Select the *14th* best soccer 'prospect'! (playing in Europe)

-- HF SOCCER PROSPECTS OVERALL RANKING --
#1) Lionel Messi- striker, Argentina, Barcelona- 24/6/87 (22 votes out of 41 -> 53.66%)
#2) Cesc Fabregas- midfielder, Spain, Arsenal- 4/5/87 (22 votes out of 40 -> 55% )
#3) Cristiano Ronaldo - off.midifleder, Portugal, Manchester Utd- 5/2/85 (19 out of 26 votes -> 73.08%)
#4) Karim Benzema- striker, France, Lyon- 19/12/87 (11 out of 34 -> 32.35%)
#5) Bojan Krkic- striker, Spain, Barcelona- 28/8/90 (8 out of 30 -> 26.67%)
#6) Sergio Ramos- defender, Spain, Real Madrid- 30/3/86 (10 out of 26 -> 38.46%)
#7) Alexandre Pato- striker, Brazil, Milan- 2/9/89 (11 out of 27 -> 40.74%)
#8) Wayne Rooney- striker, England, Manchester Utd- 24/10/85 (11 out of 19 -> 57.9%)
#9) Sergio Aguero- striker, Argentina, Athl.Madrid- 2/6/88 (12 out of 23 -> 52.17%)
#10) Diego Ribas- off.midfielder, Brazil, Werder Bremen- 28/2/85 (8 out of 28 -> 28.57%)
#11) Hatem Ben Arfa - off.midfielder, France, Lyon- 7/3/87 (8 out of 27 -> 29.63%)
#12) Abreu Anderson- off.midfielder, Brazil, Manchester Utd- 13/4/88 (7 out of 24 -> 29.17%)
#13) Samir Nasri- off.midfielder, France, Marseille- 26/6/87 (9 out of 23 -> 39.13%)
#14) ?


I added Gai Assulin to the poll.

Here comes the alphabetical list of the players inserted in the poll for the 2nd overall position (again, the max number of options available in polls is 15, if the guy you would pick is not available in this poll, just click on the ‘others’ option and specify inside this thread the name of the player you rather choose) :

Gai Assulin- off.midfielder, Israel, Barcelona- 9/4/91
Ryan Babel- striker, Holland, Liverpool- 19/12/86
Giovani Dos Santos- striker/off.midfielder, Mexico, Barcelona- 11/5/89
Ezequiel Garay- central defender, Argentina, Racing Santander- 10/10/86
Vincent Kompany- defender/midfileder, Belgium, Hamburg- 10/4/86
Toni Kroos- midfielder, Germany, Bayern Munchen- 4/1/90
Hugo Lloris- keeper, France, Nice- 26/12/86
Lucas Leiva- midfielder, Brazil, Liverpool- 9/1/87
Aiden McGeady- winger, Ireland, Celtic- 4/4/86
Jeremie Menez- striker, France, Monaco- 7/5/87
John Obi Mikel- midfielder, Nigeria, Chelsea- 22/4/87
Micah Richards- defender, England, Manchester City- 24/6/88
Giuseppe Rossi- striker, Italy, Villareal- 1/2/87
David Silva- off./lat. midfielder, Spain, Valencia- 8/1/86

- Here is how it is supposed to work -
Only 'prospects' playing in Europe and born on or after 1985 are eligible.
(ANY player born on or after 1985 is considered a 'prospect' here)
I’m going to make a poll to determine who the best prospect is, then another one to vote for #2, etc.. polls will be closed as soon as the winner of that spot has become obvious and the next one will be started immediately. I would say each poll is not supposed to last more than 2 days (feedback will be a factor as well)
Each poll will have a ‘others’ option, so that who feels like his elected guy is not available can choose it and mention his preferred name in the thread.

After voting you’re expected to mention in this thread the player you’d like to be added for the next poll.

Your pick should be intended as the one you would make if you had to draft all these players (just like an NHL GM) assuming you will be able to use them for the next ten years.
You can/should take everything into consideration:
of course age, position (one position can be more important than another in someone's opinion), potential, present skills, head (brain)...
so the list should not be based (only) on who you think are the best now or just for the next year.

