The list is dependant on form over last season?

Edit- Having done some analysis and given things some thought. It doesn't look too likely that I'll be making this years list. Can only assume I wouldve been on it by now, if at all.

Once again loving the list so far.

Disagree with Carroll being lower than Elmander though. He was injured for a good while with Liverpool and when he played he looked okay IMO maybe somewhat overshadowed by Luis Suarez that's making him not look as good.

carroll was fine at that spot imo. elmander shouldn't make the list imo. he had a nice purple patch that a lot of people will remember but he was anonymous a lot of the season.

Agree about Elmander, his contract was up so he was playing for his future at start of season, next year will tell more about him.

Agree with bjorn about Carroll tho, looks about 5 levels off Suarez standard.

I love Elmander. It's not like he's just had a single good season. He was excellent before he ever went to England.

I think if he had been played smarter/had a better coach his first two years in England people would think a lot more of him now. In his "anonymous" second half of the season he spent a lot of time in midfield to make room for Sturridge, so he really only had six months where he played his favorite position just behind a striker.

He's had a good 6 months in 3 seasons for whatever reason, could be the coach just aswell as it could be his contract situation.

Not saying he's no good, just he needs to do it again next season.

i just think you gotta be at least semi consistent to be ranked in the top players in the world. if this were only about how you could potentially play then bendtnahh would be 1-300 himself and it would have saved a lot of time.

About to start again.

Fucile could be a mistake since he's played quite a bit less than I thought.

Otamendi who was a late dump from the list, somewhat emergency too, could be an obvious replacement, so might do some adjustment there before it's posted on the blog.

Speaking of Portuguese football, there are a couple of players I forgot to even consider, but not sure how their case for a lower placing is anyway, Benfica defensive mid Javi Garcia (would he compare well to the likes of Tymo, Tiote og Thiago Motta?) and winger Gaitan who I remember liking as a candidate already the last time around. Not sure how they've been playing the last half a season though (or this season in general).

And yeah, also managed to completely ignore Braga.

Edit:

On a more positive note, I watched Mexico last night and I'm glad I kept Guardado on the list. Man does he have game and showed a level where he could easily catapult back up the list. Hopefully he can keep/find form for his club too the upcoming season.

BEBE

257 (up 20)

Domenico Criscito - Italy - Genoa

Fullback/Wingback



Think his rise and changes in rank are somewhat fluky since his form has been consistent for a long time now. And just various change of club and country fortunes inevitably playing their part.

Very polished allround fullback who should join a bigger club very soon I think.

256 (down 44)

Arda Turan - Turkey - Galatasaray



Hmm quite the candidate for removal now that I think about it. Even if he has some real quality which spurred the inclusion in the first place way back on the original list.

But I rarely see him play and his club has been struggling.

Well, at least his scorepoints are pretty good.


edit: and let's end this romantic mini special

Arda was really good vs Belgium 2 weeks ago. Only time I've seen him play this year tho

I watched him a few times when I watched Galatasaray for Harry Kewell. Look good. Too good for the Turkish League imo but might struggle and disappear in a bigger league.

Criscito joined Napoli a few days ago.

255 (up 26)

Park Chu Young - South Korea - Monaco

Striker



Pretty good jump for someone who's very defensive team got relegated.

Was it that I discovered he wasn't really 30 but mid 20s?

No more like he was simply ranked too low the last time around.

A very classy player with fantastic teamwork and good allround skills (air included) and intelligence.

Hopefully he'll get a summer transfer.

254 (down 72)

Asamoah Gyan - Ghana - Sunderland

Striker

Had his moments at Sunderland but I expected more.

I won't rule out that still coming when he will have adjusted more to the climate, but while certainly he has a lot of natural ability, playing in England did highlight that he isn't as physical strong as one might have thought.

253 (down 15)

Lee Chung Young - South Korea - Bolton

Winger/midfielder

Not exactly another great season for the Korean. Asian Cup, maybe different tactics disrupting things slightly.

But he is still Bolton's best player for me with high quality two-way play, fantastic work rate and teamwork + decent pace and allround skills.

252 (up 44)

Gonzalo Castro - Germany - Bayer Leverkusen

Left and right just about anywhere

Hesitant ranking the last time around ensures a very good boost.

Versatile player who will contribute in many places.

251 (up 18)

Fabio Quagliarella - Italy - Juventus

Forward

One of Italy's few highlights at the World Cup.

I'm not a big fan of this player's all or nothing performances in not just every other game it seems but just about all his actions on the field. Do you really want to rely on someone who is that much up and down?

Until injury, he did play very well this season though, and Juventus definitely missed him after he went down.

Edit: I just called Lee Chung Young Bolton's best player, yet there is another Bolton player coming right up DOH....

That's good news even if that wasn't exactly their most pressing concern since Dossena has been doing a very good wing-back job. Where he is really a specialist.

Wouldn't be surprised if he is bought as a centreback for their 3 man defense which he has played in the past and is suited for (unlike if it was in a 2 man pairing).

250 (NEW)

Bobby Zamora - England - Fullham

Striker



Injuries robbed him of a place in the past.

Timely comeback, just made for his inclusion this time, but wouldn't have of course if it hadn't shown that he had not missed a single beat.

So powerful. He provides his team with some of the best target-man play you'll see anywhere and then he is a little more skilled than some others as an extra bonus.

249 (NEW)

Gary Cahill - England - Bolton

Centreback

Across the entire premiership you see tall brave and strong centrebacks where you just marvel at their ability to defend, especially deliveries, almost endlessly in the box. They're very strong tacklers too.

Cahill does these things too but he is also the stand out in that he has the potential for more with enough quickness, timing and ball-skills to take the next step and play for a big club.

