The 200 best players in the world: 200 -101 roundup + the nearly-made-its

The 200 - 101 ranked players:

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 - 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
121-117
121: Mohamed Sissoko - Juventus - Mali
120: Dejan Stankovic - Inter - Serbia
119: Stefan Kiessling - Bayer Leverkusen - Germany
118: Frederic Kanoute - Sevilla - Mali
117: Jermain Defoe - Tottenham - England
116-110
116: Carlos Puyol - Barcelona - Spain
115: Alou Diarra - Bordeaux - France
114: Antonio Cassano - Sampdoria - Italy
113: Deco - Chelsea - Portugal
112: Ryan Giggs - Manchester United - Wales
111: Thomas Vermaelen - Arsenal - Belgium
110: Gareth Barry - Manchester City - England
109 - 101
109: Wilson Palacios - Tottenham - Honduras
108: Gabriel Agbonlahor - Aston Villa - England
107: Ashley Young - Aston Villa - England
106: Giampaolo Pazzini - Sampdoria - Italy
105: Toni Kroos - Leverkusen - Germany
104: Alexandre Song - Arsenal - Cameroon
103: Jérémy Toulalan - Lyon - France
102: Alvara Negredo - Sevilla - Spain
101: Walter Gargano - Napoli - Uruguay

As I've already talked too much about, putting the lower half in any kind of correct order was impossible.

For starters it's not position by position. That provides the first complications. And then the only thing between several closely ranked and even not so closely ranked players, really is their current form.
That also means there is an increasing group of players left off the list who to various extents have a good case over someone in the lower part of the list. I'll touch upon at least some of those cast offs later .
But basically on any different day almost, someone would be ranked differently. The perfect order was always an impossible goal (which didn't stop me from trying very hard anyway but that's my problem), and there are several mistakes with likely many more to come, instead the objective was to compile a great list serving as a gold mine almost of in depth thoughts about hundreds of the very best players in the world.
That those thoughts in many writeups unavoidable expanded to all kind of other things like tactics, countries, coaches, current football events and various clubs - all the better!

The nearly made its/Honorary mentions (could be updated well into eternity so stay tuned):

Nani: Quite possibly the worst omission. The one that got away you could say, that I really regret. His decision making still leaves a lot to be desired, but I got too caught up in all the Nani hate that sprung from his early struggles this season, and failed to see that on ability and talent he rivals, and surpasses, at least some wingers included on the 200-101 part of the list.

Vincenzo Iaquinta: Not the greatest technician but a complete striker nonetheless who will do a good job in any kind of forward role in any system almost. Pace, work-rate, strength and size means he can be alone, in a duo or central as well as wide in a 3 forward lines. Valuable player. Mainly injuries kept him off the list.

Joe Cole: As the rare good English footballer relying much more on technique rather than physique I think he often gets very overrated so it gives me almost perverse joy not including him. Would he be anywhere near as "special" was he Spanish or South American? But yeah like others, obviously he is good and skilled enough to have a good case against quite a few of the 200-101 ranked players.

Elano and Nilmar: Hey they're in the Brazil World Cup squad. Nilmar the forward definitely has talent but hasn't been THAT consistently good so far in Spain I don't think and in the end his nightmare resume earlier in his career during his Ligue 1 adventures (2 goals in 32 games) scared me away of including him on the list.

I mostly liked Elano for City and I believe he can be useful for Dunga but latest I heard was that he was struggling in Turkey and that combined with me not really seeing him much lately, meant no place on the list.

Stephen Ireland: Skilled midfielder who has the talent to be on the list, and was at first, but then came the downfall and he made his way out for players I thought were (way) more deserving.

Gareth Bale: The Tottenham sensation really exploded in the last half or so of the season. He has work-rate and skills. Pace and strength. Even plays two positions. Would definitely be on the list had I started later.

Lucas Barrios: I didn't watch a lot of Dortmund last season so was definitely late to the party when it came to Barrios. That he is really good does look like a sure thing though.
He has pace, strength, good movement and technique. Just inside or just outside the top 100 would have been tempting for his very impressive first campaign in Europe.

Vagner Love:

Two years ago: YES!

One year ago: MAYBE!

Right now: NIET!



Joan Capdevilla and Thiago Motta: Seemingly not much in common at all other than they were the final cuts a while ago. Cuts that really hurt! They do belong on the list but some people mistakenly left out belonged even more....

