At the suggestion of some colleagues, I have decided to create a new thread in which to place my lists of the best players of each season. Until now, I have contributed with these lists in the thread https://www.bigsoccer.com/posts/42087182/, in which I will continue to participate, but, instead of putting long lists, I will do it only with the top five players. Since the last list I posted in that thread was for the 1993-94 season, I will continue in this new one from the 1994-95 season. If I remember correctly, in the previously mentioned thread I have proposed rankings since 1920. As I said many times before, I want to clarify, mainly, two issues. First, I am in favor of rankings corresponding to seasons and not to calendar years. This is a major problem for me, since most of the awards and surveys have historically been made at the end of one year or at the beginning of the next, so that, many times, players have been rewarded taking into account their merits acquired in the first months corresponding to a new season. I try to implement a methodology that compensates for this, but unfortunately it is not possible to achieve this completely. Secondly, these lists are constantly changing. Obviously, articles, lists, opinions, ideal teams, statistics... are constantly "appearing", forcing me to modify a list that is always provisional. It can be said that this task is never-ending...
As chance would have it, my first list in this post was that of the 1994-95 season, one of the most complicated when it came to choosing the best, as there was a lot of competition and there was no clear winner. In addition, there is a clear case of what I talked about in the previous post. George Weah won the Ballon d'Or, the FIFA World Player, he was the Onze d'Or... In short, he was declared the best player of 1995. But it would be very debatable if he really was during the 1994-95 season? Two interesting facts: his mediocre average in the Ligue 1 ratings for France Football, and the fact that he was not included in the ideal XI of the season by the ESM (he did not get a single vote for the formation of that XI). In any case, in my calculations to make these lists, I use all these rankings in a weighted manner, which, together with a more personal relationship, in which I include many other qualitative and quantitative data, yields final numbers that, when ordered, result in a fairly comprehensive list. In this case, the resulting ranking for the 1994-95 season is as follows: 1.- Klinsmann (Alemania); 2.- Maldini (Italia); 3.- Weah (Liberia); 4.- Litmanen (Finlandia); 5.- Francescoli (Uruguay); 6.- Zola (Italia); 7.- Sammer (Alemania); 8.- Vialli (Italia); 9.- Laudrup, Michael (Dinamarca); 10.- Zamorano (Chile); 11.- Savicevic (Yugoslavia); 12.- Shearer (Inglaterra); 13.- Baggio, Roberto (Italia); 14.- Batistuta (Argentina); 15.- Paulo Sosa (Portugal); 16.- Del Piero (Italia); 17.- Rijkaard (Holanda); 18.- Desailly (Francia); 19.- Hierro (España); 20.- Overmars (Holanda); 21.- Ronaldo (Brasil); 22.- Vítor Baía (Portugal); 23.- Finidi (Nigeria); 24.- Kluivert (Holanda); 25.- Ravanelli (Italia); 26.- De Boer, Frank (Holanda); 27.- Yeboah (Ghana); 28.- Basler (Alemania); 29.- Baresi (Italia); 30.- Blind (Holanda); 31.- Stoichkov (Bulgaria); 32.- De Boer, Ronald (Holanda); 33.- Figo (Portugal); 34.- Laudrup, Brian (Dinamarca); 35.- Esnáider (Argentina); 36.- Balakov (Bulgaria); 37.- Bebeto (Brasil); 38.- Suker (Croacia); 39.- Schmeichel (Dinamarca); 40.- Chilavert (Paraguay); 41.- Romario (Brasil); 42.- Amavisca (España); 43.- Guerin (Francia); 44.- Roche (Francia); 45.- Roberto Carlos (Brasil); 46.- Juninho Paulista (Brasil); 47.- Karembeu (Francia); 48.- Ince (Inglaterra); 49.- Rui Costa (Portugal); 50.- Moller (Alemania); 51.- Buyo (España); 52.- Le Tissier (Inglaterra); 53.- McManaman (Inglaterra); 54.- Loko (Francia); 55.- Ravelli (Suecia); 56 .- Belsué (España); 57.- Preud´homme (Bélgica); 58.- Seedorf (Holanda); 59.- Cáceres, Fernando (Argentina); 60.- Tulio (Brasil); 61.- Aldair (Brasil); 62.- Ginola (Francia); 63.- Hendry (Inglaterra); 64.- Fowler (Inglaterra); 65.- Le Saux (Inglaterra); 66.- Poyet (Uruguay); 67.- Zidane (Francia); 68.- Herzog (Austria); 69.- Couto, Fernando (Portugal); 70.- Wright, Ian (Inglaterra); 71.- Edmundo (Brasil); 72.- Djorkaeff (Francia); 73.- Ferdinand, Les (Inglaterra); 74.- Effenberg (Alemania); 75.- Zanetti (Argentina); 76.- Djukic (Serbia); 77.- Van der Sar (Holanda); 78.- Jardel (Brasil); 79.- Nilis (Bélgica); 80.- Mijatovic (Serbia); 81.- Anderson, Patrik (Suecia); 82.- Guerrero (España); 83.- Kodro (Bosnia); 84.- Blanc (Francia); 85.- Julio César (Brasil); 86.- Makelele (Francia); 87.- Pedrós (Francia)
My personal ranking differs from the one I put in the previous post, largely the result of a compendium of different rankings. As I already mentioned, although Weah had a good season, especially in collective terms, being an important element of Paris Saint Germain that had good performances in national and international competitions, he did not seem to me, by any means, the best of the season. Undoubtedly, his successful emergence at Milan (already in the 1995-96 season) definitely influenced him to win all the most prestigious awards. Anyway, this is my list thought in more subjective terms. In this other classification I have based myself on aspects such as the ratings in the different competitions, collective classifications and individual merits, ideal teams from various magazines and awards for the best national or international footballers. Regarding the awards mentioned in the previous ranking, they are also taken into consideration, but to a lesser extent. The screening of footballers and their final order obey exclusively personal criteria in accordance with the above. It is a “more subjective” classification. 1.- Francescoli, Enzo (Uruguay, River Plate); 2.- Klinsmann, Jurgen (Alemania, Tottenham Hotspur); 3.- Litmanen, Jari (Finlandia, Ajax); 4.- Sammer, Matthias (Alemania, Borussia Dortmund); 5.- Zola, Gianfranco (Italia, Parma); 6.- Maldini, Paolo (Italia, Milán); 7.