Kicker Rankings: Hinrunde 2007

[Hendrik]

Kicker has begun to publish their latest rankings of players in the Bundesliga. Only the performances of the first half of the season were taken into consideration, nothing else.

weltklasse = world class
internationale Klasse = international class
im weiteren Kreis = just behind intern. class
Blickfeld = "best of the good"

Goalkeepers
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/168038/

Weltklasse
-

Internationale Klasse
1. René Adler 22 Bayer Leverkusen
2. Robert Enke 30 Hannover 96

Im weiteren Kreis
3. Markus Miller 25 Karlsruher SC
4. Frank Rost 34 Hamburger SV
5. Oliver Kahn 38 Bayern München
6. Markus Pröll 28 Eintracht Frankfurt

Blickfeld
Mathias Hain 34 Arminia Bielefeld
Tim Wiese 25 Werder Bremen

Center Backs
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/168047/

Weltklasse
-

Internationale Klasse
1. Marcelo Bordon 31 FC Schalke 04
2. Martin Demichelis 27 FC Bayern
3. Lucio 29 FC Bayern
4. Per Mertesacker 23 Werder Bremen

Im weiteren Kreis
5. Andreas Wolf 25 1. FC Nürnberg
6. Mario Eggimann 26 Karlsruher SC
7. Bastian Reinhardt 32 Hamburger SV
8. Manuel Friedrich 23 Bayer Leverkusen
9. Karim Haggui 23 Bayer Leverkusen

Blickfeld
Maik Franz 26 Karlsruher SC
Marcel Maltritz 29 VfL Bochum
Joris Mathijsen 27 Hamburger SV
Naldo 25 Werder Bremen
Jan Simunek 20 VfL Wolfsburg
Josip Simunic 29 Hertha BSC

[Wastl]

I always found the Kicker rankings to be really pathetic. Apart from screwing over half of the capable players, you also get the feeling that this isn't the Bundesliga they are talking about, but a third tier league in the middle of nowhere.

Though I have to say that the list doesn't look as horrid as the last few versions.

Still, I have to wonder how something like Reinhardt not only being ahead of Mathijsen, but also being in a better group, can happen. There is simply no way that you can rank Reinhardt ahead of Mathijsen. Sure, he is more dangerous when it comes to goalscoring, and he's one of the best in the air, but that doesn't negate that Mathijsen was superior in pretty much every regard.


Oh well, it's not like I ever expect them to put up good rankings. They aren't even capable of handing out proper grades on a game by game basis, how could you expect them to come up with such a list...

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Their list is a combination of the average scores for the players based on each of their individual game ratings. I don't always agree with the Kicket raters, but I do think they present a good general overview.

[Cris 09]

Bundesliga Team Of The Season……So Far (http://goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=527746)
another perspective by goal.com

in a nutshell;
--------------Miller ----------------

-Bordon---Mertesacker---Demichelis-

-Rolfes---Jarolim----Diego---Ribéry-

----Sanogo----Sestak----Toni ----

[Alex_K]

I always found the Kicker rankings to be really pathetic. Apart from screwing over half of the capable players, you also get the feeling that this isn't the Bundesliga they are talking about, but a third tier league in the middle of nowhere.


Um, where's the problem then?

Signed,
The rest of Europe


:D

[Hendrik]

Fullbacks
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/168015/

Weltklasse
-
Internationale Klasse
-
Im weiteren Kreis
1. Gonzalo Castro 20 Bayer Leverkusen
2. Heiko Westermann 24 FC Schalke
3. Petri Pasanen 27 Werder Bremen


Blickfeld
Jerome Boateng 19 Hamburger SV
Matias Concha 27 VfL Bochum
Dede 29 Borussia Dortmund
Andreas Görlitz 25 Karlsruher SC
Philipp Lahm 24 FC Bayern München
Christian Lell 23 FC Bayern München
Christian Pander 24 FC Schalke 04
Rafinha 22 FC Schalke 04
Hans Sarpei 31 Bayer Leverkusen
Michael Tarnat 38 Hannover 96

Wingers
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/168024/

Weltklasse
1. Franck Ribery 24 Bayern München

Internationale Klasse
2. Stanislav Sestak 25 VfL Bochum

Im weiteren Kreis
3. Ivica Olic 28 Hamburger SV
4. Tranquillo Barnetta 22 Bayer Leverkusen
5. Albert Streit 27 Eintracht Frankfurt
6. Hamit Altintop 25 Bayern München

Blickfeld
Ashkan Dejagah 21 VfL Wolfsburg
Roberto Hilbert 23 VfB Stuttgart
Szabolcs Huszti 24 Hannover 96

[F96]

Lahm can only dream to be as good as Pasanen one day. ;)

Seriously, I'm glad they didn't rate Huszti better because he hasn't been nearly as good as people make him out to be this season.

Well, at least the Bundesliga has one world-class player, right?

Btw, does anyone else see the humour in putting Tarnat in "im Blickfekd"?
I'm sure we'll see a lot of this young man in the future...