Milos Krasic: A skilled, strong and dynamic player that I'm still not really sure just how good he really is. Looking forward to seeing him and Serbia at the World Cup.

Hulk and Radamel Falcao: Both Porto stars I think good enough to also be stars in better leagues than the Portugese.
Falcao especially could be an upcoming superstar I think but unfortunately I "discovered" him too late to include him on the list.

Piotr Trochowski: Has more than enough ability to have a pretty good ranking on the list, but the last many times I've seen him he just hasn't been anywhere nearly as good I remember him earlier. Simple as that.

Josue: Really good defensive midfielder but I just couldn't ignore Wolfsburg's struggles (including very much defensive ones) and that was all the excuse I needed to cut him from the list.

Erin Derdiyok and Gokhan Inler: Definitely rivals (if not better even..) Barnetta as best Swiss players. At least of the ones I'm familiar with. Derdiyok looks like a star but it was still a little too soon for him, while Inler perhaps at this point doesn't really look like a coming star anymore but rather just a very solid midfielder. That's not bad but not quite enough to get on the list. Look forward to see if a great coach like Hitzfeld can take the considerable Swiss talent further than what we've been used to in recent major tournaments. Not necessarily further in the competition, that will always be tough, but at least performance-wise. Say cheese!


Mamadou Niang and Darren Bent: Niang the current top scorer in France with 17 goals. He has been a very good player for quite a few years now.
Bent has an impressive 24 in England but is not the player Niang is I don't think.
All in all I should have found a spot on the list for Niang.

Landon Donovan: The great white (non) hope for this list...

Scott Parker: Okay I love Scott Parker as much as the next guy. Actually probably not cause fans really do seem to love this guy.
He is a complete player when it comes to abilities who gives his heart and soul for the team. If we're talking right now he certainly has a better case than the one West Ham player I did rather bizarrely include, but being poor tactically featuring bad decisionmaking in general, I always thought let the rest of his talent down. Positioning>tackling. Sorry Scottie.

Giorgos Karagounis and Konstantinos Katsouranis: Still I think the two most important Greek players. It would have been a Semak-like entry . I kind of regret not doing it.

Steven Pienaar: One of the most improved players this season I think but something I found out too late for him to be included unfortunately.
It isn't just fancy stuff these days from Pienaar, he has improved physically and does good team work, while still being skilled of course.
As the home nation's best player he'll get a lot of attention this World Cup but thankfully right now his talent finally is worthy of it.

Leonardo Bonucci: Him and Andrea Ranocchia were quite possible the best defensive duo in Serie A this season. Ranocchia unfortunately suffered a season ending knee injury, but Bonucci continued playing great and I hope it's him and not fading defender-icon Cannavaro who'll see lots of playing time for Italy in the World Cup.

Fernando Gago: Seemingly has close everything needed when it comes to being an excellent central midfielder.
In fact he could even be the closest thing we've seen (yet so far away) to the great Fernando Redondo which is an alluring illusion that at least Valdano at Real Madrid can be accused of having been fooled by.
But why does someone so talented always play so bad?
Now that is one of the great mysteries at Real Madrid. Almost as great a mystery as why he has suddenly replaced Las Diarra in Madrid's midfield? There are various rumors suggesting it's Diarra's own fault, but to Gago's credit at least now when given the chance again, he is playing better than he has in a long time.
Not that being on an excellent team doesn't have something to do with it....

Aleksandar Kolarov: Very strong and with a great left foot. He should have been on the list. Another player I'm looking forward to see for Serbia at the World Cup. Moving to a big club only seems like a matter of time. Definitely a player who is heading for bigger things than his currentl struggling team Lazio.

Adam Johnson: Fast emerging and exciting old school English winger who already looks better than teammate (and unfortunately listed) Shaun Wright Phillips.
He has great attitude, control and technique when it comes to everything involving touching a football. As well of course as the needed pace. Especially with the ball at his feet where his combination of control and acceleration makes him a standout.
His team Manchester City has of course added tons of talent (including quite a few list people) so he will definitely have to battle for playing time. He must have passed the aforementioned Wright Phillips for starters though and the fans will love every minute they see Adam Johnson on the pitch.

Sami Khedira: One of the very good young German players who didn't make the list. He is a very complete midfielder who does all parts of the game well. His runs without the ball forward especially is a joy to watch. I should at least have found a shared spot for him somewhere. Preferably quite high. As high as just inside the top 50 even?

