Javier Mascherano

Barcelona

Defensive midfielder - Argentina



Original 200 writeup:

Defensive master like few others. Mascherano has great work rate and tackling ability and during his time at Liverpool was a key player in some of the best defensive performances in recent years.

With his excellent defensive qualities but limitations in contributing going forward in almost any way, he in many ways embodied a Liverpool team that especially in the Champions League against good technical sides gained the reputation of maybe the toughest matchup around.

In the Premier League it was often similar, and at least (to some extent) until Xabi Alonso especially in his final year took his play to another level, it was a side you'd often see struggling to get enough going in attack to put away the same smaller sides the other top teams took care of mostly with ease, while against the very top teams you could see Benitez Liverpool compete at a very high level.

It's really no secret what Mascherano does well. He is an enforcer or spoiler if you will who knows every trick in the book (who won't hesitate to use them either) and whether his defensive job, and it is always a defensive job for Mascherano, is tight tactical defending holding together the midfield chains (straight lines Benitez style, notice his obsessive hand gestures signaling this to his players constantly throughout every game) and defending his zone or if it's more aggressive pressure, battling to win the midfield, winning tackles in the process, Mascherano will do as great a job as anyone out there.

What's most impressive about his work is his range of defending I think. Not meant like he gets out of position, that would be as bad for him as it would a centre-back, but in the concentrated area that is central midfield he really does seem to be able to do more defensively in more places more often than perhaps anyone else out there.

On this list in many ways (like on the pitch actually) Mascherano where he ended up (fitting I think right before the top 50) became sort of the ultimate defensive block for the attacking players. Or for that matter the best players with something to offer both defensively and going forward. The one defensive specialist that only the most special players would be able to go past up the list. The one excellent defensive player, providing us with one final defensive stand where even small chinks in the (attacking player's) armor, or a few questionmarks here and there, like with Arshavin and his consistency, would be enough to stop the rise up the list and instead get to be - ranked behind
Mascherano.

The 300 update:

Mascherano got out of Hodgson's Liverpool and joined Barcelona where perhaps not surprisingly he hasn't made that much of an impact, even if he hasn't done badly at all when given starts here and there.

Here are some thoughts of mine from the time of the transfer that I think cover both Mascherano and his direct competition Sergio Busquets pretty well:

Interestingly the physical area where I said Busquets was far behind someone like Mikel and had room to improve, he now looks very strong to me and can definitely win physical battles.

However Busquets is still a little too one dimensional for my taste, for me to call him one of the best in the world and I really wonder how he'd do taken out of his very specialized role of holding and passing well in small concentrated midfield area for teams, like Barca and Spain, that dominate possession in every single game.

Mascherano of course is another specialist but the defensive midfield specialist I think. So much so that like others have said, that maybe Busquet's one clear edge in passing, makes Masch almost redundant at Barca.

I'm definitely not willing to write him off though and here is what I said during the transfer speculation:

"That will be interesting. Barcelona does of course have plenty of games so there should be games for both. The positive is that they now have two defensive specialists instead of Toure, and Keita for that matter, who are more allround players better in less specialized roles.

When it does come to pure defensive specialization I do think Masch definitely is the best player and in a needed stern defensive effort or in physical midfield battle, would take him any day.

His problem will be though, that at Barca those don't really take place or are called upon every day like they were for Liverpool, if ever at all, so Busquets with his edge in maybe just a few things, like when it comes to forward passing, could still be the superior fit in the Barca style.

I have however always quite liked Masch's passing game from his position, you would see it previously on the pre-Maradona well organized attacking Argentina teams, and it will be interesting to see how it holds up so to speak on what is the ultimate passing team, Barcelona.

Even Xavi's description here of Busquets is kind of like Mascherano:

he’s a right bastard. He gets a leg in, he goes for the crash, he’s puta, from the street. That kind of cunning, you either have it or you don’t.

So they're actually kind of similar there, but with Busquet's having an edge in Barca passing and generally in the technical ability department that's needed there. He is strong as well and has become a good enforcer in the unique Barca environment of possession domination, but he is also slow (quite stiff no?) and limited outside his comfort zone of defensive midfield.

So is Mascherano of course (which has dumped him quite a bit on my list) but he is quicker. Has a good passing game of his own with an amazing work rate and a range of quality defending that is quite unique I think.

I'm still unsure if Busquets could be a great defensive midfielder or perhaps rather a very good midfielder on many other good teams. How would he perform his defensive duties on normal teams that don't dominate possession. Put on pressure without the ball, defend his zone with either pressure or by having to back of for large periods of a game? How good would he be in a normal team defense. Likely not bad at all, but I'm not totally confident he is already as good as the best.

The other area where he could really (once again to his credit) surprise me and jump in my estimation would be if I saw just a little more quality from him further forward. Like both Keita and Toure have shown. I know that's not his role but just some evidence here and there would be enough.

So to conclude I do lean towards that for Barcelona at least Busquets is better than Mascherano.

Andrei Arshavin

Arsenal

Attacking midfielder/Forward - Russia



Original 200 writeup:

An enigmatic player if there ever was one who's incredible attacking talent (control, dribbling, pace, balance, shooting, passing) suggests an even higher ranking but who's actual performances (especially last season) too often could justify a lower one.

He has supreme technical skills and explosive pace. And even if pictures such as the one below would suggest an athlete perhaps not always in the greatest physical shape when compared to others at this level he does have this mysterious often phenomenal but of course also indefinable 'Russia strength' and his balance for an example is impressive.



But is Arshavin an intelligent man, or football player I should say, since that is what's more relevant here?



For both Arsenal (before that Zenit) and the Russian national team he would be a part of, even instigate, whether it was through clever movement delicate touches, passing combinations at such a high level that without to some extent great vision and football intelligence you wouldn't think it possible, yet his decision making at times is horrid and perhaps at best very erratic. He will create a shot for himself when it's the worst option or simply, as has become quite the worrying trend, the wrong kind of shot. For an example the most difficult option always. Like top corner always, MUST
HIT IT!



So to the disappointment of many (including me) after some scintillating displays early in his Arsenal career, last season was too hit and miss from Arshavin.
It's difficult to say if it's mental or tactical. Tactically I think he is someone who needs a good centre-forward in the middle to work with from out left and in key moments of faltering last season Arsenal (and Arshavin) didn't have that with neither Van Persie, or Bendtner for that matter starting, in the 2-0 and 3-0 defeats against Chelsea or the 3-1 defeat to Manchester United. In fact in two of those games it was Arshavin who found himself playing a middle striker role on right top, where he just isn't at his best.

In contrast compare Arsenal's (and Arshavin's I think as well) performances in the earlier 2-1 defeat to Manchester United with Van Persie in the middle and Arshavin to the left, and it was much better in what was a game they could actually have won versus the complete opposite during the course of the 3-1 defeat where they were completely outplayed and outrun.

