bjorn is your list going up on the website soon? i want to distribute the link amongst friends of the beautiful game

sup bro?

Thanks for the interest!

Christmas+New Years proved even busier than expected (that's my excuse anyway) but 99percent Monday.

lol awesome, i have been checking like every day lol

Well I just spent about 9 hours () messing with the list and it's finally up:

The 300

The top 100 I basically stuck with (looking at it now I have to say it does seem a little outdated already but that's not entirely bad of course in this format) and I didn't change a thing from the top 50 that was live-blogged recently in this thread, sooo I can imagine that's where my first changes (with hopefully running player updates) will take place.

For starters, there are some Chelsea players that look quite ready for some downgrading...

Other than that, the goal as soon as possible, is to add "300 updates" to the few remaining original "200 best players writeups" that didn't receive one already and then after that of course, eventually writeups for those poor souls who are without, but largely that is something which will follow interesting changes in rank.

And now,

time for some sleep!

Hooray! Finally, and it seems like lots of interesting things to talk about right away. Just going to liveblog some thoughts:

Bryan Ruiz is on the list twice, 193, 236. There is no one at 206, 213.

Nice to see so many United players on the list. Though I suspect he will come dropping down quite a few places in the next update seeing Scholes at 72 warms my heart. I was a little surprised to see Carrick drop back ~30 places yet Fletcher stay roughly the same. Based on this seasons form I think most would agree Carrick has been the better, returning back to his good form of a season or two ago whereas Fletcher possibly feeling some aftereffects of playing so much and being such a crucial member of the midfield last season hasn't quite been at his best. For Rio as you point out it is really all about health and now that he is healthy (knock on wood) he certainly deserves his spot in 2nd behind Vidic. Nice to see you haven't forgotten about Valencia, SAF said he should be back by the end of February, I just hope we don't rush him back unnecessarily. Anderson gets a nice little boost based on his recent form and it's always good to see Park get some credit. A very useful and underrated player, as I believe you have said yourself before. Rafael and Hernandez thumbsup.jpg.

cashy will be happy to see Wilshere on the list but still probably angry at Kroos being 50 places ahead.

Ronaldinho drops about 230 places from 25 to 255? Are you sure you didn't add in an extra 5 by mistake?

My worst miss from the top 30 guessing game earlier was Hazard, I had him in my top 20 I think. Got a little bit ahead of myself there but surely it's only a matter of time before he's up there.

Walcott has dropped a few positions. He's an interesting player and could vary from terrible to excellent depending on the system, his role, the opponent and other external factors. I think this Arsenal system with RVP centrally dropping deep, pulling CBs out of position leaving spaces in behind for Walcott to run into where he plays really more as a striker than a winger except starting his runs from wide positions and coming in centrally really suits him and should highlight his best qualities, pace and good finishing. Just don't expect him to do the kind of usual winger stuff that he really isn't good at all at. I would have him a little bit higher I think. Even if some players above him are more well-rounded and more balanced players, being elite in a few key categories is probably more valuable if used correctly.

Cheers Bjorn.

Really good work

The rise and fall of Ronaldinho is true.

what number is Paddy McCourt?

Scorepoints?

--

Can we stop all the troll posts in here now please.

Ruining a really good thread.

serious kingweed is serious

Thank you for spotting those.

I think I've just started to appreciate Fletcher's game a lot more than before, so him performing poorer currently, probably goes more over my head than it does for United fans.

Looking at many of 111-120 guys, where Carrick is 113, I sort of see those as most likely to get ranking boosts very soon. Many are playing great and I would say have solid cases against many of the 20 or so players ahead of them.

Kroos is probably too high.

Don't mind Wilshire's ranking, though based on through the roof talent he can rise very quickly whenever he starts really putting it together for a good stretch.

Ha!

I did have him very high at one point but then was puzzled by reports of a poor start to this season. His situation at the national team didn't help either. But it's my impression he has been playing well for a while now.

Speaking of Lille, the biggest gamble entry on the list is Yohan Cabaye at 144. That rank is almost 100 percent feel rather than thought (therefore could be completely wrong) so would love some thoughts about him from any Ligue 1 followers?

Overall, I'm always on the lookout for good Ligue 1 candidates (was desperate to find some from quite a few teams but failed) to the list but it's also the most difficult since it's the major league I get to see the least.

Walcott is definitely better but was ranked way too high last time around, so he kind of had to do very well to maintain rank.

Maybe he should be higher now? He is one of the trickiest players to rank I think and one, whenever I try to move him up, meet more stumbling blocks than maybe anyone, in the very form of all those more well rounded players, where my first thought is always, there is just no way Walcott is better than that guy.

Latest case is Götze who is one spot ahead of him.

Perotti solid winger and Raul, these days, solid striker, his difference making did just put him above though.

