Best soccer player in the world

[LG]

Who do you think is the best soccer player in the world right now? I think it's difficult to choose really, with Ronaldinho still a class act but Brazilian youngsters Kaka and Adriano hot on his heels. Thierry Henry has pace to burn and incredible talent. He's an excellent finisher, but makes less of an impact playing for France than Arsenal. Then there's Schevchenko, Ibrahimovic, Ballack, Lampard, Reyes, van Nistelrooy, Eto'o

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are two incredible young players to watch, but I'm not sure they can be considered the finished article yet. Neither can attacker Robinho or Ghanian- American Freddy Adu, who can become potentially a world class player.

At the moment Adu is not even the best American playing the sport (Eddie Johnson and Landon Donovan are arguably better).

Most of these players are attacking players, but what about Juventus' Vieira, Chelsea's Essien and Makelele, and defenders such as Puyol, Heinze, Cicinho, Cannavaro, Terry, Ferdinand, Nesta, Cafu...

And what about goalkeepers? Dida, Buffon, Cech, van der Sar

What do you think? The names in the poll are some of my suggestions, in random order.

[eziorossi]

Del Piero

[LG]

eziorossi,

Del Piero is a class act, but he's been a pale shadow of his former self since his injuries in 1999 I think. He's not getting any younger either, and it shows.

Then again, people have always been writing him off but he's always capable of surprising his critics. I suppose he can still be regarded as top, top player if his performance for Italy against Moldova is anything to go by.

[Lafuerza]

No one is really sticking out at this moment even though Ronaldinho had a splendid 70 minutes against Deportivo last week.

Adriano had 2 good consecutive summers but his track record in the Serie A is not very good, and he's currently on the bench at Inter because he came back 2 days later from Brazil.

Ibrahimovic is a great player (developed at Ajax, my favorite club) and a great addition for every club in the world but the best? Overall his performances are good, but in football it also counts on memorable moments and do he does not need to have those, to be considered the best player in the world he does have to create a few in the near future.

Henry has been proving for half a decade that he's one of the best; Last calendar year he even proved to be too good for Arsenal who are heavenly dependant on him. Wenger has a set of fine youngsters in his squad, but it's going to be a hard task for them to replace a player like him. And he hasn't signed a new contract yet.....

Van Nistelrooy is also of excellent quality, and though he can do everything with a ball (I've been following him since his debut in 1994, so I can vouch for that) he's focus on scoring goals have turned him in a 'hard-working' kind of striker, who's not too shabby to go for the ugly goals. Good for the team, but other strikers have gained more aesthetic value with 'Joe Public'.

Schevchenko and Kaka are world class players but are not properly used, meaning that they have to do to much. Watch a game of Milan and study those two players carefully, especially their positioning. Simplified, Kaka has (as the only real attacking midfielder) to walk all over the pitch which cost a lot of energy. At São Paolo he didn't have this problem, so the kid could display all his qualities in a better way for him.
With the lack of wingers and (ever since Inzaghi started spending a lot of time at Milan lab during his injuries) a compatible striker next to Schevchenko both him and Milan as a whole have to do more to create a decent attack, even when they're playing 'counter-football' (a role suited for him, having worked with Lobanovsky for a long time!).

I do think that Wayne Rooney is the best player od Manchester United by far though, even better than fellow youngster Cristiano Ronaldo. Sure they have their flaws but they'll learn enough in the near future. Well, maybe except Rooney's temper...........but if someone calls him the best player of the world at this moment I can agree with that.

Eto'o is of great value for Barcelona, but I think that Henry do a better job as a striker of Barca.

Ballack has the misfortune to belong to a bad generation. Until the late 80's (West-)Germany was producing great footballers but after that things went more and more downhill, even resulting in naturalising foreign players to Germans (Rink, Asamoah, Kuranyi and possibly Lincoln). OK, they also did this in the past but Ernst Willimowski and Franz Binder were legendary strikers. Now it's just crisis for the Germans and Ballack is despite of his qualities a part of it.

