Best Players of 2016/17 seasons so far.....

Probably has more to do with the fact that Kante like Makelele is also French, a DM and even looks similar and has a similar stature.

In terms of playing style, Casemiro in how he prefers to protect the back 4 and move the ball to the other more attacking mids once he has won it (rather than driving forward with it himself), seems a closer comparison to Makelele.

Ultimately though, all of these are individual players with their own quirks.

 

Navas, Marcelo, Carvajal, Ramos, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Cristiano, Isco

 

For me the best players of this season are Lionel Messi, Luka Modric and Marcelo.

 

What are your ideas behind 'only' two stars for Robben? Yes I know he played (again) fewer than 30 league matches but so did Thiago. Thiago is on top at WhoScored (Robben #2) while Robben has the best average grade on kick with a pretty fine 0.20 gap to #2 in the league. In the (traditionally more important) summer ranking he was also the only one to receive a WC classification (although personally I don't agree with this). I did think that in terms of playing against the strong sides this was one of his best campaigns: Real Madrid, Arsenal, RB Leipzig, Dortmund for ex.

Also think that Alexis Sanchez has to be ahead of Dybala. Alexis played for a really poor Arsenal team (the poorest in 10 years arguably), after November I mean, and yet showed up quite consistently against the better teams of the league.

In terms of individual class, arguably, but I'm still not really convinced about the overall quality of the midfield play of Real Madrid (so is 'Zonalmarking', who thinks quite often it looks out of sync and vulnerable in a way). Certainly all those top athletes in all lines make the top more forgiving for the midfielders although I agree that esp. Modric with his dribbling ability and acceleration next to his retention is of high individual class.

How would you assess the strengths of Modric and Kroos respectively? What weaknesses?

Think that: Kroos has more stamina (as a result makes himself available more often) and the better long balls. Modric the better dribbler, better in dispossessing the ball, better short passing, better in passing/one-touch while on the move.

 

Casillas thought Courtois is the best although this was before some high profile faults and errors

http://www.sportbible.com/football/...-choice-for-best-keeper-in-the-world-20170131

 

Did you also give *** to both Modric and Kroos the 2015-16 season? Hard to differentiate with 2016-17 I think.

Hmmm... Except for Carvajal I had thought of the same full-backs.

Tend to think the goalkeepers, centre-backs and defensive midfielders were relatively weak. Maybe Neuer approached his best but the other world leading goalkeepers, I don't think so (incl. Courtois after all). I have seen too few games however where Neuer was really decisive or tested (but he was in the first game against Real Madrid) so maybe I have the wrong impression.

I do think both Sergio Ramos and Bonucci have for their general standing quite a lot positional errors and Bonucci isn't even a good marker. Don't deny his strengths but he's slow. I see many tend to think here the same although we shouldn't pretend the likes of Maldini were totally impregnable.
http://pesstatsdatabase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=13168&start=240

Kante is an atypical defensive midfielder, and I fully agree he's a lock for three stars. In his own way one of the most dominant players of recent years. Don't know whether he would really cut it at Barca, Bayern or Real. He's not the carbon copy of Makelele.

The real strength is vacated in the more advanced positions, except the attacking midfielders (the way formations, tactics and rules have developed don't help them - the ones with 'talent' become either a forward or a central midfielder as Modric has become). With Modric you can really see imho the difference he makes when he plays. His 'busy ant' moving around the field connects the lines well.

Maybe I'd like to drop out Harry Kane but on the other hand I feel strongly for Alexis Sanchez and his 23 goals (including doing well against the Man City's and Chelsea's of the league). Maybe some more strikers down to **.

In sum: the weakest departments are imho the goalkeepers (relative to their best form), the center backs, the defensive midfielders, the attacking midfielders, maybe also the strikers. Can easily see arguments for ** for all of Lewandowski, Suarez, Kane, Ronaldo, Mertens. Only Aubameyang feels very safe (without having stand out technique), to a slightly lesser extent Lewandowski is very safe. On the other hand, Cavani, Robben and Alexis Sanchez would make many lists too. Not many 'La Liga' stars approached their very best form or season, but that's relative.

