to the goal, the better. It's when he is facing the goal that virtually anything is possible! Taking away any amount of time Messi is facing the opposition goal just can't be a good thing.
20 something years ago similar was the case with Maradona himself, now here he is messing Messi up, WHY?


Unlike Veron, one that was always very dynamic, and I'm largely guessing still is (or he wouldn't be on the list) is Pablo Aimar.
In his heyday he was the important creative spark for Rafa Benitez Valencia side that won two La Liga titles and the Uefa Cup.

Then darker times followed struggling with fitness but he still had at least one season for Zaragoza where together with compatriots Diego Milito and Andres D'Alessandro under the attacking guidance of Victor Sanchez, where he once again was spellbinding.

Still only 30 a lot of indications suggest that Aimar is having one of those spells or close to it at least once again (but sadly maybe for the last time so this is kinda a reward) at Benfica, this time with players such as Di Maria, Ramirez and Saviola, who currently are showing some of the best attacking football in Europe.

With his great speed and ball control even in the tightest of spaces Aimar is exactly the kind of player who can make such an attack click.

As far as more traditional playmaking ability goes when it comes to passing he is different than Riquelme and Veron, in that he has so much better acceleration and is such a dribbling threat, that his passing is mostly short and direct in quick combination attempts with others meant to take advantage of just that.

His obvious weaknesses are everything physical. At similar height Messi for an example is a powerhouse compared to Aimar.

That's not a problem that Lucho Gonzalez has. He is probably the least talented of these Argentinian playmakers. So much so that you could say when comparing him directly to them actually calling him a playmaker is a stretch.

He can't be the flashy spark that is Pablo Aimar at his best or control a team like Riquelme or Veron, but he is more of a complete player who is a very good attacking midfielder.
He has good technical ability including great passing skills plus the very good work rate (that puts the others to shame) and pace that makes him a threat without the ball making runs coming from behind. He also has a really good shot.

This season is his first at Marseille and with probably more defensive duties than what he was used to at Porto where he was El Comandante leading them to league glory, it's not like he has taken everyone at Stade Velodrome by storm through (the perhaps anticipated) attacking contributions, but unlike the others where if that didn't happen they wouldn't have much value at all, with Lucho Gonzalez you still get a really good team player.

Joining these veterans is 20 year old Javier Pastore . He is the rare extremely talented Argentinian player who IS NOT getting the new Maradona tag thrown at him or even the latest disturbing trend, the new Messi tag. No instead, and I'm not really sure if it's any better, Pastore is often referred to as the new Kaka!

They're similar in build and one can hope it's only a matter of time before Pastore starts using that better and adds more physical elements to his play. The potential is certainly there and there really is no reason to play like you're 170 when you're actually just short of 190!

More good news for Pastore is that when it comes to passing and general creativity he is actually showing things that Kaka mostly doesn't have in his game.
From standing still positions he can actually make plays and shows many signs of good vision.

Standing still is also a problem though. To become a great player he needs more tempo in his game and has to make better runs both with and without the ball. He will probably never be the fastest of guys and it's not realistic to expect that he can somehow add the burst of speed that a big guy like Kaka somehow has (or had uh oh) but simply by becoming stronger and get better balance, I think could do wonders if added to his extraordinary technical skills.

In many ways it's extremely impressive what he can do standing still while under pressure and again it's the size/skill combination that does it but it's when he hopefully starts doing it more while on the move that he'll become a great player.

He was actually called up for Argentina's recent friendly against Germany but didn't get to debut and isn't likely to go to the World Cup either. Nor do I think he should but with Maradona you just never know.

Last but not least we have Boca Juniors legend Juan Roman Riquelme.

They really don't make them like Riquelme anymore. He is an old school passing maestro number 10 80s style who doesn't do anything when his (and in Riquelme's case I really do mean HIS) team isn't in possession and when they have the ball lots of the play will go through him and his impulses on the given day.

He's been back in Argentina for a few years now and it's a long time since I've seen him play so I really don't know what his level is currently. It's possible he should be even higher and it's possible he should be much lower.

What I do know is that his game relies less on athleticism than almost anyone and even if he's declined in those areas it's not the greatest loss.

I do think it's important that he at least has a work rate meaning good movement when his team is in possession.
When at his best for Villarreal that added a good goalscoring dimension to his game. It wasn't just awesome free kicks and penalties and before their fallout he was like a fish in water (not just making it better) but benefiting from Pelligrini's flexible possession system.

Riquelme is pretty slow, lazy and not strong at all. But he is a superb technician with great passing skills and radar vision to go with it making him one of the best playmakers of his generation and in many ways the last one of his special kind standing.
He was never willing to make any tactical sacrifices, change his role or playing style or try to improve even to fit in with how the game has been changing. A unique player.

146:

Alexis Sanchez - Udinese

Winger - Forward

Chile


Sanchez despite great displays here and there hasn't really made his mark just yet in Serie A. Partly due to injuries and partly having to adjust. In South America though, even at only 21, he has already been a sensation and star for quite few years, and could if things go well for Chile become one of the stars at the World Cup.

It's for Chile you really see the best of him and occupying the right wing where he fits right into coach Bielsa's tactics.
With his explosiveness (few are faster on the first meters) and skill (in Sanchez case cannonball of a player is a very fitting description) he is a constant threat going forward in their fast paced passing game and through his strength and great energy he is a very needed weapon defensively in a pressing game so high up the pitch, featuring tons of individual defending, that it can sometimes look like full court pressure in basketball!

It's possible that's something that will get punished at the World Cup but it's definitely fun to watch and so different from what you usually see in Europe. Perhaps especially from national teams not as fine tuned (very needed to even attempt this I think) as club teams.

