My last three would prob be
Iniesta
Reus
Bale
with Muller, Gotze , Zlatan and Neymar the next looking in, but obviously there is a lot of potential interchanging with guys.... Hart and Courtoius were good calls by 23 though, def ones I def overlooked when I first threw out names...
My top 15 in order would have to be:
1. Ronaldo
2. Messi
3. Robben (healthy)
4. Bale
5. Suarez
6. Aguero
7. Ibrahimovic
8. Hazard
9. Neymar
10. Iniesta
11. Reus
12. Silva
13. Vidal (hate him, though)
14.Toni Kroos
15. James
Thiago Silva probably fits somewhere in there. Maybe Muller too.
Great discussion guys. Few things, all my opinion of course:
• Iniesta is one of my all-time favorites, but he is not a top 10 player anymore. He was a top 3 player at one time, but at his age they already started limiting his minutes last year, and to be honest, Rakatic was the more important player for much of the year. He’s still flashes moments of absolute brilliance, but he just can’t do it consistently enough to be considered a top 10 player anymore.
• James Rodriguez needs to be way higher on any list. What he did in the World Cup, on the world’s biggest stage, was simply magical. And then, he was a force for Real, and they were the unquestioned top team in the world (and this is from a Barca fan) until he got hurt. His absence (along with Modric) just killlllled them. He is a phenom (sp) and is close to a top 5 player for me.
• Neymar needs to be in the top 5 as well, for me. Yes, he is a flopper and a whiner and he blew it at the Copa, but his skills are almost unparalleled, and he brings it in big games. He takes a back seat to Messi at Barca, but when Messi is out, he goes to work. And watch him play with Brazil, where he is the man and defenses are geared solely to stop him…he still is virtually unstoppable. And when he is out? Brazil, friggin’ BRAZIL, is impotent. If you put all biases aside and all (warranted) hatred aside, and just analyze his game and what he means to both Barca and Brazil, he’s clearly a top 5 player for me.
• ND23, buddy, how could you have Ronaldo ahead of Messi this year? Last year, maybe. But this year, and at this moment, there’s really no question who is better.
• My top 5 are Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez, Neymar, and I struggle with #5. Bale, but mentally he fell apart last year and was lost. Robben, but he gets hurt way too much. Ibra, but he’s getting up there in years and not quite as dominant. Hazard, disappears too often for top 5 status (but he’s close). Gun to my head, I go Fernando Torres because of the goal he scored vs. Germany that got Spain that first Euro 2008 championship and was one of the best sporting moments of my life. Haha, gun to my head I go James Rodriguez, but there are lots of guys you can make an argument for.
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