Signing someone like Marouane Chamakh therefore was a must and with both Bendtner and Van Persie in early season injury trouble, to keep the consistent points-collecting going, he is already very needed.

Arshavin is someone who clearly needs good company.



The 300 update:

Arshavin continues to be hit and miss to such an extent that I'm really not sure at all if the goofball is in fact having a good or a bad season...

Playing with a good striker has definitely helped his effectiveness in the final third though where he is better than much of last season living without, but he also continues to be singled out as a reason for imbalance when Arsenal isn't in possession.

Ultimately Arshavin would probably be at his best in some kind of more or less free role with a striker and midfielders doing the defending on the wings. He will probably never do a great job at that in the Arsenal 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 but since Wenger continues to start him though, he must believe the key to balance lies elsewhere. Not least with the midfielders, who unlike Arshavin do have the tools, and could do a lot better defensively and then there is the vital matter of possession, where I feel, without checking though, that Arsenal ball-retention used to be better than it is right now and that Arsenal currently aren't "winning possession" over opponents like they used to. Something absolutely key in taking pressure of their weaknesses.

Aaron Lennon

Tottenham

Winger - England
-----------------------------------------

2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: 97

End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: 209

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

270


Last season's drop was too drastic because I had inexplicably ranked him way too high in the first place (though to be fair Lennon has had some very good season's in the past).

This season for him, isn't as bad as last season, so therefore he doesn't drop as much! Make any sense?

Well he is still something of an old school winger, great pace with the ball at his feet, one on one ability, but just not involved (only 22 passes per game this season) in quite enough good things outside of that particular aspect to be a great player. The problem is when there are too many dry spells when it comes to even being a very good winger with little impact being made either dribbling, his 0.8 per game is not even top 5 at Spurs or crossing where he averages just 0.5 per game, areas where he should be at his best and have of course excelled in the past.

His age never fails to surprise you though. Right now he is at 24 years old having been around forever

Michael Ballack

Bayer Leverkusen

Midfielder - Germany





Original 200 writeup:

One of the best midfielders in the world for the last decade is back at Leverkusen where he got his big breakthrough more than 10 years ago.

Ballack even at his best was never flashy but as effective a player as almost any. His power, stamina combined with intelligence, considerable skills (passing, first touch as well as shooting) plus aerial ability made him able to excel anywhere from commanding play in central midfield to provide bundles of goals in the final third.

With great consistency that was all showcased time and time again in Germany. Whether for Leverkusen, Bayern or the Nationalmannschaft, Ballack was the unquestionable leader and mostly the best player too, and with a big ego to go along with all the ability he was in many ways yet another traditional almost imperious German football Kapitän. Just the way they seem to like them.

Then when Ballack moved to Chelsea as a 29 year old veteran much of the same was expected but never quite materialized itself with the same consistency. First of all there were injuries, second there were other midfielders so excellent that Ballack wasn't the talisman, more like a very good role player in fact, and that one of those midfielders Frank Lampard shared many of Ballack's characteristics while almost never missing a game, meant that Ballack for Chelsea never became the dominant midfielder everyone had grown used to.

It's interesting I think, that at least before physical decline really set in for Ballack, that Chelsea had perhaps the 3 most effective midfielders in the world at their disposal, Lampard, Essien and Ballack but in a classic case of there can only be so many chefs, some saw their roles reduced on a regular basis.

For Essien - at least when he wasn't totally wasted playing defender (ugh) - that wasn't a problem because even though the two-way ability has always been there clear as a bright day, he is of course as everyone knows superb and fully comfortable, indeed one of the very best defensive midfielders in the world, fully fine with being more selective with his powerful forward runs.

For Ballack however, at least in the early Chelsea days, still with so much to offer in and around the box, not being the key part of the attacking game that he always had been, must have been some adjustment.

Maybe you could even say that it was when the adjustment took place naturally, Ballack losing the power to be dominant at the highest level, that he was at his best for Chelsea. Providing the most value. With Essien desperately unlucky with injuries and Mikel with moments of liability never quite taking command of defensive midfield, it was Ballack who with good distribution and intelligent defending (and some attacking too at times) in a deeper role provided much needed consistency from there on the way to his first league title in England, enjoying what I thought was a very good season.

For the national team during World Cup qualification similar took place. Gone was the box to box goalscoring talisman and instead we saw a defensive controlling midfielder fulfilling his role very well. Particularly impressive was his performances in what I think counts as only two or three games in the last four years where I've seen Germany play defensive, the games against Hiddink's Russia, eeking out a couple of close victories.

Injury of course put a stop to that and with an even stronger defensive midfield emergence coming from younger countryman Bastian Schweinsteiger last season, performing brilliantly, it will be interesting if there is still room for the self proclaimed STILL captain on the German national team.

Even if different because the emergence of an actual German number 10 playmaker in Mesut Özil has made the old Ballack role sort of go away, there is of course even a new superb German two-way, box to box player really coming into his own in Sami Khedira (who I now would rank just inside the top 50 I think), so it's not like that position is anything near being a clear pathway back into the team for Ballack either.

At Leverkusen the early perhaps too ambitious signaled intent is not to put a straitjacket on Ballack and play him in his recent holding role but rather wish for the old Ballack being a key player, in attack as well.
There is no doubt Ballack is still skilled and strong but whether he still (maybe in the Bundesliga?) will have the engine for box to box play with real impact definitely remains to be seen.

The 300 update:

Following the injury that meant he missed out on the World Cup, Ballack wasn't even getting started in his prolific return to Leverkusen before disaster struck again and a shin injury put him back on the sidelines, where he remained for the rest of 2010.

It will interesting to see what kind of form he'll be in when the Bundesliga returns from winter break.

Adding to the intrigue of it all, as noted in teammate Simon Rolfes profile, Leverkusen actually find themselves with a lot of options when it comes to central midfield:

Arturo Vidal has been excellent and 21 year old Stefan Reinartz who earned a Germany call up playing in Rolfes absence last season, continues to do well.

As if that's not enough, Leverkusen also have one of the talented Bender twins, Lars (Sven is starting for runaway Bundesliga leaders Dortmund), on their hands, not to mention the more attacking midfielders/wingers/forwards like the young Sidney Sam and Renato Augusto also starting to really make names of themselves, and just like the German national team attacking stars mentioned in the original writeup, inclining veteran coach Jupp Heynckes to limit the number of central midfielders.

Rafael Van der Vaart

Tottenham

Attacking midfielder - The Netherlands



Original 200 writeup:

It's possible that he is ranked too low.

The tricky thing is that just ahead of him on the list are some players I know that I want to have him behind, but then a little further up there is especially one young similar player you could say to Van der Vaart (who compared to this player in many ways is been there done that) that I feel uneasy about ranking quite a few places above him.

