Ok, well there are tons of threads about specific questions regarding to the best at a certain position, why no combine it all in one? For me, I'm trying to gain an overall better knowledge for the premier athletes. Goalie 1) Gianluigi Buffon 2) Petr Cech 3) Iker Casillas 4) Jens Lehmen 5) Edwin Van der Sar I also wanna note that Ben Foster has a ton of talent, just not on a big club team. Central Defender 1) John Terry 2) Kolo Toure 3) Carles Puyol 4) Fabio Cannavaro - ridiculously overrated 5) Alessandro Nesta Right Back 1) Zambrotta 2) Miguel 3) Sagnol 4) Gary Neville 5) ? Left Back 1) Ashley Cole 2) William Gallas 3) Phillip Lahm 4) I'm hitting a mental blcok on LB, I know Cole's the best though... So on and so forth... But what are you guys's lists for every position?
Defensive Mid 1) Gilberto 2) Makelele 3) M.Diarra 4) Vieira (if you count him as a DM) 5) Pirlo? can't tackle for **** Midfielders 1) Deco 2) Xavi 3) Scholes 4) Fabregas 5) Gerrard Wingers/ Left or Right Attacking Midfielders 1) C.Ronaldo 2) Ribery 3) Ronaldinho 4) Rosicky 5) Giggs Striker 1) Eto'o 2) Henry 3) Drogba 4) Rooney 5) Klose
No Order Goalie 1. Lehman 2. Buffon 3. Cech 4. Cassilas 5. Van Der Sar R Back 1. Sagnol 2. Zambrotta 3. Eboue 4. Ramos 5. Miguel L Back 1. Abidal 2. Lahm 3. Cole 4. Grosso 5. Heinze C Back 1.Thuram 2. Cannavaro 3. Nesta 4. Terry 5. Puyol Def Mid 1. Makalele 2. Viera 3. Essien 4. Gattusso 5. Diarra Cen Mid 1. Pirlo 2. Gerrard 3. Riquelme 4. Xavi 5. Deco Wingers/ A Mid 1. Ronaldinho 2. Ronaldo 3. Kaka 4. Totti 5. Messi Strikers 1. Henry 2. Drogba 3. RVN 4. Etoo' 5. Klose
You got me into thinking about how and who I would list. Usually I would only have 3 players per position, as that keeps the overall number down to a respectable level (the main complaint about the phrase world class is how often it is incorrectly applied) and forces harsh decisions to be made (hopefully ensuring only the cream of the crop are named). Although as you expressed a preference for 5 I thought of it as being 3 locks and 2 based on recent form. Hopefully that will be a best of both worlds scenario. In terms of groupings I thought about positions and the differences (if any) between them. It's because of that I am sticking with lateral defenders. Left and right-backs do exactly the same thing so why double the number purely based on what foot they use? They same applies to wingers, a dying breed in the modern game. Five of each is more than enough. In terms of central midfield the problem is how specialised positions are becoming. With that in mind I simply drew a horizontal line through midfield. If you are expected to contribute to the defensive side of the game then you are on one side and if you have no defensive responsibilty you are on the other. Here's what I ended up with: (1) Goalkeepers (2) Lateral defenders (3) Central defenders (4) Central midfielders (inc. deep-lying playmakers, defensive and box-to-box) (5) Attacking midfielders (inc. playmakers and support strikers) (6) Wingers (7) Strikers That leaves us with 35 players (21 locks, 14 form). Seems like a reasonable number. I'm still tinkering with my exact list but as the computer I'm working on has a habit of crashing with annoying regularity, I'll post this now. Gives anyone else who can be bothered a chance to think.