If you are undecided, or you have doubts, specific questions about some players or need update on recent performances, go ahead and ask for ‘em in this thread, hopefully the posters following more closely that particular league will provide an answer.


OK, now discuss and/or make your pick!
(explanations of picks are obviously welcomed).

Add Drenthe.

Lloris for the 3rd or 4th time in a row.

YouTube to introduce Assulin since he's been added:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db-C0_ruw5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9nkW5_Nk4Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xce4_Mzyn0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAz4wQ8qlM0&feature=related

Much of these highlights are from the last year or two. Gai is currently 16 years old. The highlights against Girona are from a Copa Catalunya match which does count as his senior team debut.

He looks a bit slower than Giovanni, but he looks better technically and a better dribbler. He looks a bit quicker than Bojan, but not as good a finisher (of course) and not quite as tight a dribbler. Still this kid looks the real deal. I love how he just powers forward and he how while he's not afraid to dribble a guy, he still will pass the ball.

I voted Gai Assulin. Add Thiago Alcantara.

Add Thiago Alcantara.Who the ****??

Here's a YouTube case for adding Alcantara:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NqSPRuO4Ho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1aU7CMqA0Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlXCeyBYkzk&feature=related

He's considered to be like Deco, and I can see that (though since I've only seen a lot of highlights at this point I haven't seen if he's got the defensive game Deco has). However he looks a better passer ala the Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc mould. Looks like he's already got Ronnie's no look pass down. In the clips you'll see Gai Assulin out on the left. In the last clip it looks like he's replacing Crosas (who I don't rate as highly as Thiago). Also, can you see who his manager is in the last clip? EDIT: Thiago is only 16 right now as well. He's currently with the B team along with Gai.

Who the ****??

Look above this post. Shhhhhhhh. Just don't tell Arsene. ;)

Add Mario Gomez.

If we're talking about adding Barcelona 16 year-olds at this point, Denilson, Lucas, Vela, Bendtner, Richards, and others all deserve very serious consideration.

This is the first player I'm not totally convinced voting for. Every time I've seen him play I've always somehow felt, that he's not going to be amongst the very best in his position. Top 10, perhaps at one stage during his career for a season, but I have doubts about even that. With quite a lot of established forwards still in their prime and other youngsters coming through, I feel he might not reach the World class status. But since others often seem to be much more impressed than me, maybe I somehow have a blind spot when it comes to him.

His qualities have already been discussed in previous poll threads (see e.g. les Habs' posts), la Liga threads, last summer's Youth World Cup -thread etc., and I have nothing to add at this point.

So, I gave him the benefit of a doubt, and voted for Giovanni dos Santos.

Add Denilson.

crap, i selected the wrong guy!

i wanted to vote for Mikel again and got Menez, lol

If we're talking about adding Barcelona 16 year-olds at this point, Denilson, Lucas, Vela, Bendtner, Richards, and others all deserve very serious consideration.

So just because a Barça 16 year old is added to the poll every Arsenal prospect also should be somehow considered? If you want to make a case for a guy that's great, but just saying because a 16 year old from Barça was added means a ton of other guys should be considered isn't very convincing.

This is the first player I'm not totally convinced voting for. Every time I've seen him play I've always somehow felt, that he's not going to be amongst the very best in his position. Top 10, perhaps at one stage during his career for a season, but I have doubts about even that. With quite a lot of established forwards still in their prime and other youngsters coming through, I feel he might not reach the World class status. But since others often seem to be much more impressed than me, maybe I somehow have a blind spot when it comes to him.

His qualities have already been discussed in previous poll threads (see e.g. les Habs' posts), la Liga threads, last summer's Youth World Cup -thread etc., and I have nothing to add at this point.

So, I gave him the benefit of a doubt, and voted for Giovanni dos Santos.

Add Denilson.

I voted Gai ahead of Gio because I can see him being better. He looks the better dribbler and better technically. EDIT: I should have carried on. While he looks better technically and a better dribbler, I think his stature physically is close enough to that of Gio's (in terms of pace) that he'll surpass him if you add that to his game.