And of course as this list goes, I then have little doubt that I want to rank that same young playmaker (who I'm not sure should be above VdV!) ahead of the same people I think Van der Vaart should be behind. Go figure! I know I have spent many hours on this list trying myself.

Well, with VdV we have another playmaker type of player on our hands but overall a more complete one than Misimovic who's game looks more like he belongs in the late 80s/early 90s battling for playmaking duties with the likes of Dragan Stojkovic or Gheorge Hagi than in the current game where everyone works for the team. Including of course without the ball.

Van der Vaart as everyone knows has excellent technique. In tight space in the final third his skillful work especially can stand out among his peers. Like for an example in slick passing combinations creating for others or with his delicate footwork apply the finishing touches himself.

The 2009/10 season for VdV at Madrid started like the previous, his first one, had finished.
Not with good prospects at starting many games at all, and even though countryman Sneijder had left the building, the club had signed Kaka as the according to plan fantastic upgrade.

Cristiano Ronaldo of course had also come to town occupying another of the now more and more elusive attacking spots.

As Kaka struggled both with form and health though, suddenly things were looking brighter for Van der Vaart and filling in behind Higuain he easily had his best performances for the royal club both creating and scoring goals.

Of course as it turned out it still wasn't quite going to happen for VdV at Madrid and even with Kaka still out, as soon as club legend (legendary bad influence could be the more accurate assessment) Guti showed some flash, he too started eating minutes of VdV's playing time.

Including in my mind the perplexing decision to start him in the Champions League round of 16 second leg knockout game against Lyon:

"Guti and Granero are starting for Madrid in the absence of Marcelo and Alonso.

I can see almost no argument for Guti starting over Van der Vaart. He has played good recently but so has VdV all season. He is an excellent passer but so is VdV. And VdV is better at everything else plus he doesn't have Guti's history, perhaps especially in Europe in recent years, of utter failure and dragging the team down with him. I guess it's hierarchy at play."



That was before the game and while not really trying make this about Guti, but researching this writeup a bit however I came across it and perhaps (perhaps not) it's a nice little specific piece of perspective on many of these placings.

The Real Madrid - Lyon post game thoughts:

Real had an excellent first half against Lyon who defended deep which didn't give Real much trouble at all. They played circles around them and created many chances. Most noteworthy as I'm sure everyone saw to Higuain who had several.

Guti from mostly a deeper role did well when he wasn't under pressure and the combination of that and the excellent players making runs in front of him could have resulted in more than 1-0.

Then in the second half Lyon basically moved the whole team up starting at the back four now with Toulalan playing there.

Guti had less time on the ball and the whole Real Madrid midfield got outworked and failed to perform (literally) under pressure. This tactic worked even better for Lyon than in the first leg where there probably still was a small edge to Madrid, at worst, but here almost from the start Lyon battled their way to clearly getting the better of things.

It was obvious that for Madrid, Xabi Alonso was severely missed.

And not to make Guti a scapegoat, he isn't gonna change after all these years of being Guti, but while being heavily praised by the commentators he did do some very dumb things.

There had already been some mistimed back heels in places where you just cannot afford to lose the ball and just before the goal, maybe born out of frustration from Lyon's effective pressure preventing him playing, from his midfield role he started chasing the ball all the way back to Lloris. To no avail of course and while he was praised once again by the commentator all I could think was now it's going to be a 4 against 4 or similar the other way with people on their heels left vulnerable.
So many goals are either that or set pieces and of course it gave Lyon all the opportunity they needed and they (not least Pjanic) took advantage brilliantly and created a good goal.

I won't claim VdV would have been great in that role. The fact that he is better defensively than the likes of Misimovic or Guti far from means he is great. But him and the large majority of this list, the more common the higher we get, unless you have amazing talent, does team work.

If without the ball and opponents having possession:

Defend position/zone whether through back tracking or pressing and work hard.

Not fail to defend because of either bad stamina or bad mentality, and if great stamina or great mentality is indeed in place then don't ruin it with poor discipline and compromise the defensive shape with hopeless pressure in the final third or even the goalkeeper (especially not if a defensive midfielder like Guti was - for forwards it should be said that it's different and at times simply the defensive contribution that's right there and available) or make dumb sliding tackles in midfield that a good amount of the time will only cause holes in your team's shape.

Then without the ball and your team having possession:

Have good movement (of course a lot of that will be whatever movement in accordance to team tactics and ability of teammates) and be a passing option or create space so that it's that others get the improved conditions to be.

Guti I feel throughout his career has been bad at all of these and even in his prime, despite his skills with the ball, my suspicion of him hurting the team more than helping it would probably have prevented him from ever getting a decent ranking.
There are of course other players on the list who are bad without the ball. Quite a few only defensively which is (still!) just a natural part of the game but I think a general trend on this list has been the worse you are without the ball the better you have to be with it. And the other way around too of course.

Anyway that may or may not have been the first complete sidetrack in a while.

In the meantime Real Madrid was out of the Champions League once again and for VdV as the season rolled on (and Madrid rolling in La Liga) neither being able to secure games in the attacking midfielder role, the more central midfielder role or Marcelo's sort of left-central midfielder role, meant that when it was all said and done he had started (and played for that matter) less games than in his debut season.

We shall see if it's more of the same next season. So far Kaka has been ruled out for months and Guti has taken his act to Turkey.

Not a bad start.

The 300 update:

The possibility of getting Van der Vaart that cheap was just too good of a deal for Tottenham and Redknapp to pass up and it's working out rather nicely for both player and club.

Van der Vaart especially is relishing in his new working conditions where without restrictions almost he can do whatever he likes.

Fortunately for the club what he likes include as much playmaking as possible and VdV is creating both for himself and others with his great skills.

As noted here his arrival has come with new demands for the other midfielders and they have to be able to live with Van der Vaart when it comes to his passing and free movement.
That's not really a problem for technically gifted passers of the ball like Huddlestone and Modric. And it's also fortunate for the club, that in Modric they have a player who despite appearance and nice technical skills of his own, has not least the work-rate to play further back in central midfield too, now that Van der Vaart has taken over the 10.

A very nice bonus for Tottenham when it comes to the issue of playing with only one striker despite not truly having one very good at such, has been Van der Vaart's goalscoring when playing with especially Crouch who's down pouring garbage he's been taken advantage of expertly with intelligent movement and clinical finishing.

Zvjezdan Misimovic

Galatasaray

Attacking midfielder - Bosnia and Herzegovina



Original 200 writeup:

Old school number 10 who's playmaking in the Bundesliga has just been too astounding to ignore.

Athletically speaking he is behind the large majority of players on this list but he makes up for it by being extremely gifted in everything that involves touching the football.

He was (and still is) the brains and conductor of the great Wolfsburg attack that took the Bundesliga by storm and won the league 2008/2009. That season he amassed an amazing 23 assists.