248 (up 27)

Juan - Brazil - Roma

Centreback



I'm not sure how I feel about him jumping up the list when maybe this wasn't his best season. But go figure.

A very good defender even if he is getting passed by younger countrymen.

He is as much a finesse defender as any, sometimes a tackle is a rare sight, and with intelligence and athletic ability that remains intact he relies on exquisite timing, positioning and not at all uncommon for him flawless reading of the game.

247 (Up 2)

Deco - Portugal - Fluminese

Central midfielder/Attacking midfielder

I can't deny there is a good amount of guessing involved here. That Deco is still Deco able to conduct play with skills and movement.

That and Fluminese winning the Brazilian championship, where surely (please say it's so) he played his part, meaning that he defends his ranking.

246 (Up 1)

Giovani dos Santos - Mexico - Tottenham/Galatasaray/Santander

Winger/Forward

Pace and skills in abundance. He showed enough of that at Santander to defend his ranking.

Needs to get away from any hint of 4-4-2 and possibly England altogether, even if with his talent under decent circumstances there is no reason he shouldn't be able to succeed.

Tottenham 4-3-3 where he'll likely be better than Lennon, a lot less long balls to Crouch and Dos Santos could be a hit.

Not saying he is blameless or anything for past failures, but he has shown a very high level elsewhere. That he is ready, and it would be a shame for Tottenham to waste that.

245 (up 44)

Lukas Podolski - Germany - FC Köln

Forward





Oh it's Podolski...

Again.

First of all, I don't like the +44 either but remember this isn't really a very good ranking when you think about it.

Hmm in fact it may very well be his most fair so far in my ranking-history where he has been both quite a bit higher and lower.

No, the goals didn't exactly come raining in, but fwiw whenever I saw non-relegated Köln he did quite a good leader/talisman/veteran impression making people around him better with some nice allround play.

Not sure about Deco. I haven't watched him for Fluminense but he only joined them midway through the Brasileirão and I don't know how important he actually was. Actually now that I think about it I did watch him once against São Paulo a few weeks ago but he didn't do much in that match. Lucas from São Paulo is very likely better already (he's definitely better than Iturbe) and there may be others in the Brazilian leagues as well.

Link and/or explanation to scorepoints?

Also, disappointed to not see Taarabt anywhere on here, as he would have been on the list by now. And I'm hoping Dempsey is still to come.

Scorepoints is just goals + assists. sortbyscorepointsbecomefootballexpert.jpg is basically the football thread equivalent of sortbyPERbecomebasketballexpert.jpg.

244 (NEW)

Alvaro Arbeloa - Spain - Real Madrid

Fulback/Defender


How is he new?

Overshadowed by just about all his Real Madrid teammates, this is still one of the better fullbacks around who defends pretty good and has the stamina to contribute up and down the entire game.

243 (up 48)

Andrea Cossu - Italy - Cagliari

Attacking midfielder/Playmaker



Unique little player who isn't much of an athlete but is very quick with not least his mind and from his feet glow technique and wonderful ranged passing.

242 (No change)

Moussa Sissoko - France - Toulose

Midfielder



As French football tend go there are already new up and coming world beaters more talked about than Sissoko, the former heavyweight champion of up and coming world talents.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of season he has had but I for one am still a believer even if what I see more as an allround game from him will (including on the national team) take a backseat to more specialized players.

I did actually seriously think about him and was close to inserting him into the 285-300 range, but since I rarely see Division one and my impression of him is from highlights I decided to give it a miss. Even if it's some very impressive highlights.

Kitaristi0,

Let's just say the list hasn't seen its last players from the Brazilian league just yet. And won't for a while.

241 (up 48)

Gerrardo Torrado - Mexico - Cruz Azul

Central midfielder



The big jump is because he was someone I only remembered last minute the last time and his ranking there really suffered because of it.

Mexican club football isn't on my radar so Torrado tends to disappear from memory occasionally but this is after all a player who's impressiveness in my consciousness is closing in on 10 years now.

I'm fairly certain when I was wasting time making teams of the round as far back as the 2002 World Cup, Torrado already then was a name that was showing up.

A good range of passing, sound decision making, clever tactical play, frenzy work rate many places on the pitch, defensive work in general. He does it all well and if I got see him more he would probably be higher.

240 (down 49)

Darijo Srna - Croatia - Shaktar Donetsk


Fullback/Wingback

Still a pretty impressive player who's ability, including on set-pieces will accumulate the assists.

Maybe he is starting to slow down though. We'll see if he proves me wrong.

239 (down 34)

Diego Perotti - Argentina - Sevilla

Winger

Very solid if not the most spectacular winger (even if he has good skills) who provides quality two-way play.


238 (up 61)

Jaroslav Plasil - Czech Republic - Bordeaux

Winger/Midfielder

Well he was quite simply ranked too low and I think I'm just correcting a mistake here basically.

Again, not the most spectacular player, but he provides something of everything from good team work to creating chances with pretty good pace and skills.

A reason Bordeaux didn't fall as far as perhaps feared this season.

237 (New)

Renato Augosto - Brazil - Leverkusen

Attacking midfielder/winger

Him and his Lyon clone Ederson (ok not quite) should probably have already been on in the past. Injury took away Ederson's opportunity but Augusto at least makes his debut.

I'm tempted to call them Euro-Brazilians. Sure they have some of the Brazilian flair you associate attacking Brazilian players with, but it isn't exactly Ronaldinho-like samba we're talking about here, and they're able to function in, and bring even, team-work to their teams.

Well, Ederson maybe the even better example than Renato. But point is, they're more allround (attacking) players than full of flair lethal attacking weapons.