 

I'm really not a fan of Sid Lowe and his writing and I generally avoid what he says. Especially after his rubbish La Liga book with the hitjob on the Dutch (for which he exclusively cites RM people). With however the master manipulators of the FIFA creating all-star teams with four Brazilians and zero Dutchmen in 2014 - so revealing of the dark forces at work - there's however a room and market for the asinine revisionist assessments by Lowe and also Wilson's parallel universe (when it comes down to banned substance abuses, where he doesn't dare to mention and take on many of the bigger powers, but then attacks smaller markets for things that weren't actually banned nor advanced, nor proven). It's the fate of a small country with small companies (within football) with a language that no one speaks (unlike Uruguay or Portugal, although also Portugal gets political regulations thrown at them whenever they tend to do very well, meanwhile they invest billions and billions in places as China, Mexico and USA).

With this rant being said; Carvajal is really a limited player next to Marcelo. Yes he runs a lot and is alright defensively but technically so limited. His trapping is even sub-standard for his position. While I agree he was good in many of the bigger matches of the last three months (including output), I think he's make up is not that of a world class player. Zambrotta was an equally massive runner but altogether more refined. Marcelo is of a level higher and many think Carvajal spot is one of the few positions where an upgrade is possible although elite level full-backs have always been scarce (left-backs even more so). If they're really that good they tend to play on other positions, with being a left-footed player as a clear advantage. In general I agree with 1) a limited player and 2) a clearly better player than him on his position is imaginable.

As footballers rather than defenders they're alright. Comparisons with the most nostalgic names are not fair, but feel that 1990s names Blanc, Blind, Sammer, Thon might well have beaten them in a footballing sense. Maybe the 1990s as a whole was strong for legendary defenders (as Maldini) but less so for legendary forwards. In that recent VI list a trade off is discernible for many decades.

I don't want to romanticize it either. After the recommendation by Michael Cox (whose book I liked a lot) I also flipped through Gullit's one and in there he mentions the fact that MvB only scored one goal against Vierchowod in his entire career. I checked this assertion and it is actually true (although he had have something like 6-7 assists against him). Now very arguably it is an improvement that striker-killers as Vierchowod are gone, and against slightly cleaner players as Kohler (but still dirty, I can show a scene from euro 1992) there's already a much better return with a production you'd expect from those caliber of center forwards. This isn't per se the smarter defensive play either, because there are many tangible scenes where defensive chaos follows (and a team mate of the striker capitalizes) whenever the primary man marker is lured away to midfield.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/best-players-of-2016-17-seasons-so-far.2039090/page-4#post-35462046

No doubt Messi is a lock too but he was underwhelming in many big matches (for national team as well, twice against Brazil). Other games as ManCity and RM were somewhat helped by a red card for the opponent. Did think this was better as the 2015-16 season. Both Neymar and Suarez can show more of their own (passing) ability without him playing but neither of them were near their best and see for both of them a case for ** (like Cristiano Ronaldo). Suarez did score a lot relative to the shots and shooting positions he has. As I said not many La Liga stars (*Modric, Marcelo not really of that publicity ilk*) were at their very best.

At hindsight I agree on Lewandowski. Was unsure about Mertens because of possible media bias here and Serie A isn't what it was (plus Milik scored freely like you said, before he tore his ACL), and the gaps between leagues become increasingly bigger but it seems UEFA has thrown a lifeline at them with the recent Champions League reforms.


*** locks (for me).

Messi
Modric
Lewandowski
Hazard
Kante
Alexis Sanchez
Robben
Neuer (to an extent by default and N/A of the rest)
Marcelo
Dani Alves


Although I don't like that whole 'international class' and 'world class' concept at all. Indeed, this leads to very debatable implementations as sometimes giving it to one, and then to twelve.

 

Mildly surprise you didn't rate Schmeichel at all, He was pretty much the only reason why it didn't end up looking much worse for Leicester in PL than it did ... Without him I frankly doubt that they would have gone on past the group stage in CL (although with how poorly Brugge showed, they'd still be Europa League), and he had a massive hand in advancing past Sevilla (two saved penalties for a starter). And he was probably their only player that didn't have a noticeable dip in form as compared to the previous season (although more injured, but you can hardly blame him for that)

 

If it's possible, I will try to do this every year, in order to paint a complete picture despite whatever it is that the media is trying to do in keeping the focus on offensive players (often), eventually every player on the pitch is equally important (of course thereafter that depends in abilities and performance), after all is a team sport.
All play in fairness, so every player (mentioned/placed) in what has they done to deserve that.

