The 2008 Soccerlens All-Star XI – The Best Footballers of 2008
Ronaldo, Messi and 9 more - the 2008 Soccerlens XI
For those of us who are consumed by football every year brings new thrills and disappointments, a million what ifs and if onlys and ultimately a feeling of elation, satisfaction or despair, depending on where our unfailing loyalties lie. We laugh and cry, argue and debate, get over-emotional and sometimes regret what we say but what the hell! We’re all in it for the emotional roller-coaster ride in the first place, aren’t we?
If you support Chelsea you’ll be full of what ifs but optimistic. Manchester United supporters will be ecstatic but anxious. Liverpool: forever hopeful but maybe more so than usual. Arsenal and Spurs: WTF! Stoke and Hull: what a ride! Leeds: ‘I swear I didn’t run over a black cat’. Newcastle: isn’t it called the black-country? Manchester City: harem scarem.
And abroad…..Barcelona: on the brink. Real Madrid: 2 in a row, now for Europe! Inter: the Jose factor. Juve: past glories beckon. Milan: rebuild, and fast! Roma:WTF! Lyon: tiresome without CL success. Bayern: back and biting! Celtic: home thoughts, never from abroad.
Most of us judge each year’s success on where the trophies end up and, by extension, the player awards tend to be dominated by those that play for the year’s ‘winners’. God (insert Allah, Buddha, Ganesh, or whatever your personal choice is, if any) forbid we would all ever come close to agreeing on what the team of the year is but, unfortunately, I have been given the hospital pass this year and now must expose myself to ridicule, deserved or otherwise.
In order to establish some sort of a framework rough guidelines for the exercise are appropriate. And here they are. The ‘rules’ are set by me so don’t bother disputing them!
- Players are judged on performance and contribution at both club and international level. 2008 having been a EUFA Championship and Olympic year, this obviously has some bearing (Spain+, England-).
- Players already established as outstanding may not be chosen on the basis of a relatively ordinary year or having missed long periods through injury.
- Players who win the big awards nationally and internationally are very likely to be in with a chance, unless I decide otherwise!
- Players with the best stats for their position should obviously be in the frame but there are clearly other factors.
- There can NEVER be a perfect list so all contributions are welcome and, indeed, this is the whole point of the article.
- Bias should be kept to a minimum when voicing your opinions…….sorry! I’m now facing into a strong wind and pissing hard!
So here goes. My team of 2008 is:
.
Goalkeeper
Petr Cech (Chelsea): Excellent keeper but ultimately won nothing in 2008 and just fails to get across the line. (no pun intended)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus): Read Cech.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid): La Liga and Euro 2008 winner. Three clean sheets in the knock-out stages of the Euros, including 2 decisive penalty saves against Italy in the QF.
Edwin Van Der Sar (Manchester United): PL and CL double and probably his last great season. Excellent!
Pepe Reina (Liverpool): Winner of the Golden Gloves Award but staying fit helps win the GGs and still 2nd choice to Casillas for Spain. But a quality keeper.
Winner: It has to be Iker Casillas this year. No dispute!
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Defenders
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United): PL and CL winner and probably at his peak in a team that had an excellent defensive record.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United): PL and CL winner. Ruthlessly efficient.
Patrice Evra (Manchester United): Attacking excellence combined with quality defence and top honours.
John Terry (Chelsea): A hairs breath away from both PL and CL. Penalty miss deducts no points at all.
Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea): As for Terry. Unfortunately injury prone, but excellent.
Gael Clichy (Arsenal): Outstanding in 2007/8 season. The odd blip in 2008/9 so far.
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal): Brilliant young player in his position. His injury cost Arsenal dearly.
Jose Boswinga (Chelsea): Sought by many following his performances for Porto and Portugal and ended up at Chelsea. Great player, especially going forward. Lots more to come.
Daniel Alves (Barcelona): On all the lists last year. Can’t be ignored.
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich): Solid and excellent going forward. Can play left or right. In the UEFA list of players of the tournament Euro 2008.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid): Outstanding season with Real Madrid and seems to be most peoples favourite choice at RB. Noticeably absent from the Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
Carles Puyol (Barcelona): Aging, but vital to Barca last season, Euro 2008 winner with Spain and on EUFA’s best player list.
Winners: Boswinga, Ferdinand, Puyol, Evra
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Midfielders
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool): Despite no honours you can’t leave him out. Still the driving force at Anfield.
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool): Established himself as one of the best DMs in the business and won Olympic Gold with Argentina.
Michael Essien (Chelsea): Outstanding in Chelsea’s close call. Unfortunately injured for most of the current season.