[Hendrik]

Well, at least the Bundesliga has one world-class player, right?
Diego should be a lock, Toni and van der Vaart are debatable.

Lahm has the potential to be world-class rightback but he's been nothing but average for Bayern. Last season his name didn't even appear in the rankings.

[Projekt4]

Diego should be a lock, Toni and van der Vaart are debatable.

Lahm has the potential to be world-class rightback but he's been nothing but average for Bayern. Last season his name didn't even appear in the rankings.

Lahm is the world's most coveted fullback at the moment with endless rumouring about him in the Spanish and British press (Barca vs. ManU). I could also say that I thought he was excellent during several games this season, but the former is more of an undisputable fact.

[Hendrik]

Lahm is the world's most coveted fullback at the moment with endless rumouring about him in the Spanish and British press (Barca vs. ManU). I could also say that I thought he was excellent during several games this season, but the former is more of an undisputable fact.
He was excellent in some matches and crap in others so average is the correct rating.

Lahm has 18 months remaining on his contract, any big club in need of a fullback would be stupid not to enquire about him. He has a good reputation thanks to the WC and his consistently fine nt performances.

That doesn't change the fact that when we're talking about club level all the "worldclass", "best fullback in the world" talk is complete nonsense.

[Projekt4]

He was excellent in some matches and crap in others so average is the correct rating.

Lahm has 18 months remaining on his contract, any big club in need of a fullback would be stupid not to enquire about him. He has a good reputation thanks to the WC and his consistently fine nt performances.

That doesn't change the fact that when we're talking about club level all the "worldclass", "best fullback in the world" talk is complete nonsense.

Then you'll be quite surprised by the amounts of money which will be involved in his contract extension or transfer.
(Or you will not be surprised but continue to think it's all because of his World Cup...)

[Wappy]

I'll say Pasanen and Rafinha had their positions swapped

[Hendrik]

Then you'll be quite surprised by the amounts of money which will be involved in his contract extension or transfer.

I won't be surprised because most of the big money moves are about potential these days. I don't have a problem paying him 4 or 5 million euros per year. He's one of the few local guys at Bayern (and the only one who can become a top player) and it's not like we'd get someone better, fbs are rare these days.

With one year left on his contract no club in the world would pay more than €15-18M/£10-12M.

(Or you will not be surprised but continue to think it's all because of his World Cup...
His WC, his performances for the nt during Germany's Euro qualifying campaign and some flashes at Bayern when he played RB.

[Wastl]

Their list is a combination of the average scores for the players based on each of their individual game ratings. I don't always agree with the Kicket raters, but I do think they present a good general overview.

If that's true, how did Diego end up one level below Ribery even though he had a better average rating?
Or Jarolim being only on the third list even though he has better ratings than both Ribery and Diego?

If Ribery was world-class since the summer, than you have to list Diego and van der Vaart on that level as well.

They might get the order somewhat right, but the way they put players into different categories is just horrid.

[Hendrik]

AMs
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/168374/

Weltklasse
-

Internationale Klasse
1. Diego 22 Werder Bremen
2. Rafael van der Vaart 24 Hamburger SV

Im Weiteren Kreis
3. Thomas Hitzsperger 25 VfB Stuttgart
4. Sergej Barbarez 36 Bayer Leverkusen
5. Tamas Hajnal 26 Karlsruher SC
6. Florian Kringe 25 Borussia Dortmund

Blickfeld
Zvjezdan Misimovic 25 1. FC Nürnberg
Marcelinho 32 VfL Wolfsburg
Alexander Meier 24 Eintracht Frankfurt
Ivan Rakitic 19 Schalke 04

DMs
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/168365/

Weltklasse
-

Internationale Klasse
1. Simon Rolfes 25 Bayer Leverkusen
2. Zé Roberto 33 Bayern München
3. Tomas Galasek 34 1. FC Nürnberg

Im Weiteren Kreis
4. Jermaine Jones 26 Schalke 04
5. David Jarolim 28 Hamburger SV
6. Daniel Jensen 28 Werder Bremen
7. Peer Kluge 27 1. FC Nürnberg
8. Nigel de Jong 23 Hamburger SV
9. Arturo Vidal 20 Bayer Leverkusen

Blickfeld
Hanno Balitsch 26 Hannover 96
Fabian Ernst 28 Schalke 04
Christian Gentner 22 VfL Wolfsburg
Ivica Grlic 32 MSV Duisburg
Josué 28 VfL Wolfsburg
Pavel Pardo 30 VfB Stuttgart
Massimilian Porcello 27 Karlsruher SC
Tobias Rathgeb 25 Hansa Rostock
Christian Schulz 24 Hannover 96
Tinga 29 Borussia Dortmund
Mark van Bommel 30 Bayern München

[Cirdan]

While I'm pretty sure most would agree with me that Diego played at least as good, if not better than Ribery in the Bundesliga, I can go with Kickers reasoning that Diego was mostly disappointing in the CL and is not a key player in the nt, while Ribery showed his class in his internationals with France.