The best players in the biggest leagues & competitions

Italian Serie A 2016/2017
1. Gianluigi Donnarumma 2. Lorenzo Insigne 3. Alejandro Dario Gomez 4. Dries Mertens 5. Marek Hamsik 6. Jose Callejon 7. Sami Khedira 8. Radja Nainggolan 9. Wojciech Szczesny 10. Gonzalo Higuain

English Premier League 2016/2017
1. Eden Hazard 2. Victor Wanyama 3. Christian Eriksen 4. David Luiz 5. Alexis Sanchez 6. Dele Alli 7. Kevin De Bruyne 8. Diego Costa 9. N'Golo Kante 10. David Silva

German Bundesliga 2016/2017
1. Arjen Robben 2. Robert Lewandowski 3. Thiago Alcantara 4. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 5. Timo Werner 6. Anthony Modeste 7. Emil Forsberg 8. David Alaba 9. Ousmane Dembele 10. Mats Hummels

Spanish La Liga 2016/2017
1. Lionel Messi 2. Luis Suarez 3. Neymar 4. Diego Godin 5. Antoine Griezmann 6. Marc-Andre ter Stegen 7. Jan Oblak 8. Steven N'Zonzi 9. Filipe Luis 10. Toni Kroos

UEFA Champions League 2016/2017
1. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Luka Modric 3. Toni Kroos 4. Dani Alves 5. Marcelo 6. Leonardo Bonucci 7. Dani Carvajal 8. Sergio Ramos 9. Gianluigi Buffon 10. Jan Oblak

Overall

Cristiano Ronaldo - PLAYER OF THE SEASON back-to-back, an amazing season again and again, still at the top of his game after all these years, a more stable at pretty much in all competitions, the most influential player in the Champions League (Arguably the greatest player in world's biggest club competition of all time), continue to make history as well (100+ goals in total - 50+ goals in the knock-out stages - Most assists). Real Madrid won their 12th European crown it came mostly from his signature, scored another magnificent achievement with 10 goals in the competition's toughest stages (a historical record), and that was against the muscular defensive lines & mighty goalkeepers, he destroyed them all, a true nightmare for Bayern, Atletico and Juventus, he is THE SAVIOR particularly against Bayern Munich. Was exceptional as always in La Liga, started as lacks match fitness, ended magnificently. He's completely changed his game too, he doesn't run anymore by being more clever, he comes into situation when he can score as well as his movements off the ball and keeping the oppositions busy, playing a more central role, he serves his teammates, creating amount of chances, giving assists and scoring! a great season domestically as usual. Add to his sparkling displays on the international scene (World Cup qualifying & the Confederations Cup), as well scoring a hat-trick in the Club World Cup final (to match Pele's record). The main man for this great Real Madrid side who steps up at the right time with great personality, has been more decisive than any player this season and delivers when it matters the most, won major titles and finished as the top scorer, also standing at the very top list of the most assists for The Meringues, a prolific goalscoring record at both club and international level, has broken Jimmy Greaves's record to become the all-time top-scorer in Europe's top five leagues and ranks second on the European all-time international goalscorers list. A unique legend in a league of his own, an incredibly athlete, a modern attacking genius in the final third and one of greatest players that's ever lived.

