Ronaldinho should be a lot higher up the list. Maybe he's not as good as he once was, but 70th. That's a joke.
Four Four Two's Top 100 players
- Thread starter Brwned
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I think that too, last season he was definitely the best keeper in Europe, and was Madrid's most important player by a country mile.Really?
I think he's fecking excellent. I'm a keeper myself (well, was, anyway) and he's probably my favourite keeper to watch, in the whole of Europe.
You could argue that some of the taller lads might just shade it but none of them can pull off as many miracle saves as this lad.
IMHO of course
But this season he's been a bit shaky, and since a few people were saying he is vastly overrated I decided to look closely at his supposed 'flaws'. And to be fair, they've been clear as day this season.
If you watch Del Piero's goal, it's clear how badly the wall is positioned and that's completely down to the keeper to tell them where to stand. His communication just isn't good enough either, from the way I look at it. You rarely see him communicating with his defenders yet you see the rest of the top keepers doing that regularly, VDS does it all the time if a defenders just made a mistake or if he feels we're coming under a bit of pressure. Casillas just mopes about really, just look at his reaction every time he concedes. He just looks off into the distance and says nothing to the defenders. That has to have an impact.
He was also very vulnerable to crosses in the Spanish supercup right at the start of the season and against Numanci IIRC.
It's largely based on the last 12 months performances as far as I can see, so Ronaldinho shouldn't even be on the list.
He's not making waves, no. And Mata is. That's all down to form though, no matter how talented Mata is I could bet my house that he won't get more than 25 goals and assists this season.Apologies for sidetracking the thread slightly :
Though it doesnt change what happened last season I've worked out the stats for Valencia this season. They are as follows :
Assists ::
Mata (8)
Villa (4)
Joaquin (3)+1 (+1 for winning penalty)
Fernandes (2)
Pablo (1)
Angulo (1)
Goals ::
Villa (10)
Mata (4)
Vicente (2)
Morientes (2)
Joaquin (2)
Fernandes (1)
Alexis (1)
Del Horno (1)
I've only seen highlights of Capel and Sevilla this season and from what I've seen he's not making waves thus far.
So I can only imagine he can't boast the same productivity so far this season as Mata, who has set up and/or scored 12 goals in 9 starts (He and Villa have been benched for the first hour of Uefa cup matches this season to try and keep them fresh)
Thats actually a slightly better rate of productivity than Ronaldo
As I said I can only assume that Capel hasnt been punishing opponents in a similar manner as I dont have his stats. But from the little I have seen of Capel, Mata has been a world above so far this season.
He's a different payer to what I thought he was though, he's quite a nippy wee player with a great eye for a pass and a surprising amount of selflessness for someone who is talked up as such a great finisher. Which he is too, to be fair. He still showed his inexperience against Osasuna and Recreativo when he was pretty wasteful and made stupid decisions too often which did cost them in the Recré match and nearly cost them in the Osasuna match. Obviously he's not to blame for that, he's still young, but don't overhype him too much.
But yeah Capel's only started 4 games this season, and he got substituted off in 2 of them. I seen him against Sporting Gijón and he was pretty impressive then, he's still a great dribbler and is always trying to whip the ball in. End to end stuff right from the first 10 minutes onwards and that suited his game perfectly. Great game in the first half, barely noticed him the in the second half though. That happens a lot with wingers though so it's not his fault.
Pretty decent list, they seem to have the right 100 players but in some small cases in the wrong order. Glad they had Ronaldo down as a forward as he certainly isn't a winger and position number 1 seems about right. People should also remember how badly wrong lists like this have been before and that its based on form within the last 4 seasons and so and not overall historical standing.
Pretty good list, nice to see Ferdinand getting some recognition and Scholes still up there.
I cant actually remember him having so much as a chance against Recre. He was just quite invisible like most of Valencia's attacking players. Villa too.
I remember one decent chance he had against Recre he could have done better with, after a brilliant piece of control in the box he put a rather tame effort towards the keeper. But then a few minutes later it was his header which left the keeper sprawling and Villa tucked away the rebound which sorta made up for it.
