The best players of the season 2020/21.

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by Trachta10, Sep 16, 2020.

  1. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...ould-frontrunner-player-year-has-transformed/
     
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  2. AD78

    AD78 Member+

    Jul 17, 2013
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    comme repped this.
  3. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    I don't know if Dias has been the best but he's had a big impact on those around him as well (like Cancelo and Stones) who have been very good.

    Personally, I think Kane has been phenomenal. His all round game is so good.
     
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  4. IceBlood34

    IceBlood34 Member

    Montpellier HSC
    France
    Jan 27, 2021
    Yes, clearly Son and Kane are a iconic duo of this beginning of the season but unfortunately Tottenham is not in good form recently and are not part of the Champions League finals (although they can go all the way in the Europa League).
    In any case Lewandowski maintains his level of last year and really wants to win the Ballon d'Or again (inconsiderately twice).
    But do you think that if someone wins a Euro (Ronaldo vs Mbappé) or a Copa America (Neymar vs Messi) without winning the Champions League, that would make him one of the favorites ?
     
  5. AD78

    AD78 Member+

    Jul 17, 2013
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    #55 AD78, Feb 9, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2021
    Agree, if a vote was cast today, Kane would get my vote, everyone knew he could score goals but his assists and delivery has been exceptional this season, more and more like a number 10 than conventional 9 that he used to be.
     
  6. AD78

    AD78 Member+

    Jul 17, 2013
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    The Euros will have a big impact and will likely carry a lot of weight, however if a player has a stand out club season and there is no stand out player at Euros they could get it, but likewise and average season and stand out Euros would likely trump it the former scenario.

    Not so sure re Copa America as this does not seem to carry the same sway with voters.

    Also given a there were a lot of voters who would have voted for Lewandowski last year, I wonder how many will go for him automatically this year as it was missed last year, even if there is a stronger candidate in future (of which there are certainly not many or even any at present!).
     
  7. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Ruben Dias shouldn't be close in the end. If defenders get this, something more might be expected than 0 goals, 0 assists and an average Whoscored rating below a 7.

    Not that I have seen a lot though.

    (Crazy how English clubs pay millions for out of contract teenagers of another English club, while at the same time practically every Benelux youngster gets plucked away for free)
     
  8. Sexy Beast

    Sexy Beast Member+

    Dinamo Zagreb
    Croatia
    Aug 11, 2016
    Zagreb
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    Come on man. Giving Dias credit for Cancelo's and Stone's consistency this year is absurd. Of course if Dias performs well, will have a huge impact given the City's lack of proper choices in that position. He walked into the top 2 team in the world and performed well.

    Impact =/= performance
     
  9. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Luis Suarez is the best striker this season. He is I think a better footballer overall as Lewandowski, who has become increasingly defined by his goals.

    See the ranking below:
    https://football-observatory.com/

    I had always doubts about him not being good enough for Barcelona any more (copied and pasted a VI article as well about this).
     
  10. Sexy Beast

    Sexy Beast Member+

    Dinamo Zagreb
    Croatia
    Aug 11, 2016
    Zagreb
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    back in 2017, when Enrique was still in charge, on this very forum, i've went into some detail on how Suarez is the best striker since R9, but that he doesn't suit Barcelona's playing style, which hurts both him and Barcelona. He was of course great on the basis of individual briliance and world class partnership with Neymar and mainly Messi, but there was a lot of untapped potential. They were playing on his weaknesses rather than qualities.

    His performance this season is not surprising at all.
     
  11. carlito86

    carlito86 Member+

    Jan 11, 2016
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nothing for nothing and i probably would agree that overall Suarez has been a more complete player but that is defintely not the case this season

    On a per game basis lewandowski has more goals
    More assists
    More dribbles
    More crosses
    More long balls
    More key passes
    More passes
    Superior pass accuracy
    More tackles
    https://www.whoscored.com/Players/22221/History/Luis-Suárez
    https://www.whoscored.com/Players/29400/History/Robert-Lewandowski

    This is probably the worst time ever in the career of Luis Suarez to argue he is a(More) complete player

    Lewandowski is the best(most complete) 9 in the world
    and has been since at least 2019
    There is no one on the European club scene who can compete
     
  12. IceBlood34

    IceBlood34 Member

    Montpellier HSC
    France
    Jan 27, 2021
    Are we talking about the beginning of the year 2021 of Messi ?
    Incredible, he returns to his best level, right at the time of the decisive matches !
     