- Zamorano, Iván (Chile, Real Madrid); 8.- Savicevic, Dejan (Yugoslavia, Milán); 9.- Batistuta, Gabriel (Argentina, Fiorentina); 10.- Weah, George (Liberia, París Saint-Germain); 11.- Paulo Sousa (Portugal, Juventus); 12.- Laudrup, Michael (Dinamarca, Real Madrid); 13.- Shearer, Alan (Inglaterra, Blackburn Rovers); 14.- Hierro, Fernando (España, Real Madrid); 15.- Rijkaard, Frank (Holanda, Ajax); 16.- Vialli, Gianluca (Italia, Juventus); 17.- Amavisca, José Emilio (España, Real Madrid); 18.- Basler, Mario (Alemania, Werder Bremen); 19.- Baggio, Roberto (Italia, Juventus); 20.- Overmars, Marc (Holanda, Ajax); 21.- Desailly, Marcel (Francia, Milán); 22.- Laudrup, Brian (Dinamarca, Rangers); 23.- De Boer, Frank (Holanda, Ajax); 24.- Ronaldo (Brasil, PSV Eindhoven); 25.- Esnáider, Juan (Argentina, Zaragoza); 26.- Finidi, George (Nigeria, Ajax); 27.- Chilavert, José Luis (Paraguay, Vélez Sarsfield); 28.- Blind, Danny (Holanda, Ajax); 29.- Le Tissier, Matt (Inglaterra, Southampton); 30.- Buyo, Francisco (España, Real Madrid); 31.- McManaman, Steve (Inglaterra, Liverpool); 32.- Figo, Luis (Portugal, Sporting de Lisboa); 33.- Schmeichel, Peter (Dinamarca, Manchester United); 34.- Del Piero, Alessandro (Italia, Juventus); 35.- Roberto Carlos (Brasil, Palmeiras); 36.- Kluivert, Patrick (Holanda, Ajax); 37.- Guerin, Vincent (Francia, París Saint-Germain); 38.- Baía, Vítor (Portugal, Oporto); 39.- De Boer, Ronald (Holanda, Ajax); 40.- Cáceres, Fernando (Argentina, Zaragoza); 41.- Hendry, Colin (Escocia, Blackburn Rovers); 42.- Poyet, Gustavo (Uruguay, Zaragoza); 43.- Balakov, Krasimir (Bulgaria, Sporting de Lisboa); 44.- Herzog, Andreas (Austria, Werder Bremen); 45.- Le Saux, Graeme (Inglaterra, Blackburn Rovers); 46.- Moller, Andreas (Alemania, Borussia Dortmund); 47.- Ince, Paul (Inglaterra, Manchester United); 48.- Baresi, Franco (Italia, Milán); 49.- Karembeu, Christian (Francia, Nantes); 50.- Zanetti, Javier (Argentina, Banfield); 51.- Tulio Maravilha (Brasil, Botafogo); 52.- Djukic (Yugoslavia, Deportivo de La Coruña); 53.- Ferdinand, Les (Inglaterra, Queens Park Rangers); 54.- Jardel, Mario (Brasil, Gremio); 55.- Van der Sar, Edwin (Holanda, Ajax); 56.- Belsué, Alberto (Zaragoza); 57.- Mijatovic, Pedja (Yugoslavia, Valencia); 58.- Andersson, Patrik (Suecia, Borussia Monchengladbach); 59.- Aldair (Brasil, Roma); 60.- Loko, Patrice (Francia, Nantes); 61.- Ravanelli, Fabrizio (Italia, Juventus); 62.- Roche, Alain (Francia, Paris Saint Germain); 63.- Ravelli, Thomas (Suecia, Goteborg); 64.- Fowler, Robbie (Inglaterra, Liverpool); 65.- Guerrero, Julen (España, Athletic Bilbao); 66.- Seedorf, Clarence (Holanda, Ajax); 67.- Kodro, Meho (Bosnia y Herzegovina, Real Sociedad); 68.- Blanc, Laurent (Francia, Saint-Étienne); 69.- Effenberg, Stefan (Alemania, Borussia Mönchengladbach); 70.- Julio César da Silva (Brasil, Borussia Dortmund); 71.- Yeboah, Antony (Ghana; Eintracht Frankfurt y Leeds); 72.- Makelele, Claude (Francia, Nantes); 73.- Juninho Paulista (Brasil, Sao Paulo); 74.- Suker, Davor (Croacia, Sevilla); 75.- Bebeto (Brasil, Deportivo de La Coruña); 76.- Rui Costa (Portugal, Fiorentina); 77.- Pedros, Reynald (Francia, Nantes); 78.- Ginola, David (Francia, París Saint-Germain); 79.- Couto, Fernando (Portugal, Parma); 80.- Romario (Brasil, Barcelona y Flamengo); 81.- Wright, Ian (Inglaterra, Arsenal); 82.- Djorkaeff, Youri (Francia, Mónaco); 83.- Edmundo (Brasil, Palmeiras y Flamengo); 84.- Preud’homme, Michel (Bélgica, Benfica); 85.- Zidane, Zinedine (Francia, Girondins de Burdeos); 86.- Nilis, Luc (Bélgica, PSV).
Finally, my ideal XI proposal: Chilavert; Zanetti, Sammer, Hierro, Maldini; Litmanen, Desailly, Zola; Francescoli; Zamorano, Klinsmann Any suggestions for modifications to the lists are appreciated. Perhaps they are due to information that you have not analyzed.
1995-96 I have decided to publish only one list per season, although I have to explain how I have done it. First of all I have to clarify that this list is neither absolutely objective nor absolutely subjective. Based on international rankings (Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Player, RSSSF, World Soccer Awards, Onze d'Or and Onze de Onze, Don Balón, ESM, King of America for El País, best in Europe for El País and best goalkeeper for IFFHS), the positions in these rankings are quantified and weighted. Shearer, Weah, Sammer and, above all, Ronaldo would benefit the most using this methodology alone. I have therefore researched and noted individual merits (goals, assists and ratings) as well as collective merits (league positions and rounds reached in continental club and national team competitions). I have also noted down the international matches played by each player, the balance of victories and the goals and assists (goals conceded in the case of goalkeepers). Finally, other questions are also taken into account, such as the ideal players and teams by league or by nation, outstanding data in national cups, membership in extra-national ideal teams, the best players in the Bravo Trophy... Anyway, these data are quantified in different ways depending on the importance I give to each of them (this is obviously subjective). In this ranking, the best ranked was Sammer, ahead of Weah, Deschamps, Djorkaeff and Shearer. However, I have to go all the way down to 34th to find Ronaldo, which is logical considering that he only played in 13 Eredevisie matches, never got past the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup and only played in 2 matches for the Brazilian national team. Undoubtedly, in Ronaldo's success in the main international awards, what he achieved with Barcelona in the second half of 1996 (1996-97 season) has an exaggerated specific weight. I do not agree with the calendar year as a reference for most of the awards, but, in any case, I have to take it into account for my rankings. By combining it with the table that only takes into account data from the 1995-96 season, some compensation is achieved in the final ranking, although the conclusions do not fully satisfy me as I have commented