ZM’s European Team of the Season 2010/11
A self-explanatory list of eleven starters, and eleven substitutes.
Edwin van der Sar, Manchester United
A disappointing performance in the Champions League final was a cruel way for an outstanding career to end. The Dutchman’s 21st and final season of professional football was arguably his best, and it’s difficult to remember a footballer in modern times going out at such a high level – Zinedine Zidane may come to mind, but he wouldn’t have been considered Europe’s top midfielder in 2005/06, his final campaign, whereas van der Sar was the best goalkeeper around in 2010/11. His main quality was not his shot-stopping skills, his command of the box or his ability with his feet, but his ability to inspire calmness and confidence in the Manchester United back four.
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Daniel Alves, Barcelona
In a team full of technical quality, Alves’ main threat comes from his physical ability. Opponents know exactly what he’s going to do – scamper up and down the right touchline all game, but if they can’t compete with his speed or stamina, the Brazilian is almost impossible to stop. His energy levels are quite extraordinary, and he provides the attacking width that lets Barcelona’s right-sided forward coming inside without losing the width the club has always loved to play with. Defensively he is occasionally suspect but nothing like the weak link some make out, and his defensive work has often been done preemptively, by pushing the opposing left-winger back into his own third of the pitch, like in the game against Sevilla.
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Mats Hummels, Dortmund
Hummels’ partnership with Neven Subotic was Europe’s best this season, but there was no doubt who the main man was. Hummels went from ‘promising’ to ‘world class’ within the space of a few months, consistently turning in superb displays and attracting attention even in a side full of star performers in 2010/11. Hummels is an intelligent, composed defender who is positionally excellent and has great anticipation skills – he rarely dives into tackles, demonstrated by the fact he only picked up two bookings in the league all season, and has a great leap for aerial contests. He’s also useful on the ball, and scored four times with headers, including the clicher in the crucial away win at Bayern.
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Thiago Silva, Milan
Serie A’s best defender has an even more enviable disciplinary record than Hummels, having collected just a single booking in 2010/11, proving that the best defenders spent as little time as possible sliding around on their backsides. Being the star performer in a backline also containing Alessandro Nesta shows what a fine defender Silva has become – cool on the ground, dominant in the air, he’s been Milan’s most reliable player by a long way. He even tried his hand at playing in midfield with some success, but it’s at centre-back where he will come to be regarded as one of the best in the world.
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Marcelo, Real Madrid
For the second season in succession, left-back has been a little lacking in quality across the continent. In all probability, Marcelo will not be Real Madrid’s first-choice left-back next season, with Fabio Coentrao seemingly on the brink of joining from Benfica – but that’s extremely harsh on Marcelo, who is one of three Brazilians to make this side’s back four. Like Alves, he is at his best going forward – and his runs were so crucial in Cristiano Ronaldo’s record-breaking season – when Marcelo provides width, Ronaldo can come inside and shoot – when Marcelo isn’t playing, such as against Lyon, Ronaldo is much less effective.
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Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona
At the start of the season in which he became Barcelona’s record appearance holder, there were reports that Xavi’s troublesome Achilles injury would cause him to miss a significant number of minutes this season. Until Christmas, he only completed three league games. Being nursed through the first few months of the season helped him stay fit for the second half of the season, and he ended up excelling yet again – breaking more passing records and coming up with some crucial goals – the opener in the 5-0 against Real Madrid and and ‘equaliser’ (over two legs) against Arsenal. The consistency of his performance over the past three years is astonishing.
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Nuri Sahin, Dortmund
Playing as part of a fashionable double pivot in midfielder, Sahin was frequently the driving force in Dortmund’s excellent displays. A busy player but also technically superb, the Turkey international is a complete midfielder – you could ask him to hold, to play a box-to-box role or work as a playmaker, and you’d still be sure of a good performance. Sahin plays clever passes rather than spectacular ones – he moves forward and looks to slide the ball through the defence with his stronger left foot, and his quick thinking has been crucial in Dortmund’s transitions on the break. He also came up with some important goals, notably excellent strikes home and away against Bayern.
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Theo Janssen, Twente
It’s often tough to assess the true ability of players in the Eredivisie, such is the difference in quality between top and bottom. Janssen earns his place on this list, however, by his frequent star performances in the biggest games. He scored two in the first league meeting against Ajax, another two (including a superb run from his own half) in the crucial 2-0 win over PSV, and also netted a belting, if ultimately futile, long-range effort in the final day title decider against Ajax. In the four games against two title rivals, five goals is pretty good for a midfielder, and his displays across the season have seen many name him the Eredivisie player of the year.
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Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
Ronaldo’s goalscoring heroics have become so routine that it’s worth considering again what he achieved this campaign – the first La Liga player in history to score 40 goals in a season (from only 32 starts) as well as becoming the first player to win the European Golden Shoe in two different leagues, a record which shouldn’t be overlooked considering how many players have excelled in one country, then looked poor in another. He has the ability to completely dominate a game – see the 4-2 win over Villarreal, when he scored a hattrick and set up the other – despite the fact that Real were second best for much of the contest. He also won the Copa del Rey final with a brilliant header that would be regarded as ‘classic Ronaldo’ if it wasn’t for his supreme talent in other aspects of the game.
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Edinson Cavani, Napoli
Cavani opened his Napoli account just eight minutes into his debut against Fiorentina, and went onto have his best season by some distance. He turned in some magnificent individual performances – his hattrick of headers against Juventus, his double against Roma and his hattrick in possibly the most entertaining game of the season in the crazy 4-3 win over Lazio spring to mind. Able to play wide or through the middle according to how Walter Mazzarri wanted to set up tactically, Cavani was more often than not outstanding in his all-round game, not just in front of goal. Napoli were one of the season’s success stories, a side most neutrals loved to watch, and Cavani was the main reason.
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Lionel Messi, Barcelona
Messi scored in ten consecutive games earlier this season. The game that broke that spell would generally be considered a low point – expect for the fact that it was the 5-0 win over Real Madrid in the Clasico, where Messi picked up two assists and caused havoc with his deep positioning. His role as a false nine has gone from Barcelona’s ‘alternative’ to being their standard shape, and at the heart of a side Messi’s influence is at its greatest. Some of the goals he has scored have been phenomenal, and he has the knack of providing moments of genius at crucial times – the brilliant ‘three-four’ with Pedro Rodriguez against Villarreal in the best technical game of the season, the flick and finish over Manuel Almunia when Arsenal were set to keep a first half clean sheet in Barcelona, the ridiculous run in the last minute of the ugly Clasico first leg, and then the thump past van der Sar in the Champions League final.
Substitutes
Victor Valdes, Barcelona
He often only has to make one save a game – but he generally does so excellently, and also sweeps out of his goal to great effect to enable Barca’s high line to work.
Mathieu Debuchy, Lille
Probably not Lille’s star performer in their run to the French double, but consistently excellent at right-back – fearsome tackling, powerful running from deep, and composure on the ball too.
Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United
The best penalty box defender on the continent in Europe this season. Supreme in the air, and only failed to make the XI because of a few dodgy displays against pace – notably away at Aston Villa and West Ham – tricky moments Hummels and Silva didn’t encounter.
Vincent Kompany, Manchester City
Powerful and pacey, but also good at reading the game and making decisions, and probably City’s true leader despite Carlos Tevez wearing the armband.
Fabio Coentrao, Benfica
After a breakthrough season in 2009/10, Coentrao has become established as a key player in the past twelve months – sometimes used as a left winger, but will spend most of his career at left-back, almost certainly away from Benfica.
Arturo Vidal, Leverkusen
Primarily an energetic player but also one with great ability on the ball, and an ability to score good goals.
Andres Iniesta, Barcelona
Injury disrupted his previous two campaigns, but this was his best for Barca, featuring some crucial, brilliant through-balls, for Xavi v Real Madrid (5-0), for Messi v Arsenal (3-1) and Pedro v Real Madrid (1-1).
Mesut Ozil, Real Madrid
A great debut season in La Liga for one of the most intelligent players around. Ozil has the ability to hurt teams both on the counter-attack and when opponents sit deep, and his movement off the ball is extraordinarily good.
Alexis Sanchez, Udinese
Started the season playing poorly on the wing as Udinese lost their first four games – then became a top-class player when played in a new role as a trequartista.
Giuseppe Rossi, Villarreal
Brilliant movement, excellent link-up play, and some goals from ludicrous positions.
Falcao, Porto
A fantastic finisher, particularly adept in the air. Won the Europa League with a trademark header, and consistently scored throughout the season, including five in four games against Benfica and Sporting, and a hattrick in the semi against Villarreal.
These choices are discussed on the first European Football Show, a season review
If you’d be kind enough to vote for ZM here it would be much appreciated! Just three clicks…
ZM’s European Team of the Season 2010/11
Wish I could have found a place for Modric
Who would you have as manager?
Good question. Villas Boas I think.
Going unbeaten, even in a “minor” league, is great achievement, plus Europa success too
Thought you’d save that for ‘ZM’s European Coach of the Season’ but there goes.. He did well.
He or Jürgen Klopp I think
I think Mirko Slomka is another good candidate. He saved Hannover 96 last year (he took over in January) from Relegation, finishing as 15th in the Bundesliga. Leading a team like Hannover which is nothing special, but always struggling and in fear of relegation to become 4th this year is almost unbelievable
thanks for responding!