I voted Dos Santos.

Add Hazard or Clichy.

Such a shame Hazard is still not added. He's IMO a very very interesting prospect. Arguably more of a top prospects than some players already added.

One more of Gai (don't worry, I don't have any more). It's against the Pericos, so it's just a bit more special than the rest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYmHDdVXpr0

crap, i selected the wrong guy!

i wanted to vote for Mikel again and got Menez, lol

Maybe someone could change your vote so we can have a race here? :)

I recognize the value of creative attackers, but at some point here we're basing a whole lot on speculation while bypassing some really outstanding prospects at other positions. Noone's winning a title with 11 divas on the pitch. Mikel's the kind of player that has the potential to dominate games. At this age it's hard to predict the top defenders and keepers so while I think their important, I agree with the lack of votes. I've seen Mikel at least 20 times, probably more. I've seen dos Santos about 10 times (full matches). For me it's not a hard decision to pick Mikel.

So just because a Barça 16 year old is added to the poll every Arsenal prospect also should be somehow considered? If you want to make a case for a guy that's great, but just saying because a 16 year old from Barça was added means a ton of other guys should be considered isn't very convincing.


Eh, fair points so I will go into more detail. My point is that the journey from 16 to 18-19 in the football world is fraught with peril. I mean look at a guy like Owusu-Abeyie. He was somebody that had the world at his feet when he was Assulin's age. Quincy is probably one of the most talented players I've ever seen, perhaps the best talent to ever go through Arsenal although van Persie could certainly give him a run for his money with his technique.

But anyways, what with attitude and such, Quincy never fulfilled his potential and is now on loan somewhere in Spain I think.

I may disagree with some here, but I'd rather have an 18-19 year-old prospect who is establishing himself rather than a 16 year-old with a similar talent level who hasn't done as much. I mean, look at what Vela was doing to your boy Ramos last weekend and Ramos by this poll is the best defensive prospect in the world.

Bendtner is already better than Adebayor and was playing for the Danish NT at age 18 and has gigantic potential. Arsenal fans have been salivating about a pairing of RvP and Bendtner for years.

Richards is already establishing himself as one of the best and most versatile players in the EPL and is a regular for the NT.

I'm just saying that these guys are also huge talents and have proven a lot more than the guys in Barca's B-team and therefore, deserve stronger consideration.

BTW Helice, any Italian suggestions here? It's amazing that Italy and Germany, countries that have won like 7 WCs combined, only have 1 prospect that's even under consideration right now.

Eh, fair points so I will go into more detail. My point is that the journey from 16 to 18-19 in the football world is fraught with peril. I mean look at a guy like Owusu-Abeyie. He was somebody that had the world at his feet when he was Assulin's age. Quincy is probably one of the most talented players I've ever seen, perhaps the best talent to ever go through Arsenal although van Persie could certainly give him a run for his money with his technique.

But anyways, what with attitude and such, Quincy never fulfilled his potential and is now on loan somewhere in Spain I think.

I may disagree with some here, but I'd rather have an 18-19 year-old prospect who is establishing himself rather than a 16 year-old with a similar talent level who hasn't done as much. I mean, look at what Vela was doing to your boy Ramos last weekend and Ramos by this poll is the best defensive prospect in the world.

Bendtner is already better than Adebayor and was playing for the Danish NT at age 18 and has gigantic potential. Arsenal fans have been salivating about a pairing of RvP and Bendtner for years.

Richards is already establishing himself as one of the best and most versatile players in the EPL and is a regular for the NT.

I'm just saying that these guys are also huge talents and have proven a lot more than the guys in Barca's B-team and therefore, deserve stronger consideration.

Well if Raul is an example, than the journey from 28-30 in football is fraught with peril. I totally understand your point, but that's the exact sort of argument that a fair amount of folks were making for Rooney to be about four more places ahead of where he is. Again, there is some projection that's involved in this sort of thing. My guess is you'd probably have said the same thing about Messi or Cesc at the age of 16 and both were already being touted as future superstars. It's like I said before about Cesc, Wenger didn't show any genius in identifying a player that everybody else had missed. Cesc was already one of the best in his age group. On the flip side, look at Kompany. Had we done this poll 2-3 years ago he'd probably be in the top 3-5 guys. Hell, go back and look at Helice's 100 ranking. Kompany was well ahead of a guy like Cesc and he was considered more proven at the time.

