Guardian writers Top 100 footballers list and the No1 is....

eZe^

Gotta admit, keep the heated debates going as much as you want. It's f*cking class to watch Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets play in the same midfield. Merry christmas to all....

Happy Monday

NIMAN wrote: »

Rooney No31?

I would say that wouldn't go down too well with a lot of Utd/England fans, but its probably not far off the mark.

Lucky to be 31.
Rubbish in the Euros.
Piss poor in the CL.
Wonderful against Wigan and Reading!!

Rekop dog

The Floyd p wrote: »

How can Evra, Mayuka and Balotelli get in it but Marchisio or Inler not get in it? Like seriously, Marchisio got to the Euro 2012 final and went unbeaten the whole season with Juventus, yet Mayuka, who hasn't even scored for Southampton yet in the Premier League gets in it.

I mean Barzagli Bonucci and Giaccherini fit that same Juve/Italy criteria and didn't make the list either, not featuring in the CL last season probably had a baring on them not getting the recognition on the list.

The lists major flaw as a whole imo is that it gives too much credit (judging by positions) to players who may have had brilliant seasons in previous years but who've been poor over the last season or so. Like if you were to land on earth and see all the players for the first time this year and given an objective rating to players, it would be a very different list.

Blatter

Rekop dog wrote: »

I mean Barzagli Bonucci and Giaccherini fit that same Juve/Italy criteria and didn't make the list either, not featuring in the CL last season probably had a baring on them not getting the recognition on the list.

The lists major flaw as a whole imo is that it gives too much credit (judging by positions) to players who may have had brilliant seasons in previous years but who've been poor over the last season or so. Like if you were to land on earth and see all the players for the first time and given an objective rating to players, it would be a very different list.

The inclusion of Victor Wanyama typifies this. The guys that compiled the list have probably seen him 2 or 3 times max.

DubDani

Just realized that there are 10 Bayern players on that list.

Any team has more players included?

Blatter

A few other notable omissions besides Higuain are Nani, Khedira and Sanchez.

TheEscapist

Alves, xavi, Messi, Iniesta, pique, Cesc, mascherano, alba, Pedro, villa, puyol, busquets. That makes 12. I'd say Madrid and Juventus have decent amounts on it as well.

TheEscapist

Blatter wrote: »

A few other notable omissions besides Higuain are Nani, Kagawa, Khedira and Sanchez.

Think Kagawa is on it, somewhere in the 90s maybe?

Blatter

TheEscapist wrote: »

Think Kagawa is on it, somewhere in the 90s maybe?

Apologies, missed him.

TheEscapist

Blatter wrote: »

Apologies, missed him.

He'll be back soon :pac:

MaroonAndGreen

Where's Hazard on the list???

Winston Payne

Happy Monday wrote: »

Lucky to be 31.
Rubbish in the Euros.
Piss poor in the CL.
Wonderful against Wigan and Reading!!

He scored against City twice less than three weeks ago. His biggest problem is his wild inconsistency. At his best he makes a World squad of 23. At his worst he doesn't look a footballer.


Think De Rossi is well overhyped myself. Slow, not a particularly expressive passer. Doesn't set the tempo for his team. Fouls a lot. But sure he beats his chest, has a beard and wears one long sleeve and one short.

population

Winston Payne wrote: »

He scored against City twice less than three weeks ago. His biggest problem is his wild inconsistency. At his best he makes a World squad of 23. At his worst he doesn't look a footballer.


Think De Rossi is well overhyped myself. Slow, not a particularly expressive passer. Doesn't set the tempo for his team. Fouls a lot. But sure he beats his chest, has a beard and wears one long sleeve and one short.

He is versatile for sure but I agree that I never got the fuss about DeRossi. Brings passion and drive but in terms of his ability to run a game from midfield I rarely see it. His first touch is heavy and his passing can be quite wayward. Add in his short fuse and he is not someone I would invest a lot of money in

carlop

Blatter wrote: »

A few other notable omissions besides Higuain are Nani, Kagawa, Khedira and Sanchez.

The weirdest omission for me. At the Euros I thought he was Germany's best player and the attacking side of his game has come on a lot this year.

A very underrated player, and the kind of player that when Florentino Perez has a manager willing to give him a major input in transfer policy will be sold cheaply to another team where he will go on to become a genuine star (like Sneijder).

Dempsey

CSF wrote: »

Granted, I don't watch every game like you, but I watch a decent amount, and for me Wanyama is streets ahead of the rest of the squad.

Streets ahead? He's very talented and has a great future ahead of him but streets ahead is a hyperbole statement considering how some players have been playing.

Kayal is very similar in terms of style of play, aggression & energy but he can dictate the tempo of a game. It wasnt long ago that he was getting the hype that Wanyama is getting now. A fully fit Kayal is a better player than Wanyama. Can't say that Wanyama gets into the team ahead of Ledley or Brown either.

Jimmy Iovine

Is Hazard on the list? I can't find him.

Really don't know what Evra has done to deserve a place on it. Jonny Evans should be in there ahead of him. Especially if John Terry and David Luiz also made the list.

Surprised not to see Valencia or Nani on there. Valencia has been ****e as of late, but he was amazing towards the end of last season.