Lionel Messi - Another masterclass season from the footballing magician (Bar none, the greatest player in La Liga's history & at club level), no one shone brighter than him at the level of individual play, a comprehensive meaning of football, never stops surprising us, in a domestic season would rated it as a legendary, for two reasons, it's RARE to see about 90% of dazzling performances by a player against teams in the top-half of the table in the best league (from any era) and he carried his team on his back almost single-handedly when his teammates has been vastly underperforming for the majority of the season, he stood alone at the top of the league, he's the best player in La Liga by a distance. Absolutely magnificent and magical effect, orchestrating his side all over the field, he contributed alone significantly to nearly 50% of the strength of La Blaugrana attack this season, his dribbling technique usually it is effective and highly impressive, plenty of games that has been standing out as MotM but notably the most memorable game of the season THE BIGGEST (El Clasico) at the Bernabeu against Zidane's Real Madrid that everyone will remember for years to come, when he held up pretty well under all circumstances and made a massive difference for his team with a commanding performance, produced a deliciously first goal (PlayStation-quality goal), followed by a stunning game-winning goal. Amongst the best in the Champions League but the team stopped short of the competition (was stellar until the quarterfinals), provided the best individual performance in the all three domestic competitions as well, he is the best player in the Copa del Rey & Super Cup. He had great games against Uruguay and Colombia. He also continued as a goal-scoring phenomenon in football history, he was the season's highest scorer (57 goals), who isn't even a striker!

Neymar - In the same category as Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi and was on a much different level than the rest of the other players this season. Arguably the best player during the World Cup qualifying, he was a menace and simply unstoppable throughout the entire campaign, his contribution in goals and assists, with commanding charismatic presence, helped Brazil to restore much of its luster. Has been among the top performers and continued to do so in the world's best league. He had a great tournament in the Champions League, after fine displays in the group stages, he was the real star of the show in what is an unbelievable comeback story in a match against Paris Saint-Germain (perhaps the best comeback of all-time), "The Seven-Minute Miracle" was just classic, late goals, a superb free kick and penalty then THE assist in the dying seconds that helped the team to qualify all at crucial moments, and he was Barcelona's best player against Juventus at Camp Nou, the one who really kept trying with high degree of skill to break Juve's defensive intelligence tactics, he also set a new record for most assists in a single season and therefore wrote his name into history books. A natural pure talent who had the ability to do something special and a joy to watch.

Alexis Sanchez - It's been an extraordinary season, especially when Arsenal this season relied far too heavily on moments of individual brilliance from Alexis who turned the team into a truly one-man show. A combination of great skill and electric pace mixed with that fighting spirit that has made a huge impact on his team. He was the best player at the FA Cup, impressive displays at international level as well.

Toni Kroos - Will go down as one of the greatest midfielders in history, perhaps the finest of his generation, a spectacular World Cup performance, an excellent Euro tournament and now has become an integral part of Zidane's legendary RM team. Not the quickest but is a very intelligent and a great reader of the game, more composed and his set piece deliveries and crosses has been such a massive weapon for the team, had great passing accuracy, he is Real's top assist provider.

Luka Modric - Provided the inspiration that kept the team together for a remarkable Real Madrid’s success this season. A man for big occasions, he has been crucial, steady and greatly helping by controlling the tempo of the game with ease which makes it even more amazing about it. He could rank even a bit higher it not been for the injury and missing a handful of games. An astonishing career so far (achievements and consistency), one of the most elegant and technically gifted midfield players ever.

Antoine Griezmann - Cemented his place among the elites already, another fabulous season who has been a key figure for the Rojiblancos, again and consistently world class (score goals and create chances).

Marcelo - A phenomenal performance all season long for doing an unbelievable job, maybe not the best defensively but scintillating going forward, more like a winger, he played crucial roles in build-up of team play in many games, his energy, his fitness, always in a better position. He just gets better with age, this is by far the best season of his career.

Robert Lewandowski - One of the greatest modern-day strikers, a complete, is technically great with his inherent physical strength advantage against defenders, and his prolific record remained remarkably consistent. However, it's been an almost perfect season by a striker, his presence has been invaluable for Bayern Munich increasingly this season, Bayern suffered the loss of him (major blow) when he got injured especially in their massive (home) game against Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena. He has also been definitely the most vital player in the World Cup qualifying for the European zone, leading the scoring charts (share it with Ronaldo).

Dani Carvajal - Remains one of the most effective players this season, was great at both defensive cover at the back and truly impressive on the flank.

Honorable Mention
Isco-Chiellini-Mbappe: much less the season played, brilliant when they're involved.