Think this thread deserves a little more attention…
Read, soaked it in, thought about raising hell over Modric, but inclusion as the first below the line item is good enough with that crew
He has had a masterful season hasn’t he? Such touch, such vision, underrated tackler, knocks the rock all over the place accurately, impossible to get it off him. I think the best thing anyone could say about he is good enough to make everyone around him better. His value to Spurs is more than an engine, he is the whole ride. I will be very disappointed if he is sold, but if he wants Champion’s League football, the man certainly deserves it, he is great to watch (Wait till next year please?). I think only a few of those mentioned above are more composed and patient on the ball.
Modric totally disappeared against RM.
Marcelo as the BEST LB in Europe? Lol, this is the guy that Mourinho is desperate to replace and who RM fans have been complaining about for 2-3 yeras. Does that sound like the #1 LB?
Spurs were unfortunately a man down for the vast majority of the 2nd leg because of Marcelo’s bid for an acting award early on… there is some value there. But yes, Modric isn’t quality enough for your team to rely on in big games. To steal a joke from the Guardian boards, please, everyone, write your chairmen and let them know he’s not worth 40mil.
Modric certainly deserves a spot over Jansen. I’m sure there’s been some fantastic performers in all the lesser leagues, yet I don’t see anyone crying out for, say, Ivan Perisic(Jupiler league player of the year) to be on ZM’s list.
As for Modric’ performances vs RM, I can only say: Did anyone remember Ozil’s performance vs Barca in the CL? No, as he was completely anonymous. Does that make him a poor choice for team of the season? No, just as one or two poor games shouldn’t disqualify Modric. If anything, Modric has been more impressive than Ozil due to the fact that he’s had less quality around him to work with.
Agree about Marcelo. This guy is very mediocre in defense. Wasn’t he at least partially responsible for all 3 of Barcelona’s goals in the CL? He regularly gets burned by quick wingers – Messi, Navas, Pedro, Piatti, etc.
Seriously man…Are u biased or something? I am not kidding, That is a serious question. No Modric, no Eto’o? That is a freaking joke my friend!
Biased to who, or what, or against who, or against what? Bloody hell
You just aren’t biased, you just have an eye that’s on a different level than a typical supporter. It’s not even like you left Modric out of the discussion, I think first comment is testament enough to the man’s play. Seriously, it means something that many of these players are now on the radar for Europe’s highest spending clubs. In that respect, I’d almost hope you’d have left Luka out of all this so he could continue flying under the radar. It’s very funny, fans are so quick to dismiss rival’s talent until the transfer window…
Couldn’t your explanation for Rossi also be used for RvP?
Good team, ZM.
Yes, v true. Had RVP been fit the whole season he may have made it…
I think the second string forward line is almost impossible to judge. Personally, I’d have put Eto’o in over Rossi, and Hulk in over Sanchez, but its too close to call between them. Tevez, Ibrahimovic, and Eden Hazard (unless he’s classified as a midfielder) also could have made the second string forward line.
I mostly agree with you, except for the goalkeepers. I think at least Neuer with his performances in the Bundesliga, especially against Dortmund should be in the list.
And I wonder, if this is actually the first eleven of the 22 players listed? I would likely start with Vidal instead of Sahin, since he is the more energetic player.
The stats that Bayern posted on their English site after securing Neuer were very impressive:
“Neuer has conceded 154 goals in 156 Bundesliga appearances, an average of 0.99 per match. That is the best record of any keeper with 100 or more appearances in the history of the Bundesliga, ahead even of Oliver Kahn (1.04). He has also let in just 21 goals in 22 Champions League fixtures. Since his Bundesliga debut in 2006, he has kept 62 clean sheets, way ahead of any other keeper in the same period.
Neuer is the league’s ultimate ever-present after playing every minute of Schalke’s last 78 Bundesliga fixtures, just ahead of FCB captain Philipp Lahm on 75. He led the league’s keepers by catching 97 crosses last season, and also delivered 127 long throws from his own area, more than twice as many as the man next in the ranking, Hoffenheim’s Tom Starke on 61.”
Would be interesting to hear how that compares to GKs in other leagues as I don’t know if and where such stats are publicly tracked.
Yes, I think Valdes is a bit overrated these days. Both he and Pique’s ‘big improvements’ have coincided with Barcelona consistantly having 70+% of the ball. Both have had their dodgey moments this season which when expressed as a percentage of the time they were under any sort of pressure is probably a lot worse than the majority of players.
Honestly, I enjoy more article like this compared to your review of matches. Hope I can read a lot more during these months off.
Simply brilliant works you have here. By the way I hope you can do analysis on several new signings, comparing Henderson with Jones would be nice.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/23/phil-jones-blackburn-rovers-defender-debut-chelse/
Simple analysis but, wow, seemingly you have already known that this kid was going to be a star.
For GK i would have thought a nod should go to Manuel Neuer of Schalke. Outstanding performances in the Bundesliga (ranked World Class by kicker magazine in Germany) and instrumental in hieving Schalke into the CL semi’s.
Good keeper but was perhaps exposed a little in that game against Utd? Certainly in contrast to Van Der Sar.
Yeah and vdS was exposed against Barca and his performance was abysmal. It is counter-factual but I thought with Neuer United could have survived longer against Barca. Anyway, I don’t understand the argument pro vdS “inspire calmness and confidence”? Isn’t that what all goalkeepers do? How do we know that vdS inspired more calmness and confidence than say Lloris?
No, all goalkeepers don’t do that. Watch Arsenal.
Zing!
Maybe, but I (personally) think it’s easier to stand out in a club that is a bit shaky, where there are lots of chances to make saves. Tougher to be in a top side and be inactive for 89 mins, then make a wonder save.
Not sure about the Champions League run – I thought the semi summed it up – excellent saves then a couple of errors in the second leg. Would have been my No 3 though.
That’s the reason why I always say that Valdes its the best GK in the world, for this and for his sweeper role.
van der sar is better
Yes… I saw it in CL final, my friend.
Imo, you’re completely off this time. Making one save is better than making multiple saves? In what world? Having ten shots go against you means there’s ten times the chance of fumbling the ball.
If a keeper makes five great saves and makes two huge mistakes, he’s generally considered to have had a good game. See Neuer over two legs against United.
A time comes when you just give up. Neuer had this right after his first brush with ManU. He gave a legendary performance and his team still lost at 2-0 home. He just gave up. Then got beat by Bayern 4-1 three days later, and 4-1 by ManU again three days later. It was the cracking point. Until then, he’d been brilliant, especially his big games against Bayern and Dortmund. Really can’t see how you’d prefer Victor Valdes over him. Saying that “it’s easier to stand out in a weak club” is just preferring reputation over form. Valdes was merely solid (ha) and didn’t do much memorable. Neuer really deserves the mention.
Okay, let’s put in this perspective. Compare Valdés’ games against Real Madrid to Casillas’ games against Barcelona. Who came out the better keeper? The one who made the most saves (Casillas), or the one who made the least saves? The one who had most shots fired at him, compared to the one who had very few shots fired at him, who made the better performance? Obviously Casillas was better, since he had way more to do than Valdés and since he kept Real Madrid in the game (Copa del Rey-final, in both of the Camp Nou El Clásico’s he made terrific saves).
And I wasn’t talking about Neuer, I’m talking about goalkeeping in general. I rank goalkeepers that make a lot of saves higher than goalkeepers that have an amazing defense ahead of them that protects them and keeps them from making a lot of saves.
In this season’s clasicos, none of Madrid’s goals were due to Valdes’ errors. Ronaldo had an unstoppable penalty, Ronaldo had an unstoppable header, and Marcelo scored from point blank range after Di Maria hit the post. Compare that to Casillas. Badly culpable for Pedro’s goal in the 5-0, beaten with ease 1v1 by Villa for the third in the 5-0, nutmegged by Villa for the fourth, easily beaten 1v1 by Pedro in the Champions League, and let Messi’s penalty at the Bernabeu right over his arm (Its tough to criticize him for not saving a penalty, but Messi hit it right at him and he missed). It’s tough to argue that Casillas was better than Valdes in the 5 Clasicos this season, especially if you rematch the goals.
“Maybe, but I (personally) think it’s easier to stand out in a club that is a bit shaky, where there are lots of chances to make saves.Tougher to be in a top side and be inactive for 89 mins, then make a wonder save”
If that is your reasoning why was Pepe Reina your choice last season?
ok all (including you, ZM), lets just put it this way:
= is Neuer a better ‘keeper than Valdes? – most definitely. Is Neuer a better ‘keeper than Van Der Saar? – possibly, possibly not. – at the very least Neuer should have been in the back-up eleven (in place of Valdes).
…….nuff said.
It’s not really about whether he is ‘better’ or not, it’s about whether he was better this season.
Cesc Fabregas is a better player than, say, Vidal, but it doesn’t mean he should be in the team ahead of him.
All in all a good team, personally i would have liked Iniesta in the midfield but Janssen deserves credit for his performances this year.
ZM, as you say there is currently a dearth of high quality left backs across Europe. What do you think of Emilio Izaguirre of Celtic? Does he have the potential to be a genuinely top class left back?