Lampard is one of the excellent group of midfielders that England possesses (completed with Gerrard and yes, still Beckham IMO) and he's definitely one of the best in the present time. Buuuuuuut..........I think that Gerrard is a better player. That could be due to their roles (Gerrard has to be more active in his team than Lampard at Chelsea), but even after taking that in consideration I'm still inclined to give Gerrard the upper hand.

Best defender in the world? That's also hard to define as a defender is not the sheer marker like in the old days. Group defending developed to a higher scale over the years and Chelsea, Juventus, Olympique Lyon and PSV last year showed how to work it. Until 2004 I'd add Milan to that list but as their defense gets olders the flaws get more frequent. Not just because the disasters vs Deportivo and Liverpool, but one could also see it in the various Serie A games. But make no mistake, entering Milan's box is still quite risqué for any striker.

As for the talents: I'm rooting for Messi, Gago, Robinho, Maduro, Kalou, Juanfran, Palacios, Anderson, maybe Nuri Sahin, Moutinho and especially Giovanni Dos Santos to be the stars of the future. Let's hope these boys don't get fucked up by money, managers and the finer things in life outside football. I don't want to lose another Jermaine Pennant.

[LG]

Wow, well thought out Lafuerza...

I just read that Cristiano Ronaldo is suspected of raping a girl and I'm hoping he's exonerated and that this doesn't affect his development on the pitch.

Henry had a great game on Tuesday and scored twice. He's now Arsenal's top scorer, but he himself asmits he doesn't consider himself to be a top finisher, saying he lack the killer instinct. Maybe he is comparing himself to the other great Premiership striker of the last few years, Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose scoring record is phenomenal but who seems to offer less creativity to the side but a great deal more graft. Imagine those two playing together.

Adriano was unbelievable playing for Brazil in the Confederation's Cup, but you're right, he hasn't been a huge success in Serie A. Maybe that will change though.

I think Kaka occesionally does shine through for Milan, but perhaps Gattuso needs another defensively minder midfielder alongside him to allow Kaka to concentrate on what he does best- terrorising the opposition defence.

Wayne Rooney is a hell of a player, but he's a right little so and so and he needs to curb he's temper. He's been compared to Pele, Maradona, Shearer and Gascoigne and he shares a few elements of his game with each of them. Pace, skill, strength, a good reader of the game, a great passer and capable of scoring tremendous goals. He is the best thing about United right now- if United can find a decent replacement for Keane (Gattuso and Makele are two more defensively minded players who have been suggested, but Ballack, a different player to Keane, is just as likely to be arriving soon), if United can find a balance on the wings (Giggs is injured again, is Park good enough to replace him), if they find stability in defence, then Rooney can lead them to the Champions' League.

I'll agree with you on Milan's defence, though I think that a couple of young good defenders next to Nesta, still 29, and they can almost get back to their best. Okay, Baresi has long retired and it's about time Maldini does too. Cafu was one of the best players in their two legs against Manchester United, but he's 35 and it's starting to show.

Strangely, who would have expected Liverpool's Jamie Carragher to put in such good performances last year. He was one of the best defenders in the Champion's League, not because he is class, but because he worked so much harder than others and concentrated on his game. Rio Ferdinand has class, but he's just two relaxed and never seems to want to break into a sweat. Now unless you're a Barsei, Stam or Desailly in your prime, you really do need to break into a sweat as a defender. That is why Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were so good at United, and why Tony Adams was Arsenal's most important player during most of his years at the club. Becuase he fought for every ball, chased every opening, tackle after tackle after tackle, he worked untiringly for the team.

Some players lack the craft or are a little short and they need more graft. Beckham is a fantastic passer of the ball but he has few other skills, yet at his peak his workrate is superb. I would not consider Alan Shearer or even Ruud van Nistelrooy as having the skill of Henry, but they chase every chance and, as you said, aren't too proud to score ugly goals. Watch how Beckham, Makele, Keane and Gattuso sweat buckets every week. You need a few players like that in your team. They may not be the best in terms of skill, but their effort catapaults them to the top in terms of effectiveness.

Interestingly I read an interview with Nedved where he said that he never considered himself a skillful player, but he kept working at it. Watching Nedved at his peak was an incredible experience. Zidane to me seemed like more of a luxury to Juve, but Nedved was everything they needed. Zidane looks beautiful when he's dribbling, flicking, passing, shooting, but less so off the ball or when defending. Now if you could pair a worker alongside a artist, like Juventus did for a while with ZZ and Davids, that can be a great pairing.