Of course he has a long way to go to be the complete package, but his record so far this season is exceptional for a 20 year old.
Will he create and score 25 goals this season? Doubtful. But then again David Silva has never done that either and he's 2 years older and more experienced and considered by many to be world class or almost world class.
20 or so would be very impressive but much will depend on Valencia's form and the return of David Silva himself.
With regards to Capel. Yeah he has good speed and dribbling from what I've seen and what looks like the makings of a majestic left foot. When he puts the ball into the box its usually whipped in well.
Which is very contrasting with how Mata puts the ball into the box. He's a bit more like Ashley Young. When the ball goes into the box from his crosses and corner kicks they dont tend to look special or particularly dangerous in the way they are delivered - but they end up in the back of the net a lot of the time. All down to accuracy I guess, rather than balls in that are particularly hard to deal with with venom and whip.
Really? In the space of 10 minutes he touched the ball 4 or 5 times, and two of those were shots from range, and stupid ones at that. He should have just held on to the ball for longer and that's part of the game he's still learning imo.
Most of his assists have been like that, haven't they? Didn't he get two in the first match, both finished by Villa, from him taking a shot and the keeper saved it into Villa's path? Or did I imagine that?
Fair point.
Yeah he's pretty much your traditional winger, and there aren't many good ones about so he'll go on to a top, top team when he's 24/25 I think. He's a bit like Petrov, except better and younger. I still don't see how people rate him.
Yeah I realised that too, that makes a big difference for Villa as well I think. Villa's great with his head but really can't challenge for them up in the air so they do need to be right on the money, that's never been one of Joaquin's specialties.
Zlatan should swap places with Villa
I should probably hold off until after tomorrow like, but Fabregas at 12???
Adabayor above Rooney is also crazy, as is Lampard above, well, a lot of players.
Adabayor above Rooney is also crazy, as is Lampard above, well, a lot of players.
Well to be honest I didnt get to watch the recre match in great conditions. My stream was quite appauling. I caught all the goals, mostly on replays and heard the commentary pretty fine but I could have missed some attempts and mistakes from Mata. From what I saw, Joaquin saw lots more of the ball than either Villa or Mata - who didnt touch it very much, either of them. And Joaquin was his usual frustrating self, beating a few players and losing the ball afterwards in a variety of different ways. But again, crappy stream.
I think he possibly had a few goals last season where his shots were too hot to handle and the rebounds were turned in, but this season the goal against Recre is the only one where thats happened.
His first was a corner for Alexis to head home against Almeria. He set up two for Villa against Malaga next, both with tenacious work involving tackles and then a good pass for the second and a right footed cross for the first.
The next game against Deportivo he just destroyed them - He scored the first from a Joaquin cross, set up the second with a pass for Villa, set up the third with a burst down the wing and pullback for Joaquin and then pulled the ball across the box for Villa to score the fourth, being involved in each of Valencia's goals in a 4 - 2 victory.
He set up Vicente's goal with a lobbed pass against Numancia and then we get to the Recre goal where his header was parried and Villa pounced on it.
Petrov is a fairly good comparison in terms of his general style and ability to contribute shots that are hard to handle. My only complaint I have about him (Petrov) is that his crossing tends to be dissappointing for someone of his ability. If Mata is going to be Petrov with fantastic crossing, then he'll end up pretty unstoppable imo.
And I agree with the last point. Villa is not going to tower above central defenders too often, so its all down to his movement and the accuracy of the cross - a bit like how Owen scores his headers.
One more thing to put into perspective how well Mata is doing for Valencia at a young age.
In 06/07 Villa ended the season having assisted 11 goals, the most in the league that year - so Silva obviously created less that season (I dont have the stat to hand unfortunately)
Last year Silva definately didnt create 11 goals, given how Valencia's season went.
David Silva has never scored more than 6 goals in all competitions during a season. 4 in his first then 6 in his next two leading to this one.
I've no idea if its true or not, but Valencia claim we inquired about Silva this summer.
Mata though needs to create 3 more goals and score another 2 and his season will have eclipsed the best seasons Silva has ever had. It would be extremely surprising if he doesnt at least do that.