with the case of Ronaldo, who finishes in third position. He decidido publicar una única lista por temporada, aunque tengo que explicar de qué manera la he llevado a cabo. En primer lugar tengo que aclarar que esta lista no es absolutamente objetiva ni tampoco es absolutamente subjetiva. A partir de rankings a nivel internacional (Balón de Oro, FIFA World Player, RSSSF, World Soccer Awards, Onze d'Or y Onze de Onze, Don Balón, ESM, Rey de América para El País, mejores de Europa para El País y mejor portero para IFFHS), se cuantifican las posiciones en dichos rankings y se ponderan. Shearer, Weah, Sammer y, sobre todo, Ronaldo serían los más beneficiados utilizando exclusivamente esa metodología. Por eso he investigado y apuntado los méritos individuales (goles, asistencias y ratings), así como colectivos (posiciones en liga y rondas alcanzadas en competiciones continentales de clubs y de selecciones). También he anotado los partidos internacionales jugados por cada futbolista, el saldo de victorias y los goles y asistencias (goles encajados en el caso de los porteros). Por último, también se tienen en cuenta otras cuestiones como los jugadores y equipos ideales por liga o por nación, datos destacados en copas nacionales, pertenencia a equipos ideales extranacionales, los mejores en el Trofeo Bravo... En fin, estos datos se cuantifican de diversas maneras en función de la importancia que yo dé a cada uno de ellos (esto es obviamente, subjetivo). En esta clasificación, el mejor clasificado ha resultado ser Sammer, por delante de Weah, Deschamps, Djorkaeff y Shearer. Sin embargo tengo que llegar hasta el 34º para encontrar a Ronaldo, algo lógico si tenemos en cuenta que solo pudo participar en 13 partidos de la Eredevisie, que no pasó de los cuartos de final de la Copa de la UEFA y que nada más jugó en 2 partidos con la selección brasileña. Sin duda, en el éxito de Ronaldo en los principales premios internacionales, tiene un peso específico exagerado lo realizado con el Barcelona en la segunda mitad de 1996 (temporada 1996-97). No comparto el año natural como referente de la mayor parte de los galardones, pero, en cualquier caso, he de tenerlo en cuenta para la realización de mis rankings. Al combinarlo con la tabla en la que solo tiene en cuenta datos de la temporada 1995-96, se logra cierta compensación en el ranking final, aunque las conclusiones no me satisfacen plenamente como he comentado con el caso de Ronaldo que, finaliza en la tercera posición. The final ranking after all the conclusions is as follows: 1.- Sammer (Alemania); 2.- Weah (Liberia); 3.- Ronaldo (Brasil); 4.- Shearer (Inglaterra); 5.- Cantona (Francia); 6.- Maldini (Italia); 7.- Del Piero (Italia); 8.- Djorkaeff (Francia); 9.- Klinsmann (Alemania); 10.- Mijatovic (Yugoslavia); 11.- Deschamps (Francia); 12.- Litmanen (Finlandia); 13.- Batistuta (Argentina); 14.- Desailly (Francia); 15.- Suker (Croacia); 16.- Kanu (Nigeria); 17.- Kopke (Alemania); 18.- Raúl (España); 19.- Poborsky (Rep. Checa); 20.- Chilavert (Paraguay); 21.- Blanc (Francia); 22.- Ziege (Alemania); 23.- Seaman (Inglaterra); 24.- Moller (Alemania); 25.- Van der Sar (Holanda); 26.- Schmeichel (Dinamarca); 27.- Zidane (Francia); 28.- McManaman (Inglaterra); 29.- Lama (Francia); 30.- Sergi (España); 31.- De Boer, Ronald (Holanda); 32.- Ravanelli (Italia); 33.- Fowler (Inglaterra); 34.- Pantic (Yugoslavia); 35.- Rui Costa (Portugal); 36.- Caminero (España); 37.- Davids (Holanda); 38.- Peruzzi (Italia); 39.- Ortega (Argentina); 40.- Gascoigne (Inglaterra); 41.- Francescoli (Uruguay); 42.- Kiko (España); 43.- Scholl (Alemania); 44.- Savicevic (Yugoslavia); 45.- Blind (Holanda); 46.- Reiziger (Holanda); 47.- De Boer, Frank (Holanda); 48.- Raí (Brasil); 49.- Simeone (Argentina); 50.- Boksic (Croacia); 51.- Helmer (Alemania); 52.- Vitor Baía (Portugal); 53.- Eilts (Alemania); 54.- Overmars (Holanda); 55.- Ivanov, Trifon (Bulgaria); 56.- Albertini (Italia); 57.- Nilis (Bélgica); 58.- Nedved (Rep. Checa); 59.- Hierro (España); 60.- Nikiforov (Rusia); 61.- Vialli (Italia); 62.- Karembeu (Francia); 63.- Zubizarreta (España); 64.- Crespo (Argentina) And this would be a proposed ideal XI of the season: Kopke; Reiziger, Desailly, Sammer, Maldini; Djorkaeff, Deschamps, Davids; Del Piero; Weah, Shearer
1996-97 1.- Ronaldo (Brasil); 2.- Roberto Carlos (Brasil); 3.- Zidane (Francia); 4.- Raúl (España); 5.- Zola (Italia); 6.- Bergkamp (Holanda); 7.- Kohler (Alemania); 8.- Schmeichel (Dinamarca); 9.- Del Piero (Italia); 10.- Peruzzi (Italia); 11.- Djorkaeff (Francia); 12.- Luis Enrique (España); 13.- Seedorf (Holanda); 14.- Hierro (España); 15.- Balakov (Bulgaria); 16.- Mijatovic (Yugoslavia); 17.- Thuram (Francia); 18.- Moller (Alemania); 19.- Shearer (Inglaterra); 20.- Beckham (Inglaterra); 21.- Sammer (Alemania); 22.- Deschamps (Francia); 23.- Figo (Portugal); 24.- Salas, Marcelo ( Chile); 25.- Ferrara (Italia); 26.- Guardiola (España); 27.- Suker (Croacia); 28.- Juninho Paulista (Brasil); 29.- Blanc (Francia); 30.- Leonardo (Brasil); 31.- Batistuta (Argentina); 32.- Vieri (Italia); 33.- Rivaldo (Brasil); 34.- Edmundo (Brasil); 35.- Alfonso (España); 36.- Thon (Alemania); 37 .- Anderson, Sonny (Brasil); 38.- Vitor Baía (Portugal); 39.- Giggs (Gales); 40.- Denilson (Brasil); 41.- Raí (Brasil); 42.- Chilavert (Paraguay); 43.- Benarbia (Argelia); 44.- Redondo (Argentina); 45.- Pagliuca (Italia); 46.- Kahn (Alemania); 47.- Bierhoff (Alemania); 48.- Ikpeba (Nigeria); 49.- Di Livio (Italia); 50.- Jardel (Brasil); 51.- Seaman (Inglaterra); 52.- Fowler (Inglaterra); 53.- Laudrup, Brian (Dinamarca); 54.- Francescoli (Uruguay); 55.- Keane (Irlanda); 56.- Ortega ( Argentina); 57.- Asprilla (Colombia); 58.- Wosz (Alemania); 59.- Barthez (Francia); 60.- Montero, Paolo (Uruguay); 61.- Weah (Liberia); 62.- Batty (Inglaterra); 63.- Dunga (Brasil); 64.- Songo'o (Camerún); 65.- N'Doram (Chad); 66.- Stam (Holanda); 67.- Hagi (Rumanía); 68.- Jarni (Croacia); 69.- Mazinho (Brasil)
XI 1996-97 Schmeichel; Luis Enrique, Kohler, Hierro, Roberto Carlos; Seedorf, Zidane, Raúl; Zola; Ronaldo, Bergkamp.