Michael Ballack (Chelsea): Read Essien. Possibly Chelsea’s most influential player in the run in last season and in the UEFA squad of the tournament at Euro 2008.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea): Defines Chelsea. Reliable, consistent and a midfield goal machine. Weathered personal tragedy to drive his team so close last season. Has also held it together while so many have been injured this season.
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal): Keeps getting better and the jewel in the crown amongst Arsenal’s wealth of young talent. Outstanding!
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United): PL and CL winner and just about every player award available. 42 goals, what more can you say?
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan): Quality player but out of the winners circle for club and country this year.
Rafael Van Der Vaart (Real Madrid): A surprise when he went to Hamburg but talent can’t hide and there is much more to come at Real. Exciting wide player with some spectacular goals.
Ricardo Quaresma (Inter Milan): Constantly the subject of transfer speculation before finally leaving Porto for Inter. Has excelled in a free roaming role.
Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich): Best left winger around at present and has started the season brilliantly with Bayern. German Player of the Year award. Much coveted.
Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid): Can be beauty and the beast in the same game. Influential, quality and a real force at Euro 2008.
Marcos Senna (Villarreal): Brazilian/Spanish talent who has been excellent for club and country this year.
Xavier Hernández Creus (Xavi) (Barcelona): Outstanding defensive midfielder who was in the EUFA team of the tournament for Euro 2008.
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona): Versatile attacking midfielder. Another of the Spanish class of 2008 included in the UEFA squad of the tournament.
Winners: Ronaldo, Sneijder, Lampard, Ribery
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Forwards
Fernando Torres (Liverpool): Prodigious talent with 32 goals last season. Injury prone in the current campaign but sure to impress. Winner Euro 2008 and in EUFA best team of the tournament.
Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais): Too good to last much longer at Lyon. French Player of the Year. Could be one of the greats.
David Villa (Valentia): Refuses to leave Valentia for now but 80 goals in 143 appearances says it all. Another in the UEFA list of Euro 2008’s best and the tournaments top scorer.
Francesco Totti (Roma): Dogged by injury but his absence as much as his presence for Roma says everything about how influential he is. Great talent!
Didier Drogba (Chelsea): Good first half to the year but has blotted his copybook of late and has been too injury prone to be a genuine contender.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan): Somewhat enigmatic striker with 44 goals in 85 games for Inter. Intuitive and spectacular on his day.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona): Led Argentina to Olympic glory. Potential to be one of the ‘greats’ of the game. Stands out by a mile even at a club like Barcelona.
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaka) (AC Milan): Quieter year than in 2007 but remains a great talent, the envy of many.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid): Excellent goal scoring record for Real and a decent contribution at Euro 2008. Still a force.
Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich): Prominent star in the rising Bayern team and key striker for Germany. 44 goals in 87 appearances for his country.
Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St. Petersburg): Talk of the town at Euro 2008 and a key figure in Zenit’s UEFA Cup win this year. Coveted by many but yet to move. Has he been a flash in the pan?
Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid): New talent who has impregnated Maradona’s daughter (that’s not why he’s on the list but at least it shows he knows how to find the target!) Olympic winner and a growing influence at Atletico Madrid.
Winners: Messi, Torres
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So there it is! Undoubtedly the best 11 players from 2008! It’s a very fine line that separates many of the choices. While the exercise is aimed at selecting the best individual players this year it is also interesting to reflect on how they would combine as a team.
So we have two of the best attacking full-backs around, both of whom can also defend well. Two centre backs with bundles of experience and contrasting but complimentary styles. A top keeper. Two outstanding wingers who can both take on players at pace, come inside and score goals. Two central midfielders with a good balance between grit and finesse. Both can score goals and defend well.
And finally, the mouth watering prospect of Lionel Messi feeding Torres down the channels and inside the defenders where Torres excels at ‘coming off the shoulder’. Or how about the two double teaming in the box as Ribery or Ronaldo wreak havoc out wide and provide the ammunition? Enough to give any defence nightmares!
Yes, all in all I believe the selected 11 would make an outstanding side.
So I’m now off to a dark corner to continue the argument with myself (surely Rooney was worth a mention? No he wasn’t…Yes he was! etc.) and await the inevitable Rio v Terry and Gerrard v Lampard fiasco.
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The 2008 Soccerlens All-Star XI
GK: Iker Casillas
RB: Jose Bosingwa
CB: Rio Ferdinand
CB: Carlos Puyol
LB: Patrice Evra
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo
CM: Wesley Sneijder
CM: Frank Lampard
LM: Frank Ribery
ST: Lionel Messi
ST: Fernando Torres
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Do you disagree with this list? What are you picks for the Best XI of 2008?