Off the top of my head... (1) Goalkeepers Buffon, Casillas, Cech, Coupet, Van der Sar (2) Lateral defenders Lahm, Heinze, Zambrotta, Sagnol, Miquel (3) Central defenders Nesta, Cannavaro, Ferdinand, Andrade, Chivu (4) Central midfielders (inc. deep-lying playmakers, defensive and box-to-box) Makelele, Pirlo, De Rossi, Ballack, Gerrard (5) Attacking midfielders (inc. playmakers and support strikers) Totti, Ronaldinho, Riquelme, Kaka, Rooney (6) Wingers Ronaldo, Giggs, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Cole (7) Strikers Klose, Henry, Van Nistelrooy, Shevchenko, Eto'o
Congratulations on highlighting your level of maturity for all to see. Aside from no-one knowing whether Droba will remain at this level of not, he still has several question marks surrounding his game. Regardless, try reading what I posted, it's not that difficult.
Doesn't this list have anything to do with current form, if not why don't we add Ronaldo to the list of strikers, and Beckam down on the list of wingers.
The only thing that mentions form is my post, which upon reflection requires some background information. My post was made on another thread in relation to the term 'world class'. I felt it was also appropriate here. We know that Shevchenko is better than Drogba and Eto'o better than Forlan, which is why I suggested we should look at these lists in terms of locks and form. Sheva gets in as a lock and Drogba by current form (if you wish). That way we can hopefully get the best of both worlds. However, even taking into account his recent form I still wouldn't have Drogba in my top five, others will no doubt disagree. Ronaldo and Beckham would not make my list under either condition. There are better options. Look at your current list. You have included players who have been injured for prolonged periods of time and ones that simply haven't performed at all this season. Why did you include them? It's because you know that despite recent form they are amongst the best around.
No paticular order; (1) Goalkeepers Buffon, Casillas, Coupet, Cech, Van der Sar (2) Lateral defenders Lahm, Heinze, Zambrotta, Abidal, Miguel (3) Central defenders Nesta, Cannavaro, Ferdinand, Terry, Mertesacker (4) Central midfielders Scholes, Pirlo, Viera, Gattuso, Fabregas (5) Attacking midfielders Robinho, Ronaldinho, Riquelme, Kaka, Juninho (6) Wingers C.Ronaldo, Fernandez, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Lennon (7) Strikers Klose, Henry, Villa, Drogba, Eto'o
On current form he's the best striker in Europe. There's no question about that and there are no question marks about his game on current form. The only question is whether or not he continues to play like this, which is unlikely.
i think the best way is to allow some "purple patch players", top young rising stars and "indian summer players" in each position, so here goes nothing; gk- cech, buffon, casillas, james, lehmann. lb/rb- zambrotta, sagnol, lahm, miguel, alves. cb- nesta, canna, gallas, chivu, vidic. dm/cm- gattuso, pirlo, gerrard, gilberto, iniesta. am/ss- totti, kaka, ronny, rooney, rosicky. wingers- ronaldo, joe cole, robben, rvp, giggs. strikers- sheva, henry, eto'o, kanoute, drogba.