1997-98 1.- Zidane (Francia) 2.- Ronaldo (Brasil) 3.- Thuram (Francia) 4.- Roberto Carlos (Brasil) 5.- Suker (Croacia) 6.- Owen (Inglaterra); 7.- Rivaldo (Brasil); 8.- Davids (Holanda); 9.- Bergkamp (Holanda); 10.- Batistuta (Argentina); 11.- Barthez (Francia); 12.- Petit (Francia); 13.- Hierro (España); 14.- De Boer, Frank (Holanda); 15.- Blanc (Francia); 16.- Vieri (Italia); 17.- Chilavert (Paraguay); 18.- Mijatovic (Yugoslavia); 19.- Bierhoff (Alemania); 20.- Desailly (Francia); 21.- Del Piero (Italia); 22.- Deschamps (Francia); 23.- Overmars (Holanda); 24.- De Boer, Ronald (Holanda); 25.- Seedorf (Holanda); 26.- Figo (Portugal); 27.- Luis Enrique (España); 28.- Van der Sar (Holanda); 29.- Gamarra (Paraguay); 30.- Raúl (España); 31.- Okocha (Nigeria); 32.- Cafú (Brasil); 33.- Nedved (Chequia); 34.- Salas, Marcelo (Chile); 35.- Pagliuca (Italia); 36.- Beckham (Inglaterra); 37.- Lizarazu (Francia); 38.- Laudrup, Brian (Dinamarca); 39.- Peruzzi (Italia); 40.- Redondo (Argentina); 41.- Verón (Argentina); 42.- Adams (Inglaterra); 43.- Ortega (Argentina); 44.- Gallardo (Argentina); 45.- Laudrup, Michael (Dinamarca); 46.- Henry (Francia); 47.- Shevchenko (Ucrania); 48.- Dunga (Brasil); 49.- Hernández, Luis (México); 50.- Nesta (Italia); 51.- Schmeichel (Dinamarca); 52.- Zanetti (Argentina); 53.- Kahn (Alemania); 54.- Neville, Gary (Inglaterra); 55.- Vieira (Francia); 56.- Marschall (Alemania); 57.- Inzaghi, Filippo (Italia); 58.- Simeone (Argentina); 59.- Rebrov (Ucrania); 60.- Baggio, Roberto (Italia); 61.- Djorkaeff (Francia); 62.- Kirsten (Alemania); 63.- Nakata (Japón); 64.- Bergomi (Italia); 65.- Seaman (Inglaterra); 66.- Campbell, Sol (Inglaterra); 67.- Leboeuf (Francia); 68.- Ince (Inglaterra); 69.- Hadji (Marruecos); 70.- Scholl (Alemania); 71.- Konsel (Austria); 72.- Jardel (Brasil); 73.- Mihajlovic (Yugoslavia); 74.- Matthaus (Alemania); 75.- Arveladze (Georgia); 76.- Mazinho (Brasil); 77.- Juninho (Brasil); 78.- Alfonso (España)
XI 1997-98 Barthez; Thuram, Hierro, Frank de Boer, Roberto Carlos; Davids, Petit, Zidane, Rivaldo; Ronaldo, Suker
TOP 1998-99 1.- Rivaldo (Brasil) 2.- Beckham (Inglaterra) 3.- Batistuta (Argentina) 4.- Shevchenko (Ucrania) 5.- Raúl (España) 6.- Vieri (Italia); 7.- Keane, Roy (Irlanda); 8.- Yorke (Trinidad y Tobago); 9.- Figo (Portugal); 10.- Mihailovic (Yugoslavia); 11 Stam (Holanda); 12.- Verón (Argentina); 13.- Kahn (Alemania); 14.- Matthaus (Alemania); 15.- Schmeichel (Dinamarca); 16.- Roberto Carlos (Brasil); 17.- Thuram (Francia); 18.- Effenberg (Alemania); 19.- Bierhoff (Alemania); 20.- Zidane (Francia); 21.- López, Claudio “Piojo” (Argentina); 22.- Basler (Alemania); 23.- Lizarazu (Francia); 24.- Blanc (Francia); 25.- Buffon (Italia); 26.- Dida (Brasil); 27.- Ronaldo (Brasil); 28.- Jardel (Brasil); 29.- Davids (Holanda); 30.- Roa (Argentina); 31.- Rui Costa (Portugal); 32.- Maldini (Italia); 33.- Kanu (Nigeria); 34.- Riquelme (Argentina); 35.- Scholes (Inglaterra); 36.- Crespo (Argentina); 37.- Salas (Chile); 38.- Guardiola (España); 39.- Nedved (Chequia); 40.- Jeremies (Alemania); 41.- Cole, Andy (Inglaterra); 42.- Almeyda (Argentina); 43.- Nesta (Italia); 44.- Hierro (España); 45.- Wiltord (Francia); 46.- Neville, Gary (Inglaterra); 47.- Míchel Salgado (España); 48.- Totti (Italia); 49.- Marcio Amoroso (Brasil); 50.- Micoud (Francia); 51 Alex (Brasil); 52.- Emerson (Brasil); 53.- Zahovic (Eslovenia); 54.- Cuauhtémoc Blanco (México); 55.- Bergkamp (Holanda); 56.- Anelka (Francia); 57.- Ginola (Francia); 58.- Rebrov (Ucrania); 59.- Laslandes (Francia); 60.- Hesp (Holanda); 61.- Vieira (Francia); 62.- Mazinho (Brasil); 63.- Boban (Croacia); 64.- Pirés (Francia); 65.- Karpin (Rusia); 66.- Mendieta (España); 67.- Marcelino (España); 68.- Babbel (Alemania); 69.- Arce (Paraguay); 70.- Zola (Italia); 71.- Palermo (Argentina); 72.- Cannavaro (Italia); 73.- Larsson, Henrik (Suecia); 74.- Petit (Francia); 75.- Inzaghi, Filippo (Italia); 76.- Mostovoi (Rusia); 77.- Campbell (Inglaterra); 78.- Marcelinho Carioca (Brasil); 79.- Sukur (Turquía); 80.- Chiesa (Italia); 81.- Desailly (Francia); 82.- Dani García (España); 83.- Engonga (España); 84.- Albertini (Italia); 85.- Seaman (Inglaterra); 86.- Stankovic, Jovan (Yugoslavia); 87.- Koller (Chequia); 88.- Revivo (Israel); 89.- Makelele (Francia)
The Independent (30 december 1996): "#8, RUUD GULLIT It was the footballing cliche of 96. No matter how long the lay-off, or how short the appearance as a substitute, Gullit was the best player on the field. One of the greats in his prime, he remains a delight in his dotage, apparently playing the game in a different time zone. Would be far higher, and his Chelsea team more successful, were he able to play more frequently." (not saying he's definite #8 of Britain for the 1996 year; interestingly, Bergkamp was already #10 the previous year, for 1995, despite his often repeated 'slow start', they said) Imho, someone like Gullit would fit nicely into something like a top 100 (the hagiographic Harry Harris book has a nice summary for this campaign) and I really don't think Bergkamp was worse as Cantona, nor was he less productive (if anything he was more productive, and fired Arsenal into Europe in the last game of the season). Maybe it is a bit different across all competitions, I'd doubt it, but for the league Fbref shows Cantona had 0.67 'non-penalty goals + assists - penalties in 90 minutes' (Bergkamp played 250 minutes more in the league). Bergkamp is on 0.58. That is a bit lower, but also for a worse team and if you'd include pre-assists, penalties won and exclude set piece assists I am sure the order changes. Compared to your initial ranking you do the following with Ajax, Dutch and Belgian players (Ajax is not my team!): Litmanen 4 to 3 Rijkaard 17 to 15 F. de Boer 26 to 23 Blind 30 to 28 Van der Sar 77 to 55 Overmars 20 = 20 Finidi 23 to 26 Kluivert 24 to 36 R. de Boer 32 to 39 Preud'homme 57 to 84 (3rd last) Seedorf 58 to 66 Nilis 79 to 86 (last) (I'd say Rijkaard played better than Maldini in every game against him, not least the final with the winning assist) I'd say that, as usual (which the politically sensitive people will continue to do, like @comme ), this undervalues our players quite a bit. I see many thinking for 2023-24 Real Madrid should have five players in the top 10 (I disagree). I'd say Ajax of 1994-95 (and 1995-96) actually comes closer in that direction. Be careful and see how I phrase that... I don't say it should be... Ajax had a record of 52 games unbeaten in the league. The last they lost was the final round of 1993-94 against Willem II, with the title already decided and Rijkaard among others not playing. The team to end the run was again Willem II, with a defense marshalled by a certain Jaap Stam. In 1994-95 they were unbeaten at all six levels except for one game, the cup semi-final against Feyenoord with a golden goal in extra time. Without golden goal they maybe still win it. The season before, 1993-94, they Ajax lost against Parma in the 2nd leg (with referee Blankenstein taken off from Parma their earlier games because he could yellow card them - see? Handicap for Ajax! Revealing!). Ajax had then a series of 20 unbeaten EC matches in Europe (and across all UEFA competitions). This was only bettered by the late-00s Manchester United, with Van der Sar as organizer in goal (and a chunk of different defenders). Ajax had a record of unbeaten away matches in EC (and all UEFA competitions), only bettered by Guardiola's Bayern Munich. In other words: it set the bar higher and it took a while before it was overtaken - in a different football world. In 1995-96 they had quite a few injuries. For the 1996 CL final they missed about six starters. Still, they lost on penalties against Juventus in Rome. This was a Juventus that was on drugs (okay, medication is part of sport) but the samples of both teams were sent to a lab in Rome. The ones of Juventus got destroyed, the ones of Ajax not and tested. They met a drugged, corrupt and rigged Juventus again in 1996-97 for the semi-final. In the quarter finals there is this (with many, many players missing). That ended the undefeated away match run, 23 april 1997. As I prove here, in terms of average time on the ball it was a huge step up. I don't think you can say that is a biased source or has an incentive to make Ajax artificially look better. It's interesting that for 1995-96 you have Michael Reiziger quite high up. I think he has become the most overlooked player of that team, domestically. By the public and 'experts' (ask them to make a top 100 and 90% chance he will not be in, while Suurbier or so is). While he has some things going for him, like this (see the duels won%) and this (he was at certain points, by foreigners, seen as among the best right-backs in the world - it doesn't compare to Suurbier?). Finidi George, of course a forward and defensively not useless, is way better remembered. Of course there are things on youtube that make him look silly or the opponent silly, but he was a good player and had also his goal-creating contributions in tournaments (1996 - 2004). In sum: I am pretty sure those mid-90s Ajax players are underrated. Look at this objectively. The political forces will however decide otherwise. @PDG1978 @Wiliam Felipe Gracek @msioux75
XI 1998-99 Kahn; Thuram, Stam, Mihajlovic, Roberto Carlos; Beckham, Roy Keane, Verón, Rivaldo; Shevchenko, Batistuta
Hi. In order to correctly interpret your message, I need to know if you are referring to the obvious difference between the ESM data from the 1996-97 season and the overall season ranking I posted for this season. I have seen that there is indeed a lot of difference and I could explain the reasons on a case by case basis, as it is clear that Dutch players very well reputed by the ESM voters, were practically ignored in other awards. If you don't mean this, I have to try to understand the post you just published to (with the help of the translator) intuit what you mean.
