ESPN FC Top 100 for 2018

i_bleed_blaugrana

i_bleed_blaugrana

Senior Member
Not sure if anyone saw this or not but this is ESPN’s list they made after the Ballon d’Or. If you haven’t seen it yet, here is the link: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/25401799/espn-fc-100-2018

So I had my issues with their list and then decided to make my own list. Thought I’d post it here just to hear others take on this.

Some controversial takes ahead...Fight me. :suarez1:


GK:

1. Jan Oblak
2. David De Gea
3. Alisson Becker
4. Marc-Andre ter Stegen
5. Gianluigi Buffon
6. Ederson
7. Keylor Navas
8. Thibaut Courtois
9. Manuel Neuer
10. Samir Handonovic

RB:

1. Joshua Kimmich
2. Kieran Trippier
3. Dani Carvajal
4. Kyle Walker
5. Thomas Meunier
6. Sergi Roberto
7. Alessandro Florenzi
8. Joao Cancelo
9. Sime Vrsaljko
10. Djibril Sidibe

LB:

1. Jordi Alba
2. David Alaba
3. Marcelo
4. Alex Sandro
5. Benjamin Mendy
6. Filipe Luis
7. Aleksandar Kolarov
8. Marcos Alonso
9. Alex Telles
10. Andrew Robertson

CB:

1. Giorgio Chellini
2. Diego Godin
3. Samuel Umtiti
4. Rafael Varane
5. Virgil Van Dijk
6. Mats Hummels
7. Vincent Kompany
8. Cesar Azpilicueta
9. Toby Alderweireld
10. Matthijs de Ligt

DM:

1. Sergio Busquets
2. N’Golo Kante
3. Casemiro
4. Nemanja Matic
5. Julian Weigl
6. Fabinho
7. Eric Dier
8. Daniele De Rossi
9. Fernandinho
10. Allan

B2B CM/Deep Lying Playmakers:

1. Luka Modric
2. Kevin De Bruyne
3. Ivan Rakitic
4. Toni Kroos
5. Koke
6. Miralem Pjanic
7. Paul Pogba
8. Jorginho
9. Saul Nunez
10. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic

AM:

1. Eden Hazard
2. Christian Eriksen
3. David Silva
4. Coutinho
5. Isco
6. Marco Reus
7. Dele Alli
8. Xherdan Shaqiri
9. James Rodriguez
10. Henrik Mkhitaryan

Wingers:


1. Mo Salah
2. Kylian Mbappe
3. Sadio Mane
4. Gareth Bale
5. Neymar
6. Leroy Sane
7. Franck Ribery
8. Ousmane Dembele
9. Lorenzo Insigne
10. Raheem Sterling

Forwards:

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Luis Suarez
4. Antoine Greizmann
5. Sergio Aguero
6. Roberto Firmino
7. Robert Lewandowski
8. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
9. Nabil Fekir
10. Thomas Muller

Coaches:

1. Pep Guardiola
2. Jurgen Klopp
3. Mauricio Pochettino
4. Zinedine Zidane
5. Diego Simeone
6. Gareth Southgate
7. Maurizio Sarri
8. Joachim Low
9. Maximiliano Allegri
10. Roberto Martinez

I didn’t like how they grouped the MF and FW department so I did it my own way. I ranked based off of current form, importance to their team and influence on the general play. Not just goals, assists and trophies. Coaches with looking at their tactical ingenuity relative to the squads they have had.
 
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shadows

shadows

Member
George_Costanza said:
So Valverde is not even top 10 best manager list :lol:

No MATS is shocking and good to see Matthijs de Ligt in top 10 CB list.
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and yet Pochettino makes the list ..No Roberto Martinez either...what a stupid list... David De Gea no 1 goal keeper..Sergi Roberto, Pique and Busquets in the top 10 ..I am not sure what the folks at ESPN were smoking when they made this shit up :D

[MENTION=10166]i_bleed_blaugrana[/MENTION] Disagree with the coaches part.. Valverde, atleast for results sake should be on that list..so should Deschamps, Also Roberto Martinez should be ahead on that list as well... Pochettino should not make any lists until his team wins something noteworthy.. Plus Busquets at No 1..seriously??
 
