Annually FourFourTwo magazine produce a ranking of the 100 best players in the world. No criteria are given but here is the list from the January 2013 edition: 100. Fernando Torres 99. James Rodriguez 98. Mario Mandzukic 97. Dede 96. Steven Gerrard 95. Lukasz Piszczek 94. Javier Hernandez 93. Lukas Podolski 92. Mario Gotze 91. Marouane Fellaini 90. Kevin-Prince Boateng 89. Isco 88. Diego Milito 87. Alan Dzagoev 86. Hernanes 85. Samir Handanovic 84. Roberto Soldado 83. Marek Hamsik 82. Javi Martinez 81. Jeremy Menez 80. Jakub Blaszczykowski 79. Hulk 78. Victor Valdes 77. Lucas Moura 76. Nemanja Vidic 75. Andrea Barzagli 74. Christian Eriksen 73. Miroslav Klose 72. Mario Gomez 71. Mario Balotelli 70. Oscar 69. Samir Nasri 68. Thomas Vermaelen 67. Toni Kroos 66. Arjen Robben 65. Fernando Llorente 64. Joao Moutinho 63. Shinji Kagawa 62. Javier Pastore 61. Frank Lampard 60. Carlos Tevez 59. Giorgio Chiellini 58. Ramires 57. Mats Hummels 56. Marcelo 55. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 54. Carles Puyol 53. Samuel Eto'o 52. Pedro 51. Joe Hart 50. Santi Cazorla 49. Alexis Sanchez 48. Wesley Sneijder 47. Marco Reus 46. Claudio Marchisio 45. Luis Suarez 44. Antonio Valencia 43. Daniele De Rossi 42. Dani Alves 41. Pepe 40. Ashley Cole 39. Antonio Di Natale 38. Gerard Pique 37. Luka Modric 36. Manuel Neuer 35. David Villa 34. Franck Ribery 33. Jordi Alba 32. Juan Mata 31. Mesut Ozil 30. Eden Hazard 29. Sergio Ramos 28. Neymar 27. Andel Di Maria 26. Gianluigi Buffon 25. Bastian Schweinsteiger 24. Gonzalo Higuain 23. Sergio Busquets 22. Robert Lewandowski 21. Thiago Silva 20. Edinson Cavani 19. Xabi Alonso 18. Philipp Lahm 17. Karim Benzema 16. David Silva 15. Cesc Fabregas 14. Vincent Kompany 13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic 12. Iker Casillas 11. Gareth Bale 10. Wayne Rooney 9. Andrea Pirlo 8. Sergio Aguero 7. Yaya Toure 6. Xavi 5. Robin Van Persie 4. Radamel Falcao 3. Andres Iniesta 2. Cristiano Ronaldo 1. Lionel Messi
Hehe Andres Iniesta does it again. Seriously though Zlatan, Ribery, Hunterlaar, Hummels and Cazorla look underrated. Rooney ahead of Zlatan?
Relate it to position. For example: 57. Mats Hummels 54. Carles Puyol 38. Gerard Pique 29. Sergio Ramos Save for Puyol, who has been overrated throughout his career and is only marginally ranked above Hummels, it is justified that the other two are ranked above Hummels. Tiago Silva and Kompany are ranked even higher and deservedly so. Also propelled by their euro2012 campaign (won't bother you with it again but of course the world would look different if Ramos had received his red card against Croatia etcetera). The most overrated is Sergio Aguero in my opinion. Indeed, Ribery is just as good if not better as him. EDIT: I indeed missed Pepe, who does not belong there. I'd say that Pique has recovered well from his mediocre previous season and did good at euro2012 (Hummels did not look good against Italy and was just as Lahm also shaky at times against Portugal). No, Pique is not in the league of Kompany or Silva but I would rank him over Hummels yes based on euro2012 (not based on 2011-2012 season). Pepe and Puyol are overrated compared with Hummels.
You've missed Pepe at 41. Big gap between Hummels and Pepe/Pique justified? Anyway it would be the smallest error, the big ones are Zlatan and Ribery in my opinion.
Again ... media and big media ... production list ... 1- Iniesta was again in TOP3 for his 2 good games at Euro? 2- Xavi, Rooney and Gareth Bale? LOL better than Zlatan and Riberry? C'mon ... 3- A.Cole and putyol are WAY OFF their best but still make higher than most DF???
There really isn't a rebellion needed, the numbers presented by lanman in the Ballon D'or thread speak for themselves.
