TOP TEN FOOTBALLER
“All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.”
This article will look at the 10 players who are arguably the best in the world and discuss why each player deserves their place on this list.
There will obviously be some players in this list who will come as no surprise, but there are others, who just last season, would not have made the list and now do.
#10 Eden Hazard
Strangely, the most difficult choice for this list was deciding who should go in 10th place, however, Eden Hazard makes the cut.
Although Chelsea have struggled to find the form that won them the title a couple of seasons ago, the root causes of that are deeper than any one player.
2018/19 will be a forgettable season for Chelsea, but for Hazard, it’ll be a memorable one with the Belgian having performed excellently this season, even with the backdrop of drama.
With 16 goals and 11 assists to his name, Hazard has shown why he is hotly desired by Real Madrid for next season.
A disappointing season for the Belgian’s club, yes, however, his talent and influence on the game remains undeniable.
#9 Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero’s talent is undeniable and has been one of the best players in the Premier League over the last decade.
Despite being such a phenomenal talent, consistent injury has always diminished Aguero’s chances of reaching seasonal numbers near that of other top forwards like Suarez, Kane, and Lewandowski.
However, this season Aguero has once again shown why he is one of the best strikers in the world having netted 18 goals and 5 assist in the Premier league in 26 appearances and also an impressive 5 goals in as many games in the Champions League.
Amazingly Aguero has only ever won the Premier League Golden Boot once in his career, but this is, as aforementioned, largely due to injuries, this season however the Argentine could add to this tally.
#8 Alisson Becker
During the better part of the last decade, there was only one candidate for the world’s best goalkeeper, and that was Manuel Neuer.
The German and Bayern legend redefined the role sweeper keeper and arguably re-popularised goalkeeping again, in an age where football has become so attacking-centric.
However, due to injury and perhaps age, Manuel Neuer hasn’t been the goalkeeper he once was, and despite showing why he is one of the best goalkeepers ever, in terms of form he has been overtaken this year.
This season, to the surprise of some, however, Liverpool’s goalkeeper Alisson Becker has been arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
The stats don’t lie and with 32 games having been played in the Premier League, 17 of those matches have ended in clean sheets for the goalkeeper.
Although the praise nowadays is largely, and perhaps unfairly, directed almost exclusively to attacking players, Alisson has been as important for Liverpool as any of their players.
#7 Virgil Van Dijk
Like Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk joined Liverpool during the 2017-18 season which saw them reach the Champions League final.
Even more impressively the Dutch defender joined the Merseyside club in the January transfer for a world record fee (for a defender) of £75 million.
What’s also impressive is how well and seamlessly Van Dijk has fit into the Liverpool side, not only establishing himself in the squad but also as arguably the best centre back in the Premier League.
From the start of the 2017/18 season and all the way to February of this year, remarkably, Van Dijk had not been dribbled past by any player in both the League and in the Champions League! *1
Furthermore, as stated with Alisson Becker, Liverpool have earned 17 clean sheets in the 31 matches they’ve played in the league.
Whilst this is a statistic usually implemented to praise and criticise a goalkeeper, it can also be used, in this instance, as evidence as to how solid Van Dijk has been for his club.
Typically over the last few years, Sergio Ramos has been the standout defender in world football, however, that can’t be said of him this season.
As aforementioned, Van Dijk is the best defender in the Premier League, and maybe even the world as of right now.
#6 Luis Suarez
Undoubtedly one of the most controversial footballers in the world, but also one of the most brilliant.
Since his Liverpool days Luis Suarez has been one of the best players in the world, with his 2015/16 season in particular being his best.
Since that season though, the Uruguayan striker has struggled to reach those heights again, having fallen short in the last two seasons.
Nevertheless, in the league at least Suarez has rediscovered a lot of that form and sits as second top goal scorer in the league, behind team mate Lionel Messi.