  13. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord

    https://sempreinter.com/2021/02/21/...er-the-perfect-milan-derby-by-the-nerazzurri/

    I read a nice article in the Voetbal International after last weeks derby (which I did see):

    "Matthijs de Ligt recently faced the terrific Romelu Lukaku in the battle for the Coppa Italia. His trainer had linked him as personal guard to the Belgian top striker. De Ligt passed the test with flying colors. Juve kept the clean and qualified for the final [they're the best and 2nd best defense of the league - PvH]. The attention for the 21-year-old Dutchman is big, disproportionately big if you compare the positive press he receives with the words devoted to Stefan de Vrij.

    He has less the allure of a poster boy and is more absorbed in the crowd. De Ligt cannot do much about this. He is the super talent from Ajax's youth who left for Turin for a lot of money. As the basic player of Orange, he is under a magnifying glass. When it comes to De Vrij, the same tune often sounds. How clever it is how he worked his way up and walked the way of gradualness. All true, but shall we talk about Stefan de Vrij?

    Last weekend it was AC Milan-Internazionale. A spicy city derby that stands entirely on its own due to all its history and has been given extra shine this season by the situation in the rankings. The two best teams in Italy faced each other on Sunday-afternoon. On the front pages, the poster had been reduced to a cage fight between Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In almost all talk shows the match is briefly mentioned. What surprises me is that the functioning of De Vrij is in the Netherlands only sparsely highlighted. He is a surgeon who makes almost no mistakes in a team where every detail is prepared, highlighted and analyzed by Antonio Conte and the rest of the staff.

    De Vrij leads a defense with Milan Skriniar and Alessandro Bastoni on his flanks. The three of them move synchronously across the field. Left to right and front to back. The Dutchman told in October VI how much precision, concentration and thinking behind that ball-oriented movement. If you draw an imaginary line, you automatically see how Inter's rearguard moves in relation to the ball, the opponent and their own players. Not one step too much and not one step too little. It is a symphony in which there is almost no room for error. At half-time on television breath is found for his best possible Italian without letting focus and concentration disappear.

    Each opponent and striker also require a specific approach. De Vrij had to deal with Zlatan Ibrahimovic against AC Milan, in the weeks before Ciro Immobile and Cristiano Ronaldo were the opponents. You prefer not to duel with the Swedish power man, while you want to keep Ronaldo as far from the box as possible. De Vrij arranges the organization for this. He sets the rhythm. In possession, but also at the invisible moments when you as a defender are busy with getting the organization in order.

    After last season, the former Feyenoord player was named Defender of the Year by the Lega Serie A, an organization comparable to the Eredivisie CV. An election that had come about with statistics given a consideration. De Vrij received the compliments and proceeded to the order of the day. That simply lies in his character. In the Netherlands, the statistics were not trusted by everyone. De Vrij could not possibly be the best defender in the Italian league. The reasoning: then he must be better than Kalidou Koulibaly, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and De Ligt. Maybe he is.

    De Vrij is a silent butcher. He dissects strikers, skilfully cuts them into pieces and puts them on the counter. Without fuss, without big gestures, without patting themselves on the back. In the Netherlands, sometimes it has been about the effects of a possible absence of the injured Virgil van Dijk at the European Championship for a while. A dilemma that Frank de Boer has to solve. Recently it has often been about Perr Schuurs, Sven Botman and even Pascal Struijk [who might switch to the Belgian national team - PvH]. Whether the country, where the military used to have a day off, and you are in whatever direction relatively free to do what you want has the mentality to organize, focus and defend itself. He, the invisible one from Capelle aan den IJssel, unraveled strikers and made almost no mistakes in a country where the best defenders lie under a magnifying glass.

    De Vrij has become one of the best defenders in the world, has been an undisputed basic player at his low conceding clubs for a number of years and acts without much ado as a stand-in for the Orange squad. As an exemplary professional and neat boy, he is less interesting, less media appeal. He is so common that it is difficult to imagine if it is remotely special what he is doing in Italy. Watching De Vrij is looking at a tailor who is concentrating on putting together a tailor-made suit. At Inter in the back you see not brazen athleticism but pure craftsmanship. There might be a little more attention for that."
     
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  14. Naubi

    Naubi Member

    Spain
    Mar 26, 2018
    I think that "complete" is not the best adjective to describe this Luis Suárez. He is still one of the best players in the area but he has lost a lot of qualities because of age and injuries.

    He suffers a lot when he's not inside the box, he can't start the pressing no more or creating chances in the 3/4 zone.