Finally, there are a few players who seem to have been forgotten by time. Totti was once touted as one of the best in the world, but he had a rotten Euro 2004 and no one seems to care much for him now. I still think Joaquin is a hell of a player, and still young. Then there are other youngsters, not just the ones you and I mentioned, but also Fernando Torres of Atletico Madrid, Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal, Schweinsteiger of Bayern Munich, Chelsea's Arjen Robben, Javier Mascherano at Corinthians.

And I'm still waiting to see Carlos Tevez play in Europe.

[Lafuerza]

Damn! I made a long reply to your post but the board fucked up and I lost ALL the text. So I'll get back to you later in your post LG, maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime I have a question for you: which African and/or Asian stars do you expect to shine next year in Germany?

[LG]

Here are some players I think one could keep an eye on next year in Germany.

FROM AFRICA:

Ghana: Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari
Ivory Coast: Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Bakary Kone
Togo: Emmanuel Adebayor
Tunisia: Hatem Trabelsi, Mehdi Nafti, Clayton, Santos (the last two were born in Brazil)

FROM ASIA:
Japan: Atsushi Yanahisawa, Masashi Oguro, Shinji Ono, Hidetoshi Nakata, shunsuke Nakamura
Iran: Ali Daei, Mehdi Madavikia, Ali Karimi, Hossein Kaebi
Korea: Park Ji-Sung, Lee Young Pyo
Saudi Arabia: Mabrouk Zaid, Sami Al Jaber, Nawaf Al Temyat
Bahrain (if they qualify):A'ala Hubail

If I had to pic just a handful, I'd go for :
Michael Essien, Park Ji-Sung, Mehdi Madavikia,,Sulley Muntari
I suspect Saudi Arabia's Zaid may have his work cut out behind what is usually a terrible Saudi defence.

I think Japan, Korea, Iran and Tunisia will do best out of the above countries. I believe that Iran could be the surprise of the finals.

[Lafuerza]

Ok here it goes:

Re: Joaquin

I've been waiting since the summer of 2002 for Real Madrid to sign him, but until this day my wish hasn't been granted. Of course that's due to Ruiz de Lopera's (Betis' president) behaviour (he asks a great amount of money), but one could blame Real for not being assertive enough, as they spent heeps of money on various (ex-) galacticos.
This is explained by Perez' motives of signing a player as he wants to profit as much as possible from a player, not only on the field but also on merchandising 'n stuff.
That's a sad thing to know, especially if you which Spanish players they missed out on; besides Joaquin also Xabi Alonso, Reyes and Del Horno for instance. And in the meantime, Morientes was kinda forced to move away.
All of this made me fear that Barcelona would grab him out of the clutches of Real, but luckily he stated that if he was to move away from Andalucia, he preferred to wear the all-white shirt.

The fact that he didn't go to a major club in the last few years wasn't half bad, until this year. Betis' run towards the top seems to have ended, as they've yet to prove than they can capture the excellent form of last season. A bad start is an understatement for a club with the ambitions of Betis, with the games vs Barcelona and Chelsea as the greatest disasters.

This makes me worry about Joaquin's career. Sure, he can use Betis'bad season as an argument to move to another club, but where would he go? A player like him deserves to play at nothing less than a European top club, any other club would be like an insult to the man's qualities. Even Real Madrid does not need him like they used to anymore, now that Beckham's been performing well lately and Juanfran is the man to take his place in the near future.
Now I would like to say that he'll always have 'La Selección', but we all know that the performances of the Spanish side at International Tournaments rarely leave the common man satisfied. Luckily he still has plenty of time to show the public what a good player he is. And Hagi was also 29 at the moment he had his 'Glory days', when he became a wellknown player in every player in every corner of the world.

Re: Robben, Torres and Schweinsteiger

All gifted players who're not quite there yet. Robben because of injury problems, but I think that most people already know that he's going to be of the big names in the current and the next decade. Just as long as he doesn't lose the battle with physical troubles; Holland already lost too many good player in that particular battle. Playing a complete season for Chelsea might be a bit too much ask (if your name is not Lampard), but a season without large injuries would be reasonable. If other wingers can survive the duels with their defending opponents, this boy definitely can.

