Greatest soccer player around today... makes for an interesting and vigorous debate!

In an era where FC Barcelona seems to have lost their magic and other teams, including the likes of Spanish rival Real Madrid, Champions League winner Bayern Munich, French millionaire brigade Paris Saint German and England's top teams Manchester United and Chelsea, are ready to take over their reign. As interesting as it is to debate the best team of today's game of soccer, it is even more interesting when trying to pinpoint the best player of the moment.

Why not enter into a little debate of our own... as we all do love to debate and love the subject!

Before we go into individual players, it is fair to state that the top teams in Europe today are the top teams from the best competitions, in Germany, England, Spain and Italy, followed by a few teams from less strong competitions, such as the French, Russian and Portugese competitions.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, last year's CL finalists, look strong again this year, with Bayern Munich, now coached by successful ex-Barca coach Pep Guardiola, in great form on a record breaking winning streak in the German Bundesliga.

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two Spanish rivals, both have strong teams and host some of the world's finest players who can make a difference in any match. The same can be said for Paris Saint Germain, the French champion who have bought their way to the European top.

Manchester United, England's champions of last season, did not start the season all that well this year, but are still a strong team to never underestimate. Current league leaders Arsenal are strong, but seem to be too light to be pulled into the Top 10 of European soccer. Based on their strong Champions League record and the still impressive record of their coach, special one José Mourinho, Chelsea are included in my Top 10. The other 3 teams completing the top 10 being Juventus, the strongest team in Italy at the moment, although AS Roma is trying to prove me wrong there, FC Porto, the always strong Portugese giant and Russia's Zenit St. Petersburg, who I expect to do very well this season.

It makes most sense to list a top 10 of top players from these 10 clubs, but although most top players play for the top teams, there are some that have found a financially interesting alternative on their path.

10.
My number 10 player of today's soccer is Columbian striker Falcao, El Tigre, who found himself a rich man without taxation issues in the small country of Monaco, where he is the start of AS Monaco.

A brilliant striker, very powerful and with dynamite in both legs, Falcao won the European League with both FC Porto and Atletico Madrid before moving to AS Monaco, scoring a record number of goals in this second European competition.

His goal scoring ratio is close to or even higher than the incredible ratios of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo, which in itself is an impressive achievement. The reason he is not a top 5 player with this record is a) he plays for Columbia, not a very strong nation and b) he is King of the European League, where all top 5 players star in the Champions League.

9.
The player I put on number 9 is the European Football player of the year according to the UEFA, French international and Champions League winner with Bayern Munich, winger Frank Ribery.
This creative wing player with the scarred face due to an accident he had when he was a 2 year old, is known for his dribbles and his stamina, forcing his opponent to keep chasing him allover the pitch.

Although an important player for Munich, I do not understand why he was chosen as European Footballer of 2013, as even Bayern Munich as CL winner hosts one bigger star. The French nationality of Ribery may have been a driving force, with French UEFA boss Platini close by. Nonetheless one of the better players in Europe, this not so popular star from Boulogne-sur-Mer.

8.
On number 8 a goal keeper who has been part of the rise of the London club Chelsea, from a mediocre club in England's Premier League to winner or Champions League and European League in the last two seasons, the stoic Peter Cech.

The Chech goalkeeper, who wears a helmet ever since he broke his scull in 2007, has won every price that can be won playing for Chelsea and remains to be their stronghold in the defense of The Blues. Only 31 years of age, Cech can last for at least 5 more years in the European top, which is a major achievement for a goalkeeper. He may not be a big star as such... but a silent force for Chelsea!


7.
Number 7 is for the top striker of the English Premier League for 2 years in a row now, for two different sides. Robin van Persie, the Dutch striker, single handedly lead Manchester United to win the Premier League last season, after making the move from Arsenal to Manchester.

Van Persie's goal scoring skills have also put him on top of the list of most scoring players of the Dutch national team, topping famous players as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Johan Cruijff and Patrick Kluivert. With his first big price under his belt, Van Persie seems keen to win a major price this year, looking for the Champions League title with Manchester United or the World Title with the Orange squad of The Netherlands. Why not... ;-D

6.
Number 6 on my list is a veteran, 34 year old Andrea Pirlo, one time World Champion with Italy, two time Champions League winner and winner of the World Cup for Clubteams with AC Milan, where he played for 10 years. The reason he is on this list is because of the astonishing form he has shown in the past two years at Juventus, after AC Milan let him go because he was getting 'too old'.