Yeah I think he looks very talented. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him become quite big – find it so hard to judge in SPL, hopefully we’ll see him more in Europe to judge next season
I think Abidal had a phenomenal season and i am not being sentimental. He is, by far, the best left back in the world. In the entire season, i do not remember even a single game when he was troubled.
Also i would have Tevez as a reserve striker. The guy had a fantastic season.
Agree on Tevez, thought he was superb for 75% of season. Wouldn’t know who to leave out, though
If Abidal hadn’t had his illness, I think he could deserve a place as a CB in the 2nd XI, he made spectacular perfomances, more spectacular if you see that he’s 31 yo. What do you think ZM ? And Why Busquets is not here? Good review anyways, congratulations !
Agree that Abidal was great. Was in my options, but CB there were some great performances this season. Busquets = great season but again, I was really impressed with Vidal, think he just gets the nod.
Yes… you always make outsider XI’s.
I think of it as being a “not made by sheep” 11. So many others writing in English probably had Bale and Parker, and Vidic as 1st choice CB.
3 players from Barcelona and 2 from Dortmund!!! puzzling for me ZM.
Do you really rate Nuri and Theo ahead of Iniesta and Busquests.
On your comment about CR7. Except for the the copa final goal, his plays didnt help RM in any big games. Those last 11 goals coming in after losing the league, just to win the Pichhi, didnt really look that great, I am afraid.
Neuer or Valdes would have been better choice than VDS
6 out of those 11 goals were against Sevilla and Villareal, how does that not look “that great”?
Not sure why it’s puzzling! Barca had a great season, as did Dortmund.
Not sure you can put a negative spin on 40 goals.
typical sour barcelona supporter, can’t think properly than subject is real, the same apply to liverpool supporters then it touches man united. how you can dismiss ronaldo and say that old crazy story that he doesn’t score in important games? do you actually watch footbal?
Indeed, “typical Barcelona supporter” were the words that came to my mind too…
Actually, I am a typical Barça supporter and I agreed with everything ZM said about Ronaldo. He is an amazing player. Stop bashing on Barça supporters just because the team is so good! I find it hard to believe those who enjoy Barça are any more (or less) ignorant than any other football fan.
I thought ZM’s list was a fantastic. The only surprise for me was VDS. I thought it was a bit sentimental at first…but it’s true. He had a great season.
then you are a non-typical barça supporter
Yeah, scoring against Villarreal, Valencia, Milan, Tottenham, Sevilla, Barcelona, assisting twice against Lyon (for Benzema’s goal away and Marcelo’s at home), amongst others is scoring against small teams.
Great team, pretty much spot on. Glad Arturo Vidal got a mention on the subs – no doubt the most complete bundesliga player. Also Victor Valdes over Neuer understandable – Victor brilliant sweeper keeper and it can be a tricky role!
I might add Mario Gomez to the list. I think he had a fantastic season in the Bundesliga as well as in the CL (where Bayern surprisingly collapsed against Inter in the 2nd half of the 2nd leg), scoring 28 goals in 32 matches in the BL and 8 in 8 in the CL. I expect him to replace Klose on the national side maybe even before Euro2012, which won’t be to bad, i assume…
Had a great season…could well have made it
And to think that he was oh so close to leaving Bayern – if only…
I doubt he was at any point “close to leaving Bayern”. Clubs don’t sell record signings after one poor season. And they definitely do not sell league top scorers after the second one.
Barca let Ibra go after one season. He wasn’t even that bad!
If Gomez was unsettled enough and the manager didn’t get on with him then there’s no reason why they wouldn’t cut their losses.
Good for them that they kept him; can’t imagine how bad their season would have been without him!
Valdes has to be the most underraeted goalkeeper in the history of football. I mean, he has been the best GK this season by far and he won’t get any individual trophies again. Same thing happened in 2009.
Problem with Valdes is that usually he doesn’t have that much to do, unlike, for example Neuer or Casillas, which often “win” games for their teams.
That’s all false. Again it’s just his old reputation.
ZM said it. It is his positioning and ability to read the play outside of the box that allows for Barca’s highline to be effective. Stick Neuer in the Barca goal, and think he would do better? Not me.
His inclusion strikes me as a nod to the tactical interest of his abilities. Lets in a shocker every season though.
Neuer constantly gets assists and is considered one of the, if not the best ball-playing goalies there are. He himself said that he would probably have made for a decent field player in the 3. Bundesliga.
According to optajose, Valdes makes 89% saves, higher than any Iker and most keepers from La liga. So, it’s a false notion that Valdes doesn’t have much to do at goal. His bursts from his line to clear the ball away are potential saves IMO.
Bcoz they are saves from isolated forwards in bad positions after they finally get the ball after running behind the ball for the entire match.
Supermadridsta,
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I must disagree. I would pick many of the lower Spanish teams’ goalkeepers over Valdes easily… It’s just the fact that we saw so much of Victor in their long CL run (although he didn’t even have to do much) that’s the reason he’s here. Sure, he has been the best keeper statistically by far, but his “highlight reels” are not so impressive comparatively speaking, and I think individual moments are more defining to how talented a GK is than statistics, in contrast to how I would judge other positions.
That reminded me of DeGea, he could be here too probably.
See La Liga, please, and you’ll see crucial saves from Valdes, too, ignorant.
Given (a) the body of work here at ZM and (b) the identity of the other players selected, I do not think that Valdes is here because “we saw so much of [him],” in fact, I think that’s a ludicrous assumption. If you look at the Schalke reviews, ZM has never stinted on praise for Neuer, for example, and he reviewed a lot of non-Barca la liga games.
I am not accusing ZM of laziness, but rather saying that it’s natural for players who play in more top games to receive more acclaim. However, I do take issue with ZM’s suggestion that “it’s easier to stand out in a club that is a bit shaky, where there are lots of chances to make saves.” There are also lots of chances for keepers at lower level clubs to make mistakes, and for some you see that and some you don’t. IMO, Valdes isn’t much better than such goalkeepers in terms of making significantly less mistakes, but he certainly makes less saves.
He earned the Zamora trophy yet again though.
1) Seriously, what about Neuer? Not sure if he was better than VdS, but putting Valdes over him seems quite strange for me. Would like to hear your argumentation for that.
2) not one DMF? Busquets?
Thiago Silva can step up to play as a holder if needed
Not sure that Valdes over Neuer is strange. Valdes was consistently excellent in the European Champions, Neuer had a good season for a midtable club that conceded a lot of goals in the CL KOs
Even without a holder, this team displays a reasonable balance. At least the theoretical formation is plausible, which is tough for most pundits to manage.
Being Portuguese, I mostly watch the Portuguese teams in the league and when playing in Europe, so I don’t know exactly how good Sahin or Janssen, for example, were this season. But one of the most important players this season for Porto, even though he didn’t score many goals or had many assists, was João Moutinho. When he’s on the field, if you’re not watching him closely, it looks like he isn’t doing much, but he was essential and without him Porto would not have managed to play like they did this season. It’s hard to find a bad performance from him. In my opinion, he’s the player in the Portuguese league that most resembles Xavi, though that’s not the most accurate comparison…
Yeah I’m a big fan of Moutinho, pleased that his move has worked out so well for him. Agree on the Xavi comparisons, I think he brings intelligence and calmness to the midfield.
Samuel Eto’o has been rather criminally excluded.
Mmmmaybe. Not sure who would miss out though
Perhaps Sánchez or Falcao as a substitute, though so many expect Eto’o to perform at the level he does, it’s a compliment in warped sense he doesn’t receive the accolades of others.
I understand you don’t want to pick a first eleven with only barca players. I doubt however whether this team would stand a chance against barca?
Good to see Theo Janssen in there. The guy that smokes and drinks and manages to k*ck everyones proverbial *ss anyway
Good Q. I think it’s hard to say you’d break up the Barca side for anyone – honestly, I think their understanding would mean that they’d defeat any all-star XI right now.
Brazil side from the last world cup maybe?? Probably not, but I still would like to see that
‘I think their understanding would mean that they’d defeat any all-star XI right now.’
Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea?
2011 Messi is much better than 2009 Messi, crazy as it sounds.
You mean in 08/09? Barca are far better now
sorry ZM but … isn’t it about the individual player and not the team they play on? ie. if so no Twente players would be on the list cuz Twente don’t stand a chance against the top teams in Europe …
What are you then basing your list on? team or player?
Now that would be a good game! Barcalona vs Rest of World XI.
BARCALONA
—————–Valdes——————
———Puyol———–Pique———–
———————————–Abidal
Alves————Busquets—————-
———Xavi—————————-
———————–Iniesta———–
————–Messi———————-
—–Pedro———————Villa—–
REST OF WORLD XI (players at full fitness)
——————Neuer—————–
———-Hummels——-T.Silva———
Maicon——————————Evra
———————-Sahin————-
———Fabregas———————–
——————Ozil——————
-Robben———————–Ronaldo—
——————–Eto’o—————
[SUBS: Vidic,Kompany,Modric,Nasri,Sneider,Sanchez,Rooney,Cavani,Ibrahimovic]
Without Pepe as DM they’d be sliced opened easily.
Also Robben doesn’t defend well (see Brazil’s goal against Holland), and Sneijder if asked to can defend better the Ozil from CAM position.
I think a 4-3-1-2 is needed to beat this Barca.