Fernando Torres developmental stagnation has another cause; the ever chaotic happenings at Atletico Madrid. It's no surprise that he's already the most important player of the team, looking at his skills. Even now, when they've finally created a squad that could at least match up to the squads of the late '90s.
Still they're not as consistent as an outsider for the title should be, with games vs Barcelona (well-deserved victory) and Real Madrid (Los Merengues were the boss at Vicente Calderon) but it's Bianchi's first season at the club and at this stage there's plenty of time to turn things round. If that doesn't happen, he should re-think about if being labeled as 'The Raúl of Atletico' is really that much of an honourable title.
Anyway, Atletico already had the greatest victory of this season by wiping away the offer of MSI for El Niño; it's good to now that money can't buy you anything that Torres has given the club and will give in the future.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is not as famous as the abovenamed player but definitely one with a great potential. Problem is that he showed to have this potential a relatively long time ago, and he still isn't of as much value for his teams as he ought to be.
Originally a defensive midfielder, he is now the leftback of Bayern and Germany. Pretty degrading if you ask me. Not because his opponents on the midfield (Demichelis and Frings) but because of the fact that apparently nobody sees that he is the solution for the German defensive problems. He should play in the heart of the back four of Die Mannschaft, and not someone like Mertesacker. Unfortunately he'll never get a chance for that at Bayern, who have Lucio and Ismael as their central defenders, and there too good to leave out the team. Klinsmann however can, and hope I learns someday that Bastian deserves at least the treatment that Lukas Podolski has been given. In these dark ages Germany should cherish the talent they have; especially one that has proven to have the necessary capacities.

Re: Tevez and Mascherano

In my first post I said that I hoped that talented wouldn't be fucked by the football world outside of the chalk lines. One might argue that this has already happened to Tevez and Mascherano, who have been bought by Kia Joorabchian's company MSI. You'll probably know all the details regarding that, so I'll won't go into that any further.

They're transfers to Brazil were surprising, but not necessarily bad. IMO it's a good thing to see that South America is more than just 'Europe's talent market'. What's negative about is that the organisations of the various South American are what we would consider to be rotten, and thats never a good thing for a player who wants to reach his personal best.

On the other hand there are players who're better in a South-American environment than on another continent. Take Edmundo and Marcio Santos for instance. Both if them didn't leave a great impression here, while especially Edmundo had an enormous fanbase in Brazil. While the fanbase didn't go to Europe with them their ego did, creating such high expectations for themselves that they were bound to fail.

Tevez is another one of those players with such a peculiar personality. Blessed with great skills, but his awkward personality is almost of the same size. He's of great value for Corinthians though and is bound to win the Brazilian title with them, but a move to Europe wouldn't go as easy for him as a Salas or a Zanetti. He sort of comes with a manual that very few managers can understand, which makes him risky for any club to sign him.

That just shows how much ones personality can influence ones career; I dare to say that he's maybe even better than Kaka, but the Brazilian would be a better buy overall, because he would fit in more easily, katalysing the development of chemistry in a team. Riquelme already learned that this is not as easy as it sounds at Barcelona, while Rivaldo all in all had a similar experience at Camp Nou.

So until Tevez has toned down a bit I don't think it'll be wise for him to move to (Western) Europe, as it might turn out to be a more negative than positive thing for his career. Bad for a lot of football fans here, but not necessarily for him because Brazil is also a good audience to show Pekermann that he earns a spot in the Argentine national team. Plus, football is all about enjoying the game and given the fear I have that he might lose that in Europe I can live with the fact that he does have it in South America - and with Argentina as a regular on the World Cup, Copa America and maybe even the confederations Cup most football fans will learn to appreciate him anyway.