No particular order. Goalies: Cech, Buffon, Casillas, Coupet, Kahn Lateral Defenders: Zanetti, Zambrotta, Sagnol, Lahm, Ramos Central Defenders: Thuram, Cannavaro, Nesta, Ayala, Ferdinand Central Mids: Deco, Makelele, Pirlo, Gerrard, Xabi Attacking Mids: Totti, Riquelme, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Aimar Wingers: Ronaldo, Messi, Joaquin, Camoranesi, Lennon Strikers: Eto'o, Villa, Sheva, Drogba, Henry
ok heres my version of... lets see how one eyed i can be GOALKEEPERS: Ivan Pelizzoli, Pietro Marino, Andrea Campognolo, Emanuele Belardi, Nicola Pavarini CENTRAL DEFENDERS: Alessandro Lucarelli, Maurizio Lanzaro, Salvatore Aronica, Antonio Giosa, Palmiro Di Dio WIDE DEFENDERS: Giovanni Morabito, Francesco Modesto, Gianluca Camotto, Gianluca Falsini, Jacobo Balestri CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS: Giacomo Tedesco, Daniele Amerini, Simone Missiroli, Fillipo Carobbio, Antonio Barilla` , Luca Tognozzi WIDE MIDFIELDERS: Giandomenico Mesto, Andrea Bernini, Tonio Martino, Ricardo Esteves, Aimo Diana ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Julio Cesar Leon, Francesco Cozza, Shunsuke Nakamura, Andrea Pirlo (yes, back then he was an attacking midfielder), Ezio Brevi FORWARDS: Rolando Bianchi, Nicola Amoruso, Emiliano Bonazzoli, David Di Michele, Mohammod Kallon
This is mine Goalkeepers Buffon, Casillas, Cech, Coupet, Van der Sar Lateral defenders Lahm, ACole, Zambrotta, Sagnol, Miquel Central defenders Nesta, Cannavaro, Terry, Puyol, Gallas Central midfielders Essien, Pirlo, Viera, Ballack, Gerrard (5) Attacking midfielders Totti, Ronaldinho, Riquelme, Kaka, Lampard Wingers C.Ronaldo, Giggs, Messi, Schweinsteiger, Robben Strikers Klose, Henry, Van Nistelrooy, Shevchenko, Eto'o
That's very debatable and there are several question marks. He still cannot finish easy chances, has reverted back to his diving antics and some great/important strikes have covered over the poor performances that he has had. He's certainly up there but not leading the way by any stretch of the imagination.
He has what, 19 goals now? Clearly he can. No strikers takes all his chances. That is irrelevant. Shall I discount Ronaldo as an in form player because he dives? He consistently pressures defenders, has scored the most goals in Europe and contributes in defense. The notion that he's not in great form because he occasionally pops up to score great goals while not being completely involved is ludicrous. He's a striker, his primary task is to score goals not to fit into the Teso Criteria. On current form, he is the best striker in Europe. Period.
He's a striker. Who cares if him pressuring defenders results into ten chances of which he converts only two? You've got strikers who only get one chance and score two and you've got strikers who get ten chances and score two. In the end of the day both strikers scored two goals for their teams, which is good.
i fink: Goalkeepers Casillas Buffon Cech Van Der Sar Coupet Lateral defenders Cole Zambrotta Lahm Ramos Alves Central defenders Terry Cannavaro Nesta Gallas Puyol Central midfielders Gerrard Pirlo Alonso Vieira Essien Attacking Midfielders Kaka Ronaldinho Totti Riquelme Scholes Wingers C Ronaldo Robinho Lennon Robben Messi Strikers Eto'o Henry Rooney RVN Villa Struggled with A Mids.
Goalkeepers Buffon Cech Van Der Sar Coupet Rogerio Ceni Lateral defenders Cole Bridge Lahm Evra Miguel Central defenders Terry Cannavaro Nesta Gallas Ferdinand Central midfielders Gerrard Makelele Essien Xavi Diarra Attacking Midfielders Kaka Totti Riquelme Scholes Deco Wingers Ronaldo Robinho* Lennon Robben Ronaldinho* Strikers Klose Henry Rooney Villa Drogba * Play there, but not optimal position.
Keepers: 1. Buffon - 2. Casillas - 3. Cech - 4. Lehmann - 5. Van der Sar Defenders: 1. Toure - 2. Terry - 3. Cannavaro - 4. Puyol - 5. Gallas Full-backs: 1. Eboué - 2. Zanetti - 3. Zambrotta - 4. Sagnol - 5. Sorin Center Midfielders: 1. Essien - 2. Juninho - 3. Viera - 4. Gerrard - 5. Diarra Attacking Midfielers: 1. Kaka - 2. Ronaldinho - 3. Riquelme - 4. Deco - 5. Ballack Wingers: 1. C. Ronaldo - 2. Messi - 3. Robben - 4. Robinho - 5. Figo Strikers: 1. Eto'o - 2. Drogba - 3. Henry - 4. Van Nistelrooy - 5. Kanoute