I agree with everything up until striker. In my opinion, Villa deserves it more than Torres.
GK: I.Casillas
RB: S.Ramos
CB: R.Ferdinand
CB: C.Puloy
LB: P.Lahm
RM: C.Ronaldo
CM: C.Fabregas
CM: Xavi
LM: M.Rodriguez
ST: F.Torres
ST: L.Messi
A couple of changes, but nice pics yourself Condell.
I am a die hard Manchester United fan but I’m sorry, Patrice Evra was not better this past year than Philip Lahm. Also, Lampard and Sneijder were not as big a Michael Ballack was for both Chelsea and Germany. Other than that, I have no complaint with the selections.
agree with all exept i’d swap lampard for senna or fabregas.
Well done, but once the ball passes your half of midfield, you would have no one to stop them until they reach your backline. Today, I don’t think a team can compete without a Mascherano type player.
I would replace Sneijder & Lampard (not sure why he is there-awful at international level)with Xavi & Mascherano.
I also think Evra is a much better winger than defender. You are a bit Premiership heavy for me.
GK: Iker Casillas
RB: Maicon
CB: John Terry
CB: Carlos Puyol
LB: Philip Lahm
DM: Javier Mascherano
CM: Xavi
R&LM: (wherever the hell he wants): Cristiano Ronaldo
AMC: Lionel Messi
ST: Sergio Aguero
ST: Fernando Torres
gk:iker casillas
rb:maicon
cb:terry
cb:puyol
lb:evra
rm:lampard
cm:xavi
lm:ribiery
rwf:messi
st:david villa
lwf:cristiano ronaldo
gk:iker casillas
rb: ramos
cb: carvallo
cb: puyol
lb: lahm
rm: lampard
cm: gerard
cm: xavi
lm: ronaldo
st: torres
st: messi
I’m not sure which Xavi you are watching, but the one that plays for Spain & Barca & wone best player @ Euro 08 is not a defensive midfielder but rather THE midfield maestro for the Spain side that won the Euros & for Barca who are doing quite nicely at the moment. To select Wesley Sjneider over him is an out and out joke. Even a remedial football fan couldn’t make this gaffe, personally I’d put him above Ribery (flop @ Euro 08 as was Ronaldo but obviously both had great club years) & Lampard (who coudn’t even get his country into Euro 08 but also had a very good club campaign but while a scorer is so wasteful with so many chances). Once again lack of ego & “Me First” shoeboating takes precedence over a player who can literally dictate the pace & style of the whole team. Xavi as defensive Midfielder, that just kills me….. Have you even watched this man play a single game???????
Nice selection but i think villa deserves a place in the team, probably to start messi from the bench. Also you will need a makalele type stuff to anchor affairs in the midfield as the team might turn ordinary when caught on the break.
Good team apart from central midfield. Sneijder maybe but Lampard? wtf? surely your team needs a holding/combative midfielder…one of Senna, Mascherano, de Rossi, Flamini, Essien maybe? i wouldnt even select Lampard as the attacking/creative midfielder over Xavi, Gerrard, Iniesta, Kaka, Cesc…this list could go on and on…
Nathaniel: I agree, he is much more than a defensive midfield player and I’ve seen him play many times. My source was the following:
“Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980 in Terrassa), commonly known as Xavi is a Spanish footballer who plays in central or defensive midfielder for Barcelona.”
You’re right but don’t hang me for the oversight!
He would be an excellent addition to the team. I just thought Sjneider was outstanding this year but fine lines and all that. (You don’t have a Real v Barca thing going on do you?)
Including that, great suggestions all round and thanks to Mike and Roux for pointing out my oversight on Maicon. He was certainly worth a mention.
Really really tough. I would go for a 4-1-2-3 with…
GK: I. Casillas
RB: S. Ramos
CB: R. Ferdinand
CB: N. Vidic
LB: P. Evra
CM: Xavi
RCM: S. Gerrard
LCM: F. Lampard
RF: L. Messi
LF: C. Ronaldo
CF: F. Torres
You may find the inclusion of Vidic cotentious, but I felt the playing of Ferdinand without Vidic didn’t make sense – both played as well as each other in 07/08, and form a formidable partnership.
RB position was tough! Ramos gets my vote purely on his Euro Cup and Liga trophy haul last season, along with his undoubted talent. However, as of this season, Maicon, Dani Alves and Jose Bosingwa have all superseded him. Difficult indeed as all have their individual, unique strengths…
With a 3-man midfield, its hard to argue against Xavi, Lampard and Gerrard. All 3 have the capacity to drop back and be the holding player in a 4-1-2-3 formation whilst, at the same time, provide a slide-rule assist, long range shot or a timely burst into the penalty box playing as the two men playing behind the forwards. I feel what may be missing is a tenacious defensive midfielder, perhaps in the mould of Javier Mascherano.