Masche is in this case the opposite of Tevez as he would be a great addition for any team in the world. Real Madrid was close to signing him (as were the major clubs in England) but MSI was sooner. REALLY unfortunate, as he's exactly what Real Madrid needs. No offense to Gravesen and Pablo Garcia, but Mascherano is worth ten times the money Real has spent on those two. (Just imagine the Joaquin - Mascherano - Xabi Alonso - Reyes midfield......but I'm drifting off. :) )
Anyway, not surprisingly he's also a great addition to the squad of Corinthians and a vital partical on their way to the title.
I'm not saying that he's The Answer or something but fact is that he's one of the best players of a great generation of Argentinean midfielders. He's also not finished with learning yet, that's why I'm hoping that he can end this process by experiencing the football life on the other side of the pond.

Re: African and Asian players

Looking at the players you named I realized something. Some of those players are gods in their own country, but not many of them can live up to their fame. In some cases because of the level of their team (like Trabelsi who's really good at Ajax, but can not be as valuable for Tunisia) and in other cases because of themselves (because they're overrated).

Remember how Senegal and Especially Diouf was praised in the pre WC 2002 weeks? Same goes for other players from African and Asian teams; suddenly Sami Al-Jaber was a great star, or Jung-Won Seo the best player of South-Korea. All set up by the FIFA and other parties who profit from a World Cup, but they're not being real. But for them its better to interest people in those minor teams, which in some cases is well-deserved, but in most cases isn't IMO.

Ali Karimi is a god in Iran but only an apprentice in Germany. Tunisia has a few good players, but they play horrible football. South-Korea went down hill after the not so unfortunate last World Cup campaign. Japan has players playing all over the world, but their post-WC Evolution wasn't exactly a great one. Saudi-Arabia? 3 points for the other teams in the group. Togo and Angola need a miracle to have a succesful campaign, but one could say that by reaching it, it's already a succes. Ghana isn't quite the reflection of the talent it has delivered over the years while Côte d'Ivoire compensates its great attacking line with a bad defense. Bahrein is beyond my knowledge and will probably also be a walk-over if they make it, but their appearance might be good for the WC as it increases the chance that Micheal Jackson 'll give a show there and attract lots of paying people. :)

Though I sound really Euro-centric now, I'm not; most European aren't doing well either. But it's a fact that most European/South American at least have the qualities to make the tournament worthy enough to watch, while it's questionable with the African and Asian segments. Their best team (Cameroon) didn't make it and that's a loss to the WC, meaning they do have a right to be there, if they were able to knock out the better sides on their continent. They've all legitimally (sp?) earned they're place.

Maybe that's where the problem lies: too many teams on a World Cup. The number of 32 teams is way better than the old awful number of 24, but including more teams to a topnotch toournament means adding more teams who're actually not so top-notch. You've already had that problem when there were only 16 teams and now with 32 the problem is even greater. The positive thing about it that Nations have a greater chance to enter the World Cup Finals, but you have to consider what thats really worth if that means that you're bound to get knocked out in the first round. What has Jamaica learned from the World Cup in France for instance? Nothing. They're qualifying results were already worse to begin with and yet they still were allowed to play in the French stadiums.
Now, if they'd earned their place by showing that they were better better than the USA or at least equal to Mexico of '98, they at least could've honestly said to themselves that if they were capable of doing that, reaching the next round is a reasonable prospect. Now Trinidad & Tobago is doomed to suffer the same fate of Jamaica in 1998.

Europe would also be better off with a major cut in qualifying places. Spain made a real mess of their qualifying campaign, but are now still able to qualify. And would they're have been as many draws in France's group if the only the highest ranked country was allowed to qualify? I don't think so.

Of course the halvation will never go through as long as those dinosaurs of the FIFA are still in power. If only they'd realize that it would be better for the football in the long run. No wait.....they do understand! The Women's World Cup also has 16 teams, because adding 16 more would definitely devaluate the status of the tournament. Knowing that, the real reason of the continuation of having 32 World Cup spots must football's greatest enemy (if man wants it to be): money.

Players need good teams to grow, and Africa and Asia don't have enough of those teams. Odds are high that this 'll stay this way in the near future, but Liverpool learned us that miracles haven't vanished from Planet Football yet. That's why I don't expect too much of the teams and their players, but I hope that they can prove me wrong. Especially Côte d'Ivoire, who do have a nice batch of players. Surprises from Individuals is what I'm counting on, but from teams? Maybe in South-Africa, but not now........