While I understood Quincy to be a good prospect, I never understand him to be regarded as high as other guys about his age back in the day.

Ramos isn't now nor will he ever be my boy. Anyway, one match doesn't make Ramos finished or Vela or a star.

I don't rate Bendtner as highly as any of the Arsenal supporters do. Besides, salivation doesn't mean anything. Cules I know started salivating about Gai at least a year ago. Then of course Gooners probably don't know as much about Barça prospects and Cules don't know as much about Arsenal products.

I like Richards and I was all for him being on the poll. Still I can think of some other highly touted young English defenders who didn't live up to their billing.

I agree that there are other guys who are talents and who have proven more. That doesn't mean they deserve more consideration than Gai. Again, that's the sort of reasoning that was being made about Rooney after the 3rd round of these polls. Like I said with Kompany, he'd arguably proven more than Cesc two years ago and was rated higher by many if not just about every person you'd ask. Now though it's an entirely different story. Personally the further Gai falls down this poll the better.

BTW Helice, any Italian suggestions here? It's amazing that Italy and Germany, countries that have won like 7 WCs combined, only have 1 prospect that's even under consideration right now.http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=11662034&postcount=389
http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=11665340&postcount=391
(btw, yesterday was not a good day apparently.. i was going to quote that first post and instead edited it... so it got cancelled.. through copy and past i got most of it back, but not the post by gary i originally quoted.. i'm talking of the one with his numbers of candidates by nations... from which thread was it gary?)

through copy and past i got most of it back, but not the post by gary i originally quoted.. i'm talking of the one with his numbers of candidates by nations... from which thread was it gary?)

4th best prospect thread.

Lloris, add Hazard.

With 25 votes already the result seems obvious.

I'm going to start the new poll and add Hazard.

Well if Raul is an example, than the journey from 28-30 in football is fraught with peril. I totally understand your point, but that's the exact sort of argument that a fair amount of folks were making for Rooney to be about four more places ahead of where he is. Again, there is some projection that's involved in this sort of thing. My guess is you'd probably have said the same thing about Messi or Cesc at the age of 16 and both were already being touted as future superstars. It's like I said before about Cesc, Wenger didn't show any genius in identifying a player that everybody else had missed. Cesc was already one of the best in his age group. On the flip side, look at Kompany. Had we done this poll 2-3 years ago he'd probably be in the top 3-5 guys. Hell, go back and look at Helice's 100 ranking. Kompany was well ahead of a guy like Cesc and he was considered more proven at the time.

While I understood Quincy to be a good prospect, I never understand him to be regarded as high as other guys about his age back in the day.


You can get confirmation from Ott on this one, but like I said, Quincy was extremely highly regarded at Arsenal and probably was one of the 3 best raw talents that was ever at the club.


Ramos isn't now nor will he ever be my boy. Anyway, one match doesn't make Ramos finished or Vela or a star.


I was kidding about Ramos, I know you hate him, but by all accounts, Vela's been doing very well for Osasuna, I mean there's some serious talk that he'll be brought back to Arsenal in January.


I don't rate Bendtner as highly as any of the Arsenal supporters do. Besides, salivation doesn't mean anything. Cules I know started salivating about Gai at least a year ago. Then of course Gooners probably don't know as much about Barça prospects and Cules don't know as much about Arsenal products.


You have your right to your own opinion of course, but Bendtner has been incredible so far. He's completely outplayed Adebayor. Look at the CC game against Blackburn where Eduardo scored 2 goals, but everyone was saying that Bendtner was the MoM. His all-around play is very special.


I like Richards and I was all for him being on the poll. Still I can think of some other highly touted young English defenders who didn't live up to their billing.


Richards has already lived up to the billing though. Now it's just a question of how high can he go?