I am referring here to your 1994-95 ranking then a second ranking for 1994-95 where you make personal changes (I think bumping Kluivert down has some things in support, yes, also things not supporting this). I am referring to post #2 and #3, with then your ideal XI with only one Ajax player in (Litmanen). Zero Benelux players. One classic case. It doesn't match with the objective progress made (like time on the ball, there is more) and the actual (unbeaten) results. Ajax are not just the team of the Nineties, they are approaching football Utopia. Their concept of the game is exquisite yet they have a physical superiority as well. They are Beauty and the Beast.' Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid coach, in 1995. This was after the Bernabeu match, comfortably won by Ajax, with at least two goals incorrectly ruled out.
36 goals for, 5 goals against in that unbeaten run over 20 matches in Europe (2 goals against was with Frank de Boer missing, for example). Record stood until the late-00s and Manchester United. Simply very, very telling again. Handicap back then and then decades later. edit: sorry, the cup match vs Feyenoord was the quarter final, not semi-final. Feyenoord won the cup eventually in the final. Obiku scored with a golden goal in the 95th minute of extra time. Match was immediately over. Without GG Ajax maybe still wins it. https://www.transfermarkt.nl/spielbericht/index/spielbericht/2222281
Ah, ok. I thought you meant 1995-96. I have commented on several occasions that I don't agree that most awards, rankings, etc. are done on a calendar year basis. For many years I have made two rankings: one based almost exclusively on the opinions of others (basically objective) and another in which I have tried to take into account other statistical data that have probably not been taken into account in the voting for the first ranking. Just as @TomStevens doesn't think the final XI made by the ESM is fair, I don't think the final rankings for the Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Player, World Soccer, etc, etc, are fair either, as they are made at the end of the year, they distort the previous season, often taking into account the goodness of the players in the first part of the following season. Not long ago I decided to do this with a little more "justice" and with a lot of individual and collective statistical data, make a different ranking, whose final result would be included in a single ranking in order to compensate (at least in part) the "injustices" produced in all those famous awards. Now I'll get to the season you're asking me about, but even if that's not what your post is about, I'd like to give you the example of the 1995-96 season. As you can see, in my hypothetical ideal XI of the season (and Tom's) there are 5 Dutch players (all from Ajax) plus another Finnish player, but also from the same team: Van der Sar: 8th ESM; 25th in my final ranking (he gets no votes from either Ballon d'Or or FWP; in the one put together by RSSSF he gets 2 ridiculous votes). Litmanen: 3rd ESM; 12th in my final ranking (he doesn't get a single Golden Ball vote). How is this possible for one of the stars of an Ajax team that won the Eredivisie and was a European Cup finalist? Blind: 3rd ESM; 45th in my ranking. He is completely forgotten in the Ballon d'Or, FWP, RSSSF and World Soccer Awards. Nor does Don Balon mention him in a list that, I think, went all the way to the top 50 and Onze de Onze places him as 7th centre-back with 1.94% and behind, for example, Trifon Ivanov.... Frank de Boer: 6th ESM; 50th in my ranking. It's a very similar case to Blind, with the difference that, at least, Onze places him second in a midfield position, i.e. they might even have made a mistake and referred to his brother... Reiziger: 12th ESM. 49th in my ranking. Apart from ESM, only Onze remembers him, ranking him as the 4th best right back. Davids: 28th ESM. 37th in my final ranking. Nothing in the Ballon d'Or, although at least he received 1 vote in the FWP. Chosen by Onze readers as 4th best defensive midfielder behind (obviously) three Frenchmen (Deschamps, Karembeu and Daniel Bravo). I continue. To get into my final ranking this season, a player had to fulfil the condition of appearing in at least 4 of the 11 categories I took into account for the ranking. If this criterion were met, only Litmanen and Van der Sar could be in the final ranking. Precisely in order to avoid being in the final ranking and many other injustices that are caused by taking mainly the calendar year as a reference, I decided to add another criterion to the above mentioned; that is, in case a player is not in the final ranking if he is not in 4 of the categories analysed, it is enough that I consider that he should be in the final ranking. And hence, in parallel, I form another ranking with other factors, for example, membership of ideal squads, individual awards at league or national level, individual and collective performance in national and international club and national team competitions, goals, assists, ratings, and some more. This meant that the 4 players (and a few others) named above were able to enter the final ranking, as they were recognised for many more merits. In this list that I have just mentioned, Litmanen occupies a very good 10th position, thanks, among other things, to winning the league with 14 goals and 10 assists (all these merits are translated into numbers, that is to say, they are quantified), he is a finalist of the Champions League with 9 goals, he appears in the ideal XI of this event? On the other hand, the bad luck of belonging to a weak national team takes points away from him and? above all... not knowing his ratings. This is a very important issue, because players from the Eredivisie, if I don't have ratings, are on an unequal footing compared to Spanish, French, Italian and German players. I am sure that if I had this information (I would have gained the necessary points to be able to occupy a place between 6th and 8th. I take this opportunity to ask you, if you have them, for the Eredevisie ratings (those of Voetbal International, for example) to add them and give these ratings a little more justice and credibility. The rest of the players studied in this post also improved their ranking thanks to the merits I added to the famous prizes and awards. So, if you think that I, at least, discriminate against players on the basis of their nationality, it has been proven that this is not the case. I just take down thousands of data, convert them into figures and calculate everything with a spreadsheet. I hope you understood it, since, as you know, I am not lucky enough to have studied English. Now, looking at the message you posted regarding the 1995-96 season, surely you understand the idea better. The first list was basically the one that took into account Ballon d'Or, FWP, etc, etc. In the second one, we try to balance as much as possible taking into account all those data I said before (position of his club in national leagues, participation and achievements in Europe, individual performances (goals, ratings, assists)... hence there are differences. In some cases they improve their position, in others it gets worse. In any case, in this and previous seasons, the one I used as a reference in this blog was the first list. Just from this season onwards (precisely the 95-96 season we have been talking about), I start to quantify all those statistics that, although unfortunately, do not completely fix the injustice of the calendar year, at least corrects it somewhat. As I told you before, Eredivisie players are being disadvantaged in these years by not having their ratings (DBSCalcio doesn't have them either). That's why I would like to have them in order to make corrections. In any case, and to finish, I would like to make it clear that I am never guided by my preferences