Pirlo has lead Juve to the Italian Scudetto and Italy to the final of the European Cup in 2012, by doing what he does best, playing between defense and midfield, with an incredible eye, great passing game and the odd free kick he scores. Must be great to play in a team with Pirlo, as one can always pass him the ball and he will do something sensible with it. I have all the respect for this old warrior who again is leading Juve to great hights this season.

TOP 5
In my top 5 the five names will not raise a lot of eyebrows, as these are all players that have won Champions Leagues, have won Leagues, played in the World Cup- , European-  or Copa America final, have played and are playing for the best teams in Europe.

The order of 5 to 1 will potentially create debate, as it always does when these players are being compared with each other. Let's see what you think...

5. 
Number 5 is a player with probably the largest list of titles won of the top 5 players, a very successful player indeed. Two time European Champion and World Champion with Spain, three time Champions League winner and two time World Champion for Clubteams with FC Barcelona: El Blanquito Andrés Iniesta.

A very strong, clever and dangerous midfield player, Iniesta formed a lethal midfield with Xavi and Busquets, making FC Barcelona almost unbeatable in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. His success with the Spanish national team in 2012 won him the title of European player of the year 2012.

4.
Number 4 in my list is another fellow Dutch man, to me he should have won the titel of player of the year 2013 that went to Frank Ribery, right winger for FC Bayern Munich and the Dutch national team, Arjen Robben. He has played in 4 big finals and only succeeded to win one, the last one he played, to win the Champions League. He scored the match winning goal and was man of the match of the final.

Arjen has played in three of the 4 top leagues in Europe, where he won the championships of Spain (Real Madrid), England (Chelsea) and Germany (Bayern Munich), after doing the same with PSV in the Dutch League before his first big transfer to Chelsea. His miss at 0-0 in the World Cup final against Spain in 2010 will probably haunt him for the rest of his life, unless he repairs this in Brazil in 2014...


3.
My number three player is probably where the debate becomes more emotional... as many people see this Argentinian wizard as the best player around today. Lionel Messi, who joined FC Barcelona at very young age and won many prices with them, including three Champions Leagues and two World titles for Clubteams. Messi can make goal scoring look so easy and for him it must be easy, as he scores a lot of goals for Barca, making him the best soccer player in the world in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He holds many records for goal scoring in one year, including a stunning 91 goals in the year 2012 and 73 goals in one season.

And yet... he is still not my number 1... he has never done it for Argentina, except maybe for winning the Olympics in Beijing, and FC Barcelona seems to be losing strength although Messi is still scoring goals for them... makes me think that Xavi and Iniesta were more important to the success of Barca than Messi. Making Messi a brilliant striker and goal scorer, but not much more than that.

2.
The surprising number two on my list is the man that won 9 League titles with 6 different clubs in 4 different countries, making him a much more influential and dominant player than Lionel Messi. It is a matter of personal taste... Messi has won much more prices and holds more records, but Zlatan Ibrahimovich is such an impressive player... and to be honest... I find Messi a bit boring to watch.

Zlatan is my number two, the beast of Paris Saint Germain, who scored incredible goals for Sweden this year as well as for PSG. Not only on the pitch, but even more off the pitch Zlatan is a very interesting though scary character... never losing touch with his getto roots. This weekend he will battle against the number one on the list to see which of their respective countries will be in the World Cup in Brazil and which will not... as Sweden takes on Portugal in the play-offs. I am rooting for Zlatan!


1.
My number one player, not the most popular player in the world, but maybe due to that reason my number one, is the man who dominates Real Madrid, even when they buy Christian Bale for 100 million Euro, and keeps dominating them by scoring incredible amounts of goals: Christiano Ronaldo.

Is he better than Lionel Messi? Well, he is as good as Messi in scoring and Messi's team has one a lot more prices, so Ronaldo should be slightly better to keep up with the little man from Barcelona. Is he better than Ibrahimovic? I think so. He is as powerful, as fit and as allround a player, dominant in Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team and always scoring, scoring and scoring. For a guy with so many distractions in his personal life, so many haters who hate him for being a metro man, he is a very stable force for Real Madrid, who are, to me, favorits to win their 10th Champions League title this year! With my number one player as their main attraction: Christiano Ronaldo.

I am sure many of you disagree and would like to argue and debate this list... that is what lists are for! So feel free!!! Opinions... everybody has one... mine is listed above! Thanks for reading!

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