Alvaro Arbeloa and Gael Clichy: Two very good albeit quite different fullbacks who can share the frustration of not really being anywhere nearly as far behind some of the fullbacks making the list, as the players in between them would maybe suggest.

David Luiz:



The Sideshow Bob Benfica defender is likely the best of the Brazilian defenders that I didn't mention in the Diego Lugano writeup where I tried to brainstorm suitable South American defender candidates for the list.
By now of course 23 year old Luiz looks very suitable indeed and seems to be headed for bigger things with rumors constantly flying around connecting him to clubs in the stronger leagues.

Christian Poulsen: Believe it or not actually one of the brighter spots on the Juve team this season overcoming a tough start to his Italian career where I thought he took a lot of unfair criticism. In the end it was probably that which cost him a spot though. He is as good as he was for Schalke and Sevilla earlier in his career and with Nicklas Bendtner (who I'm just too afraid to even think about including here) Denmark's most important player at the World Cup.
Best known for his defensive qualities where he can be a real enforcer he is well capable technically as well and can even fill in as a defender. Should have been on the list.

Eric Abidal: Started playing really well last season. Perhaps for the first time in the Barca shirt but then this season has been plagued by injuries and not really finding form. Still with being effective in two positions and all, an argument for quite a few players and their rankings, he should have been on the list.

Brazilians: There just weren't enough of them on the list I suspect so here are few notables:

First we have Brazil player of the year two years ago Hernanes who is now moving to Lazio which will certainly be very interesting to watch and it could be quite a coup for a midfield that was very ordinary last season.
I've seen very little of him but earliest impression says he looks to have a very good passing game and great midfield movement.

A couple of others that I want to include, unfortunately I've seen even less of, but they've been taking the Brazilian league by storm recently:

One, Neymar is the crazy flashy skilled Robinho type of forward. At just 18 he will only become stronger but how far his amazing talent will really take him, from what I've heard, much like Robinho you could say, hinges on the mental side of things.

Even though it's early, a perhaps better bet to go really far looks to be Ganso.

As well as excellent number 10 playmaking skills he looks to also have maturity and not least already impressive physical tools as well. The kind you need today as an attacking midfielder trying to make a difference closely marked in the final third and if his skills are as good as early impressions suggest not only can he go, god who knows how far, but is an excellent list-worthy player already.

Carlos Eduardo at Hoffenheim perhaps wasn't quite consistent enough to be included on the list but he is a highly skilled attacking player that Rubin Kazan for €20 million likely will make the new centerpiece of their attack, taking over from Chori Dominguez who left for Valencia.
Other skilled Brazilians in similar roles have done very well for Russian clubs. I think Eduardo is good enough to maybe even become the best one so far.


Javi Martinez: Strong Athletic Bilbao central midfielder who is in the Spain World Cup squad over some very good players. Not least Senna who will have a pretty good ranking on my list but who also had a difficult season. Martinez I'm not even overly familiar with, I'm guessing not least to do with the La Liga extreme two horse race which can easily take focus away from the other teams. At 21 but not untypical for a La Liga player, already with good experience, he is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Miroslav Klose: He is still a very complete striker who has it all really. Great movement, aerial ability, pace and technique. But for whatever reason his clubform in recent years mostly hasn't been all that good. For the national team, like his partner in crime Podolski, by now he should take a backseat to various players who have surpassed him, especially Mario Gomez, but I for one won't be surprised if the Podolski/Klose (very) dynamic duo comes through once again.

Filipe Luís and Fabio Coentrão: Two left-backs who I'm not overly familiar with but who's earned rave reviews this season in Spain and Portugal respectively.
Coentrão from Benfica is a converted winger who is very attacking and looks to have become Portugal's number 1 choice, so we'll see plenty of him at the World Cup.
That unfortunately won't the case with Brazilian Filipe, who if he is as good as reports suggests might have been Dunga's answer for the position where finding natural candidates has been much harder than on the right. It's very possible that Filipe could have been Brazil's World Cup left-back if it wasn't for a serious injury that kept him out of the La Coruna lineup from January to May.

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By the way, "the nearly-made-it's" is something you can say. I heard it in this song that is very far removed from the last song posted in this blog:

The 200 best players in the world:159-155

It's back!

Look forward to (or don't/no please do) to plenty of updates this month.

Well since the list was away I have of course changed my mind, discovered or rediscovered tons of players, so there have been plenty of alterations. I touch upon this in one of the writeups as well...