    In fact his numbers in Champions League are witness of this. Barcelona in UCL suffered a lot to connect the defense/midfield with Messi and Suárez, in Liga Santander you can play like that because individually you are very superior to the rest of the teams and Suárez remains diferential vs the goalkeeper but in Champions League Messi can't do everything (pick the ball in the midfield and carrying it to the area) and Suárez couldn't provide help in the press or in-play with touches, dribbles or individual skills.

    If you watch his matches in Atlético you'll see how Suárez is more than ever a pure 9.
     
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  15. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    After seeing the Chelsea match (shame to see Ziyech staying on the bench) I think you're (mostly) right. It's just that I am also not enormously impressed when watching Lewandowski and I've seen on twitter similar takes. Quality assists like Kane or Lukaku past weekend (against the best sort of teams) he doesn't really do from what I've seen.
     
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  16. Trachta10

    Trachta10 Member+

    Apr 25, 2016
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    table with xgoals

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Trachta10

    Trachta10 Member+

    Apr 25, 2016
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Make the table again a little different

    Goal pts:
    (goals - xgoals*0.5)*30

    Pass pts:
    (pass*0.1 + xassist*20)

    Duel pts:
    (duel won - duel lost*0.5)

    Def pts
    (recov*0.5 + shot block*4 + intercep)

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
  19. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Also, I think Handanovic belongs among the group of underrated players of the last ten years. One might wonder how his echo chamber acclaim and achievements would look if he was Italian or German really.
     
  20. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    At the risk of sounding extremely patronizing, you are aware aren't you that headlines and articles are vehicles to tell stories? In this case, an interesting comparison between De Bruyne and Bernardo and the way they both help City.

    The opening para is this:

    "Let’s get straight to it. Question: Are Manchester City better off without Kevin De Bruyne? Answer: Don’t be silly.

    Many people reading this, and certainly fans of other clubs, will be thinking, “What a ridiculous thing to ask!”, given De Bruyne is probably the best player in the Premier League."

    So some way from being a hit job when it describes him as the best player in the league.
     
  21. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    I had him as the 8th best keeper of the last decade (at end of 2019) after Navas, Lloris, Oblak, Courtois, De Gea, Buffon and Neuer.
     
  22. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
  23. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    #73 PuckVanHeel, Mar 3, 2021
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2021
    Still an afterthought and filler basically. The top plaudits still go towards the default places.

    Just as with our players post-1995 - none of them get rated (irrespective of team success or, for goalkeepers, evidence on shot stopping at the age of 40). With the default incumbent clubs increasingly driven by marketing considerations (which in turn makes sure the Benelux loses players towards other national teams).

    One of many reasons why I've lost some amount of interest in football. Other reasons are all that virtue signaling (BLM, promoting destabilizing mass illegal migration by the likes of Qatar friend Xavi - Ibra who after all grew up in a decent country is almost entirely right on this), all that UEFA trickery (a new level below the Europa League, so that they can dump the undesired clubs there), the destabilizing effects of CL money on smaller leagues, the established bloc-voting at awards, and a whole array of other things. Maybe the interest returns when covid is over and the outdoor activities resume.
     
  24. IceBlood34

    IceBlood34 Member

    Montpellier HSC
    France
    Jan 27, 2021
    A little update on your opinion on the best players of the 2020/21 season and the 2021 Ballon d'Or (which is still a long way off).
    Who do you consider to be the big favorite this year so far ?
    Lewandowski seems to be the big favorite but young players like Haaland or Mbappé will still have their say.
    Regarding the current legends, Messi and Ronaldo, they are still in the race even if I think the Argentinian has a lead compared to the Portuguese.
    Besides, if Messi wins the double (cup + championship and the Copa America) is he favorite for the Ballon d'Or according to you?
    And Ronaldo if he wins the Italian Cup and the Euro?

    We're talking about this even though it's only mid-March, so there's still a long way to go.
     
  25. Edhardy

    Edhardy Member+

    Sep 4, 2013
    Nairobi, Kenya
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    I think Lewandowski has been the most consistent, but in this calendar year Messi indeed has really stepped it up and is now looking like the best in the world.
    After these two, KDB is quietly having a really good season especially now that his chances are being converted unlike at the start of the season, & Harry Kane who is the most complete 9 currently. Others in the mix are Bruno Fernandes, Ilkay Gundogan, Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Joao Cancelo and perhaps Joshua Kimmich. Considering their ages, I like Phil Foden and Pedri of Barcelona too.
     
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