My formation (based on this season’s form) would be something along the lines of:
————Neuer————
Srna-Vidic-Silva-Nagatomo
—–Zanetti-Pepe-Alonso—–
————Tevez————
Eto’o——————Ronaldo
Set up to shut Barca down, the 3 go up against Messi/Iniesta/Xavi, the back 4 is set up to create 2v1s, Tevez keeps an eye on Busquets, and Eto’o/Ronaldo track the fullbacks. It’s obnoxiously defensive, but that seems like the safest way to go. Tevez plays the same position as Messi. When Messi drops deep, so does Tevez to prevent a midfield overload. The exception to this is if Busquets drops to centre-back (to allow the fullbacks to push up), in which case he’d drift to the wing. As soon as this team wins the ball, it is played to the flanks, assuming Barca’s full-backs have pushed up, Tevez will get to run at the exposed defence. Chances will be created this way.
Eventually, as we saw in the classicos, Guardiola will instruct his fullbacks to stay back. This means Ronaldo and Eto’o will work closer to goal, which would cause Barcelona more damage than just Tevez running at them.
The key to this is Tevez’s position, which I’m iffy about. I was considering Yaya for his defensive awareness, but he might lack the pace needed to break quickly. My other two options are Hazard and Nasri.
Although it’s hard to see Ronaldo tracking Alves…
Well, of course a team cobbled together for one match against a settled team and coach is probably going to lose. If they played together for a few years, then I don’t see that they couldn’t challenge Barcelona.
Although his teammates sulked, aguero deserved to be on the list
Maybe, not sure who he’d get in over, though
I hope you have copied and pasted this comment, as you’ve had to make it so many times.
Sad not to see Abidal there. He was the best, most consistent and reliable defender for Barca and in the world the whole season. He injury kept him out for less time than originally thought, and it’s not like his performances dropped or something.
Valdes was also easily Europe’s best goalkeeper this season.
It doesn’t happen often, but here i completely disagree with you.
Not picking Iniesta in the starting-11 in a season where he might have been the best midfielder in the world (yes, at times better than Xavi even, though less important) is seriously odd to me. I would have picked Busquets aswell, but i can accept Nuri Sahin aswell in that position. Oh and i would have had Eric Abidal in the starting-11 aswell – he has been Barcas best defender throughout the season and much better than Marcelo for me. How is he not even on the list?
Would have Vidic in there, too. So: Vidic in place of one of Silva and Hummels (both fantastic defenders, just not in the Vidic-class yet) – Abidal in the place of Marcelo – Iniesta in place of Janssen (criminal decision to put Janssen ahead of Iniesta, i mean, that shouldn’t even be legal).
Vidic made the subs. To argue that he should start over Silva or Hummels is (1) nitpicking and (2) most likely related to the larger amount of media attention he gets as a result of the tabloid noise machine surrounding the EPL.
Also, you have not explained why you disagree or actually made your case for these other players, you just made assertions; in the review you;re commenting on, reasons were provided.
I think on the whole ZM did a good job of the list, picking players that we’re most valuable to their respective teams, I think it’s more of a European MVP’s XI than a European Best Players XI.
Let me guess, Michael, you’re a Barca fan. You seriously want ZM to have 6 Barca players in the starting 11?
bah, stop qouting players of Barcelona for every position. The team is truly fantastic and the results are great. But that doesnt give the team’s players to wade into every TOP XI list.
The list is about the individual performance over the season and not on some vague recollections of some games shown on prime time television.
Lastly, this is HIS list.And how can any argument however good, can change his list?
P.S: To use words like legal,etc… is being hysterical rather than proving the point.
I hope the Dortmund team isn’t drastically altered by vulture clubs swooping in and taking all their players. I think they’d be a great team to watch in the Champions league next year and would love to see them make a deep run.
Yeah, I’m looking forward to that too. But they’ve lost Sahin, and imagine there’ll be some serious bids for Hummels, Subotic and Goetze as well. Hope not though…
if they can just wait one season before culling the majority of their players to the more established European giants then i would be happy; cant wait to see what this team can do in Europe…!
Also the fact that there’s not a player who plays as a true winger for their club (Sanchez might be the closest) on the list really shows the importance of variability in today’s game. I guess you could say the same thing about the absence of a true holding midfielder (even the Busquets exclusion is puzzling).
Just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the work put into this site. I’m an American who only just got into soccer (football) after the recent World Cup, and this site has been wonderful in helping me understand some of the game’s tactical points and subtle qualities.
I’ve been waiting to see this side of the season for a while now, and I think its well composed. I’d have a few changes, but that’s what these things are all about in any sport, aren’t they?
Keep up the good work, and I’ll be here following!
Thanks very much Fred, much appreciated
Same story as Fred – your work helped me understand what football was all about. I went from a typical American with a cursory interest to an avid follower.
Just wanted to add my thanks for all of your work.
Same as Fred. Yank who began following 1.5 years ago. This site has helped me immeasurably to understand the game.
You’d think the big papers like Guardian and Telegraph would do more of what you do. It’s hard to even find a tactical analysis most times. If I managed those papers, I’d pay you to write weekly columns. Must not sell papers, shame.
Thanks
Well, I do a weekly thing for the Guardian website, hopefully it will continue!
It makes sense that American’s would be drawn to this site- tactics being such a key part of many American sports.
SAME STORY AS FRED. And Ben. And KKB.
Maybe Hulk also deserved to be on this list (as a substitute). His performances in important matches was second to none. I know he may not be an ‘Intelligent’ player, but I think he was far more of a threat to other teams then Rossi.
Arguably, not ‘far more’ of a threat than Rossi – he was superb all year
True, maybe I exaggerated. To bad we wont see him in the Copa Sudamerica
As much as I am impressed by Marcelo’s energetic performances for Real, one of the images of the season for me was him sitting on the ground with a big smile on his face clapping after ‘helping’ Peter Crouch get a red card in the CL… I know it’s not a tactical comment ZM but I just had to share my disgust at this sort of ‘tactic’.
The red card he won helps his team win, so he was happy, and he didn’t care to hide it. I’d personally take that over pretending to be hurt and carrying on with a fake disgusted/pained expression.
But isn’t that the point? You said he ‘won’ the red card… surely players shouldn’t be winning red cards?! Red cards exist to help referees control unruly or dangerous players when they do something against the rules, they’re not something that should be reduced to a cynical tactic in order to help a team win.
What kind of tactic was Marcelo employing? It wasn’t as if he was doing anything special, Crouch was flying all over the place and deservedly got a second yellow card. He surely wasn’t diving if that’s what you’re implying. I too would smile if an opposing player got himself dismissed in the way that Crouch did.
As much as I am impressed by Marcelo’s energetic performances for Real, one of the images of the season for me was him sitting on the ground with a big smile on his face clapping after ‘helping’ Peter Crouch get a red card in the CL QF… I know it’s not a technical comment ZM but I just had to share my sadness at this sort of ‘tactic’.
Great list, good to see deserving Bundesliga players on it. Hummels might finally get the credit he has been desrving for 2 + years now.
Also think Neuer and Gomez deserve to be mentioned. Epic seasons for both.
I really think a nod should be given to players like Christian Tiffert of Kaiserslautern. He had 17 assists, really linked well with Lakic, and pulled the strings for a surprising Kaiserslautern team in its first year in the Bundesliga.
Marvin Martin is another player who had a tremendous season. Sochaux barely missed out on playing in Europe next season. Martin had 19 assists.
Both Tiffert and Martin should get looks by bigger clubs. Both deserved to be mentioned, even though they don’t play for traditionally strong clubs.
Nice work Michael! Glad to see mention of Vidal among the subs. And on that note, rumor has it that Inter might hire Bielsa
I want an article of ZM if Bielsa goes to Inter, how they’re gonna play and things like that, I don’t see Samuel, Lucio and Racchonia making the same defence as Chile.
With Inter’s current squad, it would likely be a back 3 of Zanetti-Lucio-Samuel. I was skeptical when I first saw the stories, but I actually think he would fit very well at Inter.
I don’t know… Bielsa always love to play with pacey players, so many times are reconverted DM’s, like Medel or Isla, and neither of that 3 have that. It would be interessant to see it !
The Bielsa links are dead now, but Zanetti is very pacy, that’s why I think he would have been preferred to Ranocchia.
While that may work at NT level, I can’t see it succeeding at club level(especially in tactics-obsessed Serie A). Van Gaal tried to do the same thing at Bayern by converting Tymoshuk and Gustavo to CD and we all know how that turned out…
I’m very excited
where is Francesco Totti? jokes aside. it’s a nice XI and its always hard to leave people out, I miss Neuer though.
No Totti, no party!
I can’t believe (insert favorite player’s name) did not make this team! What were you thinking?
I just though was better 
What about:
Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich, who played only half a season and still should be amongst the top 11 of the Bundesliga-season?
Mario Gomez, Bayern Munich, who netted an unholy amount of goals, considering he had his first starter against Hannover, way into the season?
Mario Götze, Borussia Dortmund, german wunderkind, 18, yet a regular in the national team?
Götze undoubtedly is the most promising talent in Germany right now. New Özil. But he just played his first season and surely can’t keep up with Özil or Iniesta yet.
Agree about Robben and Gomez though. If Robben wasn’t that injury-prone and more of a team player, he could be even better.
What formation are this team playing? Looks suspiciously like 4-4-2, I wouldn’t have expected that from ZM!