For the time being though I'm very satisfied with the upcoming placements (the previous ones in some cases are a very different matter) but of course that won't last forever so before yet another obsessive alteration attack sets in, it's time to just finish this thing, or at least get down to the highest placed players where my opinion is more set.

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:

Felipe Melo

Midfielder - Juventus

Brazil



Surely a current starting central midfielder for mighty Brazil belongs on this list?

Felipe Melo is a great physical talent who can first and foremost help his team by making good defensive contributions but who also has the talent to participate on the attacking front, not so much with passing, where this season for Juventus his decision making has looked painful, but through powerful runs complementing the attacking players.

Before the current Juventus fiasco he enjoyed good years in Spain for smaller sides proving himself worthy of bigger things and last season he had a breakthrough season for Fiorentina where he was an important player in securing Champions League qualification and where, despite his current awfulness, it can be argued that his physical presence in midfield is missed.

Fiorentina have, despite plenty of talent and being a very good technical side, been losing more midfield battles this season than they did the last.

It's clear to me that for Dunga's Brazil and Prandelli's Fiorentina, Melo has done great in well defined roles suiting his strengths. For Juventus under inexperienced Ciro Ferrara he found himself in a situation where nothing was working for him or the team.

For Brazil and Fiorentina he looked like a player worthy of a higher placing. For Juventus he looks like someone who shouldn't even be on the list. I'm just gonna go for something in between: 159 it is!

158:

Craig Bellamy

Forward - Manchester City

Wales



Despite him seemingly having been around forever I have to admit it wasn't until very recently that I discovered any kind of appreciation for any of Craig Bellamy's football skills, and it still feels kind of wrong putting him ahead some of the lower ranked players on this list, as well as some of the very good players not even making it.

It's not even his well publicized daft behavior, who cares (I don't)? I just had no idea that he was actually good.
And to rub salt in that "wound" what I'm finally paying attention to now when it comes to Bellamy probably isn't as good as it used to be.
There are various nagging injuries (knees in particular I think) hindering his performances if we're talking game in and game out.

Maybe it's that in the past (and I'm kinda guessing here) that he's often been either a striker with a partner in a 4-4-2 or a winger in that same system (after all the most popular by far in England during Bellamy's active career), and those two roles didn't really show me (only paying half attention anyway) the full extent of his talent.

On the wing in a 4-4-2 he'll still be fast and work hard, though still not that good defensively and not really the kind of distributor for people in and around the box that you typically come to expect from an EPL winger in a 4-4-2.
Then as a striker in a 4-4-2 he isn't a great goal scoring presence in the box and neither his physicality or passing skills are quite good enough in narrow space playing more central.

So, fast forward to Mark Hughes up and down reign at Manchester City and you'd regularly have Bellamy as a left forward in a 3 man strike force or when (even) more of a left wing in what mostly was 4-2-3-1-like systems.
At some point of course Hughes more or less lost his mind though and went for some of the most unbalanced stuff I can remember from a good team. Most memorable the goal fests against Bolton and Sunderland where despite the impressive work rate from the likes of Bellamy and Tevez, there really were only two people in midfield with defensive duties and who could defend.

Anyways in between all that fun Bellamy really impressed me. He worked extremely hard both ways, was great in transition and consistently put his considerable skills to great use in the final third. Whether through great runs (with and without the ball) finishing or generally doing a good job of complementing the players around him.

157:

Simon Kjær

Palermo



and Daniel Agger

Liverpool



Defenders

Denmark

I think I promised earlier that there wouldn't be more shared spots... But there'll be more, much more!

Well, just a few more, all with some kind of a common theme, and all of course an excuse to include more players, which of course was the original excuse to make this a top 200 list in the first place, instead of say a top 50 or 100. Therefore, the more the better I say!

Of course making it a top a 200 is also what's made it such slow going. Not really the number itself or the accompanying write ups, but the sheer impossibility of putting the 100-150-200 players in perfect order. There is so little between these players and I'm still constantly altering things. Just today looking at the list for the first time in a couple of weeks I found myself spending a good two hours changing stuff around.
Not that anyone goes from 180 something to say number 79 (Fellaini would have an excellent case though-but sadly done is done), then order would be meaningless but 4-5-6 spots here and there, up or down, non stop, enough to drive you crazy! And I won't even go into the number of players first left out then proving they really belong (damn you!), or even worse players who I had either somehow forgotten about or who wasn't even on my original radar bursting out of nowhere playing excellent football!
Of course the slower this gets the more of these will show up... So therefore get on with it!

