The best players of the season 2020/21.

I see this now, yet he is the last of the names listed and it isn't alphabetical. One of the other two in the row is also a Leicester player (Evans), with then additionally Soucek of West Ham as overall winner. He has his fans among the pundits (in Holland - Van Basten for example) and realistically he is one of the three best/important of his team, with an argument for the best. I don't know whether he has the body or engine to succeed at a top team (with number tens out of fashion, which he isn't anyway). Technically he is not a magician but clean and neat in my view. He has worked himself up to being a starter for the national side.

 

My impressions of Gravenberch and Wijndal are mostly positive. Malen had a horrific injury but seems to be back at his previous pace. Sometimes misses too many chances. Koopmeiners I find too slow in his thoughts and handling speed (but the under 21 squad will miss him now he is out). Klaassen is a very strange player; suddenly he had for Oranje a game with some technical pieces of skill (the goal against Turkey at 6:45). I am not a fan but recognize he gets his goals or assists when used as a sub.

Blind and Berghuis (of Feyenoord) weren't very good from what I saw (though Berghuis had some good games for Oranje and technically he looks often nice). Tadic should have scored his penalty and chances against AS Roma, costed his team a place in the EL semi final, but is probably better in better form as last season - and that makes him a sensible overall winner.

3 – Steven Berghuis completed the most crosses from open play (3) and created the joint-most chances for the Netherlands v Bosnia & Herzegovina (3), despite coming on in the 69th minute. Catalyst. pic.twitter.com/AuKj5FydT6

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) October 11, 2020

2 - Steven Berghuis became the first @OnsOranje player to score the opening goal in consecutive games since Memphis Depay managed it in November 2017. Unleashed. pic.twitter.com/e6w3A86ddT

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) March 30, 2021

 

But again, this is only a sketchy impression. I haven't seen or followed enough. I don't have crystalized opinions or ideas here. I can't say whether Gravenberch had a mid-season dip or not, only that it was a good impression overall (against teams that matter).

 

When I saw him playing and on highlights I thought Juste has a very error prone playing style, with his dribbles right through the center and the pirouettes, but apparently that's not the case. On highlights it looks as if he's perennially close to mess up.

With his pace, ability to dribble and capability to play as right-back he might offer something extra that Botman his profile cannot (over the other defenders), but in the end both are left out.

 

Bundesliga Team of the Season 2020-21 by Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).

This team features no players by Bayern and is thus called "XI against Munich", meaning in SZ opinion this team could challenge Bayern.

-----Kramaric-------Haaland------André Silva

-----Sosa-------Arnold--------Hector-----Olmo

------------Günter---------Ginter---------Friedrich

-----------------------------Ortega

 

Yes you are right!

 

11 – Here the #SerieA 2020/21 best XI based on Opta Data. Mastery. #OptaTopXI pic.twitter.com/0qGv4M4Xe3

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) May 24, 2021

I wonder how this for Ligue 1 looks. It appears the defense conceded a very low amount of xG, but on top of this also goalkeeper Maignan (replacing the Serie A keeper) stands out.

https://dataviz.theanalyst.com/season-reviews/2020/?competition_id=24&season_id=2020

𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧 ➡️ 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧

After winning Ligue 1 with Lille this weekend, reports suggest Mike Maignan is set to join @acmilan for 2021-22.

The stats suggest he's a wise choice to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma....@OptaPaolo 🇮🇹 @OptaJean 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/CNrLrg21Rg

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) May 25, 2021

edit: the prediction in April was PSG would win
https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/04/predicting-the-title-winner-in-ligue-1/
https://en.as.com/resultados/futbol/francia/2020_2021/ranking/jugadores/amp/

 

Voetbal International made some XIs of how teams would look if no transfers are allowed (as Agnelli proposed for a Super League). Here and there it also refers to other articles for more info, but I ignore that now.

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It started with a simple thought. What would the European football landscape look like if transfers are no longer allowed? In other words: which clubs will come to the fore if only their own reservoir of football players can be tapped? Could Chelsea and Manchester City have reached the Champions League final with only self-trained players? A dive into the educational history of the footballers provides an interesting insight in player production and shakes up the European top.

You can draw up a ranking yourself based on the training teams per club. Scroll down and discover the footprint of, among others, Manchester City, Juventus, Feyenoord, PSV, Ajax, Sparta Rotterdam, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.



