Success! After months of painstaking hunting and relentless pestering, I finally have in my possession the full votes for April and May 2022. Years go by, editors and regimes change, but the arrogant aloofness and halfassing of World Soccer remains a constant. So once again it was up to the football friends of Kicker Magazine to help preserve this cultural institution. Here are the votes for your benefit, as well as the updated ESM-file with all results up to the end of last season. ESM ELEVEN – APRIL 2022 Alisson (Liverpool, 5 votes)* Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, 8 votes) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, 6 votes) João Cancelo (Manchester City, 5 votes) Andrew Robertson (Liverpool, 4 votes) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, 10 votes) Luka Modric (Real Madrid, 6 votes) Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool, 5 votes) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, 12 votes) Sadio Mané (Liverpool, 5 votes) Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain, 4 votes) *NOTE: Thibaut Courtois also received 5 votes, but all the votes for Alisson were received by the deadline. HOW YOU VOTED FAZ 1 Alisson (Liverpool) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 4 Willi Orban (RB Leipzig) 5 Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) 6 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 7 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 8 Filip Kostic (Eintracht Frankfurt) 9 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 10 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) 11 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) KICKER 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 4 Raul Albiol (Villarreal) 5 Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) 6 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 7 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Sadio Mané (Liverpool) ELF VOETBAL 1 Ederson (Manchester City) 2 Denzel Dumfries (Internazionale) 3 Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea) 4 Milan Skriniar (Internazionale) 5 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig) 7 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 8 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 9 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Timo Werner (Chelsea) TIPS BLADET 1 Alisson (Liverpool) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Fikayo Tomori (Milan) 4 Joel Matip (Liverpool) 5 João Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Dusan Tadic (Ajax) 7 Rodri (Manchester City) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Sadio Mané (Liverpool) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) SPORT/FOOT 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 João Cancelo (Manchester City) 3 Pau Torres (Villarreal) 4 Bremer (Torino) 5 Theo Hernandez (Milan) 6 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) 7 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 8 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 9 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 10 Sadio Mané (Liverpool) 11 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) FANATIK 1 Alisson (Liverpool) 2 Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 4 Ruben Dias (Manchester City) 5 David Alaba (Barcelona) 6 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) 7 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 8 Rafael Leao (Milan) 9 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 10 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 11 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT 1 Alisson (Liverpool) 2 Ibrahima Konaté Liverpool 3 Milan Skriniar (Internazionale) 4 Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool) 5 Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) 6 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 7 Ivan Perisic (Internazionale) 8 Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich) 9 Moussa Dembele (Lyon) 10 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 11 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) A BOLA 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 4 Pepe (Porto) 5 Theo Hernández (Milan) 6 Rodri (Manchester City) 7 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Sadio Mané (Liverpool) WORLD SOCCER 1 Alisson (Liverpool) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Raul Albiol (Villarreal) 4 Fikayo Tomori (Milan) 5 Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) 6 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 7 Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 10 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 11 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) MARCA 1 Thibaut Courtois ((Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Eder Militao (Real Madrid) 4 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 5 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 7 Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Rodrygo (Real Madrid) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) 11 NEMZETI SPORT 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 3 Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) 4 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 5 Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) 6 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 7 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 8 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 9 Rodrygo (Real Madrid) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Sadio Mané (Liverpool) DE TELEGRAAF 1 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) 2 James Tavernier (Rangers) 3 Robin Knoche (Union Berlin) 4 Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain) 5 Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) 6 Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United) 7 Hakan Calhanoglu (Internazionale) 8 Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) 9 Pablo Sarabia (Sporting) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco) ESM TEAM OF THE SEASON 2021-22* (*based on appearances in the monthly ESM Eleven) Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, 4 appearances) Trent-Alexander Arnold (Liverpool, 5 apps) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, 4 apps) Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea, 3 apps) Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, 7 apps) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, 4 apps) Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, 3 apps) Luka Modric (Real Madrid, 3 apps) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, 5 apps) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, 5 apps) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, 4 apps) ESM ELEVEN, MAY 2022 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, 12 votes) Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, 5 votes) Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid, 5 votes) Eder Militao (Real Madrid, 5 votes) Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, 5 votes) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, 9 votes) Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool, 5 votes) Luka Modric (Real Madrid, 4 votes) Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid, 10 votes) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, 8 votes) Rafael Leao (Milan, 6 votes) HOW YOU VOTED FAZ 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 David Alaba (Real Madrid) 4 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 5 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 7 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 10 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) 11 Rafael Borré (Eintracht Frankfurt) KICKER 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) 3 Chris Smalling (Roma) 4 David Alaba (Real Madrid) 5 Theo Hernandez (Milan) 6 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 7 Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) 8 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 9 Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) SPORT/FOOT 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) 3 Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) 4 Milan Skriniar (Internazionale) 5 Theo Hernandez (Milan) 6 Rodri (Manchester City) 7 Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Rafael Leao (Milan) 10 Son Heung-Min (Tottenham) 11 Tammy Abraham (Roma) ELF Voetbal 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Pierre Kalulu (Milan) 4 Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain) 5 Jordi Alba (Barcelona) 6 Franck Kessié (Milan) 7 James Maddison (Leicester City) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Lautaro Martinez (Internazionale) 10 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 11 Rafael Leão (Milan) LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 3 Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) 4 Fikayo Tomori (Milan) 5 Ivan Perisic (Internazionale) 6 Gerson (Marseille) 7 Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) 10 Rafael Leao (Milan) 11 Son Heung-Min (Tottenham) TIPS BLADET 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Eder Militão (Real Madrid) 4 Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) 5 Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City) 6 Franck Kessié (Milan) 7 Casemiro (Real Madrid) 8 Ilkay Gündogan (Manhester City) 9 Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) A BOLA 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Dani Carvalhal (Real Madrid) 3 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 4 Eder Militao (Real Madrid) 5 João Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Franck Kessie (Milan) 7 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 8 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) 9 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Rafael Leão (Milan) WORLD SOCCER 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) 3 Eder Militao (Real Madrid) 4 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 5 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 7 Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City) 8 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 10 Roman Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 11 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) FANATIK 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 4 Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea) 5 Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) 6 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 7 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 8 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) 9 Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) MARCA 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 3 Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City) 4 Eder Militao (Real Madrid) 5 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 6 Rodri (Manchester City) 7 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 8 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 9 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) DE TELEGRAAF 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Joao Mario (Porto) 3 Clinton Mata (Club Brugge) 4 Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City) 5 Theo Hernandez (Milan) 6 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 7 Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma) 8 Filip Kostic (Eintracht Frankfurt) 9 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 10 Rafael Leao (Milan) 11 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) NEMZETI SPORT 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) 3 Éder Militao (Real Madrid) 4 Chris Smalling (Roma) 5 Theo Hernandez (Milan) 6 Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma) 7 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) 8.Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) 9 Rafael Leao (Milan) 10 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)
Does anyone know if the ESM in considering in season internationals like afcon or national league in their voting?
I'm not sure about Afcon. There was no particular spike in votes for players from Africa for instance. I would assume they would include broader internationals though during the season.
So we've got some clarity on this from December's selection. Almost entirely World Cup driven: Martinez; Hakimi, Otamendi, Gvardiol, Theo H; Amrabat, Enzo Fernandez, Modric; Messi, Haaland, Mbappe