Well, this is the homer pick I guess. With apologies to Christian Poulsen and Nicklas Bendtner (and perhaps young Ajax phenom Christian Eriksen), who both have not had the best of times for their respective club teams the last year or so (but still I'd claim along with tons of others around the 200 mark of this list), Simon Kjær 20 and Daniel Agger 25 are the two best danish players at the moment and likely the danish national team central defender partnership for many years to come.

They're quite different though. Kjær at just 20 is the virtual mistake free dominating physical defender who'll beat his man when space is tight, on ground or in air, with serious consistency, sometimes non stop, while Agger not as strong physically, and unfortunately injury plagued, uses great instincts and ability (timing/tackling/heading/good acceleration for a defender) to beat his.

Agger is also much superior with the ball where he has great ball control and some good passing skills that he can also put to use going forward (rare for Liverpool/less rare for the national team).
Unlike Kjær though his decision making isn't always good and he will make the occasional big mistake, perhaps a bit like some previously ranked übertalented defenders, have a little too much faith in his own talent sometimes trying the difficult instead of the simple. Something I haven't really seen from Kjær.

What I do think I've seen from both of them though is a good deal of leadership impressively enough, and both so to speak can take charge of defense.

When playing for Denmark I have noticed Kjær struggling at times with positioning, Agger too for that matter, but I mostly put that down to the criminal lack of support they sometimes find themselves without and just general lack of defensive balance (not least when compared to both their club teams) a situation where I think all defenders would struggle.

In many ways it's still early days for Kjær but if you combine the very high level he plays central defender at already, plus the number of European giants already linked to him, it's hard to see him not becoming a star.

With no disrespect at all to recently retired Martin Laursen, his career is almost the worst case scenario here.
Like Kjær currently, Laursen also showed good things for a smaller Italian club, in his case Verona.
Good enough to be transfered to AC Milan for a good bit of money, but due to injuries and serious competition (Maldini, Nesta and Stam for starters) it just didn't happen for him there.

Then sadly there were even more injuries but thankfully Laursen finally did get to show what an excellent defender he could be, at club level as well, even when only relatively healthy, when he had a great final time at Aston Villa.

Kjær's next destination, and it's just a matter of when, almost certainly will be a big club and I guess that's where we'll see how far he can really go.
I don't think it would be unwise to wait though. Maybe at least one more season gaining experience for what's becoming a pretty good team that's even challenging for spots in Europe.

For Agger it's a matter of staying healthy. He has certainly shown that he functions at a high enough level to play for a big club but I do fear that if he doesn't have a good healthy spell soon, then he won't be seen as someone you can really depend on, despite all the talent, and he'll then end up playing somewhere, perhaps less prestigious than Liverpool.

156:

Alessandro Nesta

Defender - AC Milan

Italy



Best

central defender

ever.

At least the best that I've ever seen.

I guess there are a few I can think who could rival his marking and defensive instincts, Fabio Cannavaro and Ciro Ferrara (maybe the best pure man marker, then later adapted great to zone) come to mind, but then Nesta had size and strength (stronger than Jurgen Kohler who is another that come to mind) that they didn't have, as well as all the defensive ability and instincts you could ever imagine. He even rivals their superb agility and Cannavaro's great range of command and he was much better with the ball.
There is also Maldini of course but he was at his greatest at left-back. Thuram is another favorite of mine who deserves mention.

Before the injuries causing him to miss whole seasons in recent years, there were simply no one better than Nesta. For Lazio and early Milan, as well as the Azzurri where his luck has been brutal, following in the unfortunate footsteps of Ferrera, getting injured in 3 World Cups, he was immense and amazing to watch, putting on display after display of flawless defending.

This season surprisingly he's back playing. I honestly thought his career was over and from what I've read it was close.

He is 33 and with a physique, though thankfully not broken, still not nearly capable of what it used to athletically.

Still he's been doing an admirable job on a Milan team currently with a very attacking balance that sees microscopic defensive help from the midfield.

If it wasn't for Nesta with all the ability that remains often holding things together with his partner the talented Silva in and around the penalty area against opponents with a wide open highway towards it, who knows where they'd be in the table? Would rookie coach Leonardo still have his job?

His play has been so impressive that there's been plenty of talk of a comeback to the national team where he's been retired for years now but the latest is that he's turned down that chance.

