World Best XI (Contemporary)

[Giles Daldanus]

Current World Best XI

Please post your line-ups (pick the best and/or favourite players in each position). Feel free to choose your own formations.

4-4-2


GK: H. Lloris

DF: M. Hummels – P. Mertesacker – G. Chiellini - Maicon D.

MF: T. Mueller – Xavi H. – W. Sneijder – L. Messi

FD: D. Forlan – S. Aguero

I have left out high profile footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Manuel Neuer, but certain trade-offs are always necessary when deciding on matters like that.

 

[backrow]

as much as i don't like Ronaldo, you do not take Forlan for someone like him.

also, Lloris? i wouldn't agree with you, but that's your favorite 11.

 

[Europe]

I can't name a top 11. I just haven't been watching too much lately, but I do know that Forlan shouldn't be picked ahead of Ronaldo. Giles and Frederc both love Forlan. The guy gets on my nerves. Maybe it is his hair with the ribbon in it. I don't know. Is it true that Forlan has only played in 5 games for Inter and scored 1 goal? Those are the stats on the net.

 

[MilanClass]

I'll take a shot

4-3-3


------------ Friedel --------------

--Maicon---Pique--Chiellini---Alves--

--Aguero------Iniesta------Messi--

--Ronaldo----Higuain----Van Persie--


This is so difficult because I have to leave out players like Xavi, Fabregas, Forlan, Sneijder, Dzeko, and Villa. And I don't have a CDM but if I have had to pick one it would be Schweinsteiger.


Could you imagine the uproar this would get in the U.S. media. ONLY ONE BLACK PLAYER....THAT MEANS NO WONDERFUL DIVERSITY....OH NO!!!!

 

[frederic38]

choosing 11 players like that is always difficult, you will always end up with players you would like to play with but soccer only plays with 11 players

@milan class: yes, your team is really offensive minded lol
but it could work if, like in barcelona, everybody defends, even ronaldo and messi

@backrow: the two best goalkeepers in the world i think are lloris and neuer right now
you would put neuer?
it would be a great choice too
i think i will also do a compilation on ruffier also, he is doing incredible things, he is very spectacular

@europe:
yes i love forlan
it is not that scandalous to prefer forlan to ronaldo the portuguese
forlan proved to be one of the best in the world, he proved he was in the messi-ronaldo-rooney group
as for the number of goals, he scores less than when he played for atletico madrid (where he has been european top scorer multiple times) because back then he played like a true striker, now both with uruguay and inter he plays in the same role than sneijder
at the world cup 2010 too
he played striker in the first match, and in the rest of the competition he was the play-maker (because ignazio gonzalez, the playmaker, was bad in the first match)

so don't expect him to score 30 goals per year like when he was at atletico madrid

everything is in the "diego forlan" thread
i did a video for every match he played almost
i'm glad i did so, because one of the videos got viewed more than 24.000 times,still increasing, and so uruguayans and inter fans are able to see forlan is not bad at all at inter
the fact that he is criticized in italy made uruguayan fans love him even more, while forlan was not very popular in uruguay (a little bit too "golden boy" for the fans)
but when you criticize an uruguayan, even if they don't really like him, they will protect him


he is currently injuried, that's why he only played 5 matches


as for his hair, i prefered when he had straight hair

now my 11 players:

if i do a world team, it will be almost 11 south americans, and i would get bashed so i will do 11 south americans and 11 europeans




european 11:

4-4-2

---------------neuer ------------------

lahm ----puyol---kjaer---fabio coentrao

--sneijder--tymoschuk--ronaldo--xavi --


-----------andy caroll-----villa----------
----------(or bendtner) (or rooney)------


coach: didier deschamps



south-american 11:

-------------murara neto------------------------

maicon--lucio-----diego lugano-----juan manuel vargas
-------------deus da raca uruguaia--------------------

------dagoberto----sorondo----lucas leiva--forlan------
---------------(or thiago motta)-----------------------

-----------------maxi lopez--pato---------------------


coach: scolari or pellegrini

i left paulo baier or rogerio ceni out because maybe they are too old

 

[waterbed]

Casillas

Maicon-Pique-Mathijsen-Alves

V. Bommel-V. d. Vaart

Ronaldo-V.Persie-Messi

Dzeko

 

[frederic38]

Could you imagine the uproar this would get in the U.S. media. ONLY ONE BLACK PLAYER....THAT MEANS NO WONDERFUL DIVERSITY....OH NO!!!!

the funny thing is that whites are so good that it was actually the exact racial make up of the 11 best players in the world, the list being given by FIFA, of last year

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Maicon (Inter Milan) Piqué (FC Barcelone) Lucio (Inter Milan) Puyol (FC Barcelone)
Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelone) Sneijder (Inter Milan) Iniesta (FC Barcelone)
Messi (FC Barcelone) Villa (FC Barcelone) C.Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

for them the only "black" (indian-black) player deserving to be in the list is maicon, like for a lot of us (actually, everyone of us)

 

[Giles Daldanus]

@Backrow, I respect Cristiano Ronaldo and don’t find him annoying, I would have to say that he is actually in better shape than Messi at the present moment. I tried to include some players who tend to slip under the radar and usually do better for the national side rather than their club teams (I am a bit biased in that respect, as I really enjoy watching competitions between national sides ).