If the simple plan was to score plenty of goals by mixing a passing (and set piece) maestro like Misimovic with a couple of very good strikers then it certainly proved successful as Grafite and Dzeko finished one and two on the scoring charts with 28 and 26 apiece.

Helping their rankings Dzeko and Misimovic continued to shine last season where Wolfsburg both scoring less goals and letting in more stumbled to an 8th place finish.
Those two actually managed to more or less contribute at a similar impressive rate as in the glory year while Grafite on the other hand struggled to find consistency and in that kind of attack only netted what's a modest 11.

Don't blame it all on Grafite though because the real reason should probably be found with coach Felix Magath leaving the club.

Magath who, with a serious risk of entering into blasphemy, kind of like Alex Ferguson in England, just seems to somehow know exactly what it will take and how to execute it in order to do well in the Bundesliga.
Once again exemplified last season where it was Schalke's turn to feel his heavy handed magic touch impressively finishing second in the league behind much more talented Bayern.



Wolfsburg on the other hand without Magath just couldn't find the right balance and if you consider they're playing with two centre-forwards and then an old school "non factor defensively" (lazy) number 10 around them, it's really more remarkable that they ever did. Even in a league, especially that year it seemed, erupting into almost reckless emphasis on back and forth attacking football.

But he isn't called "Quälix Magath" for nothing of course (a mash of his first name Felix and the German verb “quälen”( to torture!) and through stern discipline and demands of hard work he made it all come together.

Looking to get back on track then, before the upcoming season, wealthy Wolfsburg has been one of the most frequent teams in the transfer headlines. Not least with constant rumors surrounding star striker Dzeko going or staying but also reinforcements coming in, not least in the form of a new good looking central defense with the signings of Simon Kjaer and Arne Friedrich.
They should improve things in the back definitely, but defensively just how much, if Wolfsburg under new coach Steve McClaren still plays that same attacking trio up front, is a good question and perhaps also an interesting little test on the (oh so much rambled about on this list) importance of central defenders.

Of course if Dzeko gets sold the whole picture changes completely but even if that doesn't happen (and for now it probably won't) some other interesting signings they've made could change the balance as well if those newcomers can steal playing time from Grafite.

I'm thinking of forward/winger Mario Mandzukic who I suspect is much more of a hard worker than Grafite and then interestingly, if he can break through already, young Swiss recent U-17 World Champion Nassim Ben Khalifa who at 18 years of age now isn't just already on the Swiss U-21 team but in contention for the senior team as well. No matter what happens he is definitely one from that team to at least keep an eye on.

The 300 update:

Misimovic has moved off the radar to Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Most likely that will inevitably result in his ranking continuing to go drop and not helping are reports of the team really struggling and Misimovic one of the players taking the most heat.

Maybe he is the expensive highly paid foreign scapegoat. That seemed to be the case with Elano and speaking of him, who has been shipped back to Brazil, one less attacking star could do the team a lot of good.

Arda Turan, Elano, talented Dos Santos on board on loan, Misimovic (not least) + a striker in the same lineup could easily be a team with some major balance issues.

Karim Benzema

Real Madrid

Striker - France



Original 200 writeup:

Benzema is one of the most naturally gifted strikers in the world. Strength combined with pace and considerable skills with upside.

So much so that I think he is someone who with a good next season under his belt could jump as much as 20 something places up the list. If not more.

However apart from very few exceptions (exceptions mostly having in common being universally recognized top 10-15 players in the world not long ago) almost everyone still to go on the list will be coming of either one outstanding season (in my eyes at least) or at least two very good ones playing at a very high level.

And for Benzema, despite all the tools being in place, last season did just abruptly put a stop sign to that.
Now I'm sure that's only in place temporarily and in just a matter of time with force he will run that sign over.

In many ways like with Gomez there is no shame either in losing playing time when the competition consists of other excellent players. One of them even, Higuain who with his finesse contra Benzema's physicality, had every condition in place for a great breakthrough season, both in terms of strength of teammates around him compared to the general opposition faced, and coach Manuel Pelligrini's tactics suiting finesse rather than power.

But who is to say that at some point that won't be reversed under new coach Mourinho?

They're definitely two completely different coaches and even if that reversal of fortunes doesn't materialize exactly, I will be very surprised if Benzema won't be much more of a factor this season under Mourinho than he was for Pelligrini.

The 300 update:

Mourinho went with Higuain and went with Higuain almost all of the time.

Part Higuain playing great enough to never open the door. Part Mourinho insisting on the virtual same starting 11 over and over early, to create the needed chemistry right off the bat to try and keep up with a Barcelona team with all the chemistry in the world.

Higuain did suffer an injury recently which duly meant starts for Benzema, where he showed the kind of talent that he has.

He is kind of too good to play that much of a second fiddle, to anyone almost, but until Real Madrid have another very good striker as the Higuain alternative, it's difficult to see him leave.

Mario Gomez

Bayern München

Striker - Germany



Gomez needs to think of happier times:



Original 200 writeup:

Okay so it really hurt he claims, and that does make sense of course, but a goal is a goal and lately Gomez is in another harmful situation (possibly here hurting his behind in the process) sitting on the bench not able to score the goals he loves so much and which over his still young career he has netted at a fantastic rate.

A year ago it was 24 in 30 league starts (37 in all). Then 23 in 28 across all competitions. In 06/07 there was 14 in 22 and even when still finding his feet in the Bundesliga the year before that, amidst many substitution appearances, it was for what its worth 7 goals in 6 starts.

But here he is at Bayern, their best striker by some margin I still believe, on the bench.

For starters you can only have so many attackers in a lineup and Bayern have two excellent ones in the form of Ribery and Robben both somewhere higher up the list.

Then there were the impressive form of two of my favorites (and I can definitely see why any coach would feel similar!) Olic and Müller who both contribute, as talked about in their writeups of course, in different ways with different things than Gomez does. Then if the coach in connection with all the other players in the lineup, feels that's what makes the team better, then it doesn't really matter if another player isolated on his own is better individually ( not least if those other things are deemed less important on this particular team with their specific players).

Even Klose. Himself with a history sitting on the Bayern bench brings different movement and dynamics (in the form of his remaining pace) to the team than Gomez.
I would though, even if he returns to good form, have a harder time understanding him playing over Gomez than I would Olic or Müller.

Then again if as some reports on and off during the season suggested are correct, that Gomez (Luca Toni style? Maybe not quite but still) have practiced feuding with Van Gaal, then that's not something that will provide the greatest outlook for more starting time.

If he were to get the chance again what Gomez does brings of course is a very impactful around and inside the box presence. He is very strong, good in the air and while at times can look underwhelming still with good and definitely underrated technique. Both when it comes to control and finishing.
I still think a large part of the under appreciation or denial even of any Gomez skill at all come from his high profile failure at Euro 2008 where he just didn't put a foot right.

With great performances in the Bundesliga naturally getting much less attention internationally, those things can haunt a player.