in any of the rankings I publish, but by the existing statistics. If it were otherwise, Butragueño, Quini, Santillana, De la Peña or Valerón would surely have appeared much more in these rankings. Reiziger appears in the 1995-96 ideal XI not because I particularly liked him (which I did too) but because he deserves it thanks to all the merits he gathered during the season: winning the Eredivisie, being in the ideal XI, Champions League finalist, also in the ideal XI and great results with the Orange. I'm missing assists and ratings, data that, if they were moderately interesting, would have pushed him higher in the final ranking. Ah, ok. Pensaba que te referías a 1995-96. En varias ocasiones he comentado que no estoy de acuerdo en que la mayor parte de los premios, rankings, etc se hace en el año natural. Durante muchos años confeccionado dos rankings: uno basado casi exclusivamente en opiniones de los demás (básicamente objetivo) y otro en el que he procurado tener en cuenta otros datos estadísticos que, seguramente no se han tenido en cuenta en las votaciones referidas a la primera clasificación. Al igual que al compañero @TomStevens no le parece justo el XI definitivo que hace la ESM, a mí tampoco me parece demasiado justo las clasificaciones finales del Balón de Oro, del FIFA World Player, la que hace World Soccer, etc, etc, ya que al confeccionarse a finales de año, desvirtúa la temporada anterior, quedándose, muchas veces con las bondades de los jugadores en la primera parte de la temporada posterior. No hace mucho decidí hacer esto con un poco más de "justicia" y con un montó de datos estadísticos individuales y colectivos, hacer un ranking diferente, cuyo resultado final sería incluido en un único ranking con el fin de compensar (al menos en parte) las "injusticias" producidas en todos esos famosos galardones. Ahora me pongo con la temporada por la que me preguntas, pero aunque no vaya por ahí tu post, quiero ponerte el ejemplo de la temporada 1995-96. Como puedes ver, en mi hipotético XI ideal de la temporada (y en el de Tom) aparecen 5 futbolistas holandeses (todos del Ajax) más otro finlandés, pero también del mismo equipo: Van der Sar: 8º en la ESM; 25º en mi ranking final (no obtiene votos ni del Balón de Oro, ni del FWP; en la confeccionada por la RSSSF obtiene 2 ridículos votos). Litmanen: 3º ESM; 12º en mi ranking final (no obtiene ni un solo voto en el Balón de Oro). ¿Cómo es posible esto en una de las figuras de una Ajax que ganó la Eredivisie y fue finalista de la Copa de Europa Blind: 3º ESM; 45º en mi ranking. Se olvidan completamente de él en el Balón de Oro, en el FWP, en el RSSSF y en el World Soccer Awards. Tampoco lo menciona Don Balón en una lista que, creo, que llegó hasta los 50 mejores y el Onze de Onze lo coloca como 7º central con un 1,94 % y detrás de, por ejemplo, Trifon Ivanov... Frank de Boer: 6º ESM; 50º en mi ranking. Es un caso muy parecido al de Blind, con la diferencia de que, al menos, Onze le coloca segundo en una posición de centrocampista, es decir, que incluso puede que se equivocasen y se refirieran a su hermano... Reiziger: 12º ESM. 49º en mi ranking. Además de la ESM, solo se acuerda de él Onze, situándolo como 4º mejor lateral derecho. Davids: 28º ESM. 37º en mi ranking final. Nada en el Balón de Oro, aunque al menos recibió 1 voto en el FWP. Elegido por los lectores de Onze como 4º mejor medio defensivos detrás de (obviamente) tres franceses (Deschamps, Karembeu y Daniel Bravo). Sigo. Para entrar en mi ranking final, en esta temporada, un futbolista tenía que cumplir la condición de aparecer en, al menos, 4 de las 11 categorías que tuve en cuenta para su confección. Si cumpliera este criterio resulta que solamente Litmanen y Van der Sar podrían estar en ese ranking final. Precisamente para evitar estar y otras muchas injusticias que implica tomar como referencia principalmente el año natural, decidí añadir otro criterio al anteriormente dicho; es decir, en caso de que un jugador no estuviera en el ranking final si no está en 4 categorías de las analizadas, basta conque yo considere que deba estar. Y de ahí que, paralelamente, forme otro ranking con otros factores, por ejemplo, pertenencia a onces ideales, premios individuales a nivel de liga o nacional, desempeño individual y colectivo en competiciones nacionales e internacionales de clubs y selección, goles, asistencias, ratings, y algunas más. Esto hizo que los 4 jugadores (y unos cuantos más) anteriormente nombrados pudieran entrar en el ranking final, al serles reconocidos muchos más méritos. En esta lista que acabo de comentar, Litmanen ocupa una muy buena 10º posición, gracias, entre otras cosas, a ganar la liga con 14 goles y 10 asistencias (todos estos méritos se traducen a números, es decir, se cuantifican), es finalista de la Champions con 9 goles, figura en el XI ideal de este evento... Por contra, la mala suerte de pertenecer a una débil selección le resta puntos y... sobre todo... no conocer sus ratings. Este tema es muy importante, porque los jugadores de la Eredivisie, si no tengo ratings, están en desigualdad de oportunidades con respecto a españoles, franceses, italianos y alemanes. Estoy seguro, que si hubiera contado con ese dato (hubiera ganado los puntos necesarios para poder ocupar una plaza entre la 6ª y la 8ª. Aprovecho para pedirte, si es que los tienes los ratings de la Eredevisie (los de Voetbal International, por ejemplo) para añadirlos y dotar a estos ratings de un poco más de justicia y credibilidad. El resto de los jugadores estudiados en este post también mejoraron su clasificación gracias a los méritos que añadí a los famosos premios y galardones. Por tanto, si piensas que, al menos yo, discrimino a los jugadores por su nacionalidad, queda demostrado de que no es así. Me limito a anotar miles de datos, convertirlos a cifras y calcular todo con una hoja de cálculo. Espero que lo hayas entendido, ya que, como sabes, no tengo la suerte de haber estudiado inglés. Ahora, viendo el mensaje que pusiste relativo a la temporada 1995-96, seguramente que entiendes mejor la idea. La primera lista era básicamente la que tenía en cuenta Balón de Oro, FWP, etc, etc. En la segunda, se intenta equilibrar en la medida de los posible teniendo en cuenta todos esos datos que dije antes (posición de su club en ligas nacionales, participación y logros en Europa, desempeños individuales (goles, ratings, asistencias)... de ahí que haya diferencias. En algunos casos mejoran su posición, en otros se empeora. En cualquier caso, en esta temporada concreta y en las anteriores, la que usaba como referente en este blog era la primera lista. Justo a partir de esta temporada (precisamente de la 95-96 de la que hemos hablado), comienzo a cuantificar todas esas estadísticas que, aunque lamentablemente, no termina de arreglar del todo la injusticia de lo del año natural, sí, al menos, lo corrige algo. Como te dije antes, los futbolistas de la Eredivisie se están viendo perjudicados en estos años al no contar con sus ratings (DBSCalcio tampoco los tiene). Por eso me gustaría contar con ellos para poder hacer las correcciones correspondientes. En cualquier caso, y para terminar, dejar claro que nunca, en ninguno de los rankings que publico me guío por mis preferencias, sino por las estadísticas existentes. Si fuera de otra manera, Butragueño, Quini, Santillana, De la Peña o Valerón, seguro que hubieran aparecido mucho más en esas clasificaciones. Reiziger aparece en el XI ideal de 1995-96 no porque a mí me gustara especialmente (que también) sino porque se lo merece gracias a todos los méritos que reunió en la temporada: gana la Eredivisie, está en el XI ideal, finalista de la Champions, también está en el XI ideal y estupendos resultados con la Orange. Me faltan asistencias y ratings, datos que, de ser medianamente interesantes, le hubiera encumbrado más arriba en la clasificación definitiva.
