As we approach the end of the season, I'll use this thread to capture details on some of the best players across the various leagues.
To start with, a piece in the Athletic on the most underrated players in the Premier League. It's an incredibly subjective term so many will disagree with the inclusions. Ahmed Walid: Henderson (Palace); Cook (Bournemouth), Milenkovic (Forest), Gvardiol (Man City), Lewis-Potter (Brentford); Tielemans (Aston Villa), Guimaraes (Newcastle), Mac Allister (Liverpool); Bowen (West Ham), Havertz (Arsenal), Iwobi (Fulham) Caoimhe O'Neill: Ramsdale (Southampton); Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Zabarnyi (Bournemouth), Brainthwaite (Everton), Ait-Nouri (Wolves); Yates (Forest), Wharton (Palace), Joelinton (Newcastle); Mbuemo (Brentford), Welbeck (Brighton), Iwobi (Fulham) Oliver Kay: Sels (Forest); Wan-Bissaka (West Ham), Van Hecke (Brighton), Lacroix (Palace), Robinson (Fulham); Christie (Bournemouth), Gueye (Everton); Murphy (Newcastle), Damsgaard (Brentford), Ramsey (Aston Villa); Strand Larsen (Wolves) Seb Stafford-Bloor: Henderson (Palace); Lacroix (Palace), Murillo (Forest), Robinson (Fulham); Murphy (Newcastle), Guimaraes (Newcastle), Rogers (Aston Villa), Semenyo (Bournemouth), Elanga (Forest); Joao Pedro (Brighton), Delap (Ipswich) Adam Crafton: Sels (Forest); Aina (Forest), Konate (Liverpool), Schar (Newcastle), Robinson (Fulham); Lukic (Fulham), Joelinton (Newcastle); Murphy (Newcastle), Joao Pedro (Brighton), Semenyo (Bournemouth); Wissa (Brentford)
Highest SofaScore ratings of the season so far: (Players from top 5 leagues across all competitions) Raphinha 7.96 Kimmich 7.89 Dembelé 7.81 Rayan Cherki 7.76 Yamal 7.73 Bruno Fernandes 7.73 Salah 7.72 Olise 7.71 Kane 7.71 Hakimi 7.68 Wirtz 7.67 Saka 7.67 Musiala 7.58 Matheus Cunha 7.58 Mason Greenwood 7.53 Pedri 7.53 Xavi Simons 7.53 Cole Palmer 7.51 Bellingham 7.50 João Neves 7.50 Mbappé 7.49
Nominations for the Team of the Year for the Bundesliga: https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bunde...25-voting-best-players-ea-fc25-easports-31723 Goalkeepers: Noah Atubolu (Freiburg), Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig), Nikola Vasilj (St Pauli), Robin Zentner (Mainz) Defenders: Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Piere Hincapie (Bayer Leverkusen), Kim Min-Jae (Bayern Munich), Rasmus Kristensen (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximillian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), Willi Orban (RB Leipzig), Nico Shlotterbeck (Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich) Midfielders: Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Tom Bischof (Hoffenheim), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Paul Nebel (Mainz), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Alassane Plea (Gladbach), Kaishu Sano (Mainz), Jens Stage (Werder Bremen), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen) Forwards: Mohamed Amoura (Wolfsburg), Jonathan Burkardt (Mainz), Hugo Etikite (Eintracht Frankfurt), Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Tim Kleindienst (Gladbach), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig), Nick Woltemade (Stuttgart)
I am tired of discussing it because people value quantity over quality, but since quantity is what people want, then this link should be useful: https://theanalyst.com/opta-points-hub
EA FC Team of the Season for the Eredivisie Remko Pasveer (Ajax) Seiya Maikuma (AZ) David Hancko (Feyenoord) Josip Sutalo (Ajax) Olivier Boscagli (PSV) Jorrel Hato (Ajax) Kenneth Taylor (Ajax) Sem Steijn (Twente) Malik Tillman (PSV) Oliver Antman (Go Ahead Eagles) Mario Engels (Heracles) Noa Lang (PSV) Troy Parrott (AZ)
With Liverpool confirmed as PL champions, the Guardian have given their players ratings out of 10. Alisson - 8 Kelleher - 7 Alexander-Arnold - 8 Bradley - 7 Konate - 8 Van Dijk - 10 Gomez - 6 Quansah - 6 Robertson - 7 Tsimikas - 6 Gravenberch - 9 Mac Allister - 9 Szoboszlai - 8 Jones - 8 Elliott - 6 Endo - 7 Salah - 10 Diaz - 8 Gakpo - 8 Jota - 6 Nunez - 6 Chiesa - 4