But Gomez from the starts that he actually DID get last season (and in all competitions he did score 19 goals) I thought both when it came to movement other places than in the box (maybe even more pace) and general ball skills as well that he looked better even than at times for Stuttgart during his scoring goals for fun (even using penis) glory days of the previous seasons.

In many ways that's what this good (even if too good according to some) ranking is based on.

Rightly or wrongly I thought he looked very good when I saw him and while as the season progressed getting to see that less and less certainly hasn't boosted his ranking, I'm not willing to dismiss my impression totally on a 25 year old, at his club in competition with excellent players, when I have no reason to suspect he is suddenly a worse player than the free scoring one of a year ago or the one I was very impressed with this season while he was still getting the chance.

The 300 update:

Who knows what took Van Gaal so long starting Gomez for Bayern this season.

Klose once again couldn't get any rate of acceptable goalscoring going, considering he's the starting striker for the strongest team in a very attacking league.

Gomez on the other hand, once he got the minutes, predictably, returned to goal scoring machine kind of form.

Look for it to continue.

Andrea Pirlo

Milan

Midfielder - Italy



One of the best and most valuable players of his generation, being the most important contributor to both Champions League triumphs as well of course a World Cup win.

I first remember seeing him for Inter (don't have any memories of him from even earlier than that for Brescia) when in a game as a young attacking midfielder he came off the bench to replace Roberto Baggio.

With his supreme technique in all actions with the ball he immediately stood out and I was convinced right from his very first touches that this was the next great Italian number 10.

He didn't look particularly fast back then either, a little fragile too, but his first touches standing out in a game even more back then than it would now and then his godsend passing seemed levels above everyone else.

I didn't quite understand why Inter sent him out on loan back then but it was a time where they had several highly paid star forwards in their squad making playing time a challenge for everyone.
Indeed an aging Baggio was soon forced out as well only to end up having several impressive seasons, being the (divine pony tail) man again, at Pirlo's former club Brescia.

But to name some of the rich Inter attacking talent at the time. They had:

Ronaldo, Vieri, Zamorano, Djorkaeff, Baggio, very promising at the time Nicola Ventola and the year(s) Pirlo was loaned out the likes of young stars Recoba, Seedorf and Mutu had joined as well.

I'm not exactly sure how Pirlo did in those loan spells at Reggiana and then back to Brescia again for the 2000/2001 season meeting up once more with the legend Baggio but it did make me remember and search for this in retrospect fascinating goal against Juventus where as a clear sign of things to come Pirlo number 5 on his shirt regista style from deep central midfield with a trademark deep through ball finds Baggio who with his usual elegance turns it into a goal behind a perplexed Van der Sar in the Juve goal.



Elsewhere in the year 2000, Pirlo lead the azzurrini to the European Championship picking up the player of the tournament award in the process.

However the real breakthrough came when AC Milan decided it was a good idea to invest in the obvious young talent (imagine that!) and secured him for maybe, maybe not €18 million in one of those not uncommon Serie A deals at the time involving many players back and forth at strange prices, maybe or maybe not, to create some nice false profit in the books...

He started out in the attacking midfielder role but at some point came the important change into a deep-lying playmaker. A historic change that helped pave the way for the major successes mentioned in the opening lines of this writeup. European Cups. The World Cup.

It was a move I have always hailed Ancelotti for making but I recently learned that he doesn't even (to his credit I guess! Most coaches I'm guessing would love that on their cv) take credit for it himself.

This is from his autobiography:

"Pirlo really helped me out. He approached me one day and suggested that he could play in a deep position, just in front of the back four. I was extremely sceptical. He was an attacking midfielder, his tendency was to run with the ball. And yet, it worked. He became one of the best in the world in that role. I stuck Seedorf out wide, with Rui Costa and Rivaldo behind the lone striker and - presto! - there was my 4-3-2-1, or Christmas Tree."

All the more reason to hail the great player then which suits me just fine.

Pirlo would probably have become a very good trequartista too. Even with the complications involved of being such in this era of football. And while he isn't fast or strong enough to be a great goal scoring threat up there, it's not like he didn't consistently with technique and vision do great things in the final third too, it's just that the one area where he is truly unique, and still best in the world, the accurate passing, through balls even from sometimes way deep would largely be taken out of his game. There are others with tremendous range of passing and its always valuable, but Pirlo combines it with great vision and superb ball control.

It was incredibly valuable to have a player who even from deep in midfield would be a threat in attack. A threat to create a chance or a dangerous situation out of , or from rather, nowhere almost.

For Italy in 2006 it meant the team could attack with pinpoint effectiveness and be dangerous with only few players coming forward. Many teams nowadays playing defensive will attack with only few players to keep their defensive shape and men behind the ball when possession is lost again, but even in transition it will often be difficult to be dangerous cause you're sitting deep a long way from goal and maybe doesn't have enough individual quality to erase that deficit so to speak and manage to be a threat with only so few people attacking.

The team we saw do it best last season was Inter in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona where sitting deep they made minimal possession extremely effective by as often and quickly as possible seeking out their one skilled passer, Sneijder who would then make excellent quick one touch passes of many ranges to one of only 2-3 players making runs forward ahead of him. The rest of the team behind could then comfortably concentrate on keeping their defensive shape. They were already managing to be dangerous attacking with only 3-4 players.

Pirlo at important times for Italy and Milan was in the unique position rarely matched by anyone else that the very next second after having created something in attack he would be in position to defend. Simply cause he hadn't moved! That simple. That true. He was back in or near his own half ready to defend having created from deep.
It's very hard to do effectively even remotely consistently and needs a unique player to pull it off but when realized I almost can't emphasize enough the value I think it has, or imagine even a greater risk reward scenario for your team.

This is also why I've struggled finding the right ranking for him and I'm still not sure. One thing is comparing him to the players he is just ahead of, Ashley Cole, Vargas or Zanetti. They're so different it's almost impossible, but also when looking at Pirlo isolated it is very tricky. Because in theory despite whatever athletic decline he has seen, and it can look serious at times, somewhere on some team, he could still have that value. Those skills are still there.

Is he by now just a specialist then needing the perfect conditions but then if that's in place can be the most valuable player putting the team over the top, on to glory?

And should that mean an even lower ranking then or how about much higher, since in some ways you could say that's also at least one mark of an elite impact player...

The 2009/10 season for Pirlo despite difficult conditions, that I shall touch upon soon, was actually better I thought than the previous one. Mainly he stayed healthy (well until it really mattered at the World Cup SIGH) and I found myself impressed with his work rate and durability game in and game out.

The surroundings weren't kind to him though.

Around him there was less defensive protection than ever. One Veteran Ambrosini did his best but other than that I don't think there were many teams in Europe defending with less players than Milan consistently found themselves doing.
Opponents often had a free pass to the Milan penalty area and I'm still surprised the consequences suffered, in the form of more embarrassing defeats, weren't worse.