Okay, I understand now. It is just that imho it really doesn't match with the actual performance, results and (measured) technical levels. Indeed, in ESM it is a little bit different. There is one specific month with six Ajax players in (+ Sampdoria player Seedorf). Litmanen was not in, Overmars was injured. Could have been eight or nine. Juventus did really destroy their samples after the 1996 final, while the ones of Ajax got tested (beyond the requirements of Uefa, but per what supposedly the Italian rules wanted). It was also in many international newspapers that on a couple occasions referees got changed because of Ajax (or another 'small' club). 11 Freunde (German magazine) has written retrospective articles about this - Parma complaining Benelux referees could cause suspensions. By the end of Van der Sar his career, three former Ajax players stood in the top four of most CL finals played. VdS, Seedorf, Davids and Paolo Maldini (the Ajax players also involved for another UEFA Cup final). That was the top four. But also they got often overlooked (like serial goalscorer Van Nistelrooij... for the 00s) 'My team' Feyenoord reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winners Cup (should have played the final). With Ronald Koeman in defense. I understand what you are doing and I also understand there is quite some time invested in this. That is not easy to do. Yes, I get now that you liked Reiziger but that this doesn't come into play in the placement or your own amendments (Reiziger played on a few occasions in midfield too wasn't it? Against Dynamo Kiev he was scapegoated for this, with Guardiola moved out of the way; but against Real Madrid it did actually work well and they won both legs in the Supercup...)
Referee was Helmut Krug from... Germany, and his linesmen too. @comme @Krokko There is undeniably a pattern.
1999-2000 CHAMPIONS GAME (GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT / MARCA) Perhaps some of us of a certain age remember the appearance and success of the fantasy leagues that were appearing in many newspapers and sports magazines. It was an incentive for fans who had to send letters and make phone calls to make changes. It is true that the rules were very basic and, to a certain extent, they could be a reference, so that, in general terms, healthy discussions could be opened to elucidate the best of the championships. It is true that the scoring system used to give some advantage to the most offensive players. For the moment, I have to admit that beyond a brief glance at the final rankings, the specific weight of these rankings in the annual rankings is minimal, although in some cases they have helped me to reflect on some players. However, in this 1999-00 season there is an interesting novelty (now I don't remember if it already came out the previous season) which was a sort of fantasy league, but, this time, at Champions League level. Although, the scoring system was still very simple, but, taking into account that the ratings of all the matches were not reflected (only the national ones) and that, of course, there was no sofascore or anything like that, I have decided to analyze this in more detail and with the possibility that, although still not having too much importance in my project, it is a reference to take into account with some probability of being part of the scores of the season. The game started with the proposal of a national economic value of most of the players of the 32 teams of that edition of the Champions League. The participants in the game had 200 million euros at their disposal and could sign 11 starters and 4 substitutes. As the matches were played, the players were given a score (very basic) and, like the stock market, their economic valuation increased or decreased. So there were two references to take into account: the score according to their merits in the game and their quotation. As the phases and knockout rounds went by, the number of players in play and, therefore, transferable, also decreased. That means, of course, that players whose teams went further would also have a higher chance of getting a higher score, which is why, as I write this, I think that, instead of analyzing the data in absolute terms, it should be done in relative terms. After performing some calculations also taking into account the results obtained, the minutes per game and discarding the players who had not reached 6 games, these are the coefficients obtained. I do not see a clear correlation between these coefficients and the ratings I have obtained from the Spanish teams, so I discard using them beyond the anecdote and, if anything, as a reference for some doubtful players to enter the final ranking of the season. Tal vez algunos de los que tenemos cierta edad recordamos la aparición y el éxito de las ligas fantásticas que fueron apareciendo en muchos diarios y revistas deportivas. Supuso un incentivo en los aficionados que tenía que enviar cartas y hacer llamadas telefónicas para la realización de cambios. Sí que es cierto que las reglas eran muy básicas y, hasta cierto punto, podrían resultar una referencia, para que, en términos generales pudieras abrirse sanas discusiones para dilucidar a los mejores de los campeonatos. Sí que es cierto, que el sistema de puntuación solía darle algo de ventaja a los jugadores de talante más ofensivo. De momento, tengo que reconocer, que más allá de echar un breve vistazo a las clasificaciones finales, el peso específico de las mismas a la hora de ordenar los rankings anuales es mínimo, aunque en algunos casos me han servido para reflexionar sobre algunos jugadores. Sin embargo, en esta temporada 1999-00 hay una novedad interesante (ahora no recuerdo si ya salió la temporada anterior) que fue una especie de liga fantástica, pero, en esta ocasión, a nivel de la Champions League. Si bien, el sistema de puntuación seguía siendo muy simple, pero, teniendo en cuenta de que no se reflejaban los ratings de todos los partidos (solo de los nacionales) y que, por supuesto, no había sofascore ni nada de eso, he tomado la decisión de analizar esto con más detenimiento y con la posibilidad de que, aunque siga sin tener demasiada importancia en mi proyecto, sí que sea una referencia a tener en cuenta con algunas probabilidades de formar parte de las puntuaciones de la temporada. El juego comenzaba con la propuesta de un valor económico nacional de la mayor parte de los jugadores de los 32 equipos de esa edición de la Champions. Los participantes en el juego disponían de 200 millones de euros y podían fichar a 11 titulares y 4 suplentes. A medida de que se iban jugando los partidos se adjudicaba una puntuación a los jugadores (muy básicas) y a modo de la bolsa, iban aumentando o disminuyendo su valoración económica. Así que había dos referentes a tener en cuenta: la puntuación según sus méritos en juego y su cotización. Según iban sucediéndose las fases y las rondas eliminatorias, también disminuían los jugadores en juego y, por tanto, fichables. Eso hace, por supuesto, que los jugadores cuyos equipos llegasen más lejos, también tendrían más posibilidades de obtener mayor puntuación, razón por la cual, según escribo esto, pienso que, en lugar de analizar los datos en términos absolutos, haya que hacerlo en términos relativos. Después de realizar algunos cálculos teniendo en cuenta también los resultados obtenidos, los minutos por partido y descartando a los jugadores que no hubieran alcanzado los 6 partidos, estos son los coeficientes obtenidos. No observo una correlación clara entre estos coeficientes y los ratings que he obtenido de los equipos españoles, así que descarto usarlos más haya de la anécdota y, si acaso, como referencia para algunos jugadores dudosos de entrar en el ranking final de la temporada.