Hopefully next year will be Bebe's year. If some lad from Southampton can make the list then so can The Beast.

Reekwind

Winston Payne wrote: »

He scored against City twice less than three weeks ago. His biggest problem is his wild inconsistency. At his best he makes a World squad of 23. At his worst he doesn't look a footballer

At his best is Rooney really better than the likes of Messi, Zlatan, RVP, Falcao, Cavani or Aguero? And that's just out-and-out strikers, never mind Ronaldo, Neymar, Ozil, etc. Maybe a decade ago I would have said yes but today I'd probably not have him in my World 23

And this is Rooney at his best. Throw in his inconsistency and 31 becomes a lot more reasonable

Jimmy Iovine wrote:

Really don't know what Evra has done to deserve a place on it

To me that says more about the lack of top class left backs in the world game today

Rekop dog

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Is Hazard on the list? I can't find him.

Really don't know what Evra has done to deserve a place on it. Jonny Evans should be in there ahead of him. Especially if John Terry and David Luiz also made the list.

Surprised not to see Valencia or Nani on there. Valencia has been ****e as of late, but he was amazing towards the end of last season.

Hopefully next year will be Bebe's year. If some lad from Southampton can make the list then so can The Beast.

Hazard was definitely there, next to Vidal in the 50's if remember correctly, both should be lower.

Jimmy Iovine

Reekwind wrote: »

To me that says more about the lack of top class left backs in the world game today

Maybe so. Still doesn't mean that he should be on there though. He has come good in the last few weeks. Up until then he was dire. Got dropped from the French team and has been the cause of many a goal for United. Strange.

Rekop dog wrote: »

Hazard was definitely there, next to Vidal in the 50's if remember correctly, both should be lower.

Ah yea I found him now. He's at 58. Thought he would have been a bit more towards the 40s.

CSF

Jaysus Hazards place is mad harsh

Thecon21

Andrea Pirlo looks like an absolute boss :cool:

I can imagine his taste in wine and general cuisine is immaculate :pac:

Bodhisopha

Toure ahead of Busquets? Myself and Pep had a chuckle over that one earlier.

Rooney should be higher too.

List gets a bit pointless after a certain point, how the hell do you differentiate between who belongs in the 40-60 brackets from who belongs in the 60-80? Just picking faves at that point.

764dak

Most lists are silly.

Blatter

carlop wrote: »

The weirdest omission for me. At the Euros I thought he was Germany's best player and the attacking side of his game has come on a lot this year.

A very underrated player, and the kind of player that when Florentino Perez has a manager willing to give him a major input in transfer policy will be sold cheaply to another team where he will go on to become a genuine star (like Sneijder).

Totally agree, thought he was superb at the Euros. Brilliant player.

On another note, it never ceases to amaze me how ridiculously overrated Muller is at times. 33rd best player in the world? Please..

Jax Teller

Blatter wrote: »

Totally agree, thought he was superb at the Euros. Brilliant player.

On another note, it never ceases to amaze me how ridiculously overrated Muller is at times. 33rd best player in the world? Please..

He's having a great season but ill never the get the love for him . He's just looks so clumsy on the ball .

Seaneh

Rekop dog wrote: »

Giaccherini

Barely makes the Juve first 11 these days and has a total of 6 Italy caps... He's not missed in the list, let's be bloody honest.

Courtesy Flush

nuxxx wrote: »

Rooney at 31 is a disgrace imo, he may not be a goal scoring machine every season but he keeps United up there, he works super hard both attacking wise and defensively linking the entire team together. Without him United just aren't the same

I wouldnt have him much higher tbh. Van Persie is showing him up since he came

Pro. F

Courtesy Flush wrote: »

I wouldnt have him much higher tbh. Van Persie is showing him up since he came

Lol, what nonsense. Rooney has been every bit as vital to United this season as RVP.

EdenHazard

bohsman wrote: »

Agreed, should really be top 5. Would be the first player in my squad if I was building a team.

OK. I'll leave you with this :rolleyes:

He's really overrated, he's so ungraceful on the ball and looks real sloppy, he is a tank though in fairness. I'll be building my team around Messi though, but good luck with Toure

dfx-

Higuain missing is a travesty, he'd be close to my number one choice given free reign for a striker in Europe along with Villa and Benzema.

Toure is fair enough where he is. I'm a very big fan of Toure since his Barcelona days and worried about Busquets taking over his job when he left and he's also a much better centre half than Busquets. Though that doesn't say much, David Luiz is a better centre half than Sergio...

Busquets should be higher. Much higher..

Kiwi_knock

Where the fcuk is Les Davies?

Jimmy Iovine

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

Where the fcuk is Les Davies?

All joking aside he's a very good player. Chris Simms is the man for Bangor though. Davies wins a ridiculous amount of headers (he lost 2 out of about 50 in one game I saw). Simms scores the goals though and looks like the biggest threat on the pitch.

Been to a few of their games and the quality of the goals scored has seriously impressed me. One goal by their RB, Liam Brownhill, was briliiant. Great solo run from the back, a one-two on the edge of the box and then a perfect left footed 'pass' into the bottom corner. I wasn't expecting that sort of quality when I went down there.