Guardian Top 100 Male Footballers, 2020

[bosox4283]

Here's the list: https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2020/dec/21/the-100-best-male-footballers-in-the-world-2020

I've been trying to sort through who will be in the Top 10 and what the order might be.

10. Pogba
9. Mane
8. KDB
7. Salah
6. Ronaldo
5. Virgil
4. Neymar
3. Mbappe
2. Messi
1. Lewandowski

 

[NeilsGiffeyoftheTiger]

I am thinking that Haaland will be #10 and Pogba misses out on the top 100 this year.

Id have:

1) Lewandowski
2) Messi
3) Mbappe
4) Salah
5) Mane
6) Van Dijk
7) Ronaldo
8) Neymar
9) KDB
10) Haaland


Overall a fun list, and basically in line with my EPL-centric view of the football world.

I'd say Kane, Pulisic, Giroud, Kante, LaPorte, DeJong, and Martial have a little bit to gripe about, and Ramos, Benzema, and Zlatan seem a little high for me.

 

[67YAZ]

LOL Zlatan jumps up 71 places just for moving from MLS to Serie A. Dude has been exactly the same player for the past 4 years, if slowing down just a touch...but MLS is a retirement league and Serie A is one of the Big 5, right?

 

[Vinho Tinto]

LOL Zlatan jumps up 71 places just for moving from MLS to Serie A. Dude has been exactly the same player for the past 4 years, if slowing down just a touch...but MLS is a retirement league and Serie A is one of the Big 5, right?

It’s like how EA will boost or downgrade player ratings in FIFA immediately after a transfer.

 

[Kliq]

These things are fun to banter back and forth about; but really hard to make any clear argument when players are being compared when they play completely different positions and are in completely different situations depending on what club and what league they play in. How can you really compare the value of Alphonso Davies to Ciro Immobile? Or Jan Oblak to Raheem Sterling?

I also think often times, people get lazy in the rankings and just look at the big teams and assume that if someone is good enough to be starting at a key position for Barcelona or Real Madrid, they must be really good. Granted, The Guardian has done a better job than most at supporting players at smaller clubs, but Ansu Fati is not the 45th best player in the world; and certainly not better than say, N'Golo Kante, Koulibaly, Courtoius, etc.

My Spurs bias will permit me to say I think Kane gets shortchanged this season. He's arguably been the best player in the EPL this season and is averaging 1.36 goal contributions per 90 minutes. Why is Thiago at 17? He played half a season last year for Bayern and has barely played for LFC this year; would any Liverpool fan disapprove of a Thiago for Kane swap? I think its inaccurate to slot Lukaku ahead of him; if Kane played in Serie A, he'd probably score 35+ goals; and I really like Lukaku.

 

[dirtynine]

Could Pulisic pull off a top 10 appearance? Not likely with the players not yet listed. But he’s had a better 2020 than many of the top 100 named to date.

 

[SocrManiac]

Could Pulisic pull off a top 10 appearance? Not likely with the players not yet listed. But he’s had a better 2020 than many of the top 100 named to date.

Absolutely zero chance. He’s missed far too much time though injury. If he missed half as much time and had some gaudy stats as a result, he’d still be a long shot but not utterly impossible.

 

[Dummy Hoy]

Don't forget this is supposed to be who had the best year, not necessarily the best player in the world...I mean Paul Pogba is almost certainly one of the 100 best footballers, but I wouldn't have him anywhere near this list.

 

[dirtynine]

Absolutely zero chance. He’s missed far too much time though injury. If he missed half as much time and had some gaudy stats as a result, he’d still be a long shot but not utterly impossible.

Yeah, I know, I know... you're right. Would have thought he would have appeared in the 60-70 range. Memphis Depay at 64 (young winger/#10 at a pretty big club who was also injured) is kind of where I had CP. USA-colored glasses and all that.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

These things are fun to banter back and forth about; but really hard to make any clear argument when players are being compared when they play completely different positions and are in completely different situations depending on what club and what league they play in. How can you really compare the value of Alphonso Davies to Ciro Immobile? Or Jan Oblak to Raheem Sterling?

I also think often times, people get lazy in the rankings and just look at the big teams and assume that if someone is good enough to be starting at a key position for Barcelona or Real Madrid, they must be really good. Granted, The Guardian has done a better job than most at supporting players at smaller clubs, but Ansu Fati is not the 45th best player in the world; and certainly not better than say, N'Golo Kante, Koulibaly, Courtoius, etc.

My Spurs bias will permit me to say I think Kane gets shortchanged this season. He's arguably been the best player in the EPL this season and is averaging 1.36 goal contributions per 90 minutes. Why is Thiago at 17? He played half a season last year for Bayern and has barely played for LFC this year; would any Liverpool fan disapprove of a Thiago for Kane swap? I think its inaccurate to slot Lukaku ahead of him; if Kane played in Serie A, he'd probably score 35+ goals; and I really like Lukaku.

If the list was best players in the world, I think Kane has an argument for being substantially higher, especially given his amazing current form. But the list is really most influential footballers over the course of 2020 and the most important competitions for these things are always the CL and major international tournaments (not a factor this year obviously). Thiago is 17 because he was the best player on the pitch in a CL final. Kane gets knocked because he missed a big part of the Premier League season in early 2020 and wasn't involved in European football at all.

 

[Bozo Texino]

Highest-ranked Arsenal player comes in at #36.

Fuck my life.

 

[Tuff Ghost]

Highest-ranked Arsenal player comes in at #36.

Fuck my life.

And in current form, Aubameyang would be lucky to come in at #136!

The one that hurts me is seeing Gnabry at #16. I really should get over that, but letting him get away from Arsenal for nothing was such a colossal mistake.

But don't worry, Saka and Martinelli are going to rocket up the rankings next year as they return Arsenal to glory, ha.

 

[caseumsd]

And in current form, Aubameyang would be lucky to come in at #136!

The one that hurts me is seeing Gnabry at #16. I really should get over that, but letting him get away from Arsenal for nothing was such a colossal mistake.

But don't worry, Saka and Martinelli are going to rocket up the rankings next year as they return Arsenal to glory, the premier league. ha.

Fixed that for you.

 

[dirtynine]

 

[Zomp]

The list is clearly a combination of the players ability combined with their 2020 accolades. How much of each weighs in, I don’t know.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Very disappointed to see that Masal Bugduv didn't make the list.