World Soccer panel 'World XI' Casillas; Lahm, Ramos, Kompany, Alba; Iniesta, Pirlo, Xavi; Ronaldo, Messi, Falcao Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler The votes Goalkeeper Iker Casillas (Real Madrid & Spain, 57 votes) Others… Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus & Italy, 18) Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich & Germany, 18) Petr Cech (Chelsea & Czech Republic, 15) Joe Hart (Manchester City & England, 2) Hugo Lloris (Lyon/Tottenham H & France, 1) Kennedy Mweene (Free State Stars & Zambia, 1) Defenders Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid & Spain, 63) Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich & Germany, 48) Vincent Kompany Manchester City & Belgium, 42) Jordi Alba (Valencia/Barcelona & Spain, 42) Others… Gerard Pique (Barcelona & Spain, 28) Thiago Silva (Milan/PSG & Brazil, 28) Mats Hummels (Bor Dortmund & Germany, 23) Ashley Cole (Chelsea & England, 21) Dani Alves (Barcelona & Brazil, 19) Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus & Italy, 20) Pepe (Real Madrid & Portugal, 17) Marcelo (Real Madrid & Brazil, 11) David Luiz (Chelsea & Brazil, 8 ) Lucasz Piszczek (Bor Dortmund & Poland, 4) John Terry (Chelsea & England, 4) Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid & Spain, 3) Andrea Barzagli (Juventus & Italy, 3) Maicon (Internazionale/Man City & Brazil, 3) Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid & Portugal, 2) Stopilla Sunzu (TP Mazembe & Zambia, 2) Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United & Serbia, 2) Ignazio Abate (Milan & Italy, 1) David Alaba (Bayern Munich & Austria, 1) Pablo Armero (Udinese & Colombia, 1) Federico Balzaretti (Roma & Italy, 1) Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich & Germany, 1) Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus & Italy, 1) Gael Clichy (Manchester City & France, 1) Dante (Bor M’gladbach/Bayern Munich, 1) Patrice Evra (Manchester United & France, 1) Theodor Gebre Selassie (Slovan Liberec/Werder Bremen & Czech Republic, 1) Mauricio Isla (Juventus & Chile, 1) Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic & Honduras, 1) Glen Johnson (Liverpool & England, 1) Christian Maggio (Napoli & Italy, 1) Javier Mascherano (Barcelona & Argentina, 1) John Mensah (Hearts of Oak & Ghana, 1) Yuto Nagatomo (Internazionale & Japan, 1) Carlos Salcido (Tigres & Mexico, 1) Thiago Neves (Fluminense & Brazil, 1) Bruno Vieira (Fluminense, 1) Javier Zanetti (Internazionale & Argentina, 1) Midfielders Andres Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain, 94) Andrea Pirlo (Juventus & Italy, 72) Xavi (Barcelona & Spain, 59) Others… Yaya Toure (Manchester City & Ivory Coast, 29) Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid & Spain, 18) Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur & Wales, 9) Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid & Germany, 7) David Silva (Manchester City & Spain, 6) Sergio Busquets (Barcelona & Spain, 4) Sami Khedira (Real Madrid & Germany, 4) Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern M & Germany, 4) Eden Hazard (Lille/Chelsea & Belgium, 3) Shinji Kagawa (Bor Dortmund/Man Utd & Japan, 2) Daniele De Rossi (Roma & Italy, 2) Marouane Fellaini (Everton & Belgium, 2) Juan Mata (Chelsea & Spain, 2) Marco Reus (Bor M’gladbach/Bor Dortmund & Germany, 2) Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich & France, 2) Arturo Vidal (Juventus & Chile, 2) Mohamed Aboutrika (Al Ahly & Egypt, 1) Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona & Spain, 1) Mario Gotze (Bor Dortmund & Germany, 1) Isco (Malaga & Spain, 1) Oscar (Chelsea & Brazil, 1) Omar Perez (Santa Fe, 1) Ramires (Chelsea & Brazil, 1) Willian (Shakhtar Donetsk & Brazil, 1) Forwards Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal, 107) Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina, 106) Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid & Colombia, 57) Others… Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan/PSG & Sweden, 20) Robin Van Persie (Arsenal/Man United & Holland, 18) Neymar (Santos & Brazil, 16) Didier Drogba (Chelsea/Shanghai Shenhua & Ivory Coast, 11) Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna & Mexico, 2) Sergio Aguero (Manchester City & Argentina, 1) Ideye Brown (Dynamo Kiev & Nigeria, 1) Edinson Cavani (Napoli & Uruguay, 1) Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid & Argentina, 1) Robert Lewandowski (Bor Dortmund & Poland, 1) Alvaro Recoba (Nacional, 1) Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors, 1) Wayne Rooney (Man United & England, 1) Nice to see Rooney only getting one vote Sad to see Casillas on top. Cole and Hummels sadly overrated. Sorry, I don't get the first two spoiler tags away.
Graham Spiers from the Scotland Herald seems to be overchallenged by the voting proccess. Voted for Messi as his player of the year, but didn't include him in his World XI.
Maybe it is the Barca system Greatest at Barcelona but not good enough for the first XI with other all-stars They say here that (in-shape) Ronaldo (which he isn't right now) would probably fit in any team and tactical scheme.
No you're right, Messi clearly isn't good enough to be included instead of Rooney or Van Persie in a team that plays 4-3-3 with both Xavi and Iniesta.