Re: You

And to conclude this gibberish, I'd like to say that it's happy to meet a football connaisseur. Nice!

[LG]

Great comments Lafuerza, and thanks for the compliment. I must say the admiration for football knowledge is mutual.

The World Cup next year will test some players on the biggest stage. Tevez won an Olympic gold so it will be interesting to see how he performs in Germany. Cristiano Ronaldo, Robinho and Wayne Rooney, especially, are the other young players who can prove themselves.

There are few club, perhaps, where Tevez would fit in (I think Barcelona might be one of them, considering the way other enigmatic and problematic superstars have succeeded there- Stoichkov, Maradona, Rivaldo). Alternatively, a small club or a sleeping giant might want to pin their hopes on him. Napoli did it with Maradona, Manchester United did it with Cantona, Newcastle came close to succeeding with Shearer. But Denilson, once the most expensive player in the world, needed a long time to prove he was anywhere near the player that Betis thought they were getting when they broke the bank in the hope he would turn them into champions.

As for the Robben, he was quite a revelation at the Euros, but I agree that he's not quite there yet and he's been troubled by injuries. Joaquin was at WC 2002 in Asia when he missed the penalty that cost Spain dearly, despite having a very good game overall.

Joaquin would probably become even better at Real, if he were to move there, and if he were able to keep at spot in the starting 11 (with so many superstars in the team, this may be difficult). Personally, I'm not a big fan of Real (though I respect their history, I'd rather be watching Barca), so I'd rather he moves somewhere else and I also believe that playing every week will do him good.

Since we're talking about younger players about Freddy Adu? What do you think of him? After all that fuss, he hasn't really proven anything, it seems. He is still very young though, and to be honest I haven't seen him play, but do you think he can fulfill his promise?

And as for the Asian and African players, it's tough to say. Maybe one or two teams will cause a minor upset (I don't expect any to be semifinalists though), and I believe that perhaps two or three of the players I suggested will prove themselves worthy of the big stage. Some unknown names may give good performances, prompting big clubs to buy them. As we have seen, they do not always continue to impress, after their transfers.

WC 2002 caused a great many surprises (South Korea, Japan, Senegal and Turkey provided most of these). I honestly did not expect Brazil to win it (they only just managed to qualify for it, after all) and I was think there were better teams than Germany. Euro 2004 provided us with one major surprise (that of Greece winning it by playing football that was more efficient but less exciting to watch than that of Portugal and the Czech Republic) and as a result, I feel football is stagnating a little, with defensive play being to blame (look at the Premiership now). It will be up to Brazil and others, like the new Portuguese generation, Holland, Argentina etc, to provide that spark again and I hope they do.


Roll on WC 2006 and let's have the beautiful game come alive again.

[Lafuerza]

Hmmm. It's true that problematic superstars were popular there, but if they really fitted in is debatable. Rivaldo turned out to be a great sign in his first 2 years, but in his last two years he did not really benefit the gameplay of the Catalonian club. He was famous for his brilliant actions, but also for the things that he neglected to do on the pitch. And in the end, he turned his back on the club because he didn't want to work with van Gaal anymore - while van Gaal was the coach under who Rivaldo had his best days in Barcelona. (months before van Gaal came, he already had his doubts on signing a new contract with Barca, but that news gave him the final push.)
Stoichkov was indeed enigmatic and of great value for the club in his first term at Barcelona, but was especially important because of the role Cruyff gave him - not acting like the notorious goalgetter he was for CSKA Sofia. When Cruyff wasn't there anymore he lost that value and seemed to be a shadow of what he once was - besides his injuries one of the reasons that he was no longer a key player under Robson and van Gaal.
Of course that led him to despise van Gaal and he later even kinda demonize him when Barcelona was going through one of their yearly troubled periods. He's still very popular with the socios though, but all in all Cruyff was responsible for that; if he wasn't there, I doubt that he would have a better career than for instance JPP or Darko Pancev. But that's all my opinion of course.
Maradona often showed his qualities in his two years in Spain, but hasn't left very much to remember (besides the famous clash with Goycoechea).
And it turned out to be insufficient to convince Josip Nuñez (Barcelona's president at the time) that he was worth more than a load of dollars coming from Napoli. Of course he'd learn that he made a big mistake 2 years later, but in his defense it was true that Maradona in the period 1982-1985 wasn't the Maradona of the years before and after. Logical in a way (because every talent's entitled to his own dip.), but it did happen; causing him to be a player of lesser 'greatness' in the history of Barcelona than for example Laszlo Kubala.