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jamrock

jamrock

Senior Member
I never understood de gea being the best keeper in the world argument, it's definitely oblak right now.
 
i_bleed_blaugrana

i_bleed_blaugrana

Senior Member
shadows said:
and yet Pochettino makes the list ..No Roberto Martinez either...what a stupid list... David De Gea no 1 goal keeper..Sergi Roberto, Pique and Busquets in the top 10 ..I am not sure what the folks at ESPN were smoking when they made this shit up :D

[MENTION=10166]i_bleed_blaugrana[/MENTION] Disagree with the coaches part.. Valverde, atleast for results sake should be on that list..so should Deschamps, Also Roberto Martinez should be ahead on that list as well... Pochettino should not make any lists until his team wins something noteworthy.. Plus Busquets at No 1..seriously??
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First off, how can you be a culé and not think Sergio Busquets is the best pivot in the world? Like I’m not knocking Kante at all, he’s a phenomenonal player and probably more than anyone else the reason why France won the WC but overall, he doesn’t dictate games on his own like Busi can. Perfect example was against City, he was ran ragged in the first half, constantly turning the ball over instead of being able to move the ball forward. His goal was good but that was mainly Hazard. He’s #2 for a reason and he’ll be a lock once Busi declines but that hasn’t happened quite yet, imho.

With the coaches, might have been a bit harsh on Valverde but why him and Dechampes are excluded is relative to the squads they have, the coaches listed have done more with the squads they have, play better football or both. That’s why I rate Pochettino so highly; given the resources he has had and the squad he had, he’s done amazing and have them playing a style that only more expensive teams play in that league. He’s a great coach and deserves his spot imho.
 
shadows

shadows

Member
i_bleed_blaugrana said:
First off, how can you be a culé and not think Sergio Busquets is the best pivot in the world? Like I’m not knocking Kante at all, he’s a phenomenonal player and probably more than anyone else the reason why France won the WC but overall, he doesn’t dictate games on his own like Busi can. Perfect example was against City, he was ran ragged in the first half, constantly turning the ball over instead of being able to move the ball forward. His goal was good but that was mainly Hazard. He’s #2 for a reason and he’ll be a lock once Busi declines but that hasn’t happened quite yet, imho.

With the coaches, might have been a bit harsh on Valverde but why him and Dechampes are excluded is relative to the squads they have, the coaches listed have done more with the squads they have, play better football or both. That’s why I rate Pochettino so highly; given the resources he has had and the squad he had, he’s done amazing and have them playing a style that only more expensive teams play in that league. He’s a great coach and deserves his spot imho.
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Well sometimes you`ve to call a spade a spade..... Busquets was the best pivot in the world (emphasis on was)..Right now and for quite sometime, he has been a liability in our midfield, makes way too many mistakes and worse, is an automatic starter... For this year, he is no where near the best in that position... Just like Pique, he is now a problem and its time our board acts on it by....It has nothing to do with being a Barca fan..I appreciate what he has done for us greatly but I think he is at a point where he should ideally be moving on to another club or accept being a sub ...

Also with your coaches analogy, why is Southgate there.. Or does England play beautiful football now? Also, with Löw and 2018.. WC group stage exit on a relatively easy group, Nations league etc..Neither good football nor efficient winning....
 
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Ursegor

Ursegor

World Champion
List is shit and PL-biased. When do you know a list is PL-biased? When it has De Gea on top. But regardless, look at the striker list. 8 out of 10 are 30+ years old. Only Icardi and Kane are younger than 30 and I wouldn't want either as a Suarez replacement. Atrocious. CM is equally bad. Kante, Kroos, Pogba are 3 of the top 5 midfielders these days? lol

Football has declined a lot. Was evident during the WC.
 
i_bleed_blaugrana

i_bleed_blaugrana

Senior Member
shadows said:
Well sometimes you`ve to call a spade a spade..... Busquets was the best pivot in the world (emphasis on was)..Right now and for quite sometime, he has been a liability in our midfield, makes way too many mistakes and worse, is an automatic starter... For this year, he is no where near the best in that position... Just like Pique, he is now a problem and its time our board acts on it by....It has nothing to do with being a Barca fan..I appreciate what he has done for us greatly but I think he is at a point where he should ideally be moving on to another club or accept being a sub ...

Also with your coaches analogy, why is Southgate there.. Or does England play beautiful football now? Also, with Löw and 2018.. WC group stage exit on a relatively easy group, Nations league etc..Neither good football nor efficient winning....
Click to expand...

I hear your criticisms of Busi. He does struggle with consistency sometimes but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s a liability. He’s an automatic starter for a reason and his importance to the team is demonstrated anytime we don’t play him. Even on his worst days, he’s still doing things better than 95%!of the pivots in the world, and when is on, he’s unplayable for me.

With Southgate, no offense to this English squad, they have some good players but they aren’t world beaters on their own. Southgate found a tactical system that was ingenious and got the best out of his squad. Overall, I’d argue England played better football in the WC than France did. I had a weird feeling they’d do well but I don’t think a lot of people had England making it to the semis this year, and for that, Southgate deserves credit.

With Low, there were many reasons for their shock exit. It’s happened to the last three winners and that alone shouldn’t be held against him. It’s the only time they haven’t made at least the semi-finals under him. So his past success and the quality of football Germany play are why I put him in my top 10.
 
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