I’d say its 4-2-3-1, with Sahin and Xavi at the back and Messi/Ronaldo on the wings. Cavani the lone striker. Tough to pin down though because all of the attacking players are versatile.
At any rate I wouldn’t think it would be 4-4-2 since Xavi, Sahin and Janssen all play centrally.
Straight 4-3-3. Xavi, Sahin, Janssen in midfield with Messi and Ronaldo flanking Cavani.
4-3-3 basically. Ronaldo, Cavani, Messi front three
VDS was poor this season. Inspiring calmness shouldn’t be enough to get in the team of the season surely?! Can recall him spilling the ball leading directly to goals twice off the top of my head (liverpool and west brom). Hardly any clean sheets, particularly against weak opposition. Can hardly remember any decent saves and when in goal for a team like United, there’s obviously less to do than at most other teams so his clean sheets count is even worse than it looks I’d have thought. I’d expect most prem keepers to have saved at least one of the 3 champers final goals he conceded and it really highlighted that if you had a high shot count against united this season it would pretty much guaranty you scored a few. The main problem is that he’s been too slow to react, he just can’t get across he’s goal as quickly as keepers like Foster, Reina and Green. The other thing has been the number of times he’s saved the shot but put the ball right back into the danger zone instead of out of play.
“VDS was poor this season” – really?!
??? you compare foster and green to van der saar, you know goalkeeping not about these crazy saves like foster sometimes do (but he’s never top keeper, makes mistakes also shaky, not enough confidence same goes for green, if they are so good why do you think fergie sold him to brum? you think he’s made mistake? van der saar is the best for sure. just look how mancheter play without him – different team this season, because kuzcak and lindergaard not up to scratch. is no way without van der saar manchester would reached finaland won premier league.
Its really weird I said to my friend my top 11 of the season before this and i nearly agreed completely with you ha, I had vidic instead of hummels, tho I see the logic. I just thought he and van de sar were the reason behind man u winning the league and getting to the final of CL.
I also chose a different midfield 3, going for busquets (very surprised you didnt include him) and then ozil and sami khedira.
thoughts?
i put them in a 4-2-3-1 tho i cant see ronaldo and messi in the same team and put messi back in his old role on the inside left.
Can’t disagree too much
but if you had too….. (ha)
Excellent work as always. I wonder though if Wayne Rooney’s performance in the second half of the season might have warranted a spot.
Check out my blog @ http://www.inforthehattrick.blogspot.com
I would have had both Busquets and Iniesta but left out Xavi, who had a poor year by his own standard. He came good in time for the CL final though. Iniesta does very well as he has to hold the left of midfield mostly by himself wheras Xavi has both Messi and Alves working up the right hand side.
Messi played centrally almost the whole season and iniesta had villa and abidal/maxwell/adriano. Barça play symmetrically so I fail to see how your argument holds true.
I probably overstated their asymmetry but it does exist, they are more likely to attack down the right hand channel than the left, mostly due to Alves being much more of an attacking threat than adibal.
Messi while playing as a false 9, definitely favours the right hand side where he can shoot easily with his left.
I think you (and others) don’t see the shift in Xavi’s role this year with Messi playing more centrally as a false nine. It means that Messi takes on more of the playmaking duties up front, with Xavi sitting further back. Assists that were Xavi’s role last season became Messi’s this season. So a less flashy role on the end production this season, but just as dominant holding the midfield and shifting the field of play.
falcao scored a poker against villareal not an hattrick =)
by the way, falcao»cavani, but that´s my opinion
Fsntstic list, i love how you never go for the obvious choices. Do you think msybe Hernsndez could get in as a third choice striker?
I’d have Hernandez behind Ibra, Tevez, Eto’o, and Gomez (at least, maybe even further back). Eto’o and Gomez were better poachers this season and Tevez and Ibra were better overall players. Hernandez had a great season, but he’s not in the top tier of forwards just yet.
Probably not – I mean, he’s had a great season, arguably the signing of the year, but loads of competition…
My favourite things about your lists is that you don’t just copy and paste players who have had good seasons, they’re actually built with compatibility in mind as well.
Vidic is world class, and in a different team, would probably be a starter, but this is a 100% possession based team (midfield trio of Xavi/Sahin/Janssen, no true holder), Vidic would not be as effective as Hummels or Silva in a possession based team. United prefer to counter, he’s not as involved in the build-up as the others.
Similarly, the strike force of Ronaldo-Cavani-Messi, the only way to make it more possession based is to replace Ronaldo with a harder working player like Eto’o or Tevez.
You could just as easily make a more reactive team by choosing:
———–Neuer———–
Maggio-Vidic-Subotic-Abidal
——Khedira-de Jong——
Sanchez—-Pastore—–Mata
———Di Natale———
My point is, to everyone saying “where’s Vidic/Neuer/Gomez/etc”, you have to keep the playing system in mind.
i would change khedira for xabi alonso. He was instrumental for RM, and his long passes are quite pin point accurate to play counters.
Khedira wasn’t that great, plus you have De Jong as the DM
Indeed, thanks. And great shout on players there – Maggio has had a great season
You have Vidic and Subotic as centre-backs – both Serbs.
Have they played together for the Serbian national team yet and how good were they together?
On paper that should be Europes strongest centre of defense.
But the current EURO qualifying rankings for Serbia aren’t impressive.
I wonder if vdSs calm did improve Vidics performance after all.
But maybe Vidic and Subotic haven’t been paired yet, I just don’t know and I’m guessing.
@Kevo, Alonso’s long balls would be useful, but Khedira’s energy means more to me in this setup. I like 2 DMs in my teams
@ZM, I’m a huge fan of Maggio’s. He, Lichsteiner, Srna, and Alves (to name a few) could all compete for right-back of the year.
@Ghvinianidzigol, I think they were Serbia’s first choice at the World Cup. I chose them because both are good penalty box defenders, but it actually didn’t occur to me until now that they’re both Serbian.
Fair team, I would say. Although I did kind of get weirded out at Abidal’s exclusion. He was Barcelona’s saviour this season. With Puyol out injured, and Pique dreaming of Waka Waka, Abidal was the one who literally saved our season, along with Messi and maybe Mascherano.
Last season, Abidal was probably the best left defender in the world, but he unfortunately suffered two long-term injuries. This season, he was brilliant the whole time. Far and away the best left defender in the world, and one of the best defenders altogether. When he was moved to CB, he completely outshone Pique, and in my opinion played at the same level as Thiago Silva, maybe even better than Vidic. I don’t know how he did it, considering that he started off his first two seasons with Barcelona as the weak link in the team, but he’s amazing now.
I know he will never get the recognition he deserves because he isn’t an attacking player, but as a defender, he is definitely two or three levels ahead of both Marcelo and Coentrao, and I truly believe he is a much better player than either Evra or Cole.
PS: I think Iniesta had a better season than Xavi. Xavi was brilliant like always, but I think Iniesta was a little bit more important to Barcelona this season.
Maybe, but I think Abidal only started 6 games at left-back in the league, and at centre-back he wasn’t better than Hummels or Thiago Silva, IMO
Am I the only one not extremely impressed with Xavi this season? I’m not saying he was bad, but best in Europe? His form improved in the final months of the season. Ironically that’s the same period Barcelona looked the least impressive…
‘I’m not saying he was bad, but best in Europe?’
What!? Can you read what you’re typing?
Xavi may well be the greatest central-midfielder in history, never mind the best in Europe right now.
Xavi is utterly astonishing, he’s is the embodiment of Barca and Spain’s style, he’s been dominating the world game for 4 years now and this season was no different (injuries aside). Euro 2008, The Champion’s League 2009, World Cup 2010, The Champion’s League 2011. Correct me if I’, wrong, but didn’t Xavi have the most passes of any player on his to winning every one of those tournaments…
As Clive Tyldesley said during The Champion’s League final (Xavi- most passes); ‘He’s the man who makes the wheel spin. Everybody knows you’ve got to stop him yet, somehow, noone ever manages it’
To say that he makes Barca less impressive is just… I don’t even know. You’re crazy d00d.
There’s an argument that Xavi was better in 2010-2011 than in 2008-2009. Barcelona kept more possession this season than in 2009 (73%-65%), and Xavi’s main contribution is retaining the ball, controlling the possession, and offering easy passing outlets to his teammates. It follows from that that he’s doing his primary job better than ever. Granted, Xavi had fewer assists this season than in the treble season, but counting assists is an imperfect way of determining creative impact. It’s also primarily a consequence of Messi moving into the center. He and Iniesta now deliver through balls that would have been delivered by Xavi 2 years ago. Xavi is as effective as ever at playing the killer ball, but his main priority is keeping possession, and so he now delivers fewer through balls than in the past. As far as I know, there aren’t any stats for playing the second to last pass before a goal, but I guarantee that Xavi would be leading that category.
Exactly. Xavi’s role has changed with Messi moving to the center.
You’re saying that counting assits is an imperfect way to determine creative impact, yet you’re arguing that the number of passes is proving Xavi to be the best midfielder in the world. I agree with the first, not the latter. You’re also giving Xavi the credit for Barcelona’s higher possession this season. Are you sure that’s his honor? I am not. If we’re talking about individual players I would rather point my finger at Busquets to explain their increase in possession compared to 2008-2009. They are also an even more coherent team now, and have played together for longer, having more experience and practice togheter. Consistency is probably a better explaination than any individual player.