Regarding what you said about sleeping giants: they're all good examples of sleeping giants who were awakened but also the signs of what is required to be revived in such a way as ManU, Napoli and Newcastle. They've all had a long way to the top, in contrast to that what most teams try to do; aiming their policy on instant success. True, the abovenamed teams also tried to do that (Corrado Ferlaino was aiming for the title almost ten years before Maradona came to San Paolo) but at least they kept, or rather did not destroy the foundation they made on their way to the top. And that's a thing most teams do nowadays, more than ever since the changed transfer rulings. Small clubs are often even rendered unable to even think about it, choosing money as the greatest priority in order to survive. It's even like this in the Primera Division and the Serie A, where most clubs are haunted by debts and aren't afraid to sell a good player against the will of the clubs fans. That's why they're very harsh to players who don't want to sign a new contract (because that means no $$$$ if a club should pop for them one day). Mista and Davids already had to suffer because of that. And that means chaos for a clubs continuity, which is rarely good for a player who wants to reach the highest of the highest. José Mari and Riquelme can tell you all about it.

But going back to Barcelona; I don't think that's an option for Tevez. Not because I don't want him to go there but because they've got Ronaldinho, Messi and Giovanni Dos Santos for his position and he would not come out good as a striker or a winger - that would be like Rivaldo all over again. I do think that Spain's the best country for him to go to; it's of all European competitions most close to the South-American environments he's been thus far.

Enough about Tevez, let's talk about Adu. What can I say about the kid. I don't see him play every week, but I did see him play a fair bunch of times and that was never impressive. Looking at his age it's not something to worry about but looking at the way he's being hyped it is. Moreover, it will remain something to worry about if this keeps up, because he'll never be able to live up to his constructed reputation. Besides, the Americans should know that while it's possible to construct a team it's impossible to construct a player (until the time that robots are allowed on the field). And the greatest footballers have always let their feet do the talking, and not marketing around it (well, at least before they became famous now it's almost impossible not be marketed when you're someone like Deco or something). And his feet haven't really spoken yet haven't they? Doubt that they will too.
Players like Messi and Jean Carlos Chera are have also participated in procedures that I'm not quite fond of, but at least they steer(ed) pretty much clear of the press in their days in the youth teams, giving them the time to develop before they already have to endure the pressure of the people that demand of them to become a world class player.

Then the African/Asian players. Yes, it happens often that players that were praised in the World Cup often do not impress afterwards when they're transferred to a greater club. Caused by many reasons, but scouting is the greatest mistake. It has happened too many times that acquired players' scouting rapports were based on a single or short amounts of highlights rather than looking at the whole package. Sometimes it created a whole exodus (Turkish players everywhere in Europe after Galatasaray's UEFA Cup victory, same with Ukrainian players after Dinamo Kiev's successess in the Champions League). Dangerous for clubs and for players, because clubs are often left disappointed with the performances of a player who hasn't been thoroughly studied enough to make sure that he would give a quality-impulse to a squad and players aren't appreciated for their real qualities (while Mustapha Hadji was Morocco's most exciting player in 1998, his performances were not constant: a thing that the people of Sporting Lisbon had already learned while he was playing for them. Overall their best player was Tahar El Khalej, who was already 30 at the time but ripe enough to trade Benfica for a greater club where he could still have a great career in his 30s. It didn't happen and he only managed to reach a greater competition with a smaller club - Charlton Athletic. But if he went to Deportivo instead of Hadji, he could've stepped in at the right time and replace Mauro Silva and leave a greater impression at Riazor than Hadji did. Deportivo still had a good time under Irureta though, but El Khalej's career was crushed.).
Some players (and thus clubs) do profit from it though and I hope that this will also occur in the next summer. While they may improve their careers, I don't expect them to grow out to be the superstar they want to be.