Staying healthy I'm sure is a big part of that decision and so far he's managed to do just that and while he is definitely not the best defender in the world anymore, he is still kinda up there when healthy, and almost for the glimpses alone that he gives you, of the immense defender that used to rule air and ground, for those alone Nesta just has to be on the list.

155:

Aly Cissokho

Left-back - Lyon

France



Could have been Nesta's team mate at Milan this season where he had signed a pre-contract but some kind of problem with his teeth, that I'm too lazy to look up now, meant that he failed the medical.
Too bad for Milan, congratulations Lyon, is the popular conclusion that it's hard to disagree with.

Cissokho 22 has had something of a meteoric rise from one club and on to the bigger.

20 games for a French third division side before being snapped up Vitoria Setubal in the Portuguese first division and there it only took 13 games before the dominant team in Portugal in recent years, champions FC Porto signed him.
There when everyone (including me) got to see him playing in the Champions League, everyone got kinda interested and the transfer rumors could begin.
Just 13 games was his finishing total for FC Porto before Lyon stepped in and put to good use some of all that money they received in the Benzema transfer and signed Cissokho for around €15 million+20 percent of his next transfer fee.

After that little summarization of Cissokho's young career so far, it almost goes without saying that he is someone who's talent is very obvious and immediate when you first see him.
He is very athletic and strong technically. Man to man defensively he is a beast (and looking at his build he can get even stronger) and on the offensive he is fast enough and skilled enough to make good deliveries and can be pretty hard to stop if he gets into full gear, resembling a winger.
I'm actually surprised he is listed as only 1.83 cm. He seems even taller to me. Maybe it's the lanky build and long legs.

Cissokho really isn't that experienced on the highest level yet but to call him a raw talent or anything like that would be insulting and indicate holes and weaknesses that I'm just not seeing.
There really isn't anything not to like here and it's scary to think that with experience he'll get even better.

He is yet to make his debut for France but has found his way into the squad recently where on his position higher ranked Patrice Evra is the clear first choice.
Personally I think he is a better left-back than likely rival Abidal but Abidal does have versatility going for him. Another French left-back Gael Clichy cause of injuries and poor form (mostly defensively-he is good going forward) is way behind when it comes to going to the World Cup I think but who knows with Domenech.
If Benoit Tremoulinas of champions Bordeaux is even an outsider I don't know, but he is someone who has been been playing great lately, so who knows.

Serie A 2009/10 preview part IV (Juventus)

JUVENTUS:

For the first time since rejoining Serie A Juventus has a realistic chance of the scudetto.

But a lot of things have to go right and very things wrong.

The transfer campaign has been promising. Brazilian star playmaker Diego has joined and he instantly becomes one of the best players in the league.

One who was that last year was his compatriot Felipe Melo. Joining from Fiorentina he is a great physical talent with a smooth passing game who with his arrival potentially makes a full strenght Juventus midfield the strongest in the league.
In the back Fabio Cannavaro is back from Real Madrid. Even if he won't be great anymore (from accounts I've read he actually WAS in his debut last night) he should still be able to form one of the better partnerships around with Giorgio Chiellini.

Also brought in from Barcelona is versatile defender Martin Caceres, but it's unclear how much playing time he will recieve. Personally I would think he should get a chance to prove himself as a fullback while at the same time be a good fourth option for the central defense behind Legrottaglie.

The fullback positions is once again where a lot of Juventus fans place their worries.

On the right side Grygera can still make good contributions forward but defensively there is always a mistake just waiting to happen it seems.
Zebina also has some talent going forward but has lost some pace and is often injured. He is definitely not a number one option for a team searching for greatness. Let's just say that.

On the left we have everyone's favorite Cristian Molinaro. The good thing is that you always know what you're gonna get with Molinaro. The bad thing is that it's never really good.
He just isn't particulary talented and what he does best he does just okay, and especially against good teams he can really fall through.
Unless it's on backup salary his recent 5 year contract extension is a little strange.

His main rival for the job is young leftsided player Paolo De Ceglie.
I suppose out of desperation to see someone, anyone, else than Molinaro play, a lot of Juventus fans really wants De Ceglie to succeed.
I think certainly forward he has a lot more potential than Molinaro but as a defender and even technically, like his passing skills, he still has some ways to go before being a starter on a top team.
His stamina, at least when in a 4-4-2 last year where he had to cover large distances also seemed lacking.

