Andrés D'Alessandro

Internacional

Winger - Argentina
---------------------------------
2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Unranked

End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: 294

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

273

He is another South American based player I don't see a lot (actually a local channel here has just picked up some Brazilian football featuring a weekly game). Well at least not recently but especially for Victor Fernandez exciting mid-2000s Zaragoza team I remember him as a wonderful little player featuring dribbling, exquisite skills and low center of gravity, capable of changing direction and pace running with the ball, someone definitely with the quality to be ranked here, and since my impression is that he has been doing well recently, here he is at 30 years of age and a new 5 year contract at Internacional.

Bobby Zamora

Fulham to QPR

Striker - England
----------------------------
2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Unranked

End of 2010/11 - Beginning of 2011/12 Ranking: 250

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

274

Zamora is so strong that at his best he is virtually immovable when receiving passes with his back to the goal.

He has decent control skills as well and that combined with his power makes him capable of expert target-man play linking effectively with players around him and, even if it's far from the finesse you'll usually see on this list, actually creating for others.

Zamora has had some bad injuries recently disrupting him and then this season he didn't see eye to eye with his new manager at Fulham Martin Jol and eventually moved clubs.

Never really what you would call a natural goalscorer but at his successful time at Fullham came into his own as a serious threat inside the box as well.

Fabrizio Miccoli

Palermo

Forward - Italy

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  275
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 280

2011/12 Mid-season:

I've always avoided putting Miccoli on these lists and had no intentions of including him this time either, almost no matter how many goals he scored or created for his team, it's just too hard imagining him fitting in all that many places (at a high level and not least tight tunnels in mountains ) other than exactly where he is at (being somewhat fat :) ), but at some point when ordering players it just hit me how many Serie A players, there were just no way you could justify ranking ahead of Miccoli and his significant impact this (and most of the previous) seasons.

Miccoli is certainly not getting any taller or even slimmer as the years go by but he is still dynamic enough over the small amount of space he needs to make room for his great arsenal of different finishes using his wonderful right-foot, whether it's longer range or close range.

On top of that (11 goals and counting) he is also having a really good season creating for others (almost Di Natale-like as the attacking center piece of his team) and so far has 12 assists to his name.

Kwadwo Asamoah

Udinese/Juventus

Midfielder - Ghana

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  276
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 245

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

Asamoah continued to impress and now moves to Juventus where his versatility should make him a quality alternative to any of the participants in last season's instrumental M-V-P (Marchisio-Vidal-Pirlo) midfield.

Following up on below, he actually upped his dribbling to 2.00 per game. The only central midfielder in the top 20 and he is giving the ball away less than anyone else above him.

Asamoah was also the 9th most fouled player in Serie A last season.



2011/2012 Mid-season:

Asamoah is athletic enough to play just about any midfield role. Attacking, defending or both.

Previously he was largely known for his great work-rate, running capacity (and that remains intact) but I think his skills have improved too, and for someone who much of his time in Italy has had more defensive roles, he has been impressing one on one (averaging 1.7 dribbles per game leading his team) recently coming forward (defensively he is hard to beat as well) with the ball.

Asamoah will probably never have a great varied (or totally secure for that matter) passing game but I do think he has moved away from being somewhat of a liability moving the ball around when seeing many touches (like he does for Udinese) and now know exactly where to put it, so to speak, not least in Udinese's all important transition phase, and manages to do so with a pretty good success rate.

Actually when looking at his stats, I'm surprised he doesn't have a few more longer passes to his name (a modest 2.3 per game) but I do think he moves the ball well out wide this season.

Granit Xhaka

FC Basel/Borussia Mönchengladbach

Midfielder - Switzerland

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  277
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 267

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

Xhaka moves to Gladbach. There isn't really that much to add from the mid-season thoughts below other than I'm extremely interested and curious in how well it will translate to the Bundesliga and Favre's Gladbach team.

I have seen some headlines calling Xhaka a Reus-replacement but I suspect they don't really know what type of player he is. Two very different players.

The remarkable thing of course is that Xhaka is so overall talented that his position or role in a way is still up for grabs. You can potentially see him in quite a few different roles, from the deep-lying constructive midfielder (which is what he's been doing lately), to a more attacking one making plays, or how about a box to box midfielder even a winger cutting inside isn't out of the question. What will Lucien Favre think is best and how will it work? Interesting times ahead at Gladbach. 


2011/2012 Mid-season:

Excellent all-round talent of a midfielder who was part of the Swiss U-21 team that made the final of the European Championship losing to Spain and who for Basel (and now the Swiss senior team) is enjoying a big break-through season with several big clubs rumored to be interested in his signature.

One game you can see this 19 year old channel a defensive midfielder holding it together against giants like Bayern or Manchester United (not least because he is the only one under pressure who is skilled enough to move the ball forward) in another (like recently for the national team) he can be wearing the number 10 and creating.

It's compatriot Shaqiri stealing most of the headlines with his tremendous difference making in the final third, and understandably so, he will have a very good ranking and has already signed for Bayern München, but don't forget Xhaka who already is a very complete midfielder. At 19 he'll make the occasional youthful mistake with his decisions but he is a very constructive passer who even show hints of real playmaking, whether it's building from deep or even going past people further forward on the pitch.

Luuk de Jong

Twente/Borussia Mönchengladbach

Striker - Netherlands

2010/2011 Mid-season: Unranked
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  278
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13: 211

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

Luuk de Jong continued his impressive performances on his way to 26 goals and 9 assist in the Eredivisie.

Topscorer Bas Dost was also considered but considering I've seen him much less than de Jong (who I haven't even seen in all that many full matches) and early impression is of  a much(?) more limited player compared to Luuk when it comes to technique, movement and intelligence I didn't include him.

Both have now made moves to the Bundesliga. Dost to Wolfsburg and Luuk de Jong to Gladbach who I've already applauded in related profiles for their investments in some of the finest young talent in Europe. Anyway it will be interesting who of the two will best live up to countryman and established top torjäger Klass-Jan Hunterlaar

2011/2012 Mid-season:

Luuk de Jong's ranking is possibly hurt by the fact that I don't see him a lot, and that some previous early impressions of someone, maybe a little bit too raw to be considered a star, are still roaming around (somewhat fresh) in my mind.

He's been a highly thought of striker-talent for some time now and at the moment could very well be seriously coming into his own. He is strong, tall and can hold the ball up well. He has good movement in (and around) the box anticipating passes and deliveries both with head and feet (he even looks like he can do damage with both showing fine touches). He also looks like he is skilled and intelligent enough to create for others.

Hugo Campagnaro

Napoli

Defender - Argentina

2010/2011 Mid-season: 298
End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12:  Unranked
2011/2012 Mid-season:  279
End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:  286

 End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13:

Expert defender in a three-man defense, yes, but say Barcelona, a top team who will often use such formations, likely would never seriously be interested. Campagnaro with his right-back background will move into open space well enough and has mobility, but his technique is definitely lacking and his passing is limited. In other words he is more of an old-school three-man defender than someone making use of excellent midfield-ability (think Busquets, Mascherano, De Rossi or Bilbao's Martinez)  adding quality to a modern three-man defense.


2011/2012 Mid-season:

I don't know how meaningful it would be to get called the best defender in a 3-man defense? There are of course plenty of the world's best you never (or very rarely) even see in such a formation, but Campagnaro might just be that guy playing in Napoli's back-three.
He is both a good right-back as well as a centreback if needed, and he kind of combines it to be a true expert defender in a 3-man defence.