He may be getting on a bit, and he may not be as good as he was a few seasons ago, he is still arguably one of the best pure strikers in the world today.
And therefore deserves a place on this list, and like with Mohamed Salah, if Suarez manages to light up the Champions League and help Barcelona win the title, then perhaps he deserves to be raised.
#5 Neymar
Neymar’s season has been blighted by injury with the Brazilian superstar, unfortunately, missing the Champions League tie against Manchester United.
This famously ended with a last-minute penalty scored by Marcus Rashford to ecstatically send Manchester United through to the quarterfinals.
Whilst this has essentially ended Neymar’s season, given that the league has been all but won, the Copa America is lurking around the corner for the Brazilian.
Despite being injured for a large number of weeks this season, when Neymar has been playing football, he has shown why many believe him to be the successor to Messi and Ronaldo.
Although he still isn’t there yet, and although he has been injured this season, the level that he has been playing at throughout the first half of the season, shows that the world-class talent deserves to be on this list.
In addition, if he hadn’t been injured it may have been likely that he would be higher on the list, but that’s life, I am afraid.
#4 Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling has been one of the most talked about players this season for reasons about football and also for other reasons too.
However, without going into detail about the latter, Sterling has shown an incredible level of maturity to his play this season.
With 15 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League this season, Raheem Sterling has been arguably the league’s best player.
Furthermore, Raheem Sterling has also been able to emulate this form on the international stage as well.
With the England international scoring a memorable hat trick against the Czech Republic in a European Qualifier match.
Like with Kevin De Bruyne, Sterling still has a lot to play for this season, and a famous double is still possible.
It seems very likely that he will win the player of the year award in the Premier league this season, and perhaps more, and for these reasons he fully deserves his place on this list.
#3 Kylian Mbappe
The face of the next generation of footballers, it seems that it is only a matter of years before the young player wins his first Ballon d’Or
With a world cup under his belt already, it already seems destiny that he will have one of the most decorated careers in recent times.
Although he seems destined to be the best player in the world at some point, there are two players who stand in his way (two guesses who).
And as of right now it would be unfair to place him any higher than Ronaldo or Messi on the list.
Nevertheless, whilst he isn’t quite on their level, he has, at least, been spectacular in Ligue 1, and with 26 goals in just 23 games in the French league this season, he is still in a tight race with Messi for the Golden Boot.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Coming in at number two is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus at the end of last season.
Joining a new club is one thing, but joining a new league, and moving to a new country is a prospect that shouldn’t be underestimated.
In going to Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo has had a lot of pressure on him to deliver the Champions League to the Italian giants.
And although they still have a long way to go before they can even think about laying their hands on the trophy, the team looks good going into the final chapter of the season.
Ronaldo’s season has been mixed for his standards, and it looks as though this will be his first season since 2009 that he doesn’t score at least 40 goals.
Nevertheless, a mixed season for Ronaldo is better than a good season for most and he is still competing for the top goalscorer award in Serie A, as well as being the top assist provider in the Italian league as well.
This can be seen as a transitional season for the Portuguese, and with more time to gel with Juventus he will only get better, however, he still deserves the number 2 spot.
#1 Lionel Messi
If this article had been written it would be Cristiano Ronaldo, not Lionel Messi, who would be sat on the number one spot.
However, given the current form of the two players, it cannot be denied that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world in terms of form.
Having almost reached 40 goals already for Barcelona this season in all competitions with nearly 20 assists to add to his tally, Lionel Messi has been head and shoulders above the rest this season.
There are current reports that Messi is currently injured, but considering how quickly he recovered after another injury last autumn, it seems as though this will have little impact on the Argentine.
Based on this it seems that Lionel Messi will likely win the Ballon d’Or next year, nevertheless, as the Ballon d’Or is based on the Calendar year as opposed to the 2018/19 season, it may be too soon to make such predictions.
For now, at least, it can be said that Lionel Messi is the in-form player in 2019, just as he was at the end of 2018.
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