As for Lloris – he hasn’t proven himself outside of Ligue 1, but has been a very consistent performer for France and has it all when it comes to reflexes, positional discipline, etc. (only drawback is he is not among the taller goalkeepers). My assumption is that he could become as good as (or better than) goalies like Casillas and Buffon, but it all depends on whether he will keep improving at a steady rate (it’s a matter of potentialities).

@Europe, I like Forlan’s approach to the game and I tend to put a huge premium on World Cup performances, though I guess that I generally identify the most with players from Eastern Europe/the Balkans. And yeah – his hair styles are quite distinct, possibly bordering on extravagant at times.


@MilanClass, very good line-up, I like that you picked Friedel, as he is still an amazing shot-stopper (even though he is 40). The offensive talent at this team’s disposal is phenomenal.

@Waterbed, interesting team, Joris Mathijsen and Mark van Bommel are excellent choices, as they are often quite underrated, but have actually been very solid in recent years (especially when representing the Netherlands).

@Frederic, thanks for contributing! It’s a nice idea to have two separate line-ups. It’s hard to say whether the South American 11 would prevail over the European 11 or vice versa (the teams seem quite even), but this would be a fantastic match for the neutral.


An alternative line-up (slightly biased towards Eastern European players):

3-5-2


V. Valdes

N. Vidic – D. Alves – J. Terry

F. Lampard – C. Ronaldo – L. Modric – R. Van der Vaart – M. Hamsik


D. Berbatov – D. Drogba


Coach: Josep Guardiola or Guus Hiddink

 

[Porthos]

There are many combinations, but let's try this one:

GK Manuel Neuer
RB Phillip Lahm
CB Giorgio Chiellini
CB Diego Lugano
LB Gareth Bale
MF Xabi Alonso
MF Luka Modric
MF Xavi Hernandez
MF Wesley Sneijder
FW Cristiano Ronaldo
FW Lionel Messi

 

[frederic38]

the new official world best 11, given by FIFA
it's racially similar to last year, there is only one non white, he is still brazilian, and he is still a full back

Casillas
Alves, Piqué, Ramos, Vidic
Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Lionel Messi
Ronaldo, Rooney



messi (white) is the only non european (with the brazilian alves as said before)

http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/world11/index.html

 

[Europe]

There are many combinations, but let's try this one:

GK Manuel Neuer
RB Phillip Lahm
CB Giorgio Chiellini
CB Diego Lugano
LB Gareth Bale
MF Xabi Alonso
MF Luka Modric
MF Xavi Hernandez
MF Wesley Sneijder
FW Cristiano Ronaldo
FW Lionel Messi

Doesn't Bale play more left wing now?

 

[Porthos]

Doesn't Bale play more left wing now?

Technically he is a left fullback, although he goes forward a lot. In modern soccer it is not unusual for a non marking left/right fullback to move up the wing and take the position of the winger like Dani Alves for example or most of Brazilian fullbacks.
I agree though that he might go forward a bit too much.

 

[Matra2]

the new official world best 11, given by FIFA
it's racially similar to last year, there is only one non white, he is still brazilian, and he is still a full back

Casillas
Alves, Piqué, Ramos, Vidic
Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Lionel Messi
Ronaldo, Rooney



messi (white) is the only non european (with the brazilian alves as said before)

http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/world11/index.html

Leaving aside race the first thing one notices is that 9 out of 11 play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona and only 3 teams in total are represented. It's kind of ridiculous to have all the talent so heavily concentrated.

 

[Europe]

Leaving aside race the first thing one notices is that 9 out of 11 play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona and only 3 teams in total are represented. It's kind of ridiculous to have all the talent so heavily concentrated.

I agree. It would be better to spread the talent out more. It seems every year Barcra, Real, MU try to sign the top players. They have Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas in the MF. No team should have all 3 of those players. They might be interested in Bale in the summer too. First, they need to get rid of the Africans and most Brazilians. Then they need to allow only 3 foreign players per team as has been said many times here. Maybe they could also have a salary cap like the NFL. Oh, and they need to cut off immigration to Europe and pay foreigners to leave.

Matra--Do you post on some HBD sites as Matra? I assume it's you.

 

[Matra2]

Matra--Do you post on some HBD sites as Matra? I assume it's you.

Yes, I post occasionally at Mangan's and Steve Sailer's.

 

[Matra2]

A heads up. Most of those top players in the world in 2011 will be playing on the same pitch on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey when Real Madrid play Barcelona. It starts at 4pm ET (GolTV and ESPN3 in the US), 9pm in the UK (Sky Sports).

 

[MilanClass]

A heads up. Most of those top players in the world in 2011 will be playing on the same pitch on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey when Real Madrid play Barcelona. It starts at 4pm ET (GolTV and ESPN3 in the US), 9pm in the UK (Sky Sports).

Most of the top players? But Robbie Findley isn't playing....

 

[frederic38]

it's a cup match, but it could have huge psychologic impact on the rest of the season
it will be interesting to see what ronaldo will do, he has been criticized because he did a bad match the last time he played against barcelona

 

[Matra2]

Cup matches matter...when it's Real and Barca. As we saw last year they play just as hard as they do in the league.