In a 3-man forward line it has to Messi, Ronaldo and Torres. Ronaldo surely gets into the team based on a trident of talent, a virtuoso 42-goal performance, and club honours winning both the Premier and Champions Leagues. Comfortable on either flank, I would put him on the left of the forward line.
This frees the right flank position for Messi – the most talented footballer on the planet right now. In his natural club position he can cut in from the right and either hit a left-footed shot, or make for the by-line and make his trademark cut back for the centre forward to score.
That centre forward, on the basis of 07/08, has to be Fernando Torres. A 32-goal club campaign, as well as Euro Cup honours with Spain makes him a great candidate. I seriously considered David Villa for this position before settling on Torres. He outperformed him in Euro 2008, and is among La Liga’s top scorers this season. However, to be the lone centre forward, aerial ability and physical strength is required alongside the pace an agility Villa provides. Fernando Torres is the perfect man for this.
If we were talking about 08/09 only though, Samuel Eto’o would definitely be the centre forward in a Best-XI. Anyone watching La Liga will know that he is playing out of this world right now…
I think Rooney should be a striker in here!!
GK: Iker Casillas (success for club and country)
RB: Philipp Lahm (he can play this position anyway)
CB: Carles Puyol
CB: Rio Ferdinand (what a great year for this guy)
LB: Patrice Evra
RMF: Cristiano Ronaldo
CMF: Xavi (this guy is so underrated)
CMF: Michael Ballack (when healthy, almost indispensable)
LMF: Franck Ribery (what a steal for Bayern!)
FW: Lionel Messi
FW: Karim Benzema (I pick Karim over Torres because Benzema CARRIED Lyon all the way)
3 from Spain, 3 from France, 2 from Germany, 1 each from England, Portugal and Argentina. Great balance for a team.
Torres isn’t even the best striker in his own country…
Villa over Torres, Villa proved he can do it against top keepers in Euro08
Spot on with your midfielders.
I also would say Lahm over Evra.
Spot on with your Keeper selection, and reasoning.
I’m going to preface everything I say by pointing out that I do not follow Bayern Munich or the German Bundesliga. I watched Philip Lahm at the Euros and I thought he was extremely overrated. He was consistently exposed on the right flank, especially in the Croatia match where they had to move him to the left in the second half. Teams kept attacking his side and he was not doing a good job dealing with the constant pressure. I couldn’t believe Lahm made the Euro 2008 Starting XI, and I think it had a lot to do with his reputation, his team’s advancement, and the sick goal he scored against Turkey (which was amazing). I’d also mention the miscommunication between him and Lehmann that led to Spain’s first goal in the final, but that could happen to any great defender.
Again, I haven’t seen his club form, but I can’t help but think that his dynamic debut for Germany in the World Cup has colored everything that he’s done since then and given him a lofty reputation that is undeserved. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Lahm is one of the best defenders in the world.
my fav player are:
-lampard
-gerard
-ronaldinho
-torres
-messi
GK:Casillas
RB:maicon
CB:vidic
CB:Puyol
LB:evra
RW:ronaldo
CM:gerrard
CM:lampard
LW:messi
ST:villa
ST:torres
EVRA over VIDIC? You’re KIDDING!!
Evra is a monster!! Good list BD, but I do have to agree with some of the previous comments about including Xavi over Lampard.
Very good list but I think you overlooked a few:
Sergio Ramos
Vidic
Lahm
Xavi
David Villa
And these should make it at least onto the list:
Pepe
Chiellini
Robben
Higuain (!)
Xavi is not on this list but Sneijder is? Are you serious? The latter hasn’t been anything but injured half the year.
casillas
maicon-ferdinand-vidic-lahm
ronaldo-lampard-xavi-ribery
torres(or villa)-messi
honorable mention to
cesc, arshavin, aguero, ramos, gerrard, drogba, adebayor
villa had a great Euro but torres scored at every level in the champions league. take your pick. and torres set up a couple of villa’s goals in the euro so that’s why he’s my choice.
Casillas probably deserves it, since he was fantastic in 2007/2008 Liga and in Euro2008, but his current form has suffered along with RM’s.
Sergio Ramos should definitely be on your list, far far better than Boswinga or Evra.
Torres is a great striker, but Villa was much more impressive in the Euro. Shame he had to leave with the injury.
Ballack >> Lampard, and Xavi >> Sneijder.
I’d take Xavi and Senna over Sneijder and Ribery. Ribery is good but didn’t win much this year.