EA FC Ligue 1 Team of the Season Geronimo Rulli (Marseille) Jonathan Clauss (Nice) Marquinhos (PSG) William Pacho (PSG) Alexsandro Ribeiro (Lille) Nuno Mendes (PSG) Denis Zakaria (Monaco) Nabil Bentaleb (Lille) Andrey Santos (Strasbourg) Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Marseille) Corentin Tolisso (Lyon) Joao Neves (PSG) Vitinha (PSG) Adrien Rabiot (Marseille) Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco) Evann Guessand (Nice) Bradley Barcola (PSG) Ludovic Blas (Rennes) Rayan Cherki (Lyon) Ousmane Dembele (PSG) Jonathan David (Lille) Mika Biereth (Monaco)
The Athletic did the same exercise and came out with very similar scores: Alisson - 8 Kelleher - 7 Alexander-Arnold - 7 Bradley - 7 Konate - 8 Van Dijk - 9.5 Gomez - 7 Quansah - 6 Robertson - 7 Tsimikas - 6 Gravenberch - 9 Mac Allister - 9 Szoboszlai - 8 Jones - 8 Elliott - 6 Endo - 7 Salah - 9.5 Diaz - 7 Gakpo - 8 Jota - 6 Nunez - 5 Chiesa - 5
Team of the Season for the PL according to EA FC: Matt Sels (Nottingham Forest) Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool) Gabriel (Arsenal) William Saliba (Arsenal) Nicola Milenkovic (Nottingham Forest) James Tarkowski (Everton) Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth) Antonee Robinson (Fulham) Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal) Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool) Declan Rice (Arsenal) Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) Cole Palmer (Chelsea) Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton) Mateus Cunha (Wolves) Mo Salah (Liverpool) Alexander Isak (Newcastle) Erling Haaland (Manchester City) Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)
Nominations for La Liga Team of the Season: Goalkeepers: Joan Garcia (Espanyol), David Soria (Getafe), Thibault Courtois (Real Madrid), Augusto Batalla (Rayo Vallecanco), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) Defenders: Alejandro Balde (Barcelona), Jose Maria Giminez (Atletico Madrid) Inigo Martinez (Barcelona), Sergi Cardona (Villarreal), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Oscar Mingueza (Celta Vigo), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Andrei Ratiu (Rayo Vallecano), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona) Midfielders: Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Sergio Gomez (Real Sociedad), Mauro Arambari (Getafe), Pedri (Barcelona), Oihan Sancet (Athletic Bilbao), Isco (Real Betis), Alex Baena (Villarreal), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Sergi Darder (Mallorca), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Gueye (Villarreal), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Fede Valverde (Real Madrid), Mikel Jauregizar (Athletic Bilbao) Forwards: Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Ayoze Perez (Villarreal), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Raphinha (Barcelona), Lewandowski (Barcelona), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Les Trophées UNFP : Ligue 1 XI : Chevalier - Mendes, Pacho, Marquinhos, Hakimi - Vitinha, Neves, Doué - Barcola, Dembélé, Cherki 9 of PSG, Chevalier (Lille) and Cherki (Lyon). Coach : Luis Enrique (PSG). Young Player : Désiré Doué (PSG). Best goal : Gouiri (OM) vs Brest. Best French player abroad : Mbappé (Real Madrid). And Best L1 Player : Ousmane Dembélé (PSG).
Thanks for this. Some extra information on the categories/nominations: Best player: Cherki, Dembele, Doue, Hakimi, Vitinha French player abroad: Kounde, Maignan, Mbappe, Olise, Saliba Goalkeeper: Chevalier (Lille), Donnarumma (PSG), Perri (Lyon), Petrovic (Strasbourg), Rulli (Marseille) Young player: Ben Seghir (Monaco), Bouaddi (Lille), Doue (PSG), Neves (PSG), Santos (Strasbourg) Noteworthy that Donnarumma (who I think many will regard as the best GK in Europe based on his CL heroics), didn't win the domestic prize.
Meanwhile in England Mo Salah was named the Football Writers' POTY with 90% of the vote, ahead of Van Dijk, Isak and Declan Rice. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cgmj7px21lro
Maybe you're already aware of it : it's not funny but, curiously, he's at this level since he got hit in the face at Monaco (in december). Donnarumma.