Xavi is excellent at what he does and nobody is more perfect for his role in Barcelona. If you want a “neutral possession midfielder”, Xavi is your first choice. To me that doesn’t automatically make him the best midfielder in the world. Certainly not when concidering he was “questionable” for the first half of the season but improved in form for the second. Of course, the neutral possession becomes very popular and hyped as the ultimate brand of football when it brings so much success to one team, but that is a trend more than a fact.
I think that may have meant that Xavi looked impressive because the rest of Barcelona were less impressive and this gave him a greater role. I don’t necessarily agree, but I don’t think that they were saying that he makes them less impressive.
In any case, I hardly think that there’s much of a case for calling Xavi the best central-midfielder in history, which seems a bit too close to hyperbole.
Look at what he’s won:
3 Champion’s Leagues
The World Cup
The European Championships
6 La Liga titles
That record stands in comparison with anyone you could mention. He’s literally (most over-used word in the English language) won everything he could have.
Not only that, but the teams he plays in are renowned for their passing style, a style he contributes hugely to both in statistical terms and in the footballing philosophy he seems to embody.
One of the criticisms still levelled at Messi when it comes to assessing his place in history is; he’s yet to achieve anything with Argentina. Xavi, on the other hand, has been a lynchpin for Barcelona (almost undeniably the best club team right now) and Spain (almost undeniably the best national team right now). I don’t think it’s fair downplay Messi’s ability based on Argentina’s lack of success, and equally I don’t think Spain’s is proof of Xavi’s prowess. My point, though, is that there are no gaps in Xavi’s CV, he’s done absolutely everything.
Look, I know there is no answer to the question; ‘who is the greatest X in history’ when it comes to a sport like football. The best you can say for any player is; there’s a case to be made in his favour. For me Xavi has a very strong case, not just because of his incredible medal haul, but because of the impact his sides have had on the way people think about the game.
Put it this way; if Xavi isn’t the greatest central midfielder ever, who is? I think you could count on one hand the amount of players who could reasonably stand in opposition to him for this title.
Titles are a silly way of arguing a players quality. Football is a team sport. If Xavi was, say, Costa Rican, would his lack of NT titles take away from his quality? On the other hand, let’s not forget that Wes Brown and John O’shea also have trophy cabinet’s full of titles….
@Qwe – I can see your point that trophies are not necessarily the best measure of a player.
But Patrick is not using only trophies to point out Xavi’s excellence (although even in that respect, o’Shea and Wes Brown can’t hold a candle to Xavi’s WC, Euro and Champions League record). As Patrick said, Xavi is arguably THE key man on the world’s two dominant sides – Spain and Barca – which cannot be said of Wes Brown, John o’Shea or anyone else.
Agree his first half was a bit dodgy, but he was excellent in the 5-0, and has been superb after Christmas, held the side together at dodgy moments.
Honorable mention for Luis Suarez and Pastore. Thank you for the great articles all season ZM!
Pleasure
wheres torres? how could you leave him out you noobs?
LOL!
(and i’m a Chelsea fan)
There are so many players to chose from, and I won’t argue about any players in your team. I will however make a three honorable mentions:
Robin van Persie (Arsenal): He was injured half the season and it wasn’t until the 1st of January until he scored his first goal for the season. Then the floodgates opened and he scored 22 in the second half of the season. In an Arsenal team falling together spectacularly after the Carling Cup tinal, he was the single consistent performer. He combines a fierce shot and silky touch with excellent link-up play and brilliant movement. The best ‘false nine’ in the world after Messi.
Antonio di Natale (Udinese): Like a wine, this player only gets better and better with age. He might not catch your eye in the build-up, but suddenly he pops up and smashes it into the net. He defended his capocannonieri title, and is more than anything a symbol for provincal hero, who stays in the small clubs despite being tempted by the big clubs.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan): A season not so very different for Zlatan; he once again won the league (8th in a row with his 5th club), was one of the best players in the world the first half of the season but then exited the Champions League in disappointing fashion and was largely invisible in the latter half of the season. Also led his national team as captian to some great results, including a 5-0 win over neighbors Finland (covered on ZM) where he came of the bench to score a hattrick.
Agree on Di Natale and Ibra..
Di Natale is a great great player who has a wonderful attitude and is a credit to Udinese and to Serie A in general…
tevez is probably a better false 9 than Van Persie but he is a close third. Tevez carried City into the Champions League playing as a false 9 in a fairly defensive team, at least when compared to arsenal. The percentage of City’s goals that Tevez scored is both astounding and pathetic at the same time.
On the other hand, van Persie scored just 3 goals less then Tevez but did it in only half a season. Not to mention RvP managed 7 assists.
But Tevez is a great call too! Just thought RvP needed mentioning.
Agree they’ve all had great seasons, were certainly in consideration
Great team ZM, though I would argue that Iniesta could’ve made it to the starting 11, but still great selection.
Also, it’d be great if you could cover more Liga matches next season. Some of the matches were tactically surprising like one of Barca’s matches against one of the smaller sides in the liga, where it switched 3 different formations throughout the game (3-4-3, 5-3-2 and 4-3-3), and I speak about only Barca games, there must be many other games like that.
I realise it takes a lot of work to watch a match several times, analyse it and write about it, but it would be much appreciated if you could. Great, great work here nonetheless. Thanks.
Thanks, I’ll try. I must admit I find La Liga quite frustating, but will try and do more.
Why is that ZM? not having a go, just curious
Maybe it has something to do with Madrid’s second string beating the third best side 6-3?
I meant tactically speaking.
The competition in itself can be quite frustrating but the tactical battles by the lesser teams vs the Barca/RM’s can be quite interesting.
Hercules vs Barca for example was pretty good.
It’ll be interesting to see what teams do next year to try and beat Barcelona.
what about Tiago Silva; where did this level of performance come from? Amazing what switching to the Rossoneri can do to a players career. He was absolutley immense, and it is no wonder that i recently read a article in 4-4-2 magazine about how Brazils defenders are her greatest player assets right now when i see this list!
Are we talking about the same Tiago Silve here? There is no way watching him play with Porto and Moscow that he would develop into this type of dominant defender. AC Milan must not allow this player to leave if they wish to defend their title next season and progress in Europe..
WHERE IS HULK Zm???
Okay Falcao was Porto’s poacher, but Hulk was the driving force!
Why not include him? AND TEVEZ??
VDS? Casillas was clearly better than him.
I should also mention Neuer.
No he wasn’t. Not in top 3.
Definitely Busquets in the first 11 instead of Theo Janssen, people fail to apreciate the importance of his role (obviously you can’t have only atacking players in the midfield)!
Totally agree, I think that he was the most underrated player in the World Cup, and now seems to continue this.
Not me, I constantly praised him when most Barca fans preferred Toure
Not explicitly a Barca fan, and I understand the importance of Busquets’ tactical role and that he does it fantastically for club and country, but I still would rather have Toure (or Keita, for that matter) in my lineup than Busquets. Just like I can’t stand C.Ronaldo for his selfish play, I can’t stand Busquets for his subversion of the game w/r/t malicious diving in search of bookings for his opponents. I will admit that my position is a personal preference probably related to some kind of selection bias stemming from which games I have watched, but I wouldn’t want to play with players who have the characteristics of those two.
What’s funny is that I don’t have the same problem with some people I’ve seen perform egregious dives (like Alves or even Eboue, who dives without any subtlety); I’d guess with Alves what it comes down to is that he works so visibly hard I can’t get mad at him.
So Iniesta’s best season for Barca can’t compete with Theo Janssen’s Dutch cup winning exploits. Come onnnnnnnnn.
Why not? I hate the patronising of smaller leagues
So why don’t you do a list for the 11 truly best players in the 4 best European leagues and then another one for the minor leagues? Might be interesting to see some rarely mentioned players of rarely mentioned teams, who did extraordinarily good this season… Seriously ZM, we want more!
It’s patronising to include him because he plays in a smaller league. I really like Janssen and his waistline, and that chipped goal he scored against PSV was one of the best of the year. But Iniesta was excellent at a much higher level.
It’s not really, he contributed great moments in big games, I think he deserves to be in the side
Great idea for you here ZM, a Non-Bartha, All-Euro Best XI, being that Bartha are the most unflappable, most beautiful, tika-tackiest squad that there is on earth, probably the solar system and possibly the universe because trying to convince their “supporters” there are other teams that play attractive football with cheeky passes and such is a bit of a waste of air.
Modric could walk into that squad and play the Xavi role without anyone missing a step. Also, its of no coincidence that Jose is after 2 of your picks.
(Aside: They are a good team, a very good team. I enjoyed watching them serve Madrid 5-0, and the Champions League Final just like the rest of the mouthiest 75% of their supporters who likely only watched two games this year. Bartha fans should observe that next year is Mou’s 2nd go at it with Madrid and are consequently on notice.)
Bro this is a website to discuss tactics, not criticize other teams…Lets let it stay that way.
Bro, “So Iniesta’s best season for Barca can’t compete with Theo Janssen’s Dutch cup winning exploits. Come onnnnnnnnn.”
Liking Barca does equate to appreciation of tactics.
