My Top 50 Favourite Players (50-41)

Ah the big one. Football is full of all sorts of different players. Different fans like different players. Some prefer strikers who score the simple goals, and some others like those silky dribblers in midfield. I’m no different. I like players for all sorts of reason. Either it’s reasons due to their ability on the field, off the field, or some other reason. I usually attempt to stay very objective. While some choices will be here for that very reason, some will not. So let’s get straight into it.

50. Alexandre Lacazette

To start things off, let’s go with a player who is currently playing at the top of his game. The Arsenal forward is an absolutely tremendous player. Not only is he an amazing goal scorer, he also offers so much off the ball. His movement and pressing of the defenders is incredibly useful. I was so happy when Arsenal signed him. He was just brilliant at Lyon, and after 3 seasons of goalscoring, he finally earned that move. While Lyon are now a great club for young players and attackers in general, back then they were very reliant on Lacazette to lead the line. His last season at Lyon was arguably his most prolific. He scored 28 in 28 starts, and was the only Lyon player to score over 10 goals in Ligue 1. He’s also a really good creator. In that season he had 3 assists, but created 1.7 chances a game. He was exactly what Arsenal needed and is now doing the same there. He is just an amazing goal scorer and watching him on the pitch is just so enjoyable. However my love for Lacazette comes from Fifa out of all things. For 3 games (15-17), he was that elite striker you’d always sign for a top club because of his potential and amazing stats. He was fast, strong and so good in front of goal. He was worth all the money you’d spend, and sometimes you could resell him for over £100m. He was one of the best players on the game and gave me so many fond memories. Thank you Laca.

49. Edin Dzeko

I’ve spoken about my love for the guy before on Heroes and Zeroes, but let’s go through it again with maybe more detail. I never truly thought about him when he was playing for Man City. Of course I disliked him for the soul reason of playing for my rivals, but I only knew he was good in the air and was a perfect alternative to Sergio Aguero, however my attention wasn’t drawn until his move to Roma. Roma at the time weren’t exactly full of goal machine’s. I always have an issue with any side that sign Seydou Doumbia. It almost tells me you’re desperate for goals and have no other option. I thought Dzeko was a good choice. There was proof of his time at Wolfsburg that he can carry a team’s goals, and learnt more link play skills while in England. He was ready to lead the line for a side on his own. To say he’s been a success at Roma is a huge understatement. While his first season wasn’t exactly prolific, only scoring 8 in 31. He offers so much in link up and trouble for defenders that he’s always justified his occasional small goal numbers. But after that he has truly been incredible. He scored 29 in the 16/17 season, and was a huge player for Roma’s huge 91 point season. His goals have decreased in the league since then, but he was amazing in the Champions League. He scored 8 in 12 last season, and is now on 4 in 5 this season. Why I love Dzeko is he is the blueprint for a dying art, the target man. The Bosnian can do everything you want from a huge number 9. He is so good in the air and always has been. It’s an ability that no matter how old you get, you never lose that effectiveness. He’s now 32 and is still incredible at winning the ball in the air. However is best feature is circumstance. It’s a weird feature, but let me explain. He is playing in a side full of wide talent. Under, Kluivert and El Shaararwy are all good players, but still need to start showing consistency. Having a player like Dzeko, who is so effective in giving space to teammates and giving them good chances to score. He is benefitting more than just himself, and that selflessness is why I love him as a player.

48. Saul Ñíguez

Saul is an amazing midfielder. My love began after his incredible solo goal against Bayern Munich back in 2016. Thanks to that solo goal, that I assume Alaba, Vidal and Alonso have still not recovered from, it turned into a name I would not forget. After looking more into him, I then realised he also scored that incredible over head kick against Real Madrid in 2015. It almost sums up why I love him. He is a hard working player who puts in good tackle and interception numbers, yet is capable of these crazy moments of magic. He’s your classic don’t judge a book by it’s cover player. I think the assumption made about him comes from playing for Diego Simeone. Before recent huge signings like Lemar and Martins, his team were a hardworking unit that were great at winning the ball high up and using their physicality to their advantage. From the way he plays, he is quite similar to a Gabi, Koke or Turan, but he’s more than that. He can be relied on in tough moments and is capable of those quality moments. I love him for these moments and has made me gasp multiple times with some of his goals.