And given he's 2 years younger its possible his development will overtake Silva's.
Again, I say this because a lot of people consider Silva on the verge of a world class player. I do myself.
But Mata and Silva have a pretty similar game - with the one trade off being that Mata is a better goal scorer and Silva has better vision than almost any player. But in terms of productivity and development it could be that Mata is the one who is a special talent.
That will be seen next season though. Theres also the possibility that he'll be nowhere near as effective next term and yes its silly that I'm already talking about next season's form when we arent even half way through this season but such is what Mata has already delivered this season that its already about perfming this much next year, for me. Even if he hit the wall and couldnt be counted on after christmas, like Anderson hit a wall last season I'd be holding him in a high regard for next year. As high as Silva.
And then Villa for Torres.
Rubbish...why is Scholes ranked so low?
Is Cambiasso that good?
The only time I've seen him is in WC2006, but I only watched Argentina once or twice (I think the game they got knocked out, against Germany I maybe)
The only time I've seen him is in WC2006, but I only watched Argentina once or twice (I think the game they got knocked out, against Germany I maybe)
Except for the Barca goal. Scholes had a very average season last year by his standards. So i can understand why they rank him so low.
Good list that
Carrick is the obvious omission
(and Fletch)
Carrick is the obvious omission
(and Fletch)
He's really good, a hard working and efficient midfielder. He can do a bit of everything in midfield, he's been very good for Inter. Among their most consistent players these last few years
FFT has got most things spot on over the years, they've always liked Ferdinand and most of their writers recognise his talent, which is more than could be said of most daily tabloids that think Terry is the better defender
I concur...While I am sure i could nitpick one or two or even ten on that list, I found myself nodding at the order of majority of the picks. So well done indeed.
Ramos at 20 looks a really stupid decision after his 'performance' in el classico.
Wait...so they rate Carvalho higher than Vidic and Terry???
....and Ballack rated higher than Rooney?? wtf
shit list.
these things are so flavour of the month its ridiculous.
Poulsen is in it and i know he has been aybsmal for Juve this season. Any number of players should be in that list ahead of him.
Where is Macheda
Carrick > Mikel.
Yes, but he was very good for Sevilla last season, which the list is largely based on.
then he should be on last years list. This year he's been dire, not fit to lace the likes of Fletchers boots
Its impossible to make a list like that, and keep everyone happy or even look remotely accurate months after publication.
But last year's list was essentially a list of the best players of two years ago!then he should be on last years list. This year he's been dire, not fit to lace the likes of Fletchers boots
It's ridiculous really. Football is about so many different things being important. How can they make a list and truly take into account different skills needed for different positions, circumstances in different leagues, the clubs player play for, the effect of the team-mates in the teams they play for, and everything else
then 442 need to get their act together and start compiling up to date lists if they want anyone to take it seriously
Not a bad list that but one anomaly must be
Ibrahimovic at 7 > Rooney at 24
Ibra's good but he would not make my top 25 tbh
Ibrahimovic at 7 > Rooney at 24
Ibra's good but he would not make my top 25 tbh
He's been the best player in italy for years now.
Yes. Which I believe he was, at the time. He's always been better than Terry anyway but he's been injured a lot of this season anyway.
This is a 2008 list. Written in October.then he should be on last years list. This year he's been dire, not fit to lace the likes of Fletchers boots
Christian Poulsen (Juventus) – Juventus fans were incensed when they learned the news that Poulsen was indeed the ‘big’ midfield name promised to them by President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli and sporting director Alessio Secco. The Dane has been a disaster, making no impact in midfield, either defensively or offensively. The game that proved just what a bad buy Poulsen had been was the 3-2 defeat at Genoa where he was humiliatingly over-run by the likes of Thiago Motta. Will surely be sold this summer.
Being a failure at one club doesn't make him a bad player.
He was a huge success at his previous two.
Ballack 
Considering most around these parts consider serie a as the worst of the big 3 by a distance you would think he would have been a revelation considering how good he was in spain.
The fact he's been one of the flops of Serie A makes me think he doesnt deserve to be on a list of the best players around.