Manchester City paid 68 million euros for Rúben Dias last summer. The center-back turned out to be Pep Guardiola's answer to Virgil van Dijk. The Portuguese was recently voted the best player in the Premier League by more than 700 journalists. It was the first time since 1989 that a defender won the journalist's trophy. It is striking that four regular Manchester City players received their training at Benfica. Like other teams just below the European top, the Portuguese club finds it difficult to hold onto super talents. Atlético casually paid 126 million euros for João Félix, while Fabio Silva was just eighteen when he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for 40 million euros last September. The Premier League clubs are skewing all proportions with their TV funds. Benfica's training team would not look out of place in a Champions League final.



Barcelona has benefited for years from the supply from La Masía. On November 25, 2012, Tito Vilanova even fielded eleven players from the academy against Levante. Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi still belong to the important core of that historical team. Ronald Koeman was able to fall back on the quality of the Barça youth this season. He launched Ilaix Moriba and Óscar Mingueza. All the more remarkable is the transfer policy of the Calatalan club. Barcelona should only buy players it can't train itself rather than drive players away as multimillion-dollar purchases block their way into the first team.



Real Madrid's youth academy is a pond from which other Spanish clubs are eagerly fishing. Almost every Spanish club has a former Real player in their ranks. The required level is so high that no teenager can just take the step to the A-squad. Still, the list of players from La Fábrica is impressive. Luis Enrique did not call up any Real Madrid footballer for the upcoming European Championship. With Pablo Sarabia, Álvaro Morata, Diego Llorente and Marcos Llorente, there are though four players on the list with a Real Madrid stamp in their player passport.



De Toekomst has been for half a century a source of inspiration for clubs and federations worldwide (like France in the early 1970s). Internationally, the talents who make the first team are observed. Ajax is the only club in this entire overview where two teams with players from their own training could easily be put together. We disqualify players like Frenkie de Jong and Christian Eriksen for this overview. This season Ryan Gravenberch, Devyne Rensch and Jurriën Timber were the young foals who made the switch to the Arena. For example, those who did not make it to the training team: Sven Botman, Justin Kluivert, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Kenny Tete, Jaïro Riedewald, Joël Veltman and Stefano Denswil. It is an unprecedented quantity that few clubs in this overview can match.



Eight of these starting eleven will soon be active with Croatia during the European Championship. In total, almost half of the 26-man European Championship selection enjoyed his training at the Ajax of the Balkans. Dinamo Zagreb has often been cannon fodder for the European elite in the Champions League. The Croats suffered big defeats against, among others, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. They often have to struggle through a few preliminaries to reach the group stage. To answer the question posed in the introduction: Dinamo Zagreb would be one of the top European clubs if FIFA decided today that a club can only field footballers that it has trained itself.



In the Portuguese European Championship selection there was room for six players from their own competition. It is no coincidence that three of them broke through this season at Sporting, which won the national title again after nineteen years. Sporting Lisbon is one of the breeding grounds of Portuguese football and could bring a top team together without the grab of the big money around.

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To be continued. Noticeable to me is that Sporting Lisbon team having a few in who aren't born in mainland Portugal itself (Cristiano, Carvalho, Dier). Their (former) overseas territories increases the potential supply considerably ('we' have Suriname, which we made independent against their will, one might say, but that's in the end merely 300-600k in population). It's also a real football country in the sense of having multiple sports papers, channels and not doing much in other sports on a per capita or overall basis ('bigger' and more competitive sports are given a higher weight in that link).

 

Not a single Anderlecht player is included in the Belgian European Championship selection. You can consider that poor. However, there are two football players on the reserve list of Roberto Martínez, Yari Verschaeren and Albert Sami Lokonga. The training of the club has often been criticized in recent years, the fact is that the Brussels club has a more than decent team with ex-youth players. Romelu Lukaku would be the absolute star of this team. Like Youri Tielemans, he was a basic player for RSCA from the age of sixteen.



Eight players from this team compete in one of the five major leagues. While Partizan Belgrade does not even belong to the European sub-top in a European club context. The last time the Serbs made it to the group stage of the Champions League was in 2010. But the various annual reports on the best courses in Europe often contain positive reports about Partizan. We think the composed training team will compete every year for surviving past the European winter break.