In the first game yesterday Ferrara actualy went with versatile veteran Salihamidzic there. Not exactly a vote of confidence.

So there is no doubt the fullbacks are a weakness. The question is just how much influence they'll have in new coach Ciro Ferrara's more flexible systems compared to Ranieri's 4-4-2 where fullbacks played quite a significant role providing in width.
Certainly in Ferrara's recent 4-3-1-2 a key challenge is defending the flanks and that alone could mean seeing less of the fullbacks going forward.
That then raises the question of the attacking width.

Three of the four striker options all have their main strenghts in the penalty area, so taking out crossing would not seem logical.

On the left undoubtedly the most talented performer is the "atomic ant" Sebastian Giovinco.
Very small in stature he is one of the most exciting attacking talents in the world. Few are faster with the ball at their feet and his low center of gravity makes him quite a nightmare to deal with.
On top of that he has dynamite in his boots resulting in great crosses and explosive shots on goal.
But where to play him?
It's hard to see him on a three-man midfield having to do a lot of two-way play and of course Diego occupy the attacking midfielder spot behind the strikers.

One option would be two defensive midfielders + Diego and then a three forward line up front where Giovinco theoretically could take a place on either side.

Another option would simply be the role I'm sure we'll see Del Piero play a lot. Alongside one of the big strikers and mainly operating from the left, still with Diego behind.
I think Del Piero still has a lot to offer from there. In and around the penalty area from where he can really make use of his magic right foot, but I really hope whenever he isn't a 100 percent, and at his age that's far from all the time, that Giovinco will be the one replacing him most of the time.
If he can be first choice backup for both Diego and Del Piero, and Alex won't automatically still play when he is 80 percent or whatever, then maybe just maybe, there is a chance he'll get the games his talent definitely deserves.

On the right side there are even less options and if fullbacks are going to participate anywhere I guess it's there.
Of midfielders, there really only is Camoranesi to provide any quality width from there and in some ways he is facing the same obstacles Giovinco is on the left.
They're different though and unlike Giovinco it's not that hard to imagine Camoranesi, if in top condition, take a right-central midfielder spot on a three man midfield.

No the real strength of this team looks to be central: Diego with great passing and dribbling ability.
Melo's secure passing and strong tackling and then young Italian midfielder Marchisio, something of everything. With an upside.

Then there is also perhaps the best Juventus player last season
Mohamed Sissoko. While still not a good passer, he has supreme physical tools that makes him a really good two-way player. Whether it's crushing tackles while doing defensive work or being an immovable object while making Patrik Vieira style powerful runs forward.
He has had some injury problems recently but if you're into powerful physical midfield displays, watching him and Melo eventually playing together on the Juventus midfield should be great to watch.

Christian Poulsen, despite attempts to force him out is also still with the team.
He's been one of the better defensive midfielders in Europe for teams such as Schalke and especially Sevilla. And last season he really wasn't any worse. And certainly not as bad as popular opinion will have you believe, but on a club with lofty ambitions used to always winning but just not good enough to do so yet again, he was seen as such.
Personally I like the depth that Poulsen provides. And even if Cristiano Zanetti did a lot of good for Juve in what were tough times, Poulsen is the younger and stronger. Health is a skill too.

Up front Amauri and Iaquinta have quite a lot in common. Including at this point being better strikers than David Trezeguet (for more on that see my "more football entry" on the Berlusconi Tropy game) but how much I like seeing them both play together at the same time with Diego, I'm not really sure.
I think I prefer one of Del Piero/Giovinco getting playing time in a second-striker role together with just one of them, instead of seeing them both kind of do the same things.
Like hinted earlier I'm not sure there is enough crossing for both of them either, and there will also be situations where it's one of them placed out wide providing width, when that would be so much better if it's Alex or Giovinco.
I think Amauri is the better of the two but Iaquinta has turned into a good striker himself and should get games too of course.

I also think all of Del Piero, Giovinco and Amauri are better at complementing, what will be so new on this team, the quality passing down the middle from the Brazilians, Melo and of course first and foremost playmaker Diego.

Who by the way has a frequently updated youtube-channel!

Worth watching: Giorgio Chiellini: In his prime right now, he has all it takes to cement his status as the best current Italian defender.
When it comes to defending he really does everything well, but in my eyes "just" has to take one final mature step away from Materazzi-like reckless, sometimes dirty, tendencies and into great defender territory.
It will be interesting to watch if he will do that this year.