47. Joe Allen

As mentioned before, this is very much a personal list. These are players who may contain a great memory and it’s why I have an affection towards them. Joe Allen might be the epitome of that. A player who never really achieved much at club level, thanks to his disappointing time at Anfield. However that is not important. I am Welsh, and thanks to his incredible performances at the 2016 Euros, I will never forget him. The current Stoke midfielder was an important player in that side. Ramsey is a disaster positionally and Joe Ledley only recovered from an injury while the tournament was still going. Allen had a lot of work to do, and he was amazing. He controlled the midfield and he also protected the defense well. It was strange to see such an average manager in Chris Coleman figure out how to finally get Allen playing well consistently. He was so good that he was actually in the team of the tournament. He has a nickname in this country, the Welsh Pirlo, because of his similar haircut. However in that summer, he turned into Pirlo and was a key reason why my country had their most successful tournament since Pele was playing. Thanks Joe!

46. Pepe

Quite the controversial player, but effective in his own way, Pepe is an incredibly memorable player. He used to have the title as the dirtiest player in Europe, with memorable horror challenges on Messi and against Getafe’s captain at the start to life at Madrid. However after that indefensible incident, he changed as a player. He said that he was considering his future in football after lashing out in 2009, and after a few years of continuing the bad reputation, he truly turned it around. After that sending off in a 2011/12 El Classico, Pepe has not received a single red card at club level (he did receive one at the 2014 World Cup however). Why I love him does come from this. He kicked out the ugly side of his game, and turned into an incredible defender. His performance at the 2016 Euros could possibly be the best seen from a defender at a major tournament. He made 3.2 interceptions, won 3.8 aerial duels and commited under a foul a game. Pepe’s transformation is why I have such a fondness to him. He went from a joke into one of the best around. A player who knew the dark side of the game and knew how to exploit it. A real winner.

45. Moussa Dembele

While he has dropped off a cliff in the last couple of seasons, no one can argue that when Dembele was in his peak, he was one of the most useful and wanted midfielders to have in Europe. Dembele has never been a spectacular midfielder, like a Kroos or Thiago, but he filled a hole in a side that everyone wanted. He was so good at winning the ball back and a brilliant dribbler. Between 2012 and 2016, he was arguably the best dribbling central midfielder in Europe. He was so powerful and quick that it was nearly impossible to dispossess him. He even did plenty of defensive work too. When Spurs were at their best, it was because they had an incredible midfielder who did the most wanted role in anyone’s midfield. It’s similar to why I have such a liking towards him. It could be out of sheer jealousy, since my side does not have a player similar to peak Moussa Dembele. He’s everything I want a midfielder to be. A well rounded player who should have earned so much more praise than he got.

44. Diego Forlan

While my memories of him at Manchester United aren’t exactly vast, his performances in La Liga and at the 2010 World Cup is what made me love the forward. He put in performances that made him one of the best strikers in the world at Atletico Madrid and Villarreal. He could take set pieces, penalties and was a machine in front of goal. He was also a pretty good creative forward. He was the blueprint for what a forward in the modern game should be. He also scored against Liverpool at Anfield. If any player does that, they are worshipped at United. In fact his name was chanted by United fans when they were playing Sunderland in 2017, making José Mourinho ask the valid question “why are they singing his name?” I truly hate Liverpool, and any player who causes them misery makes me extremely happy. While that is always great, it’s South Africa in 2010 that is my fondest memory of him. It’s the first world cup I religiously watched and he was by far the most memorable part of the whole tournament. Uruguay were not tipped to reach the semi finals, yet still got there and it was all thanks to Forlan. He won the Golden Boot and did that by scoring some absolutely stunning goals. It could be down to the terrible ball used in the tournament, but he still deserves plenty of credit. That volley against Germany, which he hit against the ground to take Neuer the wrong way, was pure genius. It’s a shame I wasn’t old enough to remember him in his earlier days, but I still loved what I saw.

