Who are the best 33 in the world?

[loz]

I am so bored of hearing people talk about Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo being the best three players in the world because every time I hear it reminds me of how little credit defensive minded players or even goalkeepers get.

So here is my attempt to give a bit of credit where credit is due. For each position on the park I have tried to name who I think the best three players currently playing are (I have tried to take account of both ability and form although by form I mean over a few seasons, not just in the last 6 months).

I have also restricted it to players in the major European leagues because my exposure to South American and Russian football is limited.

Goalkeepers

Buffon, Casillas, Cesar

Yes no Cech, I didnt feel I could make the form point and then include Cech as I feel the other three have been playing better than him for a couple of seasons now - having said that the Cech of the last half of last season would compete with Casillas in my list.

Left Back

Lahm, Cole, Evra

I don't feel the current crop of left backs are a of a significantly high standard. As much as I think the three I have mentioned are very good players I don't think any of them will, at a later point in time, be looked back on as real top drawer full backs.

Centre Half

(picking 6 here as there are two generally two centre halves)

Terry, Vidic, Marquez, Ferdinand, Nesta, Puyol

Puyol gets the vote more due to time served - he is definitely on the way down now. If he hadn't missed so much of the last season through injury I would have put Carvalho in there.

Right Back

Ramos, Alves, Maicon

Admittedly Ramos could have been in the centre half vote and I know the Alves vote won't be popular after the recent encounter! I would maybe have put Sagnol in there if he hadn't retired. Not too happy about putting Maicon in there, it was either him or Bosingwa and, as I said about the left backs, I think this shows that the quality is not great just now.

Central Midfielder

(again going for 6 here as normally there are at least two in every team and this measn you don't need to separate defensive form attacking midfielders)

Iniesta, Xavi, Lampard, Essien, Pirlo, Kaka,

Left Winger

Ribery, Silva, Robben

A player I considered but opted against was Vicente - I do think he has bags of talent but his injury problems over the years have really blighted his career.

Right Winger

Messi, Ronaldo

Some will argue that Messi is a striker rather than a winger - notice I only have two here - to be honest I think Messi and Ronaldo are head and shoulders above anyone else and picking a third place would just be paying lip service to the fact I said three per position.

Strikers

(again pick 6 to allow for two per team)

Villa, Torres, Drogba, Rooney, Eto'o, Aguero

Yes Eto'o is a knob of the highest order but this isn't a popularity contest - he is, and has proved he is, one of themost natural goalscorers of the current generation of footballers.

[Eggy McMuffin]

I would very much disagree about Eto'o being a natural goalscorer. It's just the sheer amount of chances he gets. He's likely to miss 2 or 3 sitters each and every match, then finally score one to make his statistics look good. I'll probably agree with everyone else though, but oh well, I'll go anyway.

GK

Casillas, Buffon, Cesar.

DR

Alves, Maicon, Bosingwa - Ramos hasn't been up to much recently from what I've seen of him.

DL

Cole, Evra, Clichy - I don't get to watch enough German football to make a solid comparison, so I'll stick to what I know.

DC

Terry, Vidic, Ferdinand, Chiellini, Puyol and Pepe - Pepe, mainly for the kicking he gave Albin, was hilarious.

MR

Cronaldo, Messi and Robben - Robben from memory has spent more time playing on the right, so I put him there.

ML

Silva, Ribery and Henry - Pretty much where he plays now.

MC

Kaka, Lampard, Essien, Iniesta, Xavi and Gerrard.

FC

Drogba, Torres, Villa, Forlan, Rooney and Aguero - It was close between Aguero and Anelka, but I think Aguero just has more about him.

[sexelk]

i have bolded the best players in their postion as well

gk- Petr Cech, Iker Casillas, Julio Cesar

lb- Ashley Cole, Patrice Evra, Joan Capdevilla

rb- Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos, Kirk Broadfoot

cb- John Terry, Christain Chivu, Nemanja Vidic, Ricardo Carvalho, Phil Jagielka, Rio Ferdinand

lw- David Silva, Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben

rw- Christiano Ronaldo, Lional Messi, Andrey Arshavin

cm- Andres Iniesta, Francesc Fabregas, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Xavi, John Obi Mikel

st- Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Wayne Rooney, Kris Boyd, Luis Fabiano

[sexelk]

forgot to put fat ron in, delete above :lol:

i have bolded the best players in their postion as well

gk- Petr Cech, Iker Casillas, Julio Cesar

lb- Ashley Cole, Patrice Evra, Joan Capdevilla

rb- Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos, Kirk Broadfoot

cb- John Terry, Christain Chivu, Nemanja Vidic, Ricardo Carvalho, Phil Jagielka, Rio Ferdinand

lw- David Silva, Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben

rw- Christiano Ronaldo, Lional Messi, Andrey Arshavin

cm- Andres Iniesta, Francesc Fabregas, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Xavi, John Obi Mikel

st- Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Wayne Rooney, Kris Boyd, Fat Ron

[BLUENUT]

No Glenn Johnson so far?

[BlueBosnian]

Goalkeepers: Casillas, Cesar, Buffon

Left Backs: A. Cole, Evra

Centre Halfs: Carvalho, Terry, Vidic, Puyol

Right Backs: Bosingwa, Alves, Maicon

Central Midfielders: Iniesta, Kaka, Diego, Xavi, Lampard

Left Wingers: Ribery, Robben

Right Wingers: Messi, Ronaldo, Arshavin

Strikers: Villa, Ibrahimovic, Torres

[kalpitv]

Goalkeepers:

Cech, Casillas, Buffon

Right backs:

Maicon, Dani Alves, Bosingwa

Centre backs:

Terry, Ferdinand, Vidic, Mexes, Puyol, Chiellini

Left backs:

Ashley Cole, Lahm, Capdevilla

Right wingers:

Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Arshavin

Central midfielders:

Lampard, Essien, Kaka, Iniesta, Gerrard, Xavi

Left wingers:

Ribery, David Silva, Robinho

Strikers:

Torres, Villa, Rooney, Drogba Henry, Eto'o

[TomP]

Ok - i'm going to have a crack.

Goakeepers

Cech, Buffon, Valdez

Left Backs

Cole, Lahm, Clichy

Right Backs

Alves, Gallas, Zambrotta

Centre Backs

Terry, Vidic, Carvalho, Puyol, Chiellini, Toure

Central Midfielders

Lampard, Essien, Ineista, Pirlo, Gerrard, Xavi

Wingers/Attacking Midfielders (one category, as they are all pretty interchangeable these days)

Kaka, Messi, Ronaldo, Ribery, Schneider, Arshavin

Strikers

Drogba, Villa, Torres, Ibrahimovic, Aguerro, Benzema

[Arq]

I'll take a shot at this... Good to get the brain going on something interesting on this blah monday morning. B)

My bold's are who I think is tops at the moment.

goal - Petr Cech, Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon

lback - Ashley Cole, Philip Lahm, Joan Capdevilla

rback - Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos, Jose Bosingwa

cback - John Terry, Puyol, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Alessandro Nesta, Giorgio Chiellini

lwing - David Silva, Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben

rwing - Christiano Ronaldo, Lional Messi, Andrey Arshavin

cmid - Andres Iniesta, Francesc Fabregas, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Xavi, Kaka

striker - Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lukas Poldoski, Luis Fabiano