I agree that there are other guys who are talents and who have proven more. That doesn't mean they deserve more consideration than Gai. Again, that's the sort of reasoning that was being made about Rooney after the 3rd round of these polls. Like I said with Kompany, he'd arguably proven more than Cesc two years ago and was rated higher by many if not just about every person you'd ask. Now though it's an entirely different story. Personally the further Gai falls down this poll the better.

Rooney I don't feel is as talented as a lot of guys on the list. As I said, I compare Rooney to a Gagne who is great, but not a franchise player. Pretty much every guy on that list has franchise player potential. I just voted for Rooney at 8 or so because he's more of a sure bet.

This is probably difference in opinion, but like I said, I'd rather have the 18 or 19 year-old instead of the 16 year-old. I mean, Kompany has struggled of course, but it's not like his career is over and he played at a club that had a rough season and also had loads of injury problems.

You can get confirmation from Ott on this one, but like I said, Quincy was extremely highly regarded at Arsenal and probably was one of the 3 best raw talents that was ever at the club.

I was kidding about Ramos, I know you hate him, but by all accounts, Vela's been doing very well for Osasuna, I mean there's some serious talk that he'll be brought back to Arsenal in January.

You have your right to your own opinion of course, but Bendtner has been incredible so far. He's completely outplayed Adebayor. Look at the CC game against Blackburn where Eduardo scored 2 goals, but everyone was saying that Bendtner was the MoM. His all-around play is very special.

Richards has already lived up to the billing though. Now it's just a question of how high can he go?

Rooney I don't feel is as talented as a lot of guys on the list. As I said, I compare Rooney to a Gagne who is great, but not a franchise player. Pretty much every guy on that list has franchise player potential. I just voted for Rooney at 8 or so because he's more of a sure bet.

This is probably difference in opinion, but like I said, I'd rather have the 18 or 19 year-old instead of the 16 year-old. I mean, Kompany has struggled of course, but it's not like his career is over and he played at a club that had a rough season and also had loads of injury problems.

I know Quincy was highly regarded at Arsenal. I'm talking about in the game as a whole then though and where he played out. Besides, like I said, Messi and Cesc were both very highly regarded and both of them have turned out fine.

Yeah, I figured you were kidding. Still I used to want him at Barça and now I can't stand the guy (not just because he's at Madrid either). I know Vela's been doing well. Still he's got a way's to go. Can he be brought back to Arsenal though? Doesn't he need a passport first?

I think Bendtner is a talented guy. I'm not saying he's not. I'm just looking at how I think the guy is going to project and how others are going to project in relation to him. If I'm looking at him now and Gai now, I'm taking Gai.

Yeah, Richards has lived up to the billing for the most part. Still he's got a long way to go (especially internationally) and other guys that come to mind were living up the billing to a good extent as well at his age. It's not only a question of how high. It's also a question of how consistent. Still I like him A LOT in terms of his ability and I feel like some of the bigger clubs should have moved for him before Man City were taken over.

I think we voted on Rooney at the same point, but what I'm saying is that the reasoning the people who wanted Rooney at 4th used is the same or similar sort thing you're saying here.

I know Kompany's career isn't over. The point is that when he was 18 he was the best thing since sliced bread. His stock has fallen since then. So what I'm saying is that while you are correct that there is still some work that needs to be done for a 16 year old who looks the real deal, the exact same thing can be said of 18 year olds who look the real deal. They can just easily not pan out.

Like I said, the further Gai falls down (and hopefully off this list) the better. From what I've seen and heard though the kid is going to be really good and quite possibly better than other guys currently on the list (as I said I can see him panning out better than Giovanni). Arsenal and especially Chelsea have both looked into getting him (they were in talks with Chelsea but he decided to stay).

Also I find it odd, well maybe not so much, that another 16 year old gets added to the current poll and you don't say a word.

Yep, Eden Hazard has been added, but if anyone has seen the U17 competition, he doesn't even need to ask why.
Bojan? Kroos? Hazard? Pretty much a toss up on who was better, except Hazard was (I think) the youngest and has less help.