.

Yeah, I don't think Kroos is one of the best 100 players in the world at the moment. Roughly, at 109.

Very talented but he lately he should've scored about 10 more goals for Bayern, just having a poor touch / bad run at times. Müller could be seen going off at him after one failed shot too in one game this season. Especially considering how good he was for Leverkusen before, scoring a lot long range stuff and nicely too.

oh and before i forget any longer, here is the top-66 players in the world list according to us!

i used a very unscientific points system, awarding 30 points for a 1st place vote, all the way through to 1 point for 30th place on one's list. a better system that removed outlier votes might have been better, but also kind of useless with only 12 respondents or whatever. anyway, here it is (Bjorn's ranking in parenthesis):

1 - Messi (1)
2 - C. Ronaldo (2)
3 - Xavi (3)
4 - Iniesta (4)
5 - Rooney (12)
6 - Sneijder (13)
7 - Ibrahimovic (9)
8 - Villa (11)
9 - Drogba (6)
10 - Tevez (7)
11 - Fabregas (5)
12 - Robben (20)
13 - Torres (16)
14 - Lampard (19)
15 - Eto'o (8)
16 - Alonso (10)
17 - Essien (24)
17 - Schweinsteiger (31)
19 - Özil (17)
20 - Higuain (18)
21 - D. Alves (33)
22 - Dzeko (22)
23 - Kaka (25)
24 - D. Silva (35)
25 - D. Milito (57)
26 - Pique (125)
27 - Forlan (15)
28 - Maicon (36)
29 - Gerrard (23)
30 - Y. Toure (27)
31 - Aguero (14)
32 - Nasri (40)
33 - Bale (29)
33 - Van der Vaart (45)
35 - Vidic (83)
36 - Ribery (38)
37 - Di Maria (21)
38 - Gourcuff (34)
39 - De Rossi (55)
40 - A. Cole (63)
41 - Barrios (70)
42 - Nani (48)
43 - Evra (77)
44 - Chiellini (87)
45 - Hazard (68)
45 - Lahm (62)
47 - Casillas (NR)
47 - Suarez (52)
49 - Khedira (53)
49 - Scholes (72)
51 - Cambiasso (30)
51 - Hernanes (43)
51 - Pato (46)
54 - Ivanovic (104)
54 - Müller (28)
56 - Di Natale (96)
56 - Hamsik (26)
56 - Puyol (101)
59 - Malouda (32)
60 - Balotelli (86)
60 - Busquets (75)
60 - Modric (37)
60 - Santi Cazorla (44)
60 - Terry (103)
65 - Krasic (114)
65 - L. Lopez (39)

so does this help illustrate which players are overrated/underrated, i mean aside from Bjorn's anti-defender agenda?

Nice work. Quite interesting as well.

Ribery promoted 2 spots that should keep people happy lol

DId you take scorepoints into consideration?

Intrigued by cashy asking about Götze in another thread I went through Bjorn's list and picked out all the young (21 or under) players, in order. The Germans lead the way with eight players on the list of thirty.

The official 30 best U21s in the world:

Overall

28. Müller
29. Bale
46. Pato
68. Hazard
80. Jovetic
86. Balotelli
88. Pjanic
94. Pastore
106. Ganso
109. Kroos
116. Marin
123. Neymar
143. Kagawa
159. Wilshere
167. Ayew
192. Bojan
202. Götze
203. Walcott
207. Rafael
215. Lukaku
219. Reus
222. Dzagoev
226. Henderson
247. dos Santos
264. M'Vila
266. Schürrle
274. Bacinovic
275. Necid
286. Holtby
294. Bender

17

215. Lukaku

18

123. Neymar
202. Götze

19

159. Wilshere

20

68. Hazard
86. Balotelli
88. Pjanic
192. Bojan
207. Rafael
222. Dzagoev
226. Henderson
264. M'Vila
266. Schürrle
286. Holtby

21

28. Müller
29. Bale
46. Pato
80. Jovetic
94. Pastore
106. Ganso
109. Kroos
116. Marin
143. Kagawa
167. Ayew
203. Walcott
219. Reus
247. dos Santos
274. Bacinovic
275. Necid
294. Bender

Bjorn with the anti bias to not include Eriksen

Neymar's ranking looks a little bit too good in that context Then again it looks like he's pretty much been designated into Brazil national team key player at age 18. Then you're pretty damn good.

Really need to make some updates soon, since I don't think I'll have any time throughout next month.