Torres didn’t impress me that much. I’d swap him for somebody else but I’m not sure who. Maybe Ibrahimovic. Other options: Drogba and Del Piero.
So, my own list:
GK: Iker Casillas
RB: Ramos
CB: Rio Ferdinand
CB: Carvalho
LB: Patrice Evra
DM: Senna
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo
CM: Frank Lampard
Xavi (Can he play on the left ? If not, probably Lampard can.)
ST: Lionel Messi (actually he’s more of an attacking midfielder)
ST: Ibra
On second thought, I’ll take Gerrard over Xavi. As you say yourself, he can’t be let out. I know he doesn’t play well with Lampard but still.
So:
GK: Iker Casillas
RB: Ramos
CB: Rio Ferdinand
CB: Carvalho
LB: Patrice Evra
DM: Senna
)
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo
CM: Gerrard
LM: Lampard (if he’s no good on the left, they’ll have to pick a straw for this position
ST: Lionel Messi (actually he’s more of an attacking midfielder)
ST: Ibra
It’s Bosingwa,not Boswinga mr. Condell…
So, summarising so far:
There is an overwhelming amount of support for Xavi or Sneijder (or Lampard) which must be bowed to at this point.
Also, the consensus seems to be that Lahm deserves one of the full-back spots while Macion alos receives good support.
Opinion is divided on Torres v Villa and the only untouchables would appear to be Casillas, Ronaldo and Messi!
Keep them coming.
Xavi OVER not or
Where is Adebayor?
Top-scoring striker in the Premiership (on par with Torres) with more assists.
How does he not make the list?
Rest of the candidates I agree with, thought.
Aidan, Ade scored more of his goals in the 1st half of last season (2007) and tapered off a bit in the 2nd half. he hasn’t been on fire this campaign either, so based on the review being calender year 2008 I felt he hadn’t done enough.
But you can still nominate him if you see it differently
lampard deserves that spot, he was a major reason chelsea went so far in the CL and although not strong for england he is still one of the better Central midfielders out there.
GK: Casillas, obvious choice, no keeper did close to his level of achievements cept van der saar
DR: Bosingwa, if its 2008 only bosingwa was the best RB in the euro and so far in europe with dani alves only recently coming into his stride.
DC: Vidic, no matter what people say he is the best Centre back that manU has.
DC: Ricardo carvalho, the best centre back in england and possibly the world, without him terry is lost.
DL: Evra, again best LB currently playing in europe, clichy was good but evra did more, shame he was behind abidal in euro’s.
CDM:Senna, tempted to say essien but he played much of 208 as RB or injured. If maka was on your list i would give it to him.
CM: Lampard, didnt win anything but came second in 3 competitions. Feel free to swap with cesc if you hate the english.
CM: Xavi, best creative midfielder for 2008.
LAM: Messi, amazing 2008
RAM: Ronaldo, also amazing 2008
ST: Torres, sure villa scored the goals but that was because torres was so important off the ball and his speed and power means that he would slot into any side.
SUBS:
Ribery
Cesc
Iniesta
Essien
Puyol
Van Der Saar
Villa
steven gerrard, john terry, xavi hernandes, and francesc fabregas must be in that list! especially GERRARD!
i forgot ibra and ballack
@sgfan: Pick your team mate, and put me out of my misery!
van der sar
lahm
evra
terry
carvalho
ronaldo
essien
ribery
rooney
berbatov
No mention of Del Piero?! Capocannoniere of Italy deserves some credit.
GK Casillas
RB Ramos
CB Terry
CB Ferdinand
LB Lahm
RM Ronaldo
CM Gerrard
CM Kaka
LM Ribery
ST Messi
ST Torres
SUBS:
Cech
Puyol
Bosingwa
Xavi
Silva
Rooney
Aguero
No Vidic or Sergio Ramos ???? Both have got to be in there in place of Bosingwa and Puyol !!! Bosingwa wasn’t even noticed before the transfer speculation started and all the articles started dishing out details about him and people said “Oh, this looks like a good player, why doesnt —— sign him”..your doing the same ! Puyol was at his peak in ‘06. Vidic is the best CB in the world right now and he’s bloody not in there.
Would also like to put Xavi in there instead of Lampard…No, Lampard doesnt drop out but had to have a midfielder who tracks back and is capable of winning the ball back.
GK: Casillas (undisputed no 1 for 2008)
RB: Bosingwa
CB: Terry
CB: Vidic
LB: Lahm
RM: Ronaldo
CM: Xavi (He HAS to be in this team)
CM: Mascherano (Essien is probably better player for holding role, but Mascherano had a better 2008)
LM: Messi
CF: Torres
CF: Villa
Both Torres and Villa are actually better suited to CF than Messi is. He doesn’t play as a centre forward for Barcelona too many times anyway, and he will be a better player on the left that Ribery.
