The best players of the season 2022-23 so far

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

The best AM in Serie A since the heyday of Ricardo Kaka

He has to be a every footballs purist first choice
The guy is unbelievable

Lewandowski is my number 2 CF in the world behind haaland with either osimen or Harry Kane rounding the top 3

Of course I will not ignore Messi either
He is the best player in ligue 1 by an absolute light year
Still I would’ve liked that he made an impact in the CL KO stages

Even a goal or assist whatever the scoreline

Another season of Neymar is likely to be forgotten despite the fact he was statistically very impressive up until his injury

The podium for best player in 2022/23 will be decided by what happens over the next few months though with the most important club fixtures still left to play

If Napoli go all the way that will be a story like none other

 

I agree that this a very difficult season to put together a top 23 with all competitions considered, which is something I have a long term interest in, and you do seem to be off to the right start.

There is very little cross pollination between the best players of the club season and the world cup, which on some ways is not surprising considering the timing of the events.

Are there any players that have a chance to be one of the best 10 players in both the world cup and club season?

Messi or Mbappe being one of the best (in terms of achievement and performance, not capability) 10 club players of the season seems hard to fathom when they will basically be showing up with the minimum effort possible to still get over the line and win Ligue 1 for the rest of the season, totally removed from important matches.

Enzo going to Chelsea mid season is disappointing, it would have been really fun to have him in the possible deep Benfica CL run along with the World Cup under his belt.

Griezmann's club season is picking up, but I can't imagine a scenario where he ends up as one of the 10 best club players of the season. Maybe someone like Saka or Bellingham are right on the outskirts of top 10 in both the WC and club season? Maybe Vinicius has a chance to end up on the outskirts of WC top 10 and then obviously has a lot in front of him if Real win the CL again?

The players with the best club seasons so far with that also have significant room to add to resume in the CL going forward were absent from he WC (Haaland, the Napoli forwards etc.).

 

So far:
Messi
Mbappe
Griezmann
Kvaratskhelia
Haaland

 

Mbappe is litterally having his worst season for PSG rn

 

I don't think it will be enough for him to be named the best player of the season, but it's a noteworthy record (two games to go):

Kylian Mbappé se rapproche du RECORD ULTIME de buts marqués par un français en une saison toutes compétitions confondues ! 😱⏳

🥇 53 buts - Just Fontaine en 1957/58
🥈 51 buts - Philippe Gondet en 1965/66
🥈 51 buts - Kylian Mbappé en 2022/23
🥉 50 buts - Karim Benzema en… pic.twitter.com/37LjLxNwmG

— Instant Foot ⚽️ (@lnstantFoot) May 21, 2023

 

So finally Botman got some recognition. I won't say he was underrated in Ligue 1 but he was not praised that much either (in terms of ratings idk, but in general I mean).
Plus perhaps he will play in NT, one day. I don't understand how it comes that he did not play in the last tournaments (still 0 caps), was even not selected.
A recognition that comes from a former defender, moreover.

 

My team of season

-----------------Ter Stegen ------------
T.Hernandez--Ruben Dias--Kim Min-Jae--Trippier
-----------------Casemiro--------------
Gundogan-----------------De Bruyne
Vini Jr ------Haaland--------Mpappe

I found more difficult to form the defensive line, since many teams play with three behind and there is no consensus defender, like Van Djik a few years ago.

 

Harry Kane just ended his season with 30 league goals for a team that finished 8th in the league


30 league goals for team that finished 8th


The last time something even remotely happened similar was in 1999/00 when Kevin Phillips Scored 30 PL goals for a team that finished 7th
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999–2000_FA_Premier_League

 

In fact, this season, Lacazette scored 27 goals for the team that finished 7th in the league. He were the player with the second most G+A and second in goals (1 goal less than Mbappe) and was left out of the Ligue 1 team of the season

Du Nord au Sud en passant par la Capitale... 🇫🇷

4 clubs sont représentés dans l'Équipe-Type de @Ligue1UberEats !