Cody Gakpo started as an F-pupil in the Eindhoven training. They are the type of players that the public likes to see. PSV made a conscious effort a few years ago to improve the quality of the academy. Meanwhile also the Europa League games are taken more seriously now. The Young Teams in the Second Division contribute to the development of Dutch football. That 19 of the 26 players in the Orange selection once played in the second division says enough.



The youth academy is the lifeblood of the Olympique Lyon. Team captain and talisman Memphis Depay will leave. A substantial loss for the French club, but chairman Jean-Michel Aulas knows that new stars will emerge. Houssem Aouar and Maxence Caqueret are two successful examples of self-trained players and there will come a time when the big clubs will sit on the front row for Rayan Cherki. The 17-year-old attacking midfielder has been regarded as one of the top talents of French football for years. Cherki appeared in 31 league matches this season and can become the attraction of Lyon in the coming seasons. The banlieues of Lyon are bursting with talent. It is nice to see this back on the field.



Paris Saint-Germain is an aircastle made up of Qatari money. The remarkable thing is that the Parisian club has a more than excellent education, but that is hardly noticeable when you look at the selection. PSG trains footballers to sell them at reduced rates to clubs just below the absolute top. Nkunku refused to be a body double for Neymar any longer and opted for the Sancho route to the Bundesliga. The same story goes for Moussa Diaby, who was brought to Bayer Leverkusen by Peter Bosz. Presnel Kimpembe was the only youth player of the club with a starting place this season. Alessandro Florenzi holds Colin Dagba's right back position. After Thomas Meunier's departure, the youth international thought he would lay claim to a permanent base, but soon faced the Paris reality. The road to the first team is blocked by millions of purchases.



Valencia has always trained good youth players. Only after the takeover of Peter Lim, the club lost control of its own future. The chaos was so great this season that relegation was even discussed. Valencia finished thirteenth. You can see this as a harbinger of greater disaster. The training team that you can put together would belong to the best in Spain. That makes you think.



In a fictional Champions League group with Juventus, Manchester City and Valencia, the Rotterdammers would be favorites to move past the winter in the new ranking. This training team once again demonstrates that the footprint of the Dutch courses is large. This Feyenoord team does not look out of place among good teams in this overview, but there are some better. Given the resources a nice try.



Raúl is trainer of the highest youth team of Real Madrid and broke through at the age of seventeen at the Royal. He was educated at Atlético Madrid, until chairman Jesús Gil y Gil decided to end the training and the attacker had to look for a new club. Fernando Torres has been a symbol for the club for many years and is the most famous youth player that the Madrid people produced. The current Atlético also has a number of players with Atlético genes. Koke played his first game for the club as an eight-year-old, while Saúl has been a member of the Rojiblancos since he was 13.



For a top club in the Premier League, the score at Chelsea is not bad. The fact that Mason Mount is one of the faces of the current success team has increased the club's sympathy factor. He started as a little boy with dreams on an uncertain adventure. John Terry was for many years the last player from the academy who managed to conquer a starting place. Mount was given a chance by Frank Lampard and appears to be one of the players best adapting to the tactical demands of trainer Thomas Tuchel. It should be noted that, like all other top clubs in the Premier League, the concept of 'training' is applied flexible. Players such as Jeffrey Bruma, Nathan Aké and Patrick van Aanholt were snatched from training courses at other clubs around the age of sixteen. Frenkie de Jong is missing in Ajax's field, who was really trained by Willem II. In the English fields you have to compromise because otherwise you can't come up with serious setups and fewer players remain available. The Premier League as a whole would become much less dominant if the club could not easily scatter millions in that competition.



The Class of '92 is a household and 'brand name'. Just like the Busby Babes. Manchester United have always been known for a hard core of youth players. Also in the current selection are a number of players who started at the club at a young age. Mason Greenwood was six when he scored his first goal in a United shirt, Scott McTominay was scouted at age five and Marcus Rashord has been with the club since he was seven. It is these players who define Manchester United's DNA and bring extra joy to Old Trafford. Well done.

 

"Where I've filled in Manchester City, I mean Benfica. Stop the clock.” Champions League finalist, the best football in Europe, Pep Guardiola as the figurehead, a new stadium and a five-star youth academy. Since the entry of the Abu Dhabi United Group, Manchester City has catapulted itself into another solar system. The club's training team is dwarfed by the actual team. The harvest is meager, especially when you consider how much money is being spent. As with PSG, there is the luxury of money. The result is an almost impossible step from youth to the first selection. Only the thrifty super talents and pet projects manage to float to the top. In addition, City buy 16-year-old talents all over the world and then store them at one of the ten clubs that the City Group owns. Long story short: without transfers, Manchester City is a fata morgana at the Efteling.