First, I just wanted to mention how ridiculously bias you are to the EPL. You obviously don’t spend any time watching Serie A or La Liga.
Here is my World XI, playing a 4-1-2-3:
GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid & Spain) – Clearly the best goalie in the world. Showed this both for Spain and Real Madrid and even more recently in El Clasico. Winner of La Liga and Euro 2008.
LB: Patrice Evra (Manchester United & France) – Not too many world class players at left back. But, I would have to give it to Evra because of his ability to attack as well as defend.
CB: Carlos Puyol (Barcelona & Spain) – How could anyone critique this guy? His work rate sets him apart from all the other center backs in the world. And to add to that, he has just as much strength and speed as much bigger defenders such as Ferdinand and Pepe.
CB: Georgio Chiellini (Juventus & Italy) – Made up for the absence of Cannavaro at Euro 2008. Hasn’t gotten a large amount of appreciation until this year due to Juventus’ relegation into Serie B, but has already caught the eye of many big clubs from the start of this campaign.
RB: Douglas Maicon (Internacional & Brazil) – Like Evra, his defensive abilities balance well with his tremendous attacking abilities. Will have this spot locked up for Brazil and Inter for years to come.
CDM: Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid & Mali) – All the best teams in the world have a defensive midfielder sitting in front of their back four. In my opinion, Diarra was the most important part of Madrid’s success last year.
CAM: Xavi Hernandes (Barcelona & Spain) – Quite possibly, the best midfielder in the world. Don’t know how he could be left out. In my opinion, the most consistent performer for Spain in Euro 2008, as well as for Barcelona.
CAM: Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich & Germany) – Has been key to Bayern’s recent success. Despite a shaky performance in Euro, he has been outstanding in the Bundesliga. Ribery is deadly in any area of the pitch.
RF: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) – One of the most exciting players to watch right now. He has really become Barca’s true “# 10″ ever since the departure of Ronaldinho and Deco. He controls this right flank because of his ability to cut inside and strike with his left.
CF: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Internacional & Sweden) – Strength, touch, vision, size. What adjectives can not be used to describe him? A truly unstoppable goal scoring machine. I’ve honestly never seen a guy with his size, have such amazing skill. My vote for the best true striker in the world right now.
LF: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United & Portugal) – Wow, what a player. Every aspect of his game seems flawless… even flopping (jk). Hands down, best free kick taker in the game. His incredible pace goes along with moves that many had never seen before his emergence.
Don’t see much of a hole in this squad..
Honorable Mention:
GK: Gianluigi Buffon, Petr Cech
LB: Eric Abidal, Philip Lahm
CB: Rio Ferdinand, Fabio Cannavaro
CB: Lucio, John Terry
RB: Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves, Bacary Sagna
CDM: Mohamed Sissoko, Toure Yaya, Javier Mascherano
CAM: Andres Iniesta, Steven Gerrard
CAM: Ricardo Kaka, Cesc Fabregas
ST: Samuel Eto’o, Emmanuel Adebayor, David Villa, Robinho, Fernando Torres, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Luca Toni
@David (#40): yes, more EPL players than other leagues but they did have 3 of the last 4 in the CL. La Liga is well represented, Serie A less so but then Italy had a poor year at both club and international level.
In your selected team Chiellini, Diarra and Ibra have no popular support from the (knowledgeable) contributors on here.
From your list of ‘honourable mentions’ the ones I didn’t include were: Abidal, Cannavaro, Lucio, Sissoko, Yaya Toure, Eto’o and Toni but again, none of these have any popular support.
But your selections are all high quality and worthy of mention.
> but then Italy had a poor year at both club and international level
Not that poor at international level IMO. They were the only ones to give Spain a run for their money.
Most of you will have seen Ian Rush’s team of the year by now but for those who haven’t here it is:
http://www.footyfilms.com/musicvideo.php?vid=0cf70456f
You’d think Rush would be old enough not to embarass himself but then this is the man who when once asked about his spell playing for Juventus replied “It was a bit like playing in a foreign country really……”, and he WASN’T joking!!
Hmmm….