In attack they had very little movement in front of Pirlo. Attacking fullbacks who he has always had radar-like connections with when coming forward, think prime Zambrotta, Cafu or Grosso, were a clear weakness for the team and there wasn't much there for him to work with.

Of the front three the only one with good movement and not least pace was Pato and he struggled with health, so for good and bad, Pirlo in many ways, as the rest of the team, was reduced to hand the ball over to Ronaldinho, permanently parked on the left-wing, no need (or conditions you could say) for Pirlo to make special passes at all, and then just see what the Brazilian's genius could create.

Quite a lot actually if you had people up there near him. Something Pirlo was also forced to at times, and while that did mean goals and a team usually dangerous, it resulted in a very unbalanced team and generally very bad conditions for Pirlo who is so good in a team attack that has pace and movement. But for Milan found himself on a team where it was much more about individuals. Either up front trying to create on their own or in the back among the unfortunate few (not uncommonly including Pirlo somewhere) forced to defend on their own.

There simply was no team for Pirlo to put over the top.

Current Andrea Pirlo is still an excellent passer, Short and long with vision. His first touch is great and his skills at times means he can still go past people without pace. I also think he has good stamina and he continues to be an expert on set pieces.

He is very slow though and at times to such an extent it's possible to mistake him for a zombie out there slowly wandering around with an empty stare just lusting for some ball.
This also has made him easier to mark and he is still very much a target for the opposition. Then with so little movement around him he can be made to look pretty bad at times losing the ball in costly areas.

Defensively like already talked about his greatest value has always been that he is there back in position behind the ball ready to defend his zone and that actually is more important than tackling anyway but by no means is he a good defensive player (especially not now) and he needs protection in the form of defensive midfielders around him as his slowness duly prevents him from having any kind of range to his defending and if he is forced to press will look completely out of place.

All in all I'm still not sure where to rank him but for Milan and Pirlo's sake I hope their coach Allegri (one of Italy's most promising) will find a way around Ronaldinho (and indirectly Berlusconi perhaps) and create a more balanced side than what we saw from Leonardo.

Ashley Cole

Chelsea

Left-back - England



Cashley to say the least isn't the most popular player, but he is an excellent left-back nonetheless. Maybe the best in the world.

He has great fullback stamina. Times his forward runs very well and has the necessary skills to be comfortable in the opponent half when doing it. There are definitely even more talented fullbacks at attacking out there than Cole but he is effective (his crossing especially is good, as well as his control) and he has great physical tools.

He is fast and strong. Both characteristics put well to use when it comes to tackling, and I think generally when it comes to his significant completeness at the position, it is his defending that sets him apart from most others.

One on one which is always a common situation out wide, he is great and his team defending is very good as well. You don't find him caught out of position and his strength, pace and timing makes him good at participating in back-four play, marking and defending in the box (and where ever next, because he has great range) when opponent possession for an example is on the opposite wing.

At 29 he does have some injury history (but of course also seasons of not missing a single beat) and is definitely a player depending heavily on athleticism, so it will be interesting to see how long he can stay on top.

Javier Zanetti

Inter

Right and left-back/Midfielder - Argentina



Original 200 writeup:

Quite simply a force of nature. He plays every game every year. Has probably had one semi serious injury in the last fifteen and that was 10 years ago when he only played 29 of the league games...
He has missed just two league games in the last four seasons at an advanced age.
7 of the last 8 seasons he has played 50 games or more, rarely if ever as a substitute, and almost never badly. If ever at all. He is one of the most consistent players around. He is 36 years old. The oldest on the list.

He has great stamina and is seemingly never tired. When he plays fullback he still gets up and down the line and if he is midfielder, more common in recent years, he defends well and still makes those trademark (Il Trattore) tractor style runs forward with cannot be rocked balance, the ball glued to his feet. At 36 he is still somehow a dynamic player.

First time I saw him was early 1995, the first Confederations Cup being played (then actually less prestigious than it is these days) and the final between Argentina and Denmark.

Denmark had the Laudrups and Argentina still young ones such as Ariel Ortega, Batistuta, Ayala etc etc and then there was Zanetti who's class immediately stood out. He had made his debut late 1994 post the Argentina/Maradona World Cup collapse in America that year.

At this point he was an exciting right-winger who with pace and skill gave Denmark all kinds of problems and if I remember correctly one year later for the incredibly exciting and talented Argentina 1996 Olympic silver medalist team (but with respect to the gold medalists Nigeria by far the best, they had Ayala, Chamot, Ortega, Crespo, Simone, Sensini, Claudio Lopez, Delgardo, Almeyda and Gallardo,) it was similar though looking at those names it's possible he was right-wingback with Chamot, Sensini and Ayala the central defenders. He was very attacking I do remember that.

In the following years for Inter that was also his role. Under ever changing coaches they had many spells where they played 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 if you will and during those years, where they just could not win, whether he was a wing-back in one of the above systems or fullback in a back-four, in my mind it was always between him and Cafu for the title as the best right-back in the world.

Unfortunately for Zanetti he was "stuck" on both an underachieving club and national side, while Cafu even at Roma won a Scudetto and then there was his highly praised work, and the trophies to show for it, for Brazil and later AC Milan.


Cafu therefore understandably got the more attention and was of course an excellent, one of the best ever, right-backs, but was he a better player than Zanetti?

Personally I think it's up in the air but towards the end of Cafu which coincided with Zanetti starting to play other positions I do think Il Capitano as Inter fans call Zanetti, was the more complete and better player. And I won't rule out that he was in fact all along.

Of course Inter would later get the current best right-back in the world Maicon and as he came into his own (himself a former winger) Zanetti started to play most of his games in midfield, either as a defensive midfielder or right-central midfielder in a diamond during the Roberto Mancini years.

He was now at a point. A point he is still at where he could do a great job in several positions and as Jose Mourinho took the Inter seat, that is what he did, right, left, center, midfield or defense leading the team to great triumphs culminating of course this year with the European Cup and treble.



Mourinho who after his first season in charge said this:

"The player who surprised me the most was Zanetti. His passport cannot be telling the truth (claiming he's 35), it must be ten years out, he's incredible,"

He is indeed incredible and when I started this list I really didn't think I would rank him this high. But as the season went along he just kept proving again and again that he was still going strong, showing no signs of slowing down yet another season at an advanced age defying nature, and then his amazing physical ability, good technique, intelligence, leadership and not least unique versatility makes him one of the better players in the world.

The 300 update:

Not even the great Zanetti is unaffected by Inter's poor 2010/11 season so far, and there have been some lesser performances than what we're used to seeing from Mr Consistent himself.

I'm definitely not going to start talking about showing age when the man has defied just that countless of times before, and it could just be the team, the injuries, the new coach, tactics and well other younger player's advanced age behind all the trouble.

