Select the *28th* 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) Giovani Dos Santos- striker/off.midfielder, Mexico, Barcelona- 11/5/89 (7 out of 25 -> 28%)
#15) John Obi Mikel- midfielder, Nigeria, Chelsea- 22/4/87 (7 out of 26 -> 26.92%)
#16) David Silva - offensive midfielder, Spain, Valencia- 8/1/86 (4 out of 20, tie-breaker)
#17) Toni Kroos- midfielder, Germany, Bayern Munchen- 4/1/90 (5 out of 21, tie breaker)
#18) Micah Richards- defender, England, Manchester City- 24/6/88 (8 out of 29 -> 27.59%)
#19) Ryan Babel- striker, Holland, Liverpool- 19/12/86 (6 out of 19 -> 31.58%)
#20) Hugo Lloris- keeper, France, Nice- 26/12/86 (7 out of 21 -> 43.75%)
#21) Jérémie Menez- Attacking midifielder/striker, France, Monaco- 7/5/87 (6 out of 23 -> 26.09%)
#22) Gael Clichy- leftback, France, Arsenal- 26/6/85
#23) Urby Emanuelson- leftback/lat.midfielder, Holland, Ajax- 16/6/86
#24) Rene Adler- keeper, Germany, Bayer Leverkusen- 15/1/85
#25) Giuseppe Rossi- striker, Italy, Villareal- 1/2/87
#26) Ezequiel Garay- central defender, Argentina, Racing Santander- 10/10/86
#27) Royston Drenthe- left back, Holland, Real Madrid- 8/4/87
#28) ?


I added Modric 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) :

Igor Akinfeev- keeper, Russia, CSKA Moscow- 8/4/86
Gai Assulin- off.midfielder, Israel, Barcelona- 9/4/91
Nicklas Bendtner- striker, Denmark, Arsenal- 16/1/88
Diego Capel- lateral midfielder, Spain, Sevilla- 16/2/88
Lassana Diarra- def.midfielder, France, Arsenal- 10/3/85
Denilson Neves- midfielder, Brazil, Arsenal- 16/2/88
Ezequiel Garay- central defender, Argentina, Racing Santander- 10/10/86
Eden Hazard- off.midfielder, Belgium, Lille- 7/1/91
Vincent Kompany- defender/midfileder, Belgium, Hamburg- 10/4/86
Lucas Leiva- midfielder, Brazil, Liverpool- 9/1/87
Aiden McGeady- winger, Ireland, Celtic- 4/4/86
Luka Modric- Midfielder, Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb- 9/9/85
Nani- off.midfielder, Portugal, Manchester Utd- 17/11/86
Lucas Podolski - striker, Germany, Bayern- 4/6/85
Luis Suarez- winger, Uruguay, Ajax- 24/1/87

- 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).

I’m going to sum up here (and at the start of the next threads) a list of players that have been mentioned or I think deserve consideration for the next additions.. not many voters have been suggesting names, maybe having a list could make them less lazy giving their nominations..

In no particular order:
Stevan Jovetic, Daley Blind, Rodney Sneijder, Ismael Aissati, Mario Gomez, Marcel Jansen, Vassiriki Diaby, Theo Walcott, Nuri Sahin, Rafael Sobis, Thiago Alcanthara, Gonzalo Higuain, Henri Saivet, David N’Gog, Carlos Vela, Arturo Vidal, Riccardo Montolivo*, Edison Cavani*, Cristian Zapata*, Mario Balotelli*, Ezequiel Lavezzi*

of course you can choose any other eligible player if you feel like he is more deserving than the ones mentioned here.

Just.. if you have an opinion, please leave your nomination!

* go here for info and clips: http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=11946767&postcount=66

Add...Andres Guardado. Anyone on this side of the world has seen that his pace is basically unmatchable, when the ball is at his feet. Unfortunately, at a team like Deportivo, he's not getting the opportunity to show it. Undoubtedly he chose Deportivo over PSV because he wanted the playing time, but I wonder whether or not it was the right move when clubs like Madrid and Arsenal were interested.

Anyway, I nominated him because there hasn't been a single North American prospect added. While he's not the best (see, Memo Ochoa from Club America), he's pretty damn close. He's the best prospect from this continent playing in Europe, so he deserves the nomination. He'll be playing at a huge club soon, and everyone will see. I'm already sick of watching him run circles around our national team.

Hazard. Add Diaby or Saivet.