The Best Players of the Season 2016/2017

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal)
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
3. Neymar (Barcelona and Brazil)
4. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal and Chile)
5. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid and Germany)
6. Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)
7. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid and France)
8. Marcelo (Real Madrid and Brazil)
9. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Poland)
10. Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid and Spain)
11. Luis Suarez (Barcelona and Uruguay)
12. Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich and Chile)
13. Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid and Uruguay)
14. Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus and Italy)
15. Sami Khedira (Juventus and Germany)
16. Bernardo Silva (Monaco and Portugal)
17. Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid and Slovenia)
18. Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus and Argentina)
19. Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain and Uruguay)
20. David Silva (Manchester City and Spain)
21. Mario Mandzukic (Juventus and Croatia)
22. Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain and Italy)
23. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich and Netherlands)
24. Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich and Spain)
25. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain)
26. Casemiro (Real Madrid and Brazil)
27. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona and Germany)
28. Koke (Atletico Madrid and Spain)
29. Dries Mertens (Napoli and Belgium)
30. Paulo Dybala (Juventus and Argentina)

 

Those positions don't add up. Lewandowski isn't number one in the league list but then suddenly the highest placed in the overall list. And he didn't stand out against Real Madrid in the Champions League or something like that.

 

Well, Hazard had a tremendous season CLEARLY the best player in the premier league, what works against him is that we are living in an era that allows 17 teams from Europe's top five leagues enter the champions league (with 3-4 super-clubs/full of star players), this gives the opportunity to a large slice of major players.
This did not happen during the 1970s, 80s and '90s.
In pre-2000, if a player has a very strong season in the elite league surely would have a better chance and if he is the best player could easily have made it on to the very top list even without playing at the European Cup anyway, maybe it's not fair and it doesn't necessary mean it's right, it's just my opinion with the criteria in mind.
To further clarify a bit more, Mario Mandzukic for example. He had an outstanding season in Italy (almost make the top ten), even though that performance hasnt come close to that "magical" type of performance from Hazard, add to the fact that the premier league is better than Serie a.
BUT Mandzukic has performed well on the biggest stage too, put a string of impressive performances in the latter stages of the tournament to make it more balanced and even with a little advantage. Barcelona, Monaco and Real Madrid are simply a notch above any team that Hazard has faced, so that would rank Mandzukic higher than Hazard as a whole.
Alexis Sanchez on the other hand, played a huge number of games, in a better stage and on top of that, he barely put a foot wrong, which basically explains why the gap is "greater".
Griezmann was massively impressive in La Liga (that hold more weight), also one of the stand out from his teammates in the champions league. While Dybala was sometimes inconsistent in serie a, came off the bench for final minutes against Roma (the toughest opposition) in both games, he also lacks the international play, nevertheless he has been absolutely fantastic for Juventus in the UCL & Coppa Italia.

 

International matches, the World Cup qualifying matches are the "magic words".

Lewandowski most likely #2 only behind Neymar at the WCQ.
His hat-trick against Denmark earns his side's a crucial 3-2 win, in a way that made the game easier for his team-mates considering the Danish dominated much of the second half.
Snatched a winning goal in the dying seconds against Armenia and helped Poland secure a valuable three points.
He managed to score a free kick versus Montenegro, as well as lead the team beating Romania home and away with five goals.
Playing against quality teams such as Denmark and Montenegro (that can compete in the group) is different from facing Romania and Armenia, while both Romania and Armenia are at a better level than the lightweight opposition Kazakhstan, and he had a great importance to the Polish national team in all six of their games.
That's made a huge difference about being placed in the highest the overall list in comparison with the number one in the league!, nothing is created suddenly here.

By the way, I already said previously "definitely the most vital player in the World Cup qualifying" and making that point clear in case someone is wondering!
Why am I adding the reasoning behind the very top in the final list?
Don't jump to a conclusion without understanding the antecedent cause which it's based upon.

 

For me it's simple, it's not the quantity, but the quality that matters.
At the end, it depends on what you value more.
Eden Hazard EPL 2016/2017 (36 games) vs Cristiano Ronaldo UCL 2016/2017 (13 games)
Luis Suarez EPL 2013/2014 (33 games) vs Arjen Robben WC 2014 (7 games)

Of course, 8-10 CL games is not enough (see Dani Alves), at least they must be just as good in other competition to gain an advantage.