FANTASTIC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP The newspaper “Marca” wanted to continue with the “fantastic league” type games and organized another one for the Eurocup. In principle, the rating given to each player could have some importance for me, since it could be a good indicator of how each player's season had been up to that moment. However, I notice some very high valuations of some players who did not have a great season, while others who, in my opinion did have a great season, were undervalued. I will put the previous top values of the most important or popular players by position: EUROCOPA FANTÁSTICA El diario “Marca” quiso continuar con los juegos tipo “liga fantástica” y organizó otro para la Eurocopa. En principio, la valoración que se le daba a cada jugador sí que podría tener cierta importancia para mí, puesto que podría ser un buen indicador de cómo había sido la temporada de cada uno hasta ese momento. Sin embargo, observo algunas valoraciones muy altas de algunos jugadores que no tuvieron una gran temporada, mientras que otros que, en mi opinión sí que la tuvieron, estuvieron poco cotizados. Pondré los principales valores previos de los jugadores más importantes o populares por puestos: PORTEROS: Kahn: 25 Schmeichel, Buffon y Van der Sar: 20 Toldo: 17 Cañizares, Barthez y Molina: 15 Vitor Baía: 13 Iker Casillas: 12 Butt, De Goey y Seaman: 11 DEFENSAS: Hierro y Matthaus: 25 Mihajlovic: 23 Thuram y Maldini: 20 Desailly, Djukic, Negro y Nesta: 18 Stam y Djorovic: 17 Aranzábal: 16 Blanc, Campbell, Southgate y Lizarazu: 15 Babbel: 14 CENTROCAMPISTAS DEFENSIVOS: Mendieta: 22 Guardiola: 20 Albertini y Jugovic: 19 Petit y Vieira: 18 Jeremies y Conte: 17 Ziege, Di Livio, Jokanovic y Ambrosini: 16 Paulo Sousa: 15 Helveg, Winter, Petrescu y Deschamps: 13 Iván Helguera: 12 CENTROCAMPISTAS OFENSIVOS Beckham y Figo: 36 Zidane: 32 Davids, Rui Costa, Hagi y Overmars: 20 Seedorf, Stojkovic y McManaman: 19 Scholl, Pires y Joseba Etxeberría: 18 Deisler: 17 Gerard y Di Biagio: 16 Nedved, Sergio Concaiçao y Zambrotta: 15 DELANTEROS Raúl: 40 Del Piero: 36 Anelka: 35 Shearer: 26 Bierhoff, Henry, Owen, Filippo Inzaghi y Trezeguet: 25 Alfonso y Mijatovic: 24 Bergkamp, Montella y Totti: 22 Kluivert y Milosevic: 21 Kirsten, Nilis, Kovacevic: 20 Fowler, Solsjkaer y Flo: 19 Jancker, Wiltord, Del Vecchio, Sukur y Makaay: 18 Munitis y Nuno Gomes: 16 Really surprising is the excessive valuation of players like Molina, Hierro, Djorovic, Aranzábal, Jokanovic, Anelka, Owen, Kirsten... However, I am struck by the low value of Zahovic (13), Drulovic (13), Abelardo (10), Phillips (10) or Nowotny (7), for example. Realmente sorprendente la excesiva valoración de jugadores como Molina, Hierro, Djorovic, Aranzábal, Jokanovic, Anelka, Owen, Kirsten... Sin embargo, me llama la atención el poco valor de Zahovic (13), Drulovic (13), Abelardo (10), Phillips (10) o Nowotny (7), por ejemplo.
As can be seen, the most expensive player in the game was Raúl. Not in vain, after his victory in the Champions League with a more than remarkable individual performance, he seemed the top favorite to win the Ballon d'Or. There was also talk of Figo, but at a lower level, but little of Zidane, whose season before the European Championship had not been too good. The Manchester players Beckham and Keane, surely, and according to the press, could present a more serious candidacy than the French player himself. Zidane's great Euro and Raúl's discreet performance turned the tables, leaving Zidane as the main candidate. During the tournament and according to the positive or negative merits of the players, a score was awarded in which the Dutch striker of Barcelona was the winner. Here are the best scores: Como puede verse, el jugador más caro del juego era Raúl. No en vano, tras su victoria en la Champions con una actuación individual más que notable, parecía el máximo favorito para ganar el Balón de Oro. Se hablaba también de Figo, pero a un nivel más bajo, pero poco de Zidane, cuya temporada antes de la Eurocopa no había sido demasiado buena. Los jugadores del Manchester Beckham y Keane, seguramente, y a tenor de la prensa, podrían presentar una candidatura más seria que la del propio jugador francés. La gran Euro de Zidane y la discreta actuación de Raúl, dio la vuelta a la tortilla, quedando Zidane como principal candidato. Durante el torneo y según los méritos positivos o negativos de los futbolistas, se fue concediendo una puntuación en la que el delantero holandés del Barcelona resultó ganador. He aquí las mejores puntuaciones: 1.- Kluivert: 40 2.- Toldo: 36 3.- Milosevic: 35 4.- Zidane: 33 5.- Van der Sar, Sergio Conceiçao, Nuno Gomes y Henry: 32 9.- Frank de Boer: 31 10.- Zenden: 30 11.- Nesta: 29 12.- Cannavaro: 28 13.- Totti: 27 14.- Blanc y Maldini: 26 16.- Djorkaeff: 25 17.- Iuliano y Zahovic: 24 19.- Desailly, Mendieta, Fernando Couto y Wiltord: 23 23.- Barthez y Overmars: 22 25.- Fiore: 21 26.- Thuram, Del Piero, Jorge Costa, Vitor Baía y Deschamps: 20 31.- Vieira, Okan, Sukur, Figo y Davids: 19 Unlike what they did in the Champions Game, the starting prices of the players were not changed. A diferencia de lo que hicieron en el Champions Game, los precios iniciales de los jugadores no se vieron modificados.
1999-2000 RANKING 1.- Figo (Portugal) 2.- Zidane (Francia) 3.- Rivaldo (Brasil) 4.- Henry (Francia) 5.- Raúl (España) 6.- Shevchenko (Ucrania); 7.- Mendieta (España); 8.- Nesta (Italia); 9.- Roberto Carlos (Brasil); 10.- Beckham (Inglaterra); 11.- Kluivert (Holanda); 12.- Davids (Holanda); 13.- Barthez (Francia); 14.- Batistuta (Argentina); 15.- Totti (Italia); 16.- Kahn (Alemania); 17.- Keane, Roy (Irlanda); 18.- Toldo (Italia); 19.- Verón (Argentina); 20.- Nedved (Chequia); 21.- Romario (Brasil); 22.- Redondo (Argentina); 23.- Desailly (Francia); 24.- Maldini (Italia); 25.- Jardel (Brasil); 26.- Blanc (Francia); 27.- Casillas (España); 28.- Aimar (Argentina); 29.- Thuram (Francia); 30.- Stam (Holanda); 31.- Sukur (Turquía); 32.- Effenberg (Alemania); 33.- Riquelme (Argentina); 34.- López, Claudio (Argentina); 35.- Deschamps (Francia); 36.- Djalminha (Brasil); 37.- Emerson Ferreira (Brasil); 38.- Vieira (Francia); 39.- Córdoba, Óscar (Colombia); 40.- Giggs (Gales); 41.- Van Nistelrooy (Holanda); 42.- Abelardo (España); 43.- Rui Costa (Portugal); 44.- Van der Sar (Holanda); 45.- Trezeguet (Francia); 46.- Juninho Paulista (Brasil); 47.- Lizarazu (Francia); 48.- Mihajlovic (Yugoslavia); 49.- Bergkamp (Holanda); 50.- Angloma (Francia); 51.- Guardiola (España); 52.- Milosevic (Yugoslavia); 53.- Saviola (Argentina); 54.- Phillips, Kevin (Inglaterra); 55.- Elber (Brasil); 56.- Ronaldinho (Brasil); 57.- Hyypia (Finlandia); 58.- Helguera (España); 59.- Hagi (Rumania); 60.- Donato (Brasil); 61.- Gallardo (Argentina); 62.- Taffarel (Brasil); 63.- Paulo Sergio (Brasil); 64.- Nuno Gomes (Portugal); 65.- Mauro Silva (Brasil); 66.- Chilavert (Paraguay); 67.- Lauren (Camerún); 68.- Drulovic (Yugoslavia); 69.- Makelele (Francia)
1999-2000 XI Barthez; Thuram, Nesta, Desailly, Roberto Carlos; Mendieta, Davids, Zidane, Figo; Henry, Rivaldo