Luis Suárez

Add Aissati

Voted for McGeady.
Akinfeev is a hell of a goalkeeper though.
Add Raul Albiol (Valencia)

Also, although he's not ready yet, a Uruguayan defender called Gary Kagelmacher who currently plays for Castilla (Real Madrid's B team) looks very impressive to me.

I haven't been this pleased to vote for a player since we moved out of top10.

In my opinion, from players having a great season so far, Luis Suarez has been the 3rd most impressive and important player for his team, behind Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo. And before Evilo brings it up, I consider Benzema as 4th. :) Other players having great seasons haven't stand out comparatively as much, it's been more of a team effort or teammates on par/ not far behind in their case.

Note that I'm not saying Suarez is the 3rd best player in the world, but besides what I said above, some better players than him (like Messi) have missed games due to injuries.

Nevertheless, I already rate Suarez as a great player and if I wanted to sign one player from Eredivisie, it would be him. I also think there haven't been a better support striker in the world this season. I know this might be a bold statement to some, but I'd already rate Suarez on the same level as Tevez.

Now, in case anybody wonders why after all this praise I only picked him this low (after Babel, for example), I say this. I don't think Suarez will ever quite be on the level of Ibrahimovic, Berbatov etc. who besides skill can also lead the attacking line more or less on their own. Suarez needs a perfect foil (much like Huntelaar this season) who will most seasons score more goals than him, and will therefore never quite be amongst the top forwards. Strikers are mostly rated by the amount of goals they score, and I see e.g. Babel getting the better of Suarez in this regard.

Also another thing that brings Suarez down a bit in my books, is that I don't see Suarez or Uruguay making a huge impact in international tournaments. maybe a WC quarterfinal, but that's it. But Suarez could have as good a career as Dennis Bergkamp, if he lives up to his potential.

Now which bigger league and bigger club I see Suarez moving next in his career, to be that perfect support forward?

Not ManU, as they already have Tevez & Rooney, they'd have more use for a Huntelaar type of player. I don't want him at Liverpool, since I want Babel to get playing time (although I don't think Babel-Torres is an ideal partnership). Suarez would fit in nicely with Anelka at Chelsea (provided Drogba leaves after this season), but I don't still think he'll be best suited there, hard to place Lampard & J.Cole on the pitch at the same time with Suarez. Arsenal also has too many same type of smallish, skilful players (Hleb, Rosicky) already, and while a player like Eduardo would be a good partner for Suarez, I'm not so sure about if Eduardo is of enough quality to form a great strike partnership with him.

So, no Suarez with the EPL big4 teams. Spain? Barca have enough of attacking players, but Suarez should do very well with a player like van Nistelrooy, but Real also has Robinho, which makes it harder to fit them all in at the same time. Suarez would be a big upgrade on Raul, though. Italy? Milan, I wouldn't partner him with Pato (yet anyway) nor Ibrahimovic. I've said this before, but if Suarez is happy enough to go to a team like Palermo, it would be interesting to see him together with fellow countryman Cavani.

In short, Suarez is already a great player, and should come a bit more decisive with experience. By decisive, I mean he will make better use of his skill, teammates and improve his decisionmaking, for the greater benefit of his team.

Add Montolivo.

Thanks for your opinion gary.

WHile we are waiting for a decision here, i'm wondering what to do with the case of Banega (could apply to others after the market window will be over i guess).
A 'prospect' who was playing in South America when we started this thing that later joined an European side (Valencia).

i guess, still uneligible... ?

i guess, still uneligible... ?

Personally, I don't mind if anybody wants to vote for such players, but I'm willing to go with the majority opinion. I guess others might have stronger opinions on the subject.

Thanks for your opinion gary.

WHile we are waiting for a decision here, i'm wondering what to do with the case of Banega (could apply to others after the market window will be over i guess).
A 'prospect' who was playing in South America when we started this thing that later joined an European side (Valencia).

i guess, still uneligible... ?

Seems a bit late to be adding him since the draft already started. Maybe some would have voted for him sooner.

Seems a bit late to be adding him since the draft already started. Maybe some would have voted for him sooner.

True perhaps, but I'd still be interested to see how many votes/nominations he (or any other player in the same position) would get immediately.

Personally I have him on my list in the positions 50+ (behind some other SA based prospects like Lulinha), so I don't think it's too late for any player to be included yet. I mean, players like Diarra, Diaby, Gago, Lucas, Vidal etc. who can easily be classified to be equal/near Banega's talent/potential level, haven't been selected yet.

It's been a while, Heli, time to break someone's toe? :)

Time for a tie-breaker..

Evilo, please close this poll..