43. Edwin Van Der Sar

I think Van Der Sar might be the best goalkeeper United have had in the Premier League era. While Schmeichal is always remember fondly by United fans for his incredible and aggressive personality in goal, Van Der Sar was just incredible. Replacing Schmeichal took an extremely long time to do for a club of United’s size. His lack of an adequate replacement is why United’s early 2000s weren’t great. Fergie was under a lot of pressure, due to Arsenal looking the real deal and Chelsea with their new oil money. While Rooney and Ronaldo were signings that would eventually turn United into the best team around, Van Der Sar was an immediate fix that just took too long to happen. He was signed from Fulham for only 2 million. In reality he probably should have been signed soon as his time in Turin was coming to an end. Soon as he arrived in Manchester, Ferguson’s winning machine was back to its best. My favourite memory of the Dutchman is easily the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow. It’s the first and only time I saw my team win the biggest trophy in club football, and it was thanks to Van Der Sar making that save. The entire side running and screaming in happiness to see their veteran keeper making the most important penalty save in his career. He was truly the best.

42. Kevin Prince Boateng

While his younger brother might be the superior player, Kevin Prince Boateng is a personal favourite of mine. Whether it’s choosing to play for Ghana over Germany, and constantly moving clubs, there’s just something unique about him. Boateng has played for a lot of clubs, 10 in fact, ranging from unsuccessful spells in England for Tottenham and Portsmouth, to playing for AC Milan and Genoa, to playing for Schalke and Frankfurt. He’s been around to say the least. What can truly be loved about the Ghanian is his versatility. From starting as a number 10 to moving further back, to playing as a striker for Las Palmas. He has proven to be a shot machine throughout his career, which is why with age, he was moved further up the pitch. The reason why I like him as a player is out of pure fascination. He never stayed longer than 2 seasons at a club and constantly moved around. It’s as if he was trying to see as much of the world as he could, and experience all the different clubs out there. Of course there is probably a more genuine reason why he has never stayed at a club for long, but that’s what I’d love to believe.

41. Ronaldinho

Oh where to begin with him. The king of the samba style of football has to be here. For anyone who grew up in the 2000s and obsessively played the Fifa Street games, there is nothing but love for tricky Brazilian. While I could go incredibly in-depth to how he probably inspired a sub category of FIFA games just because of his the pure entertaining way he played football, I’ll just stick to his game. The Balon d’Or, Champions League, La Liga, Serie A, World Cup, Copa America and Confederations cup winner is among one of the best players in history on pure ability. No other player in the start of the Millennium could move, dribble and beat opponents in the same way he could. He famously earned a standing ovation at the Bernabeu for putting in one of the best individual performances in history, scoring 2 incredible goals that must have embarrassed every defender on the pitch that day. On his day he was unplayable. He played the game in his own vision, with a huge smile on his face and just loved to show off. He played football like he lives life, to enjoy himself.

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4 Best Individual Performances in The World Cup (2002-2014)

After talking plenty on what to expect in the 2018 world cup, let’s go back in time and look at 4 of the best individual performances we’ve seen in the modern era of world cups. This competition gives a platform for players to show the world what they can offer. It has given players, managers, and fans some memorable moments. Let’s look at the players who have given them these memories.