Right, why even bother with this list; just make the entire starting 11 Barca players….and the subs too…(then the fanboys will be happy)
Cristiano Ronaldo has been completely irrelevant this season. Even 25% of his goals at La Liga were scored when the championship was already defined. If he is in the XI because of how good he is (and not how good he has been) then it makes no sense to leave out Iniesta.
He scored 40 goals, the most anyone has ever scored in the league he was playing in
Sorry, ZM, but you must be joking… Where’s Hulk?!
And Falcão, the best striker in the world, with almost 1 goal per game and the decisive one in Europa League final, is in the bench?!? For Cavani?! Come on… 2 players of Dortmund and none of FC Porto, who won 4 titles this season and were unbeaten in the league?!
God, ZM… why do you insist in ignore such a huge team like Porto? I don’t understand!
I’m gonna guess you’re a Porto fan
Yes i am, but that doesn’t mean that i’m wrong. Porto have won 4 titles this season and Hulk/Falcão were without a doubt one of the most prolific duos in european football. They were incredible in every competitions. Porto won almost everything, including a european trophy. You gotta value the team trophys, that’s the most important thing in football, and the most valuable players of the teams that win… must be included in a “best eleven”. You cannot ignore trophys.
If you see my choices above, all of them (with the exception of Bale, who exploded as one of the best players in the world in just one season – here adapted as a LB) had won something. Ozil and Ronaldo only won a cup, but they were superb all season (including the world cup, in the case of Ozil).
For me, trophys are the essencial topic here, but i respect your opinion and you know i’m an huge fan of ZM and your work. You’re fantastic and i learn a lot from your analisys, but i gotta tell you my opninion on this…
Best regards
Haha! ZM does plenty of work featuring Porto.
How about you make your own football site and post your best XI of the season? Although I might as well just google search “Porto team list” instead.
Cheers ZM, keep up the great work!
Van der Sar
Daniel Alves
Thiago Silva
Vidic
G.Bale
Busquets
Xavi
Ozil
Ronaldo
Messi
Falcão
Bench: Casillas, Piqué, Hummels, Van der Wiel, Marcelo, Moutinho, Iniesta, Pastore, Sanchez, Hulk and Cavani.
Bad choices?! I don’t think so…
@ZM: can you give your predicted three finalists for the FIFA/UEFA player of the year award, mine would be the same three finalists as last year, what do you think???
Which award is this? For the season?
I mean the world player of the year award
The year is only half over (FIFA Ballon d’Or is now measured over a calendar year rather than a competitive season, which is kind of nonsensical), but I don’t think many people doubt the outcome. Messi will surely get his third consecutive Ballon d’Or (making him the first since Platini to get 3 in a row, and the first to do it since non-europeans became eligible for the award). Ronaldo and Xavi will likely be runners up, with Falcao a long shot to nab a podium place. Villas Boas will likely get manager of the year (though Guardiola also has a decent shout).
I’d like to refer you to Jonathan Wilson though: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jonathan_wilson/06/01/individual.awards/index.html
I’m really interested to seeing some of these new players in the CL next season, hopefully Borussia and Udinese won’t be too hampered by losing good players.
It’s easy to score 40 goals when you have a team like Real Madrid fighting only for you to score and not for the title or UCL (and spending 400 milions for this purpose).
I remember there were some romanian and/or turkish players in the 80s or 90s scoring 4 or 5 goals every game (in faked games) in order to win the Golden Boot Award. They were caught later. Rodion Camataru and Dorin Mateut were 2 of those players if I remember correctly and they won with something like 40-45 goals each (the last 20 goals scored in the last 3-4 games of the season).
It’s not really ‘easy’
then subject is ronaldo some people really do lose any sense of reality and objective judgment, it’s a great phenomenon
ok maybe 40 goals didn’t win them league, but they were close, and that about then he played at ,manchester united season 2007/2008? he scored 42 goals that season and helped them win champions league (scored header in final)(as well as all years at manchester helped to win them 3 titles and he scored plenty of goals and he does it every season
Man, i don’t know what ronaldo needs to do anymore. Talk is cheap tho, and all the coaches who have worked with him know he is a fantastic pro and a coach/manager’s delight. He belongs in any Best XI no problem.
Van der Sar – Alves, Vidic, Hummels, Marcelo – Ozil, Xavi, Sahin – Ronaldo, Eto’o, Messi
>His main quality was not his shot-stopping skills, his command of the box or his ability with his feet, >but his ability to inspire calmness and confidence in the Manchester United back four.
This is the most convoluted excuse since trying to justify Brother Giggs winning POY award.
I think Vidic and Rio dont need much inspiration.. maybe some of the younger kids like Smalling but this wasnt a young inexperienced defence than needed guidance. They were a very stingy team on defense and play often with 5midfielder. VDS was an important part but didnt stand out.
Id hate to see a midfielder being lauded not for his fitness, technical skills and game awareness but because he cheers on his mates during the game as THE reason why hed be called the best.
Still, its only a list and a pretty good one at that. Considering the amount of players and only a few slots, youre bound to get different opinions.
I like the fact that ZM sees euro football as a whole and not just the top 3 money leagues.
Too many people have rarely seen game outside of their own countries apart from CL games.
Not a single Englishman!?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3198030/Official-English-football-is-rubbish.html
The englishmen with the best overall seasons were Baines, Wilshere, Hart, Smalling and Walcott. And the best English player Rooney was crap for half the season. Exactly who deserved a place?
I may be a touch biased (as my name suggests), but Baines has got to be close.
His stats were exceptional this season… 2nd highest assists as a defender in European leagues, only to Alves.
Agree – he had a great season. Best LB in the Prem by far, but difficult to place him in this since he wasn’t really prominent enough in European terms, if that’s not too harsh
what do you mean by “European terms”? Do players on this list have to be on teams who played in either the CL or Uefa Cup? (all the players listed did … although Man.City’s run in Europe if what some might call limited) And will thus players from Birmingham City be eligible for this list next year?
I can see the logic as it reduces the amount of players to choose from by quite a bit and makes life easier because you don’t have to choose from obscure teams that are near impossible to follow for a complete season (or let alone see games by) but at times the best player in a league at a certain position isn’t on one of the tops sides … above I’d note (bench)Goalkeeper and Left back as the sore thumbs …
I would of thought Wilshere would have deserved a place, as it was primarily his debut season, playing consistenly superb including top performances in both games vs barca, escaping from xavi and iniesa several times in tight spaces. not bad for a 19 year old.
It’s very odd to see a best XI Europe team that does’t have any Brazilian forward. It is said, but fair. But Neymar and Ganso are arriving in Europe, wait and see!!!
ZM – Are you going to post anything on the Libertadores Final (Santos Vs Penarol)? First leg was yeterday, and the second leg is going to happen next wednesday. I think people would be interested in knowing what’s happenning on the other side of the Atlantic!
What do you think of Xabi Alonso’s season? Would he merit a consideration for European team of the season 2010/2011
ZM, just wanted to say thanks for this article and for all your work this season. Your web site is the illest and realest; in fact, if I were you I would adopt the line from The Root’s Radio Daze: “got immunized from both flus/I’m *still* sick/via satellite, radio, or realness…”
please don’t make us wait 7 days between each post all summer…
Thanks again for all the great articles ZM! Always a pleasure to read! Nice picks for the best team; and hereby I give Jack Wilshere an honourable mentioning because I think he was Arsenal’s most consistent player this season and I’m an Arsenal fan!
After my initial criticism, i must admit that i was maybe being too much of a nitpicker on some matters. All in all, it is a good selection – and much better than most seasons of the year usually are. However, picking Theo Janssen (or Nuri Sahin, or Xavi for that matter) above Iniesta in what Michael Cox himself refers to as “his best season ever” i cannot understand. Iniesta has, with Abidal, been Barcelona’s second best players this season. I would love to hear the case being made, ZM, for leaving out Iniesta of the starting-11 and for leaving out Abidal completely.
I’m not just saying this because of his reputation, but how can you not include Iniesta in the team of the season?
The man is a genius! Couldn’t name any player in world football who does what Iniesta does to a ridiculously good level. Rarely wastes possession and is very good on the ball, yet also has fantastic dribbling skiils.
Barcelona 2009 – Treble Inc Champions League. Iniesta is a regular.
Barcelona 2010 – League only. Iniesta season disrupted by injury.
Barcelona 2011 – League and Champions League Double. Iniesta is a regular.
Co-Incidence? I think not.
As for other suggestions, glad you put Marcelo in, actually an underated player in my opinion. Don’t want to be too biased towards Barcelona, but I’m going to be anyway. The midfield trio should really be the Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta BEAST. Not only have they won the League and European Cup double, but they have all performed to unbelievably high levels.
As for some of the players perhaps unfairly left out.
Nani – top assists in the Premiership, decent goal return also.
Downing – quality performer week in week out in a rather poor Villa side.
Lucas Leiva – player of the year at Liverpool. Not saying a great deal, but he really has come on as a player.
I could go on, you can’t include everyone though! Good article though, disappointed you didn’t do one on the Spain U21 v England U21. Another lesson in how to keep the ball given to England. Javi Martinez is the next Busquets, and Mata has a very bright future.
I’d dispute that Iniesta coincidence for 08/09 and 09/10 – he had injury problems in 08/09 too. He completed 56% of league minutes in 08/09 and 56% in 09/10 too.
