Mathieu Debuchy

Lille

Right-back - France

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  280
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 268


 End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:

Just to conclude on some of the mid-season thoughts below, Debuchy's foul rate rose to 2.5 per game which is top 5 in the league. This player seems like a driven aggressor in just about everything he does on the field.

His 4.3 defensive clearances per game makes him one of only three categorized fullbacks in the Ligue 1 top 50 when it comes to that.

It's also worth nothing that the statistics indicate Debuchy handling himself well in the air. He was actually top 5 in average aerial duels won per game among all players in the Champions League group stages, winning 18 out of 22 duels and in Ligue 1 (with a much bigger sample size) he is the only side-back in the top 20 and with his average of 2.1 headers won per game (66 out of 84) also Lille's premier aerial-duel winner.

Debuchy is looking likely to move away from Lille with Newcastle being talked about a lot. He would be a serious upgrade over what they currently have there, and with his former teammate Cabaye already being a key-player at Newcastle, it would seem like a really good move.


2011/2012 Mid-season:

Debuchy should really have been on the list already. At least the last time around after an(other) excellent season for Lille winning the French championship.

His attacking play continues to be impressive and he is relentless aggressive coming forward where he is both quick and for a fullback all-round skilled.  I have a feeling his background playing other positions, allegedly (and will say that I've never seen it) even as a deep-lying playmaker at one point.

When it comes to the defending, his buzzing energy and great intentions alone almost, puts him ahead of the many good attacking (but bad defending) fullbacks not making the list.

I don't think he is necessarily a very good one on one defender, he commits a lot of fouls (leading Lille by some distance at 2.3 per game), but at least his aggression is intelligent and tactically he knows what he is doing both defending (where he manages to help out A LOT which his impressive looking stats comparing to teammates are also strongly indicating) and going forward without making mistakes.

Isaac Cuenca

Barcelona

Winger/Attacking midfielder - Spain

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2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Not ranked

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

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

283

Since it's still very early days there is some guessing involved here and Cuenca is still pretty new to me, but if any team deserves the benefit of  doubt these days when it comes to the quality of their young players brought up to the first team, it is of course Barcelona.

My impression so far is one of another very skillful player. One possibly even with some real trickery to his game posing plenty of difficulty for opposing players, basically meaning, Cuenca's ball control is looking very good then and I wouldn't be surprised if it's more that control, than any effective athleticism at this point (maybe a weakness there), making him both fast and agile with the ball at his feet.

Tactical play, football intelligence? Haven't seen anything bad at all which just helps remove further reservations and almost assume that's something also very competent. Again, from Barcelona at the moment, you almost can't expect different can you?

On top of that, I also think I'm seeing some creativity. That could just be his bag of tricks flattering things a little bit, not sure really, but I do think he is at least consistently constructive in his passing and movement, which is always a very good thing and simply a must for Barca.

All in all the most likely is that Cuenca quite simply already, possesses some very well developed Barca-DNA.

Roman Shirokov

Zenit

Midfielder - Russia

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked 
2011/2012 Mid-season:  284
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 210

Currently kind of a Russian version of Frank Lampard being a consistent scoring threat making powerful runs from midfield.

Among a whole generation of Russian, skilled passers and quick movers operating their midfields, from the outside everyone seemingly build and playing the same, max height around 175 cm, nimble, intelligent, think Semshov, Zyryanov, then Shirokov with his near 190 cm is something of a standout and while certainly no slouch when it comes to football skills he brings a slightly different skillset to the table, that is working so well at the moment that after years of not really being at the top of the Russian midfield hierarchy, more on the edges really, he has become a key player for both club and country.


Shirokov is strong, skillfull and provides intelligent box to box play.

Younes Kaboul

Tottenham

Defender - France

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  285
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:  215

 End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:

A solid jump up the list for Kaboul and if you consider his tools this feels more like his territory on the list after a long period of playing very well.

He was even very close to being elevated further, but I'm holding out somewhat, very interested in seeing just how good he will be defending under Villas-Boas which presumably will present different challenges than the more traditional English style deeper protecting the box and in possession less ball playing way of defending under Redknapp.

Kaboul of course, remarkably, seemingly has all the tools to succeed at both. In fact this could be his time to really shine and that would mean a very good ranking of course but let's see how he actually does, with and without the ball.


