This was a list I made for Inter (I was trying to be somewhat realistic) -- although some of the names are pretty difficult: Domestic: 1. Kwadwo Asamoah, central midfielder, Udinese, 23 2. Mauricio Isla, midfielder/right wing, Udinese, 23 3. Javier Garrido, left back, Lazio, 27 4. Hernanes, attacking midfielder, Lazio, 26 5. Davide Astori, defender, Cagliari, 25 6. Giacomo Bonaventura, midfielder, Atalanta, 22 7. Riccardo Montolivo, midfielder, Fiorentina , 27 8. Juan Vargas, left side attacking midfielder, Fiorentina, 28 9. Matija Nastasic, central defender, Fiorentina, 19 10. Stevan Jovetic, forward, Fiorentina, 23 11. Rodrigo Palacio, forward, Genoa, 30 12. Sebastian Giovinco, trequarista, Parma, 25 England: 1. Fabrizio Coloccini, defender Newcastle 2. Hatem Ben Arfa, midfielder, Newcastle 3. Emmanuel Adebayor, forward, Tottenham, 28 4. Giovanni dos Santos, attacking midfielder, Tottenham 5. Branislav Ivanovic, defender, Chelsea, 28 6. Cheik Tiote, defensive midfielder, Newcastle 7. Royston Drenthe, midfielder/fullback, Everton 8. Marouane Felliani, box to box mid, Everton, 24 Spain: 9. Adil Rami, central defender, Valencia, 26 10. Jordi Alba, left wing back, Valencia, 23 11. Ever Banega, defensive midfielder, Valencia, 23 12. Pablo, winger, Valencia, 26 13. Roberto Soldado, striker, Valencia, 26 14. Diego, attacking midfielder, Atletico Madrid, 27 15. Falcao, forward, Atletico Madrid, 26 16. Giuseppe Rossi, forward, Villareal, 25 17. Christian Zapata, defender, Villareal, 25 18. Carlos Vela, winger/forward, Real Sociedad, 23 19. Iker Munian, mid/forward, Athletic Bilbao, 19 20. Oscar de Marcos, midfielder, Athletic Bilbao, 22 Germany: 21. Mats Hummels, defender, Borussia Dortmund, 23 22. Neven Subotic, defender, Borussia Dortmund, 23 23. Ilkay Gündogan, central midfielder, Borussia Dortmund, 22 24. Shinji Kagawa, attacking midfielder, Borussia Dortmund, 23 25. Robert Lewandowski, forward, Borussia Dortmund, 23 26. Joel Matip, defender/midfielder, Schalke 04, 20 27. Benedikt Howedes, central defender, Schalke 04, 24 28. Julian Draxler, midfielder, Schalke 04, 18 29. Christian Gentner, midfielder, Werder Bremen, 26 30. Zdravko Kuzmanovic, midfielder, Stuttgart, 24 31. Lars Bender, midfielder, Bayer Leverkusen, 22 32. Andre Schurrle, forward, Bayer Leverkusen, 21 33. Marko Marin, winger, Werder Bremen, 23 34. Christian Trasch, midfielder, Wolfsburg, 24 Miscellaneous: 35. Alberto Zapater, midfielder, Lokomotiv Moscow 36. Gregory van der Wiel, defender, Ajax, 24 37. Christian Eriksen, midfielder, Ajax, 20 38. Aras Ozbilliz, midfielder, Ajax, 22 39. Rasmus Elm, midfielder, AZ Alkmaar, 25 40. Nacer Chadli, attacking mid, Twente, 23 41. Luuk de Jong, striker, Twente, 21 42. Georgino Wijnaldum, attacking mid, PSV Eindhoven, 21 43. Dries Martens, forward, PSV Eindhoven, 24 44. Bas Dost, forward, Heerenveen, 22 45. James Rodriguez, attacking midfielder, Porto, 20 46. Hulk, forward, Porto, 25 47. Oscar Cardozo, forward, Benfica, 28 48. Nicolas Gaitan, winger/mid, Benfica, 24 49. Javi Garcia, defensive mid, Benfica, 25 50. Keisuke Honda, attacking mid, CSKA Moscow, 25 51. Seydou Doumbia, forward, CSKA Moscow, 24 52. Domenico Criscito, defender Zenit St. Petersburg, 25
Nice list. Any chance of grading the players for DS? Would be interesting to see how you rate some of these players.
Gentner plays for Stuttgart and neither of these three have any business being part of a talent tier. The rest are good shouts. I'd add Papadoupolos Herrmann Jantschke and eventually Can Yesil
Yea, whilst it's great to have names, the majority of the board won't know anything about those who are even semi-obscure. I've not heard of a number of these players as I don't really keep up to date with the world game anymore, so gradings/tiering would certainly be a great help. Thanks for the names though. We'll probably get some discussion going about some of them as they become prominent either by the Euros or by media transfer buzz.
Great idea about a thread to rate our own squad. I am really interested in seeing what the forum thinks about the squad.
I'd say more like this Papadoupolos - B - He's come a long way this season, at just 19 he's the biggest defensive threat on set pieces and as you mentioned can play in midfield. Strong in the air and with so much experience already. Herrmann - C Jantschke - B with potential to become A next season or two. The best fullback in the league besides Piszczek. Don't think Neville comparison is accurate. More like Lahm in his all around game as he's also been deployed in center midfield. Mature and intelligent player. Another one I failed to mention Gotoku Sakai - U with potential to become A. Already linked with a number of Italian sides, the most promising fullback currently playing in the league. A great rueckrunde. Reminds me of young Ashley Cole. Agree with Can and Yesil, B, and U respectively. The latter already promoted to Leverkusen's senior squad. Thinking letting Derdiyok go to accommodate him even. He's the best striking talent I've seen at youth level in Germany in my lifetime. That's how highly I rate him. A mix between Eto'o and Villa. Mitchel Weiser - U with potential to become A. The German Dani Alves. Cologne product just snapped up by Bayern academy.
can't really comment on Yeşil as i have not seen much of him but the few times i did see was in the Germany U-17s also surprised johno rating Cazorla as a B? i remember James questioning me putting him in that thread about making a good team with players not from the top clubs, but just curious why you see him as a B. i would rank him as A
Should I begin the first compile, beings as there seems to be very little dispute amongst posters perusing each others' lists?
By this definition you are right. But I'd say Cazorla needs to do just a little more on a bigger stage or be the main guy that helps Malaga get to the CL. The talent is there, but it just seems that he's not as imposing on a stretch of games during the season, as he should be. Compared to the names in this category, he falls just slightly short of A class.
well i haven't watched Málaga that much this year but it seems he did play his part in them being currently 4th i believe? think him, Joaquín and Rondón have been the main guys? attacking wise anyway. van Nistelrooy has been mainly a sub and Baptista is...? his goal and assists numbers (en La Liga) don't do him justice in terms of his impact but i suppose that is fair also
Not doing a list? Or, you're in agreement with how the players have been categorised so far? Looking through the thread, I've just realised there hasn't actually been many compiles done. More names (especially) and gradings welcomed. 1st list will be in the OP in a few mins, if it makes it any easier.
Right, first compile done... and it took ages! Gah. I haven't added Hazard or Pique.. Johno listed them as 'S' .. I don't think either are, but it's open to debate, which is what this thread is for. Knowing us, those 'U's' may well be our goldmine... so is there anyone there people think we'd have our eyes on? Have to admit to not knowing at least 40% of the players listed, so some of the grades they've been given intrigue me.
I would put both at A. I rated Stegen C (b next season) but looking at it would put him B, would put Kovacic U rather than D, Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyn as B and C.