Une équipe qui ferait pâlir n'importe quelle sélection nationale 😨 #TropheesUNFP pic.twitter.com/jT0VPy73qH

— Prime Video Sport France (@PVSportFR) May 28, 2023

 

Which just proves how crap that league is to begin with

Lacazette averaged less than 10 league goals per season for Arsenal when their average position in the table ranged from anywhere between 5th and 7th

 

Messi? Griezmann? World cup exists bro

 

I think anyone who has watched all the games will agree with me that the top 5 players of the season have been Messi, Mbappe, De Bruyne, Griezmann and Haaland.
But it's difficult to choose the best because none of them are perfect

 

I have not seen too much football but think this for a part down to the 'conservative' selection choices (no Frimpong or Vd Boomen either for instance) and also that there is no perceived shortage in that sort of position (yes, say Van Dijk hasn't been enormously good but was probably still Liverpool's best defensive outfield player - including the 'defensive' midfielders like Fabinho). Besides, many of the 'best' coaches don't want to be national team manager (that AZ head coach looks very good, but like others he didn't want the job).

Botman has seen an ESM inclusion, just as someone as Doekhi as well (who is not selected for the national team either). One would think the best defensive record in the Premier League (though less secure at the tail end of the campaign) merits a try.

Voetbal International had this as their top 10 compatriots (actually eleven names as you can see):

10. J. Kluivert
9. Gakpo
8. Dumfries
7. Frimpong
6. Botman
5. Becker
4. Van den Boomen and Spierings
3. Malen
2. F. de Jong
1. Ake

(Becker plays for Suriname... exactly how The Athletic wants to see that evolve? ...)

It's in the magazine, I saw, and there is also a video.

I don't know whether I agree with that top 10, or how I would do it (it doesn't feel like a particularly good year - in a 'good' year Botman falls outside the top 10?). It's good to see what Ake can do when he stays fit (it's forgotten but he started very well his City career in 2020, but then became injured after nine games; then in 2021-22 he started the season again and yes, there he wasn't good I'd say and didn't receive his place back).

 

How many goals(or assists) will Haaland have to score between those two finals for him to go from 3rd to 1st

It will be cruel to penalise him if he has a off day in the FA Cup final taking into consideration how he anhillated Manchester United earlier on in the season(even though it was in the PL and not FA Cup)

For me what’s important is what he does in the final of the CL because he has had little to no impact in the QF and SFs and Manchester City have still looked comprehensively superior to their opponents.

Manchester City under Pep and probably in their entire history have never looked as impressive against big teams as did in the QFs and SFs of this champions league and it is telling that haaland was essentially a non entity in those games

He needs a hattrick in that final to make him a serious ballon dor contender IMO

 

Can a Poacher like Haaland really be considered the Best Player of this Season?

 

I saw Botman maybe 3 times in his first season with Lille, when it still happened that I watched some games and I always thought that he was a superior player, probably even better than Verlaat.

Perhaps Aké could have played instead of Daley Blind and Botman instead of Aké. Or Botman could have played instead of De Ligt even tbf. That's how I see things - based on the ultra few I watch of all of this (0 in 2022-23).
He'd have been a very good solution of replacement in the 23-man group anyway.

I see now he made the L1 TotY by L'Equipe, in spite of injuries. I have the impression he was not spoken about much though (compared to a time when Verlaat was praised for his elegance). Botman has the technique and he's reliable defensively I think. And he's well-built, tall. He's like a new Koeman no? Except for the goalscoring ofc, a not so advanced position and on the other hand, better defensive abilities. So the comparison is mainly about the physique, the look maybe?
To me, he allies the size of Koeman (version 2000's, even stronger and taller, even more atheltical) and the class, the touch, the finesse of Verlaat.
He's one of the very few that made me felt like a fan, lately.

Probably his best position would be in the middle, where there is Van Dijk.

From Daley or even de Ligt imo, to Van Dijk, I mostly now realize that I just do the translation of what you said, finally . By citing all the names (but it's still a repeat). And Frimpong would have been a challenger for Dumfries I see and Vd Boomen looks koemanesque, I see now too.