 2011/2012 Mid-season:

First time on the list for Kaboul after currently enjoying his best season and overall a longer period consistently at a high level.

He definitely has the talent to climb much higher and to have been included in earlier years as well.

He seemingly has all the tools that a modern centreback could dream of.
Very strong athlete overall. Big. Good in the air. Fast. Technically sound. Just needs to keep it all together and the only way surely is up.

Chris Smalling

Manchester United

Defender - England

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2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Not ranked

End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: 281

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING

288

Chris Smalling still has a lot of upside and in many ways you can argue that he is still very much developing as a player, but I don't think that should ever be confused with him not being a very good one already.

He is very strong, dominant in the air and a good defender one on one. He also has good pace for a centreback.

Smalling is still not very experienced though (remember how quickly he came from almost nowhere) and will make bad decisions sometimes related to that, whether it's his positioning or with the ball where he is still too limited.

He is still by some distance most comfortable when defending in and around the box, Manchester United still does that so well, but I would say he has the potential to be effective in a higher line as well.

At right-back, where he has had some really good performances, he can make powerful runs into space and generally his athleticism is a tough matchup for more traditional fullbacks.

Rafael

Manchester United

Fullback - Brazil

2010/2011 Mid-season: 207
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: 284
2011/2012 Mid-season: 289
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 294

2011/12 Mid-season:

At the time of writing, Rafael has actually only played 5 games in the league this season and of course his team Manchester United bombed out of the Champions League. I would say his form is good right now though and all his blistering talent, pace, perhaps surprising strength, his overall technique and just all that sheer aggression both when defending (good one on one but still with some reckless positioning) and storming forward applying attacking pressure, all of it still looks like a sure ticket (and really the same is the case for his twin who just has Patrice Evra ahead of him) to a much better ranking.

Health (proving himself over longer stretches) and mental mistakes (so worked up that clear thinking goes awry) are the only things seriously holding him back.

Gabi

Atletico Madrid

Central midfielder - Spain

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12:  233
2011/2012 Mid-season: 287
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 271

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

Gabi continued to be a very consistent central midfielder for Atletico, doing many of the things talked about in the mid-season 11/12 section below, on his way to winning the Europa League and getting closer, than what seemed likely earlier in the season, to Champions League qualification as well.

One thing that should definitely be noted is that few players foul more than Gabi in Spain.
In fact in the whole league he has been in the top 3 in fouls committed per game for the last two seasons, and that for two different teams mind you, before you blame it all on Diego Simone telling his players to get nasty...

What I'm guessing is that it's a combination of still being somewhat more of an all-rounder than very physical strong, very comfortable in duels (he tactically positions himself in a ton) and maybe not least his defensive smarts and discipline making him very willing to be the spoiler and commit the minor professional fouls, preferably in the opponent half, time and time again if that is what's required.

Other noteworthy stats, besides all the defensive duel activity, Gabi is top 20 (17th) in the league in passes per game and accurate long-balls as well where he is 14th showing his range especially when spreading the play.

He is number 10 in key-passes (which is a pass leading to a shot or header on goal) where his set-piece expertise of course plays heavily in. What is perhaps more impressive is that he is number 7 in accurate crosses per game, that's mostly reserved for wider players and shows that he is a good match with Falcao terrorizing the box. Mind you, set-pieces don't count compiling this particular stat, so Gabi's very good kicking-technique is also a weapon in open play.


2011/2012 Mid-season:

Instantly a leader for his new team Atletico Madrid this season, where he was originally a youth product, but played just 58 games for the first team between 2004 and 2007.

In the last 4 years for Zaragazo though, he has only been getting better and better maturing into a natural leader in midfield, and after the 2010/11 season, his best ever (resulting in his debut on my list) he had become too good to ignore for Atletico who brought him back where it all began.

Gabi is what you can call a solid, very consistent, football-intelligent central midfielder who is disciplined defensively and a good distributor of the ball. Including some good range of passing, without being what you would call a playmaker.

He is also very good on set pieces and will definitely create chances through that.

He is less of stand out on a very talented team compared to being the main man at Zaragoza, but his consistently good contributions from midfield, both offensively and defensively, shouldn't be ignored and he is just one of those central midfielders (even if a level below the best) who is able to become the glue holding everything together. Very valuable.