Meantime enjoy Fourfourtwo's top 100 players:

100. Milos Krasic (Juventus & Serbia)
99. Gregory va der Wiel (Ajax & Netherlands)
98. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke & Netherlands)
97. Douglas (FC Twente & Brazil)
96. Joe Hart (Manchester City & England)
95. Simon Kjaer (Wolfsburg & Denmark)
94. Darren Fletcher (Manchester United & Scotland)
93. Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow & Japan)
92. Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk & Croatia)
91. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid & France)
90. Lucho Gonzalez (Marseille & Argentina)
89. Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City & Togo)
88. Lassana Diarraa (Real Madrid & France)
87. Diego (Wolfsburg & Brazil)
86. Albero Gilardino (Fiorentina & Italy)
85. Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal & Belgium)
84. Angel di Maria (Real Madrid & Argentina)
83. Victor Valdes (Barcelona & Spain)
82. Nigel de Jong (Manchester City & Netherlands)
81. Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal & Morocco)
80. Fabio Coentrao (Benfica & Portugal)
79. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool & Netherlands)
78. Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid & Portugal)
77. Sami Khedira (Real Madrid & Germany)
76. Robinho (AC Milan & Brazil)
75. Hugo Lloris (Lyon & France)
74. Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich & Germany)
73. Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan & Italy)
72. Seydou Keita (Barcelona & Mali)
71. Alexandre Pato (AC Milan & Brazil)
70. Jesus Navas (Sevilla & Spain)
69. Luis Suarez (Ajax & Uruguay)
68. Javier Pastore (Palermo & Argentina)
67. Yoann Gourcuff (Lyon & France)
66. Nani (Manchester United & Portugal)
65. Javier Mascherano (Barcelona & Argentina)
64. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea & Serbia)
63. Paul Scholes (Manchester United & England)
62. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus & Italy)
61. Luka Modric (Tottenham Hotspur & Croatia)
60. Robin van Persie (Arsenal & Netherlands)
59. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus & Italy)
58. Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich & Netherlands)
57. David Silva (Manchester City & Spain)
56. Antonio Cassano (AC Milan & Italy)
55. Yaya Toure (Manchester City & Ivory Coast)
54. Daniele De Rossi (Roma & Italy)
53. Edin Dzeko (Manchester City & Bosnia)
52. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United & England)
51. Pepe Reina (Liverpool & Spain)
50. Pedro (Barcelona & Spain)
49. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid & Spain)
48. Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan & Argentina)
47. Patrice Evra (Manchester United & France)
46. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich & France)
45. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid & Argentina)
44. Carles Puyol (Barcelona & Spain)
43. Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United & Bulgaria)
42. Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur & Netherlands)
41. Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan & Argentina)
40. Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal & Russia)
39. Kaka (Real Madrid & Brazil)
38. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona & Spain)
37. Luis Fabiano (Sevilla & Brazil)
36. Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea & France)
35. Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid & Spain)
34. John Terry (Chelsea & England)
33. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan & Sweden)
32. Julio Cesar (Inter Milan & Brazil)
31. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur & Wales)
30. Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United & Serbia)
29. Carlos Tevez (Manchester City & Argentina)
28. Dani Alves (Barcelona & Brazil)
27. Maicon (Inter Milan & Brazil)
26. Michael Essien (Chelsea & Ghana)
25. Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid & Germany)
24. Diego Milito (Inter Milan & Argentina)
23. Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid & Argentina)
22. Lucio (Inter Milan & Brazil)
21. Florent Malouda (Chelsea & France)
20. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool & England)
19. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid & Spain)
18. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich & Netherlands)
17. Phillipp Lahm (Bayern Munich & Germany)
16. Fernando Torres (Liverpool & Spain)
15. Ashley Cole (Chelsea & England)
14. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal & Spain)
13. Frank Lampard (Chelsea & England)
12. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United & England)
11. Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid & Uruguay)
10. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich & Germany)
9. Gerard Pique (Barcelona & Spain)
8. Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan & Cameroon)
7. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain)
6. Didier Drogba (Chelsea & Ivory Coast)
5. Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan & Netherlands)
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)
3. Xavi (Barcelona & Spain)
2. David Villa (Barcelona & Spain)
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)

Villa ahead of Ronaldo and Xavi!

And Pique #9 that's got to piss you off lol

I don't believe it though Ribery 46, haven't 4-4-2 heard of scorepoints!!

I'm a little bit shocked at Pique's ranking, though I have been getting the impression that he has become the popular choice as best centreback in the world. And generally it's a very interesting insight for me how the "mainstream" (I think that's correct to say) rank players at the moment. I really have no idea most of the time.

I dunno, overall it makes me like how I ranked the defenders even more, I just think it's absurd that someone like Lucio (or Pique for that matter) should be a better player than the likes of Tevez, Zlatan, Alonso, Bale, Ozil, Alves etc

One player not on my list at all, Douglas, who has been mentioned in positive terms by the Dutch here also, but who I haven't really seen play or remember anything of.

ye Douglas is awesome. Should def have been on your list but hard to blame you for it since he plays in Eredivisie.

442's top100 is very bad imo