For everything involved with Inter a lot depend right now on Rafa Benitez going or staying, and him going (getting sacked or quitting) seems to depend on how president Moratti feels about pleas for strengthening the squad in January.

We'll see what happens.

Seydou Keita

Barcelona

Midfielder - Mali



Original 200 writeup:

For quite a few years known as very good defensive midfielder. That alone being something which would have earned him a decent ranking on my list.

But ignoring whether I was late to the Keita party or not, helped along by all that tika-taka Barca stuff, this season he has gone up quite a lot in my estimation with some excellent two-way midfield displays.

It makes sense that he is able to do it. He has great stamina, is strong with balance and has always been good on a technical level as well whether it's passing or control. He also has the intelligence to know where to be. That's mostly been when defending, but that he now makes well timed runs forward too makes sense then and if Barcelona didn't happen to spend all their time in the opponent's half you could even refer to him as box-to-box!

In a way this progress has been aided by other people's problems.

Henry completely collapsed meaning Iniesta (he himself often struggling or out with poor form) got games as left-forward rather than left-central midfielder (thankfully for Barca there was also the emergence of Pedro) so there were holes to fill right there left central in midfield, -rather than central itself where Busquets now was breaking through- and Keita proved to be just the right man for the job being a more dynamic player than for an example another (not so) potential contender, Yaya Toure, who off-ball can't move into open space out wide like the quicker Keita.

Basically here is a complete midfield two-way player. Those could very well be my favorites. I guess rest of the list must be (better be!) very special...

The 300 update:

Not much to add here other than despite Keita hardly putting a foot wrong lately for Barcelona, playing time still isn't automatic when Iniesta is back playing as one of the best in the world and one of the best strikers around David Villa has joined occupying the other position where Iniesta could be played.

Michel Bastos

Lyon

Attacking midfielder/Winger/Left-back - Brazil



Original 200 writeup:

No this is not a Robinho clone since Bastos is a lot more versatile, offers more teamwork and also does not possess the same attacking talents with the notable exception of his great shooting and set piece expertise which always results in a good amount of goals.

In the 2008/2009 season playing for Lille he took the league by storm racking up assists and spectacular goals with his excellent left foot.
Had it not been for an even more outstanding season from Yoann Gourcuff in a beautiful titanic effort leading Bordeaux to the title, breaking the Lyon stronghold, he could easily have been player of the year.

This year for a Lyon team that much of the season struggled to find its feet wasn't as good. They came good in the end but in the meantime Bastos had been used all over the place, not unusually benched in Ligue 1 then starting in the Champions League, in different roles and positions and his form was at times uneven.

I'm not even sure where he is best. From the left-wing where he has had most of his success he can provide great deliveries into the box but it's not like he has the blazing speed and dribbling ability to take advantage of space as best as possible (or as the true elite) and torment an opposing fullback. He might actually have better odds at that moving into space in overlaps from a leftback role coming from further back, we saw that for Brazil, but there his defending isn't top notch.

He is probably at his best if not parked permanently out left but for an example in a 4-2-3-1 has someone in attacking central midfield he can switch around with, or on the opposite wing for that matter, and be versatile. Just so his game doesn't become too focused on beating a fullback one on one, but puts an element of being a good goal scoring threat into his game as well, in good shooting positions central or cutting inside from the right, where he of course can be very dangerous.
15 goals in all competitions in a season not unanimously seen as good, I think speak volumes of how effective he can be.

To conclude, Bastos is a very good versatile allround player with a great left foot but other than that not quite with the kind of flair and creativity you usually associate with the best players from Brazil.
What in my book puts him ahead of some of those, and other talented attacking players behind him on the list, is his team work, including ability to be part of a team defense but also good decision making and work rate without the ball in attack. When you add that to what his left-foot produces of goals and assists, you have a very effective player.

The 300 update:

After once again missing out on the French championship Lyon strengthened the team further in hope of once again becoming the Ligue 1 team to beat. That has resulted in a very deep squad that sees rotation many places on the pitch. Not least midfield but even the central defense as well where usual defensive stalwart Cris has been joined by Papa Diakhete and Dejan Lovren.

Bastos with his qualities to his credit remains one of the safest starters (in his case wherever that may be) in the squad but it also remains a team you just can't help feeling should be playing even better. More consistently.

They have gotten over a bad start to the season to find at least some stability in the very unstable league at home. But in Europe, where they can usually be counted on, they've suffered some embarrassing defeats.

Patrice Evra

Manchester United

left-back - France



Maybe the best left-back in the world.

He has good control and passing ability. Great pace and stamina. Plenty of strength spiced up with lots of aggression.

He was very good going forward from day one arriving at United and that is still where his true strength lies. He will go up and down the line all game and occupy left-midfield, making numbers, be a constructive part of possession and helping his team as well as almost any other fullback.

Defensively he has steadily improved over the years to become a good defender and I think it's rare for an example that he is caught out of position. He is also a strong tackler but I don't think as good a one on one defender as for an example Ashley Cole. Not as comfortable as him either (but better than a lot of fullbacks) when doing more centre-back type of defending (ground and lot least air) whenever that's required in the box.

All in all, perhaps the best left-back in the world. But not quite on my list.

Robinho

Milan

Attacking midfielder/Forward




Original 200 writeup:

Easily one of the most talented attacking players in the world. So much so that it has taken quite the history of self destruction by him in order to not hold a (much) better ranking.

When he has the ball he is so good it's almost impossible to stop him from racking up the goals and assists over a season, but like similar immensely talented ball artists, Cassano and Ronaldinho, he always seems to walk a fine line between actually helping or hurting his team.

Without the ball he is very inconsistent but when his team is in possession at least, still nowhere near as bad as the older Ronaldinho (both curiously enough tagged by none other than Pele as cocaine users in one of the few interesting statements ever coming out of the great one's mouth), but defensively both for Real Madrid and Manchester City he has been consistently hopeless which just isn't good enough for someone often occupying a wing.

This like Cassano would suggest a more protected role behind a lone striker and in front of a defensive midfield would be better but Robinho perhaps doesn't have kind of 'fantasia' creativity in tight space central, especially when it comes to passing which has to be excellent to thrive there, and instead is better with space coming from out wide using his pace and his spectacular dribbling ability. Even if that ability, as everyone knows, is sometimes overdone.

By the way, on that note for plenty of thoughts on the difference between Italian style fantasisti and Brazilian style choreographed dancing this article offers some interesting perspective.

It also seems like on the surface everything point towards Robinho actually having the physical capability to put in work defending his wing well. Why not him when just about every other good winger in the current game does it?
I'm sure they don't exactly love it all that much either but they're professionals paid to do a job for their team.

Naturally some are better at it than others which there are many examples of throughout this list, as well as often being important enough to be the deciding factor in who I think is the better overall player.