Diego Forlan

Diego Forlan is a perfect example on how some players just don’t work in some leagues. While United fans remember him in a fond way, with his famous brace at anfield, the rest of the premier league thought his time in England was a forgettable one. But that was until his move to Villarreal, which transformed the forward. He was absolutely brilliant in the 2004-05 season, where he won the award for most goals scored in La Liga, scoring an incredible 25 in 38, which also was the joint highest in Europe, sharing it with Thierry Henry. In fact he was the last player to win the Pichichi award before Messi and Ronaldo won it for 10 years straight, up until Forlan’s international team mate Luis Suarez broke ended their reign of goals in 2015-16. Forlan however did drop off in his next two season, but he wasn’t to blame for that. The Yellow Submarine did have many changes in the following season, including players and managers. He did score 19 in his last season, before his move to Atletico Madrid. He led the line brilliantly for Atleti. Scoring 23 in his debut season, and creating a deadly partnership with a young Sergio Aguero. In his following season, he won the Pachichi award again with a ridiculous 32 in 33 games. In the season leading up the World Cup in South Africa, he scored 28 in all competitions as Atletico Madrid won the Europa League. Forlan went into the world cup in great form, and among one of the deadliest forwards to watch, with David Villa, Wayne Rooney, Drogba and Robben, all in great form leading up to the World Cup. Forlan was easily the best forward at the competition. He scored a solid 5 goals in 7 games, with his incredible volley against Germany winning him the goal of the tournament. He partnered a young Luis Suarez and showed him a real striker’s performance. He captained the side in every sense of the word. He would drop deeper to to retrieve the ball, he would take the short free kicks, which lead to another brilliant goals against Ghana, and was still able to show his great ability in the box. His moments of magic even helped him equal a record for most goals scored outside the box, with three. Forlan carried that Uruguay side, winning the game with 2 goals against the host nation, scoring against Ghana to take the game to penalties, and almost won the final game against Germany. He won the golden ball for the tournament, and will go down as one of the most spectacular performances in World Cup history.

Fabio Cannavaro

Italy went into this tournament in a very peculiar way, right after the Calciopoli Scandal. Many teams in playing in Serie A, including Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, were all accused of match fixing, painting a very negative image of Italian football. They were the villains of football and the expectations for the Gli Azzurri were very low. The whole country’s morale was at an all time low, but all that changed. Italy showed the world that they are still an excellent team, despite all of the negativity surrounding them. They went into Germany full of league winning players. The best goalkeeper of all time in Gigi Buffon, a brilliant midfield in Gattuso and Pirlo, and brilliant forwards in Del Piero and Francesco Totti. While all of these components were brilliant, it was the defence that stole the show. Italy have always been known for their solid defenders. The likes of Nesta, Baresi, and Maldini all will be remembered as some of the best in their positions. But the one I will be highlighting is a certain Fabio Canavarro. Canavarro was an ever stay in Serie A. He begin at Napoli as a youth player, before moving on to Parma in 1995 and making over 200 appearances, forming a brilliant defensive partnership with Buffon and Lillian Thuram, before a big move for €23m to Inter Milan in 2002. His time at Inter however was not as successful. His first season was relatively successful, finishing runners up to Juventus and getting to the semi finals of the champions league. However his second season was not as successful. Cannavaro struggled with injuries, and when fit was playing out of position. All this factored into the Italian looking back at his time at Inter as a failure. After 2 season he then went on to Juventus, which brought life back into Cannavaro. He won defender of the year in both of his seasons in Turin, and in his second season won player of the season. Cannavaro went into this tournament in his peak, and showed the rest of the world why he was the best defender in Italy. Italy through out the tournament only conceded 2 goals, one against Mexico, and the other against France in the final. In fact his performances against France and Germany were some of the best performances from a defense in history. He commanded his back line with such authority, and went into every single tackle as if the game depended on it. His leadership and ability to lead from the back gave Italy the confidence and motivation to get to the final and win the whole thing. The confidence and form of the captain showed with him overcoming his weakness, his height. Cannavaro is actually quite small for a centre half. Standing at just 5’9, he is at a real disadvantage compared to other defenders, but when watching him play in those last two games, you would have never known. He was still winning the ball from two touch opponents in Klose and Henry. He was able to still keep those two out. He ended that year with not only a World Cup, but also the Balon d’Or. He was by far the best performer of the tournament and one of the best defenders of the 2000s.