Nominations for PL Player of the Year: Gibbs-White, Gravenberch, Isak, Mbuemo, Rice, Salah, Van Dijk, Wood Young Player: Delap, Elanga, Gravenberch, Huijsen, Palmer, Joao Pedro, Rogers, Saliba
As an Arsenal fan, I don't think any of our players had a particularly amazing season overall. Our season was riddled with injuries and we could hardly get a run of form going all season. Rice has been good since christmas but was underperforming to his level the first half of the season. Saliba I think has been slightly worse than last season (albeit has hardly had a rest), I personally think Gabriel had the better season and is the better player at this moment, he just doesn't get the plaudits due to playing less aesthetically than Saliba. Saka has been the player we could rely on to put in a top performance but his season has been largely ruined by injuries. Lewis-Skelly is a sensational talent although has mistakes in him (expected at this age) - in my opinion it should be players like Lewis-Skelly eligable for the YPOTY instead of seasoned player like Saliba with 5 seaons under his belt. On that topic what the hell is Palmer doing in the nominations?? he's been very underwhelming since november Overall Salah has been player of the season by a country mile, an all-timer season from him in the premier league. Isak & Rogers have been my standouts for other teams, absolute joy to watch both of them.
Team of the Year in Ligue 1, based on L'Equipe's average ratings. Chevalier (Lille); Hakimi (PSG), Kehrer (Monaco), Marquinhos (PSG), Bard (Nice); El-Aynaoui (Lens), Zakaria (Monaco), Tolisso (Lyon); Guessand (Nice), Dembele (PSG), Rabiot (Marseille)
The Athletic's end-of-season awards PREMIER LEAGUE: MVP: Salah Young Player of the Season: Rogers Manager of the Season: Nuno Espirito Santo TOTS: Sels / Alexander - Arnold, Gabriel, van Dijk, Kerkez / Gravenberch, Rice, MacAllister / Salah, Isak, Wood Alternative TOTS: Kepa / Livramento, Milenkovic, Lacroix, Lewis - Potter / Baleba, Bergvall, Damsgaard / Murphy, Strand Larsen, Ndiaye LA LIGA MVP: Pedri TOTS: Joan García / Mingueza, Vivían, Martínez, Cardona / Valverde, Pedri, Isco / Yamal, Ayoze, Raphinha SERIE A MVP: Moise Kean TOTS: Svilar / Di Lorenzo, Lucumi, Gila, Miranda / McTominay, Reijnders, Paz / Kean, Lukaku, Thuram BUNDESLIGA MVP: Olise TOTS: Gulacsi / Kristensen, Wahl, Upamecano, Grimaldo / Sano, Amiri / Olise, Wirtz, Musiala / Ekitike EUROPE MVP: Raphinha Young Player of the Season: Yamal Manager of the Season: Luis Enrique TOTS: Courtois / Hakimi, Bastoni, van Dijk, Mendes / Vitinha, Pedri, Rice / Salah, Dembele, Raphinha https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6336642/2025/05/20/athletic-end-of-season-awards-2024-25-men/
Teams of the Season in the PL from Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville. Carragher: Alisson; Munoz, Milenkovic, Van Dijk, Lewis-Skelly; Mac Allister, Tonali, Rice; Salah, Isak, Gibbs-White Neville: Sels; Munoz, Milenkovic, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Tielemans, Guimaraes; Salah, Isak, Mbuemo
Opta Team of the Season for the Eredivisie Roefs (NEC); Read (Feyenoord), Sutalo (Ajax), Hancko (Feyenoord), El Kaouani (Utrecht); Taylor (Ajax), Steijn (Twente), Tillman (PSV); Antman (Go Ahead Eagles), Lang (PSV), Paixao (Feyenoord)
Official Team of the Season in Serie A De Gea; Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Buongiorno, Dimarco; Orsolini, McTominay, Barella, Zaccagni; Retegui, Kean
Highest rated players in Europe's top five leagues this season:◉ 8.01 - Lamine Yamal◎ 7.72 - Kylian Mbappé◎ 7.72 - Harry Kane◎ 7.70 - Michael Olise◎ 7.70 - Ousmane DembéléMind the gap. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lCaefgpUoV— WhoScored (@WhoScored) May 16, 2025 I may have to look into it but I think since 2009/10 only 6 players have breached the 8/10 avg rating in a La Liga campaign Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Neymar Jr Gareth bale(in 15/16 he played significantly less minutes than the rest) Luis Suarez(in 15/16 and by a hair) Lamine Yamal Players who did not include Andres Iniesta Xavi Hernandez Kylian Mbappe Karim Benzema Vinicius Jr Antoine griezmann There is still one more game to play in La Liga for Yamal and if he drops a stinker he may drop below 8 If he does there is still a whole career ahead for him anyways. The sofascore ratings are different of course as they value passing+goalscoring more than they value dribbling+goalscoring.
The best players so far (in no particular order): Yamal Dembele Raphinha Pedri Mbappe Salah Olise Donnarumma Vitinha Alvarez Rice Sommer Bastoni Neves Kvara
I'd say the most outstanding players so far have been Rapinha and Lamine Yamal. Although we shouldn't forget that the Club World Cup is still to come.