Yeah, you're right this time. Both generally overrated players. He also thought probably: we should put as much Spaniards as possible in the line-up... and managed to find a place for Glen Johnson as well. Rule Britannia. Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler why Johnson? Izaguirre? Xabi Alonso? Graham Spiers, Sunday Herald, Scotland Messi, Del Bosque, Barcelona Casillas – G Johnson, Pique, Kompany, Izaguirre – Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso – Rooney, Ronaldo, Van Persie
Some other funny line-ups (in particular first two): Dmytro Dzhulai, Setanta, Ukraine Casillas, Sampaoli, Zambia Casillas – Alba, Sergio Ramos, Sunzu, Bruno Vieira – Fellaini, David Silva, Omar Perez – Falcao, Alvaro Recoba, Peralta Paddy Agnew, World Soccer, Italy Pirlo Conte Manchester City Buffon – Arbeloa, Kompany, Thiago Silva, Alba – Yaya Toure, Pirlo, Iniesta – Falcao, Aguero, Ronaldo Marco Ansaldo, La Stampa, Italy Iniesta, Conte, Borussia Dortmund Buffon – Lamm, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Marcelo – Willian, Pirlo, Iniesta – Falcao, Drogba, Ronaldo Nick Bidwell, World Soccer, Germany Iniesta, Klopp, Spain Casillas – Ivanovic, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva, Alba – Khedira, Pirlo, Xavi – Falcao, Messi Iniesta Mark Gleeson, World Soccer, South Africa Messi, Mourinho, Chelsea Mweene – Marcelo, Lahm, Thiago Silva, Kompany – Yaya Toure, Iniesta, Xavi – Drogba, Messi, Neymar Jens Kirschneck, 11 Freunde, Germany Iniesta, Prandelli, Spain Cech – Maicon, Sergio Ramos, Vidic, Alba – Kagawa, Pirlo, Iniesta – Neymar, Messi, Van Persie Brian Homewood, World Soccer, Switzerland Falcao, Renard, Zambia Neuer – Pique, Thiago Silva, Mascherano, Chiellini – Pirlo, Iniesta, Yaya Toure – Falcao, Messi, Neymar Erich Laaser, Sat 1, Germany Messi, Guardiola, Spain Neuer – Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Pique, Alba – Schweinsteiger, Pirlo, Ozil – Reus, Messi, Van Persie [true homerism, that is what 'they' always do! deliver occasionally most journalists as well] Manos Staramopoulos, journalist, Greece Casillas, Del Bosque, Spain Casillas – Lahm, Pique, Hummels, Alba – Pirlo, Xavi, Iniesta – Messi, Falcao, Drogba Oleg Zadernovsky, World Soccer, Ukraine Iniesta, Simeone, Spain Neuer – Lahm, Ivanovic, Bonucci, Dani Alves – Isco, Xavi, Hazard – Messi, Cavani, Ideye Brown
Which GK was better than Casillas in 2012? The only reason they can say that is because Ronaldo has played for 3 clubs, while Messi has played for only one. I think and hope we will never find out if Messi can play for another club. Moreover, I don't think Ronaldo can play for any team. For example, he wont be able to play in Barca's system.
He must have filled up Messi name before dinner, and completed his world XI after dinner including 4botttles of red and 5 whisky at the end LOL
It's unfortunate that we'll (most likely) never see him play in another country, IMO. I, and I'm sure many others, would like to see what he can do outside of his comfort zone.
Ronaldo did not only play for three clubs well, he also played on various positions and multiple tactical schemes well. For example with two or three forwards, with or without wingers. So therefore we are able to say that (if you want). Messi his versatility was on the other hand questioned at times, for example while playing for Argentina. His effectiveness became in the perceptions of some limited if he played (slightly) different as in Barcelona. They also indicate btw that Messi is (obviously) more of a team player while Ronaldo is an individualist (relatively speaking). But paradoxically Ronaldo would fit in any team. David Villa can play for Barcelona too. He never was that great in position games either. Furthermore, Spain plays the same style and patterns as Barcelona and the midfielders made of Fernando Torres the 'golden boot' winner at euro2012. If you see him playing for Chelsea, such as today, you think 'how could that happen'. If they (Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta) can turn 'crippled' Torres in the predator he once was I struggle to see why this would be impossible with Ronaldo. Torres was never, even in his best shape, a great team player either. But I don't want to ignite a flame war or whatsoever.
What various positions has Ronaldo played in and what multiple tactical schemes? You're talking fantasy again.... Ronaldo has played as a winger 95% of the time, either on the left or the right. And since he became one of the best players, he has played pretty much with the same role. On a few occasions he has been used as ST with mixed results. Messi on the other hand has played as right wing-forward, AM and False9. When and by whom was his versatility questioned? By people who don't know better? Villa is a different player than Ronaldo. And he proved he can play in positional games with the Spanish NT. As I expected, you don't understand why I said Ronaldo can't play for Barca. Players like Torres and Villa can put aside their individual game and ego in order to fit into a possession based strategy and benefit from it. Ronaldo can't do that. In addition, Ronaldo has problems when playing against park the bus defenses and very tight spaces. It's not about playing with Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta. It's about the overall tactical philosophy and strategy. Lastly, "can play for any team" is very lose term to use for any player regardless. What does it mean anyway?