GK: Iker Casillas
RB:Sergio Ramos
RCB: Rio Ferdinand
LCB: Carlos Puyol
LB: Jose Bosingwa
LM: Frank Ribery
CDM: Javier Mascherano – not best midfielder of 2008 BUT best deffensive midfieler of 2008 and to me you need a DM player
CAM: Lionel Messi
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo
ST: David Villa
ST: *undecided: don’t think torres diserves this spot BUT i dont think anybody else besides ibra could take it from him.
this team may not be the best players in the world but there what I think the best for 2008 where
- Also Xavi Hernandes had a great year but i struggled to find a position for him.
mayby swap him for ribery OR even play villa up front alone and have ronaldo and messi as AM and have him play center.
so many possibilties
Michael Ballack is the world’s top midfielder and captain. He
has the highest international goal:game ratio out of any midfielder, in the history of football. His abilities with the long ball, putting the ball into the area, heading, positioning, goalscoring, and Free Kick taking… are unrivaled. It’s not a matter of what form he is in, it is a matter of how he is used on the pitch that determines his effectiveness.
Podolski should be top striker period based on his Euro performances.
Lahm is the best wingback/winger in football.
In my eyes Christiano Ronaldo should win nothing… he has absolutely no talent against formidable wingbacks such as Lahm… He did nothing during Euro, his fancy footwork is only effective against poor to average defenders in the PL.
GK: Iker Casillas
RB:Sergio Ramos
LCB:Puyol
RCB: Rio Ferdinand
LB: Lahm
RW: Cristiano Ronaldo
RCM:Xavi Hernandez
LCM:Fabregas
LW:Messi
ST:kaka or Frenando Torres
GK:casillas
RB:Patrice Evra
LCB:Nemanja Vidic
RCB:Rio Ferdinand
LB:Wes Brown
RW:Cristiano Ronaldo
RCM:Owen Hargreaves
LCM:Michael Carrick
LW:Ryan Giggs
ST:Torres, Rooney
@tontolow: I’m taking a wild guess that you might be a Man Utd fan!?
GK:Casillas
DEF:Cannavaro Sergio Ramos Abidal Lahm
MID:Fabregas C.Ronaldo Gerrard Xavi
STRIKER:Torres Messi
Subs:Buffon Puyol J.Terry Boswinga Sanga Lampard Ribery Kaka Iniesta S.Etoo D.Villa
GK – Iker Casillas
RWB – Boswinga
RCB – John Terry
LCB – Rio Ferdinand
LWB – Bacary Sagna
RW – Cristiano Ronaldo
RCM – Frank Lampard
LCM – Cesc Fabregas
LW – Lionel Messi
RS – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
LS – Robinho
Can 75% of this forum please watch one Inter game.. Ibra is unbelievable. There is simply no flaw whatsoever in his game. If he were playing in the EPL right now half of yall would be ****** *** **** (edited by moderator).
David, your suggestion that people don’t watch Inter is unfounded. With most people going with 2 forwards, Messi and Torres are the most popular selections: both on the shortlist of 5 for Fifa world player of the year. (in fact finishing 2nd and 3rd behind Ronaldo)
It was tough competition up front.
Hey guyz i believe fabregas is the best mid n the most creative of all the others n i dont know why he didnt make it the allstarxi
I can confirm that you never watch Inter because you put a player, Quaresma, on your list as one of the top midfielders in the world.. the guy can’t even consistently keep a starting spot in Murinho’s starting eleven, even with his Portuguese bias.
To add to that, Maicon wasn’t even mentioned in your list of top backs.. a guy who is Dunga’s top choice RB over Dani Alves, who is mentioned. And your choice of Bosingwa makes no sense considering there’s probably a 0% chance you had even heard of him before Scolari brought him to England.. so youre essentially basing that choice off of what?.. four months of league play.
Then you go on to mention Rafa van Der vaart, who also doesn’t even start for Real Madrid.. all he did was came in, had a hat trick which everyone heard about, and since then has been coming on as a sub.
And the funniest of all, Xavi, a defensive midfielder.. what are you going to tell me now? that you watch La Liga. Well if you did, you would most likely know that Toure Yaya started just about every game for Barca, last year as well as this year, at defensive midfield. And if you maybe didn’t have time to catch Barca matches throughout the past year, hopefully you watched Euro. If you watched Euro, you must’ve seen Spain play. Who started at defensive midfield for Spain in every match?.. Oh, that’s right. It was Marcos Senna. That means once again, Xavi couldn’t have been playing defensively. Sounds like an attacking midfielder, doesn’t he?
BD, just watch something other than the Premiership this year.. It might open your eyes up and teach you something about football. And, if not, hopefully next time you will at least do some research on the topic you’re writing about, before posting it. It’ll make your writing sound much more valid, and hopefully less bias.
@55:Interesting! You’re first reaction was just to complain that Ibhra was not chosen. I point out that popular opinion goes for Messi and Torres in a very competitive section and you go off at the deep end!
Firstly, I clearly state in the article that it is a representative list, everyone will have different views and inputs.
I also point out that it’s for all of 2008.