He was a key part in all the big games though…
Nice to include Mathieu Debuchy – the unsung hero of Lille’s triumphant campaign. Even though I’m a Lyon supporter, I cannot understand why Laurent Blanc prefers Réveillère instead of Debuchy.
I don’t know if anybody mentioned Marvin Martin, but though probably not (yet
) good enough for the first team of your XI, he definitely is one of Europe’s most exciting prospects – 16 assists, just behind Messi and Nani, and in a team like Sochaux is really outstanding. He capped off a great season with two wonderful performances for France against Ukraine and Poland and has probably sent Gourcuff back home.
(Sochaux themselves have been exciting, not only because of their attacking play but tactically, very few teams use a 4-1-3-2 nowadays).
Which also makes me think that the classic n°10 might yet come back with a vengeance, we’ve seen Gourcuff and then Pastore arise in the last two seaons, but this year we have Martin, Eriksen, Paulo Henrique Ganso…any chance the Totti and Zidane style trequartista isn’t as dead as we thought ?
Dowd, Atkinson and Webb should be included as the go to men when a coach needs a result.
I think you slept on Manuel Neuer. He should be at least Substitute.
I don’t really agree with your goalkeeping choices, I’m afraid. First, VdS was abysmal the whole season. Yes, his command of area is excellent and all that, but his age is really beginning to show. His reflexes aren’t good (although a few nice saves he made with those) and overall, his qualities as a gk have lacked edge. And before the UCL final I really considered him to be one of the best keepers in terms of positioning but he made some incredible errors two of which lead to goals.
Your second choice, Victor Valdes, was a a terrible choice. In my calculations, his save percentage in UCL playoffs was a round zero and he allowed six goals. Valdes is a very uncertain goalkeeper. He isn’t anywhere near world’s top goalies and makes too many unforced errors constantly. He is probably the worst player in Barcelona, and only because he plays there has he got the kind of praise which he hasn’t at all deserved. The other thing with him is his nerves. He can’t keep cool for the whole 90 minutes and usually gets unnecessary bookings for arguing with the officials about situations in which he hasn’t even participated.
Sorry about my grammar, I’m finnish
I wonder what kind of player Theo could be if he wasn’t homesick and didn’t have a unsporting lifestyle..
Coentrao will probably be redeployed on the right like it’s the case with di Maria instead of Ramos.
Dario Srna should have been on the bench instead of Debuchy. I know you wanted to put a Lille player in there but Srna had a fantastic season both in Europe and in the Ukraine. His performances were so go vs Roma that he got a deliberate elbow in the face from De Rossi…
Falcao, should be on first team…
And Hulk in the bench.
Cheers
ok
why don´t you just give a reason for not putting them instead of others (like why falcao isnt better than cavani) instead of being sarcastic? ( i´m NOT saying that they deserve to be in the team, i´m only asking for your opinion)
Maybe because the original poster didn’t bother to back up his own statement?
as per the value of some of the strikers on the list … how about applying some stats to them … ie similar to what a blog on the Dutch league did … I’d like to see the “Value added” scores for the likes of C.Ronaldo …
http://11tegen11.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/who-is-the-true-top-scorer-of-the-eredivisie-introducing-a-weighted-goal-scorer-metric/
this due to the fact that the list above really is more on “gut instinct” than on actual fact … kind of like saying the best pitcher in baseball is the one who records the most wins … there’s nothing bad about basing a year-end-list on gut instinct except that it will always be open to discussion and have people posting in players from their favorite teams and why you didn’t include them as they played exceptionally well … yes, that’s what most fans of the various teams want to see and will discredit players on rival teams … and people base their instincts on intangibles (a players heart, work ethic, drive, fairness, the winning of trophies, etc.) … the romance of it is excellent but making such lists is ultimately futile as there is no basis for an argument to either include or exclude a player … for example if you can include vdSar by stating that he’s not the best at this and this and this but he sure does make his defense feel comfortable then you are saying that goalkeeping skills are less important to a player in that position than their ability to inspire confidence in the players in front of them … very admirable but surely open to debate and a questionable decision to say the least … someone above posted stats on Neuer which are harder to argue against, you just have to state what are the most important stats and maybe thus have some weighted number come out of it …
also a season is just that, one season, it shouldn’t be decided by just one game (for vdSar his efforts during the CL final for example … in games previous he was one of the players that actually got them there) and the feeling that it leaves behind in the person doing the analysis … thankfully this is something that you’ve taken into account it seems.
those are my 2 cents on the whole “list” business …
cheers b.
a quick example using (basic) statistics comparing C.Ronaldo of R.Madrid fame and Rondon of Malaga fame (only for La Liga games!) …
C.Ronaldo SH/SG(%) 250/102(.408) G(%SH/%SG) 40(.160/.392) A 10 GS/GB 32/2
Rondon 74/31(.419) 14(.189/.452) 2 28/2
SH – Shots; SG – Shots on Goal; G – Goals; %SH – percentage of Goals per Shot; %SG – Percentage of Goals per Shot on Goal; A – Assist; GS – Games Started; GB – Games from Bench.
I’d run similar number for La Liga earlier this season for the main two/three strikers of each team and found that “good” strikers had the following percentages (as per order above) – .450/.130-.150/.330. Thus both players reasonably fit within those parameters of a good striker … but notice the percentages after the number of goals scored … in other words although C.Ronaldo scored an insane amount of goals and can be considered an above average striker with the percentages, he came quite a ways off a little known striker from a tiny club. And for those of you who think that if you have less shots then percentages should be higher there are a host of La Liga strikers who don’t get many shots off and whose numbers are considerably less than those of both Rondon and C.Ronaldo …
But it doesn’t stop there … next you have to rate the individual goals to get some sort of weighted average between players to compare them even if their teams are wholly different and play completely different tactical styles … so goals that end up being equalizers or winning goals in the final result of a game would get more weight whereas goals that increase the margin of a win to over 4 goals (as used in the Dutch website 11tegen11) would be weighed 0 as their importance to the result is negligible (the ol’ shooting fish in a barrel principle), also goals late in games that decide the final result should have a higher weight as there is less time for the opposing team to change the result.
For example R.Madrid’s last game was an 8-1 thrashing of last placed Almeria, C.Ronaldo scored the first and 7th goals, the first in the 4th minute giving Almeria plenty of time to level (they didn’t) so it should be weighed as such, also it’s not the game winner, the 2nd Madrid goal is. C.Ronaldo’s 7th came late in the game at a time when pretty much Almeria had given up (if they hadn’t already at the start) and so should thus have no weight as it didn’t substantially alter the game development or outcome.
Rondon’s last goal came in Malaga’s second last game of the season (he went off injured in the first half of their last game) while they were still battling for survival, he scored in the 22nd minute, away to A.Madrid. Not only was it the game winner in a 0-3 away result but it was midway through the first half … not to mention it was against a team higher in the standings and as mentioned before, in an away game (more weight to goals away because one could argue they are harder to come by.)
Anyway, I haven’t computed all this as I do it or fun and this would take ages of time which I just don’t have. But you get my drift.
Lastly … own a football team in mid-table in a big league? hint; sign Rondon as he’ll be cheap as Malaga recently bought v.Nistelrooij and thus they have a surplus of strikers looking for full playing time (J.Baptista is also on their books.)
ps – for those interested in Messi as you always have to compare him and C.Ronaldo (being sarcastic by the way) …
150/80(.533) 31(.207/.388) 18 31/2
ie. with 250 shots he would have scored almost 52 goals …
I personally think Leighton Baines is worthy of a spot in there. He was by far the best full back in the Premier League last season, and Europe-wide only Alves has provided more assists from full-back. Not bad, considering the sorry shambles of a forward line he has to work with.
What about Borja replacing Janssen? I thought he was brilliant, certainly in the first half.
Modest
Many Barça fans have spoken about the exclusion of Abidal from the team and Iniesta not being in the starting 11 but I like the fact that most Barça fans see eye to eye on this…Iniesta had his best season ever and he was better than Xavi (although I’d always pick him over Iniesta but not this time) in a team that is considered to be among the greatest ever..He has performed superbly in the CL and la Liga..As for Abidal he really was our savior this season..He was the 2nd best Barça player after Messi..this is coming from a guy who used to hate Abidal and wished we could exchange him for anybody else ..His season was so impressive that I just bought a Barca shirt with his name on it..I also have attended the game vs Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou where Barca won 3-0 and watched how he dominated Aguero and how the Catalans cheered his every move and sang his name..The only player to get more cheers that day was Messi (obviously for scoring a hat-trick)..first time on this site for me but will be coming to check it out more regularly…awesome work..cheers
Abidal played very well, but I am not convinced that he was more crucial to the team than Alves. Admittedly, only the former can be trusted to cover the center of defense, but by the same token only the latter can be charged with controlling an entire flank on both offense and defense.
and good luck for you to have found this site, it’s my favorite bar none.
Alves is amazing but I wasn’t comparing Abidal to him..when i said Abidal was the best, I meant compared to Puyol who nearly missed the whole second half of the season and compared to Pique who had a lot of horror mistakes although I believe he is indeed one of the best but still needs to focus more and be a leader when Puyol isn’t there…If Abidal wasn’t here to cover for Puyol’s absence or Pique’s mistakes we really would’ve been screwed big time this season