That Robinho at times (maybe even most of the time) for the well organized Dunga Brazil team did put in something resembling the required effort just makes it all the more frustrating when he doesn't and further suggest unprofessionalism on his part. Despite all the talent, to get much higher on this list, that's something that sooner rather than later will have to change.

The 300 update:

Robinho has been a positive surprise I think this season.

He started out kind of struggling finding his feet and form at a new club.

Had trouble getting past, into the startling lineup, the man he had already ousted for the national team, Ronaldinho, and it wasn't really until coach Allegri finally had enough of Ronaldinho the team-killer and the same time switched to a 4-3-1-2 formation that Robinho became a permanent starter.

Playing alongside Ibrahimovic as a second type of striker, isn't even his best role, which at times will show, but he has responded really well and is working harder, with more teamwork, than I can remember at any point for his former clubs in Europe. When you finally add that to his pace and skill you have a very good player.

Maybe given his troublesome history it's on borrowed time or maybe he just saw that what had to set him apart from Ronaldinho, that what he had to do to beat him, was to show those exact qualities and then he duly delivered.

The big question is what will happen when Pato comes back and hopefully (finally) stays healthy.

He is definitely better than Robinho in the current system, or could Allegri go back to the 4-3-3 hybrid? Could it work better without Ronaldinho?

Then there is another very current issue of Milan possibly signing Cassano in January which opens up a whole new can worms. But yeah, more on that across the various profiles when/if it actually happens.

Dimitar Berbatov

Manchester United

Forward - Bulgaria






Much criticized Manchester United forward checks in at number 68 and I wouldn't be surprised if some will think that's way too good of a ranking while others that it's way too poor...

Of course I'm not convinced it's "way" one way or the other, but if anything I'm leaning towards this being too poor of a ranking, since certainly while he was at Tottenham I remember rating him very highly, and even though I try to avoid it, it's hard being left unaffected by constant negativity surrounding the abilities of a player.
Even when that player likely isn't much different from the one I thought more highly of when at a different club not even that long ago.

Being a Manchester United player of course is something else, with more intense pressure and focus on the player's performances. Especially as a striker and especially for one carrying around a heavy price tag.

That Berbatov then in most people's eyes gives away this lazy laid back impression while carrying himself around, I'm sure is not helping matters.

Overall when there is almost nothing positive said about a player ever, everything can't be good, surely?

Well I do see some positives of course or he would be ranked lower. For starters his reputation as lazy is probably blown out of proportion and could easily quite often be superficial criticism based on perceived slack appearance. Everyone can look lazy alongside Rooney anyway but unless I'm mistaken (when watching match stats that unfortunately I can't find online right now) Berbatov does actually put in a good amount of kilometers run on a regular basis.

He has excellent technique that he tries to rely on much more than strength and he is capable of great first touches and creative passes in the tightest of space. He simply has that rare flair for the creative.

What he isn't, is very dynamic. He is quite slow for a forward and even though his technical skills can be useful anywhere, they're only really a difference maker close to the goal because he doesn't have the pace when further away.

It should be hard for a striker to look bad playing alongside Rooney, but perhaps Berbatov really would prefer a role where it was okay for him to be more stationary always near the penalty area, and it being not just okay, but strongly recommended, for everyone else to then move in and around him.

Sometimes that will happen at United as well, but to realistically try and make up for the scoring threat lost with Cristiano Ronaldo's exit to Real Madrid, Rooney of course was made primarily a striker and his and everyone else's movement, now reflect that.

Including Berbatov's (but offering the least dynamic movement of everyone will shine a bad light on you) and while Rooney has tremendous flexibilty (a great strength) in his movement and work, thereby in theory also making room for Berbatov the striker, as well as the two of them close together creating, it is very demanding and asks for flexibility and dynamic two-way play from Berbatov as well, back (even if not all the way back - then certainly some midfield play) and forth, right and left.
Something plenty of the midfielders are able to do and not least Rooney himself leading by example, but maybe I wonder, if it hasn't proved a little bit too steep of a challenge for Berbatov to shine through on a consistent basis.

I just have a feeling he would like something more stationary. Less fluid with him the great Berba as the center piece and the attack evolving around him. But I'm also convinced that wouldn't be the better for the team...

He definitely has enough quality to do great things occasionally and despite my reservations about him (really) fitting in so far, I would be hard pressed to claim that he actually hurts the team, if he is indeed holding Rooney the striker back then that's a just a plain scary thought, instead I just think it's like he doesn't make it better (that's not exactly hurting the team right?) and everyone watching can sort of sense that, and certainly they have the hope that it could indeed be better, adding to their frustration.

That I think will take a different kind of excellent player though, playing around and behind Rooney.

Until that they'll just have to live with Berbatov consistently not making things any better but at least occasionally doing something great.

Antonio Valencia

Manchester United

Winger - Ecuador



Original 200 writeup:

A beast of a winger who's physical tools, strength and pace make him a very dynamic player who is very tough to deal with.

The best description of his technical skills may just be, simple but effective, because while certainly not bad he doesn't have the technical capability of many other good wingers, look no further than flashy teammate Nani for starters, but if you add the balance Valencia possesses, thanks to his strength, even when in full flow going down the right hand side, and then his ability to cross the ball, you have, despite one fottedness even, an extremely effective player. More effective than most flashier wingers.

Then there is his great work rate making him very comfortable in a fast paced (often) high pressure game and I'm sure I'm seeing positional discipline as well, where he is consistently defending his wing, be it via pressure or back tracking, throughout a game and with that providing great value to his team.

The 300 update:

Valencia remained strong throughout the 2009/10 season but unfortunately suffered season ending leg and ankle injury early this season.

Mirko Vucinic

Roma

Forward - Montenegro



Original 200 writeup:

The versatile forward is effective both coming from the left in wider more technical/pace demanding roles or as a centre forward playing good parts of the game with his back to the goal requiring strength and control.

That he in what you could call true Balkan striker style is also capable of sparks of trickery in whatever the role is another thing that adds in his favor.

In short this is a classy forward who when it comes to just about everything isn't as good as the best out there but who gains many placings through completeness and versatility.

The 300 update:

The 2010/11 season isn't going quite the way Vucinic would have wanted it.

Club icon Totti and new striker Borriello have been seeing most of the attacking minutes and Vucinic is growing more and more frustrated.

It makes sense that Borriello plays because, like Ranieri points out, he attacks the penalty area in a way that Totti hasn't done in years and like no other Roma forward have been doing since the days of Vincenzo Montella.

No, it's not entirely coincidental that it was after Montella's departure that then coach Luciano Spalletti went 4-6-0-strikerless.

But Vucinic real complaint focus point should be Francesco Totti who has been very poor so far this season with very few glimpses of anything positive, and there is no doubt that Vucinic is the better player right now.
It's just that benching a player with Totti's stature, more commonly than the occasional rotation, is a very complicated matter.