Quaersma signed for Inter on Sept 1st and may not have become a regular but was excellent for Porto earlier in the year and was he not deemed good enough for Inter to go after in the first place?
I acknowledged the Maicon and Xavi oversights further-up, more than once.
VD Vaart has made 20 appearances for Real (in one guise or another) and scored 4 goals but his Hamburg and Netherlands appearances are an equally big factor.
As for: “And your choice of Bosingwa makes no sense considering there’s probably a 0% chance you had even heard of him before Scolari brought him to England.. so youre essentially basing that choice off of what?.. four months of league play.”
You mean in the same way you’re basing your opinions on Quaersma and VDV on 4 months????
And yes, I had heard of him and had seen him play with Porto and Portugal. He was also in the Euro 2008 squad of the tournament in case you missed it!
Your entitled to you opinion but need to calm down a little.
wat the fuck is lampard doing here he was nothing this year compared to fabregas or senna hes highly over rated fabregas should have been in there
Well jad, Fabregas made the UEFA team of the year and Lampard didn’t so that should please you. Everyone has different takes on it. Personally, I gave a lot of kudos to Lampard for his performances in the closing stages of the season while dealing with the personal tradegy of his mother’s death.
But to say ‘he was nothing this year compared to Fabregas and Senna’ is a bit over the top in my view.
AND I also know where you can get a PC that has capitals, full-stops and commas! Get back to me if you want the details!
well BD fuckin Condell, you can fuckin shut the hell up fuck you asshole!!!!!!!
Bloody hell jad…that was quick! You got yourself a machine with capitals and punctuation!
2nd hand from Gordon Ramsey by any chance!!??
this is my good formation:4-4-2
gk:petr cech
rb:daniel alves
cb:puyol
cb:terry
lb:lahm
rw:walcott
rcm:lampard
lcm:gerrard
lw:ashley young
st:messi
st:torres
substition:
buffon
bosingwa
vidic
carvalho
evra
kaka
cesc fabregas
hagreaves
henry
villa
eto’o
if you use this formation…
i comform your squad wiil succes…
ryt comeon ruud van nistelrooy is up there with the best but in no ones team my god the guy can score goals for fun, he can do it in the big games and his record at madrid is already incredible. He is alot better than torres may not have the pace of his but the way he thinks the way he gets into the positions and the way he can finish absolutley anything ranks him to me as one of the best 5 strikers in the world.
I am astonished at some of the suggestions by other people, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young? Come off it, they are both far off some of the wingers in option. I’m an Arsenal fan but there is no way Theo Walcott could get in any best XI team. Not yet anyway.
Good list BD, although mine would be different.
In a 4-1-2-3 Position.
GK – Iker Casillas (There is a reason so many people have picked him, he is the best, simple as that)
LB – Patrice Evra (Quality, consistent and can attack & defend)
CB – Nemanja Vidic (Amazing for Man Utd)
CB – Rio Ferdinand (See above, these two make some partnership)
RB – Sergio Ramos (Could of been afew who got this position but Ramos for me is the best at the moment)
CDM – Javier Mascherano (Tough choice for this spot, but this man is a wall)
CM – Xavi Hernandez (There is a reason so many people in Spain regard this guy as the best player in the world, he is awesome)
CM – Andres Iniesta (Amazing player, passing, touch, vision, absolutely outstanding and outclasses both Messi and Ronaldo in the CL final)
RWF – Lionel Messi (Best player on the planet? I think so, runs past players like they are trees in a park)
LWF – Cristiano Ronaldo (Voted best player of this year, he is outstanding, pace, skill, finish e.t.c. and who wouldn’t want him taking freekicks for your team)
CF – Fernando Torres (Tough choice, but he showed in his first season for Liverpool exactly the kind of player he is)
So I have….
……………Casillas……………
….Ramos – Vidic – Ferdinand – Evra….
…………..Mascherano…………..
………Xavi…………Iniesta………
Messi……………………….Ronaldo
…………….Torres…………….
VERY honorable mentions…
GK – Buffon, Cech.
Defenders -Lahm, Cole, Maicon, Dani Alves, Bosingwa, Terry, Chielini, Puyol, Pepe.
Midfielders – Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas, Senna, Ribery, Kaka, Ballack, Essien, Pirlo, Arshavin.
Strikers – Drogba, Anelka, Rooney, Benzema, Ibrahimovic, Eto’o, Villa, Aguero.
@Paul 89: Can’t disagree with any of your choices! Remember though that I did the list last December reflecting on the 2008 calandar year.
Right now I would have Iniesta in for sure but a lot of that is based on 2009. Xavi definitely! Probably should have had him in my list anyway.
Thanks for the input!