Maxime Gonalons

Lyon

Central midfielder - France

2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Not ranked

End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Not ranked

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

294

I definitely tried to avoid getting more Lyon players on the list when they're not even that good in Ligue 1 at the moment, Gonalons however has become a little bit too good to completely ignore.

He is very composed and efficient in central midfield when it comes to the defensive stuff. Tactially it doesn't look he sets his feet wrong a lot, I don't want to go overboard and claim ever, and with the ball his very confident and reliable range of passing makes him stand out from so many other solid midfielders. A valuable quality like swinging the ball diagonal to wingers is not a problem for this particular player.

At 22 ( and with Toulalon gone to Spain) this is his first as a certain starter but he already looks like someone with a lot more experience than what you actually see on his resume.

Maybe there is a problem when him and (mentor?) Källström are getting too similar(?) with what they do in central midfield both with and without the ball, I like watching them for sure, but isn't what we're seeing almost identical impact coming from two different players, and isn't some kind of different impact being made from those positions missing then?

Well, that was just something I thought of right now and to be fair Källström being the veteran does try to take more responsibility and sometimes make different kind of impact, do whatever is missing out there in the heat of battle to the best of his capabilities from his position, I do think he is still enough of an all round midfielder to do so, and like with the passing, where Gonalons has truly followed in the Swede's footsteps, you can hope for Gonalons that also adding different impact and taking more responsibility is only a matter of time.

Nolito

2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: not ranked

End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: not ranked

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

296

Spain - Benfica

Attacker

Nolito is another wild card making his way on to the list, but who in a limited sample size I'm enough of fan to include with real hopes of a higher ranking next time, instead of making me look silly and being a no hoper.

I'm interested in his background. He has no Spain youth caps, but at a relative late age suddenly started bagging the goals for Barcelona-B, enough to even earn a few sub appearances for the mighty first team, then joined Benfica in search for more playing time and a more realistic level for him, and in my opinion has been a guy who since then looks like he is consistently a danger to score. That's not a bad thing at all.

He is not an automatic starter on a team with a lot of attacking talent, but actually has more 2011/12 minutes in the league than the likes of Rodrigo, Bruno Cesar, Aimar and Gaitan as well (though of course resting plays in for some of those players). Then in his Champions League appearances I also thought he was good and showed he belonged.

My impression is that he is a bit Soldado-like in his attacking play/looking to score but also has enough all round skill to function as a winger, being a serious threat from there and provide decent attacking midfield play as well.

Juan Arango

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Winger - Venezuela

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12:  Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season: 297
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 300

End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:

While players such as young Herman and defensive beast Dante (in Bundesliga tradition snapped up by Bayern) still seem like they're more fashionable, it's Arango's impact (aside from Reus who of course is totally obvious, just look at his rank) I'm a little bit more confident in vs players looking very good in Lucien Favre's well oiled Gladbach machine.

In fact to add to the mid-season thoughts below, Arango was top 5 in the league in key passes (dead-balls help there of course but still impact), top 10 in shots on goal, quite uniquely top 15 in passes per game where no winger is even close to his 54,6 and most importantly, league wide, he is only behind team-talisman Marco Reus in successful through-balls made.

Finally, the contract extension I was speculating on mid-season turns out it was only 2 years which sounds better, just like Gladbach's transfer moves this off-season arguably adding one of the most promising players in Europe in each line of defense, midfield and attack. They're the former Spain U21 star Alvaro Dominguez - very much seen as the Atletico Madrid captain for years to come, but they needed the money apparently, Grantit Xhaka the great all-round talented Basel midfielder and in attack Luuk de Jong 21 has been getting better and better recently. Xhaka and de Jong of course on the list already and of course Gladbach can complete the quadruple of elite talent with Ter Stegen in goal. Not bad at all.