And when you say that the quality of football is stagnating I agree, but looking at how the game developed over the years it's not surprising. The beautiful game is more and more turning into a game when it's all about winning and aesthetics have a minor priority. The cause of that is not only the impact of the game (which even cost the lives of many players due to bad results) but also money. With those factors gaining a great influence throughout the history, it has led to the current situation. Not a bad thing in itself, as it pushes people to find a way how a victory can be accomplished and eventually causes an evolution in the sport as a whole.
Nottingham Forest and Herbert Chapman did this in a good way, but especially in the 2nd half of the 20th century clubs started to look for the 'easy way out', meaning neglecting the aesthetic value of a teams gameplay of that's too risky for the coach's plans to achieve a victory.
Defensive football is as old as football itself, but when Helenio Herrera polluted Italy with it (While he did use 'normal' tactics in his time at Barcelona) and it grew out to a 'worldwide disease'.
But in most countries people adjusted to it, while only Brazil and Holland have always remained exceptions. Holland, because of the legacy of the great seventies causing us to see attacking football tactics as a must for our national team. Brazil mostly because of their players (they've played with defensive accents for a long while, like in 1994.). But every other country that is willing to rate offensive football higher than defensive football is OK in my book. All I can do is sit and watch; hoping for those teams to be more successfull than the teams who have more defensive accents in their tactics. That's the only way to turn things round. In that case there's still a lot of work to do, but if Argentina has brushed its defensive past off its shoulders (due to a greater choice of offensive players who're good enough for the National Team) it might not (relatively) take too long before others will follow suit. Some will never learn (Italy and the smaller countries who try diminish their defeat), but I'm 'praying' the majority will.

Getting back to the main topic: France Football has concluded a list of 50 players who can be named European footballer of the year. As earlier said, I don't have real favorite. Ronaldinho and Rooney are the most popular players by far, but even then it's hard to predict who's going to win it. Who's your favorite for this award?

(Edited for forgotten words. Surely forgot to 'repair' a few sentences here and there, but I hope it's understandable.).

[Chica]

michael owen is hot tho so hes the best player

[LG]

Maybe we need a new topic then Chica: Who's the hottest footballer in the world?

Personally I'm not into guys, but even I have to admit that David Beckham looks pretty damn good.

I hear Man United's Cristiano Ronaldo is quite a pin up boy too. As for Owen, I think he's a short guy with a flat head who can run really fast. Nothing more. Then again, I take it you support Newcastle.

[blckhaze]

well my vote goes for Ronaldihno, with Christiano Ronaldo close second. Ronaldihno can playe striker or midfielder, and has great skill with with both feet. you cant give him a shot at a free kick cause he'll make yo u pay Christiano is a great wingman and is a threat to score or assist every time he touches the ball. he also very good at set pieces. hes only second cause hes not as good with his left foot as ronaldihno, but he can be as recently turned 21, and has a LONG career ahead of him.

[LG]

Another few things to consider , then:

Who will be the top player at this world cup, who will be top scorer and who will disappoint.

I think Rooney will not be fit enough to impress even if he goes to the World Cup. Ronaldinho should be impressive, Messi is a rising star, Cristiano Ronaldo can make a mark and maybe Robinho too. I look forward to seeing Fernando Torres play. I also expect Gabriel Heinze to impress.

Others who can impress: Vonlathen, German youngsters Podolsky and Schweinsteiger.

My money for top scorer would be on Adriano, van Nistelrooy or, if his team do well, Schevchenko. Or perhaps someone like Vonlathen (considering that beating Togo should be quite possible) or Torres (Spain's group include Saudi Arabia). Or could Baros repeat his Euro 2004 brilliance.

Some of the aging stars of football could make a hash of it this time. I'm not really expecting much of Figo. David Beckham seems to be getting worse all the time. And frankly I've just about had enough of watching Roberto Carlos and his substandard defending and the "Carlos-lite" Silvestre who is more or less okay for United but often wincingly bad for France. Liabilities, both of them, as are goalkeeprs Dida, Barthez and David James.

I also think that Peter Crouch is shit.