Ronaldo

Ronaldo will always go down as one of the best footballers of all time, while also going down as a player who didn’t quite hit his peak. If he didn’t suffer those severe injuries at Inter Milan, he would have easily went down as the best footballer of all time. It’s very fascinating to look back at his career. He actually was in the world cup winning squad of 94, but because of his age, didn’t get a look in. He then arrived in Holland to play for PSV, which began his goalscoring greatness. He scored a whopping 42 goals in 46 games. After 2 seasons, he then left for Barcelona in 1996, where his career really kicked off. He was only 20 when he arrived, and in his only season there he scored 34 in 37 games. He then left for another challenge, Inter Milan. He arrived for a world record fee of $27m. His time at Inter was a clear success, scoring 49 in 68. This was the start of a clear issue for R9, being his injuries. In his youth he was a fast, explosive and powerful player, who could tear apart any single defence in the world. At Barca and his early years at Inter, he was a complete forward. He was able to hold the ball up, able to drift out wide to stretch a defence, or even stay on the last man. But those two knee injuries will go down as some of the most shocking moments in football. A player with that much talent, and with limitless potential, was given a barrier that he couldn’t break. That isn’t to doubt him as a player, in fact he was still a world class player, but not at the same level as he was. Ronaldo ended the tournament with 8 goals, with 2 in the final. The best way to compare both young Ronaldo and older Ronaldo, is his performances in the 98 world cup and the 2002 world cup. In the former, he was at his best. He was using all of his best assets, being his pace, power and explosiveness. While at the 2002 world cup, he had to play more reserved and use his brilliant movement and time his movement perfectly. One plus for Ronaldo was having Rivaldo next to him, it meant Ronaldo didn’t have to focus on connecting midfield to attack, he could just stay central and wait for talented players like Ronaldinho and Carlos to gift him the perfect ball, which worked. The connection between R9 and Ronaldinho was amazing in the final. On so many occasions, Ronaldinho would see the perfect run made by Ronaldo and gift him a great ball. That first goal summed up classic Brazil, with Ronaldo giving one brilliant finish. The ground Ronaldo made for that second goal, to get on the end of Kahn’s mistake, was perfect once again. Ronaldo transformed his game so effectively in that world cup, and proved while he might not be as explosive, he was still just as talented in front of goal as ever.

James Rodriguez

And finally the one player who is still currently playing at the top level. James Rodriguez is one of the only players to have his career completely transform after the world cup. Before the cup started, football experts new the ex Porto midfielder very well, after his big money move to Monaco. But both of those clubs do not play on the big stage, meaning many of the mainstream football audience did not have a vast knowledge on the Columbian. The difference between Rodriguez and the rest of the players on this list, is the timing of their world cups. Forlan, Ronaldo and Canavarro were all in their prime and had shown the world before how good they were. Rodriguez on the other hand was only 22. He still had his whole career ahead of him. Rodriguez won the golden boot that tournament, with 6 goals. While it doesn’t sound incredible, Columbia only reached the quarter finals, which means it’s even more impressive how good he was. Rodriguez won best player after the group stages were over. With his incredible 8 goal contributions in 2 starts, James proved that Brazil was going to be his tournament. He then scored one of the greatest goals of all time against Uruguay, with a volley so perfect, it could never be replicated. Even after all the brilliant performances he put in, he was still not able to take Columbia past a very average Brazil side. His huge influence at that tournament was exactly what Real Madrid needed. They needed a big Galactico to help remind everyone that Madrid are still the top dogs. While he stint in Madrid might not have worked out, he still averaged a goal every 3 games. He is now currently playing at Bayern Munich, where he has added an extra bit of class to a position they didn’t have many reinforcements. Let’s hope James can replicate that same form in the world cup in Russia.