Top 100 Best Footballer

As defined by the always excellent 4-4-2 magazine. Liverpool players in bold. As it should be:

100. Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic)
99. Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)
98. Maicon (Inter Milan)
97. Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
96. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)
95. Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk)
94. Javier Macherano (Liverpool)
93. Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)
92. Kim Kallstrom (Lyon)
91. Filippo Inzaghi (AC Milan)
90. Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)
89. Eduardo Da Silva (Arsenal)
88. Fabio Quagliarelli (Udinese)
87. Diego Milito (Real Zaragoza)
86. Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)
85. Gary Neville (Manchester United)
84. Juninho Pernambucano (Lyon)
83. Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg)
82. Robin Van Persie (Arsenal)
81. Samir Nasri (Marseille)
80. Ricardo Quaresma (Porto)

79. Carlos Puyol (Barcelona)
78. Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
77. Maxi Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid)
76. Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
75. Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona)
74. Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen)
73. Pavel Nedved (Juventus)
72. Fredi Kanoute (Sevilla)
71. Kolo Toure (Arsenal)
70. Vicente (Valencia)
69. Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid)
68. Michael Owen (Newcastle United)
67. William Gallas (Arsenal)
66. Ze Roberto (Bayern Munich)
65. Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich)
64. Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea)
63. Patrick Viera (Inter Milan)
62. Diego (Werder Bremen)
61. Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid)
60. Arjen Robben (Chelsea)
59. Robinho (Real Madrid)
58. Joe Cole (Chelsea)
57. Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich)
56. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
55. Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)
54. Alex (Chelsea)
53. Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan)
52. Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United)
51. Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid)
50. Ronaldo (AC Milan)
49. David Silva (Valencia)
48. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
47. Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan)
46. Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan)
45. Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
44. Carlos Tevez (Manchester United)
43. David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy)
42. Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma)
41. Michael Ballack (Chelsea)
40. Lucio (Bayern Munich)

39. David Suazo (Inter Milan)
38. Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur)
37. David Albelda (Valencia)
36. Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan)
35. Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)
34. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
33. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
32. Xavi Hernandes (Barcelona)
31. Juan Roman Riquelme (Villareal)
30. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
29. Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
28. Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
27. Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
26. Gino Gattuso (AC Milan)
25. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
24. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
23. Deco (Barcelona)
22. John Terry (Chelsea)
21. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan)
20. Michael Essien (Chelsea)
19. David Villa (David Villa)
18. Francesco Totti (Roma)
17. Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
16. Roberto Ayala (Real Zaragoza)
15. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)
14. Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
13. Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
12. Daniel Alves (Sevilla)
11. Petr Cech (Chelsea)
10. Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
9. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
7. Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona)
6. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
5. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
4. Thierry Henry (Barcelona)
3. Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
1. Kaka (AC Milan)



I’m surprised to see there’s space for Nakamura and Da Silva but no room for Alonso. Similarly, room for Gary “Well Past my Prime” Neville and no room for Steve “Fighting Irish” Finnan.

Anyway - feel free to discuss the appearance of twice the amount of Manure players than Liverpool players in the comments. Given how Chelsea is basically a Championship Manager (now Football Manager) team who can buy whoever the hell they like, let’s not discuss them.

My two cents worth - I saw a lot of Sergio Aguero in the U20 World Cup here in Canada and he looked like the absolute bee’s knees. Watch for him to rise significantly over the next few years.