However, looking at the defenders, I have a serious problem with Werder being rated above Hamburg in almost every position... OK, Hamburgs tactics are rather defensive compared to Bremens, and Bremens defenders do more for the offense of their team, but I just can't get around the fact that the main purpose of defenders is to defend, and Hamburgs defenders did a fantastic job in that, hardly any notable mistakes, not a single time they conceded 3 goals in a game, neither in the Bundesliga nor in the UC, while Bremens defense frequently horribly failed (0:4 against Bayern, 3:4 against 96, 0:3 and 1:3 against Olympiakos...). Kompany neither among the center backs nor among the dms? Mathijsen only Blickfeld? Pasanen a category higher than Boateng, Naldo as good as Mathijsen, none of Mathijsen, Reinhardt, Jarolim, de Jong internationale Klasse...

Even looking at Kickers grades, Jarolim would have to be internationale Klasse, with the third best average grade of the league.

[Hendrik]

Strikers

Weltklasse
-

Internationale Klasse
1. Luca Toni 30 Bayern München
2. Miroslav Klose 29 Bayern München
3. Boubacar Sanogo 25 Werder Bremen

Im Weiteren Kreis
4. Marko Pantelic 29 Hertha BSC
5. Mario Gomez 22 VfB Stuttgart
6. Kevin Kuranyi 25 Schalke 04
7. Mladen Petric 27 Borussia Dortmund
8. Stefan Kießling 23 Bayer Leverkusen
9. Mike Hanke 24 Hannover 96
10. Hugo Almeida 23 Werder Bremen
11. Theofanis Gekas 27 Bayer Leverkusen
12. Ioannis Amanatidis 26 Eintracht Frankfurt

Blickfeld
Cacau 26 VfB Stuttgart
Manasseh Ishiaku 24 MSV Duisburg
Enrico Kern 28 Hansa Rostock
Dimitar Rangelov 24 Energie Cottbus
Markus Rosenberg 25 Werder Bremen
Artur Wichniarek 30 Arminia Bielefeld


Germans Abroad

Weltklasse
-

Internationale Klasse
-

Im weiteren Kreis
Dietmar Hamann 34 Manchester City/England

Blickfeld
Timo Hildebrand 28 FC Valencia/Spanien
Georg Koch 35 Dinamo Zagreb/Kroatien
Timo Ochs 25 RB Salzburg/Österreich
Marcelo Pletsch 31 Pan. Athen/Griechenland
Fabian Lamotte 25 Sturm Graz/Österreich
M. Steinhöfer 21 RB Salzburg/Österreich
Baris Özbek 21 Galat. Istanbul/Türkei
S. Schindzielorz 28 Levadiakos/Griechenland
Simon Cziommer 26 AZ Alkmaar/Niederlande
Steffen Hofmann 26 Rapid Wien/Österreich
Carsten Jancker 33 Mattersburg/Österreich
Alex. Zickler 33 RB Salzburg/Österreich

[F96]

If that's true, how did Diego end up one level below Ribery even though he had a better average rating?
Or Jarolim being only on the third list even though he has better ratings than both Ribery and Diego?

Exactly.
It's clearly not only based on the ratings for each game.

Top-rated players:
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/topspieler/

1 Rolfes Leverkusen 17 17 2 2,62
2 M. Miller Karlsruhe 11 11 0 2,68
3 Jarolim HSV 15 15 0 2,73
4 Diego Bremen 17 17 9 2,74
5 Ribery Bayern 16 16 4 2,75
6 R. Adler Leverkusen 17 17 0 2,76
7 Bordon Schalke 15 15 2 2,80
8 Enke Hannover 17 17 0 2,82
9 Mertesacker Bremen 17 17 1 2,85
10 Demichelis Bayern 17 17 1 2,88
Hajnal Karlsruhe 16 16 5 2,88
12 Barbarez Leverkusen 13 11 4 2,91
A. Streit Frankfurt 11 11 0 2,91
14 F. Rost HSV 17 17 0 2,94
15 Pröll Frankfurt 16 16 0 2,97
16 Kießling Leverkusen 16 16 5 3,00
17 A. Wolf Nürnberg 15 15 2 3,03
Zé Roberto Bayern 17 17 2 3,03
19 Jones Schalke 15 14 0 3,04
20 Hitzlsperger Stuttgart 11 11 3 3,05
21 Castro Leverkusen 17 17 0 3,06
22 Lucio Bayern 12 12 0 3,08
23 Starke Duisburg 17 17 0 3,09
24 van der Vaart HSV 14 14 9 3,11

All in all I think the ratings are pretty spot on and I hearby apologize to Simon Rolfes.
Still don't respect Jarolim though.

[Alex_K]

As this is discussed here: those rankings are not supposed to reflect the kicker ratings. Those are surely a factor as well, but basically it's some guys sitting arround a table, throwing names at each other and finally making some kind of ranking out of this.

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Ergo, acting like Americans talking about FOOOOTBALLLL!!