Arsenal had a reputation in the Wenger era not to buy top footballers, but to train them. Cesc Fabregas played as a teenager in the base of The Gunners. He was trained by Barcelona. Arsenal lured him away with a bag of money when he was sixteen. Wenger has built the North London club from scratch and has celebrated great successes. On the other hand, you can say that he introduced a way of doing things that has been copied by almost all other clubs. Namely scouring all of Europe for the showpieces of the foreign youth academy and then luring them to London with money. That's why a player like Emile Smith Rowe evokes so much enthusiasm. He has been with the club since he was 10 years old and can be considered a true youth product.



It was Roy Hodgson who made Raheem Sterling's debut as a 15-year-old in a friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The attacker has long been remembered for choosing Manchester City's perspective and money at a young age. When he left in 2015, Liverpool had just finished sixth in the Premier League. Trent Alexander-Arnold has been honored as a local boy with a beautiful mural near Anfield. He is the figurehead of the youth academy. Behind him the wash is thin, although Curtis Jones has been getting closer and closer to the base. The midfielder grew up in the city center and has been active for the club since he was nine. Still, Liverpool has mainly bought good youth players away from other clubs and the training team is quite thin.



Who is Alfie Whiteman? It was relatively difficult to find a goalkeeper for this team. Whiteman traveled regularly last season as a stand-in should one of the keepers in the selection get injured. Goalkeeping does the youth international in the Under-23 team. From Whiteman it is a small step to Harry Kane, who has come to symbolize the renewed Tottenham of the past six or seven years. 'He is one of our own', the supporters sang about their star almost every home game. Kane has outgrown the club and leaves a huge void.



The energy, money and time invested in the training in Alkmaar are bearing fruit. An additional difficulty factor is that AZ in Noord-Holland fishes in the same pond as Ajax. Then as a club you have to be distinctive and make a difference with quality and attention. It is quite possible that Owen Wijndal will make a top transfer after this European Championship. His portrait can then be nicely hung on the hall of fame of breaking youth players. To inspire a new AZ football players. In the Europa League they're very erratic and mocked for it, but the average age is likewise.



Bayern Munich is known for stealing jewelry from neighbors every year. Almost every year, a direct competitor is weakened by simply recruiting the best player from that club. Recently, the club not only strengthened itself with a defender (Dayot Upamecano), but also immediately brought in the manager behind the advance of Leipzig as runners-up. Despite its long-time status as by far the richest club in Germany, FC Hollywood can well put together a representative team with its own youth players.

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Last part next.

 

Like Christian Pulisic, his compatriot Giovanni Reyna came over from an American football academy at the age of sixteen. The Dortmund training team is therefore not completely self-trained, nor are this special discoveries when also your Benficas, Porto, Ajax and Young Boys make an inquiry. Dortmund has the image of being a talent factory and has been very successful this season with mostly young players, but these are mainly footballers who have been snatched from other clubs. Club captain Marco Reus was born and raised in Dortmund and was seven when he started playing for the BVB. Mario Götze was admitted to the program at the age of seven. They are the one and only Dortmund boys in a more average team than expected, especially if you don't count Pulisic and Reyna.



Real Sociedad finished fifth in La Liga this season. Bearing in mind that more than half of the squad was trained by the club, that's a great achievement. Trainer Imanol Alguacil made the world press at the beginning of April by holding up his scarf in the middle of the press conference after the cup final won against Athletic Bilbao and singing a supporters song. The images went viral because an adult man briefly fell out of his role. In addition to being a trainer, Alguacil is also a supporter of Real Sociedad and wanted to show the emotions of the fans in this way. It is perhaps surprising that Real Sociedad is among the European elite with a team. Few if any courses in Spain are better than that of La Real.



Juventus has set itself the goal of improving the growth from its own youth. That is necessary, because of all the clubs covered in this article, the field of the Old Lady is the least appealing to the imagination. To make something of it, a well-known name has been crumpled into the field here and there. Ciro Immobile was taken from Salernitana when he was eighteen and never made it to the first team. Leonardo Spinazzola was trained by Siena, Daniele Rugani came from Empoli at the age of eighteen, while Pol Lirola was trained by Espanyol. Without these players it would have been impossible to make a line-up. Poor for a big club like Juventus.