Sanchez playing for Chile is one of the things I'm most looking forward to at the World Cup and hopefully in Serie A as well next season Udinese will have a better platform for Sanchez to really take the league by storm like he's so been threatening to do for a while.

145:

Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham

Midfielder

England



Huddlestone is someone who I didn't notice until this season and hopefully I'm not getting fooled in putting him on the list. My instinct actually says put him higher but I'm gonna show some restraint.

In short what I'm seeing is someone who can become a very good midfield general, if he isn't already. That is an extremely valuable thing to have in your possession if you're a football team.

Huddlestone is very strong physically and his passing, especially if you were to hand out style points, is nothing short of majestic.

With Huddlestone and Jack Rodwell for Everton (not slow like Huddlestone and who I would also have liked to include but he just hasn't played enough yet) the England central midfielders still to come on the list face serious competition very soon.

144:

Gerard Pique - Barcelona

Defender

Spain



Ranking the Barcelona defenders is pretty hard. The team concedes fewer goals than anyone but most of that of course is through the (ball!) control they have of almost every single match they play.

Their defenders don't even have that much defending to do, or at least less than everyone else, and when you finally do see them actually defend it can easily be them struggling to defend with most of the team caught forward. Or themselves since they push up so high.
As much as that can make them look worse than they actually are, the superb defensive record on paper on the other hand can make them look better.

Pique is big and strong with superb technique, good passing is a must for a Barcelona defender of course.
I think he is strong man to man, with still a little way to go positionally, and good health and lack of blunders (+ in some ways starting for both the best club and national team in the world) is what seals the deal in making him the top ranked central defender so far!

The quarterfinals are here

To follow up from the last entry, of course Germany DID rebound and put in a similar performance of fussball to what we saw when they hosted the World Cup.
Lots of pressure on the opponent. Especially in the beginning they overran Portugal and throughout the game it was evident just how much physically stronger Germany were on almost every position. Portugal came back though and are just too good a side to keep down.
From the back four to the flexible attack up front they had been best balanced team so far of the tournament.
Unfortunately their goalkeeper Ricardo can single handedly shift however good that balance is, to something resembling disaster.
He is horrible on set pieces and Germany, the strongest team in the air, took full advantage.
He just does not commit himself. Not to getting in position to make a save and not to getting in position to go for the kick.
He always ends up somewhere in between positioning himself where he is completely useless.
That meant two german goals and a mountain to climb for Portugal.
It was never impossible though or seemed very unlikely.
Germany continued to have their fullbacks going forward while at the same time Portugal had their wings going very little backwards.
That meant great acres of space and lots of open play with many scoring chances for both teams.

Germany will be tough to beat. Their pressure is so hard to resist.
During the World Cup it took a masterful Italian performance to do it and the question is if any team is capable of something similar this time around.
Holland would be my best guess but them going to the final is of course far from given.
In fact I think Russia will have a great chance of knocking them out. But more on that later.
Spain with their possesion football, unless it's taken to a new level by Fabregas, I think would be underdogs too, though because of the duo up front can never be counted out.
That's the difference of Spain this year and recent years.
A truly deadly duo that even when they're being shut down physically or tactically by another team, will still be dangerous, virtually on their own, giving them a realistic winning chance.

It just has to be noted though that Germany overcame, or resisted if you will, a team playing better possesion football than Spain are right now when they beat Argentina in the World Cup.
For Spain to reach Argentina level and really trouble Germany, Fabregas just has to play.
Xavi has been a great playmaker for many years and is still one of the best, there aren't that many anyway, but for almost a decade now he has had the chance to produce the magic for Spain and with absolutely nothing to show for it.
At this point in their respective careers, Fabregas does every single thing I can possibly think of a little better than Xavi.

If "old man Aragones" wants to break the curse, Fabregas needs to play.

Now as always I support Italy and I won't mind at all not seeing Fabregas in what will be an epic match but it does hurt a little to see a player who I think is probably top 5 in the world sitting on the bench.
If Italy goes out, it's Spain who I'll be rooting for, and seeing them reduce their chances of FINALLY winning a trophy is just heartbreaking.

With regards to the Croatia - Turkey match I don't really have much to add other than what I already touched upon in the previous entries.
I think Turkey have overachieved and even if Bilic puts in the midfield he did against Austria, I still think there is a chance Croatia can control them.
It will just be more difficult and give Turkey yet another chance of escaping jail.
However if Croatia play like they did against Germany, they SHOULD win. It's that simple.

The two other games are extremely interesting and I look immensely forward to both.

Spain vs Italy is just a classic rivalry and the atmosphere will resemble life and death.
I think it will be a close game and I doubt there will be more than a couple of goals scored.
0-0 1-0 1-1 or 2-0 with a late goal seems like the most likely scenarios.
I don't even know the point of predicting a winner. It's like 51-49 to either one of the sides.
It's different styles clashing and whoever can execute theirs the better will win.
Historically that's been Italy but with all the different intangibles for this one, who knows?
I just know I'll be watching and maybe write a more detailed preview in an upcoming entry.

The other match however I will write about for sure.
Probably in the next entry where I'll outline my bold prediction of a Russian victory.
Have I lost my mind? Some seem to think so but if Russia don't win I'll just have to pay since I've convinced myself so badly that a good bet on the Russian victory just could not be resisted.
It seems like such great value, for reasons coming up in the next entry, so all I can say is GO RUSSIA!!!!!!!!

In honour of probably my favorite Russian player of all time, Aleksandr Zavarov



revenge 1988 and win me some moneyz while you do it!