2011/12 mid-season:

Something of wild cad here, who I'm not really confident actually belongs, just like I'm not really sure if it's a good idea, if Gladbach indeed did extend his contract at age 31 with 3 or was it 4 more, years. Then again, it's a club that's currently riding where nothing goes wrong.

Without Gladbach's great success this season I wouldn't have included Arango and besides their obvious star Marco Reus who is due to appear much later on the list, the real star if anything is the team itself and coach Lucien Favre who has done a great job with it.

But I did want to to include another player of their's and other than Reus, I think it's Arango's magnificent left-foot and what that has been creating in both open play and set pieces, that's made the most impact, while others who I've noticed like for an example another notable the young Patrick Hermann, have with much fewer touches moreso done a great job of taken advantage of how incredibly well the team functions + all the consistent individual Reus brilliance, than individually (at least for the time being) made enough impact to be considered elite if you will.

When I then found out, something I had completely forgotten, that it was actually Arango who also captained Venezuela on the way to their Copa America semi-final run, my mind was made up about including him on the list.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Arsenal

Winger - England

2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:  298
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:  299

  
2011/12 Mid-Season:

Like quite a few other, to various extents, sensations before him, he is tough to rank with only a few games at this high level below his belt.

If I had I followed him in the Championship (a good league in its own right) I would probably lean towards catapulting him higher.

Let me say immediately though, that there have been quite the cleanup when it comes to attacking English players (including wingers and Oxlade-Chamberlain is already one of the highest ranked. Any talk about him being a good candidate for EURO 2012 selection already, is not outlandish thinking at all.

My first impression of Oxlade Chamberlain was a sort of a mini winger-version of the young Everton-Rooney. I think years go by between such comparisons. It's pretty unique. The Ox is quite simply build like a small truck and have enough power and pace to be a real impact player in years to come.

When you then add, that he has already shown his arsenal to consist of more football intelligence and more varied skill repertoire, than many other UK wingers showcase in a lifetime, then you realize that here is a very special talent.

Marcel Schmelzer

Germany - Dortmund

Left-back

2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING:

Not ranked

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

286

Easily one of the best fullbacks in the league during Dortmund's fantastic title-winning season. Impressive coming forward and like so many others on the team, teamwork at a very high levl

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

299

Schmelzer drops a little bit for no reason in particular, other than perhaps make room for his, currently I believe, slighlty stronger team mate, on the other side, Piszczek (but I would be interested in what the popular view is among Dortmund fans).

Schmelzer is just a very polished attacking full-back to such a degree that I actually think he might be a safer bet to the better one long term.

He does attacking-full back things very well with great consistency, with no let downs ever in technique and certainly not stamina where his lungs carry him forward seemingly forever.

Julian Draxler

Germany - Schalke 04

Left winger/Attacking midfielder


2010/2011 MID-SEASON: Unranked

End of 2010/11 - Beginning of 2011/12: Unranked

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

300:


Another German "wunderkind" who has been on everyone's radar for quite a while already, even though he is just 18.

I've been thinking that he has been on the verge to explode all over the league, with all his talent, a number of times already, but while that hasn't quite materialized itself yet, and I think one reason is Schalke's huge squad with a lot players with certain perspective, enough anyway that you can't just bench everyone permanently, but I do think it is a team that is clearly better when Draxler is on the pitch. That alone is no small feat.

Operating from the left-wing he has strong one on one qualities. To such an extent that he has overtaken even Jefferson Farfan (who is in a strange season to be fair) as Schalke's main dribbling protagonist.

Then there is his tall lanky frame which might the best thing about him of all. There is just no way he should not grow really really strong (which along with all the skill should make him a real force) and a minion like Lewis Holtby (his somewhat harmless teammate) must be feeling jealous.

2011/12 mid season rankings update

My rundown of the ranked players can be followed (at random times the next many days) in real time starting with number 300 RIGHT HERE

I will also be adding player writeups to the blog, with the overly ambitious plan that once the rundown is over, every player on the list will have some kind of profile that includes what I've written about them for the various versions' of the list.