These are other names than those of Romelu Lukaku, Nicolò Barella, Stefan de Vrij, Lautaro Martínez and Achraf Hakimi. Also at Inter, a number of tricks had to be done to get a team on paper. Leonardo Bonucci played a few seconds in the first of the Nerazzurri. He came over from Viterbe at the age of eighteen and was allowed to fill in the duel with Cagliari on the final day of the 2005/06 season. Julio Cruz was the center forward, Roberto Mancini was the coach and Bonucci came on for Santiago Solari in stoppage time. He is therefore not a player trained by Inter, as club monument and current commentator on the sidelines Bergomi was. The harvest is sub-standard.



A Maldini should of course not be missing in an AC Milan training team. His Grandpa Cesare was an AC Milan star, his father Paolo one of the most decorated defenders ever and this season Daniel Maldini was allowed to make five appearances in Serie A. Gianluigi Donnarumma was discovered by Milan at the age of fourteen at Club Napoli in his hometown Castellammare di stabia. A quarter of a million was the transfer fee for the keeper at the time. Donnarumma has been under the club at Milan since he was 16 and is likely to leave for Juventus this summer on a free transfer.



Finally, Sparta Rotterdam as a bonus. With this team they would effortlessly be competing somewhere if a Super League were set up of the 28 printed teams with the restriction that only their own youth players may be used. That says a lot about some of these top clubs, but about the Sparta academy as well. With Feyenoord close by, it is very good what they have done.

 

I think for balance they should have added here Alaba and Kroos were also integrated in the academy quite late (aged 16-17), similar to Dortmund their acquisitions (and players as Eriksen, which they exclude).

 

Well, suddenly with this Chelsea victory in Champions League which can still be described as a "hold-up", no BIG FAVORITE stands out for the Ballon d'Or this year.

We could quote Kanté but I think that even if France wins the Euro, players like Benzema or Mbappé would be players who would be more cited than him for the trophy.

So I think the ranking could be summed up to always its 4 players:
- Mbappé
- De Bruyne
- Messi
- Lewandowski

In view of the Euro and the Copa America, Mbappé, De Bruyne and Messi undoubtedly have an advantage over Lewandowski.
In any case, it's been a long time since a Ballon d'Or was so undecided!

What is your opinion ?

 

Honestly, I have seen some signs of wear and tear at De Bruyne. He is now out with an injury but already said this a few days ago. So I am not opportunistic.

He was still very good, makes his effort, and suggestions City is better without him are strange (is the hope here Foden will take his place?) but you can see some cracks.

Btw, Ruben Dias was nicely dragged out of position yesterday. More than once. He is world class but to give him the PFA/FWA double leads to the wrong ideas decades later. City the masters of the tactical foul and then getting away with it (ten accumulated fouls by the same player without a card are no rarity; while refs are totally in their right to do so).

 

It should be Lewa imo. He had the best season/impact for me. Bayern was the best team this season (very easy to see against PSG) and Lewa did had the best impact on that team. Btw, he delivered very well against Dortmund when he had the opportunity. Of course he scored 41 goals and won the Bundesliga too.

De Bruyne wasn't nearly as good as last season for me. Mbappe not as good as his best level in the last season too, but he surely had his moments at least. Messi failed to make impact against the big teams and was short in the La Liga and UCL, despite his last half of the season being very good in La Liga.

For me

1- Lewa
2- Mbappe/Messi
.
3- De Bruyne

Not sure about De Bruyne being TOP4 too.

 

Well to me it looks pretty silly to have Modric so far down the pecking order. He should be two categories higher from what I've seen and gathered.

Likewise, not sure how De Vrij can be ignored for Serie A. The best defender (the hardest job of the lot at Inter) of the best defense and the champions in the league, and good with the ball as well (highest passing accuracy of all). Looks very odd to ignore this and look past.

Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and below Muriel?

He has also posted one for the Premier League and Ligue 1. Why are these not posted? There I'd say by now Jose Fonte needs to be in and not his partner, like he does.

 

Mbappe delivered against teams of his own level.

Lewandowski didn't and didn't do it the last season either. It has been a recurring theme in the champions league.