let's rank soccer prospects!!

(Evilo, i am waiting for you ;) )
Here I come! :)

Nah there are some pretty messed up things on your list concerning players out of the french list.
Right now, many players are considered better prospects than Nilmar (Essien, Bodmer, Mavuba, Menez, Toulalan, Kallstrom...).
The fact that he's brazilian doesn't mean he's an automatic better prospect :shakehead .
Essien (who's not french BTW) out of the top 15 is completely news to me.
And please why on earth would Mido be on the list when so many guys are not (and SHOULD be) : Sinama and Bodmer among others.
Maybe it's me, but I have the feeling guys like Messi, Nasri, Essien, Reyes, Cech, Fabregas, Mexes and co are worth much more than Iniesta or Ramos.
Spanish guys are a bit mixed up IMO.
The best spanish prospect is IMO Fabregas, with Pique second. And on your list they're much too low compared with Iniesta and Ramos.

But hey it's your list, you did a good job ranking all these guys, I simply feel a few country lists are mixed up.

Maybe it's me, but I have the feeling guys like Messi, Nasri, Essien, Reyes, Cech, Fabregas, Mexes and co are worth much more than Iniesta or Ramos.I could agree with many of your objections, but Mexes worth more than Ramos? The transfer market seems to see this differently, even tough Ramos is younger... Then again, we seem to have seen different versions of Mexes.

Here I come! :)

Nah there are some pretty messed up things on your list concerning players out of the french list.
Right now, many players are considered better prospects than Nilmar (Essien, Bodmer, Mavuba, Menez, Toulalan, Kallstrom...).
The fact that he's brazilian doesn't mean he's an automatic better prospect :shakehead ..Nilmar was 4th overall in your last overall French ranking. :shakehead

Essien (who's not french BTW) out of the top 15 is completely news to me.I knew he is not French, but still wrote otherwise :o (now it's fixed, thanks for the notice).
btw, is his birthdate on your list right? His birthdate is 8/12/82 on most sites.
Same doubts about Menez.

And please why on earth would Mido be on the list when so many guys are not (and SHOULD be) : Sinama and Bodmer among others.As stupid as he is, Mido has more potential than Sinama and Bodmer put together.

Maybe it's me, but I have the feeling guys like Messi, Nasri, Essien, Reyes, Cech, Fabregas, Mexes and co are worth much more than Iniesta or Ramos.Do your own overall ranking! :)

I simply feel a few country lists are mixed up.Can't be sure of the contrary.

Nilmar was 4th overall in your last overall French ranking. :shakehead

I knew he is not French, but still wrote otherwise :o (now it's fixed, thanks for the notice).
btw, is his birthdate on your list right? His birthdate is 8/12/82 on most sites.
Same doubts about Menez.

As stupid as he is, Mido has more potential than Sinama and Bodmer put together.

Do your own overall ranking! :)

Can't be sure of the contrary.

Nah Nilmar was not 4th overall on my strikers POTENTIAL list.
He impressed me a lot when he came up, but since then he hasn't shown much.
For the birth dates, I think I used L'Equipe's site.
And no Mido doesn't have half of Sinama's potential.
Keep in mind Sinama dominated like few players ever did as a 17 year old. The same can't be said for Mido.
Bodmer is an unkown for most of you, fine. You'll soon learn to say his name.
As for my overall ranking, I could, but I see very few of many of these guys, so I can't be objective.
Doing a french list is hard enough because of all the good prospects. Doing a world list is probably out of my capacity.
If I have time though I'll take a crack at it and see if I can come with a top 30-50.

I could agree with many of your objections, but Mexes worth more than Ramos? The transfer market seems to see this differently, even tough Ramos is younger... Then again, we seem to have seen different versions of Mexes.
Well Mexes is only 22. Many people here forget that because he's been a regular performer since age 18.
There's no doubt he's struggled this year.
But you can't forget his previous years.
Basically, him and Yepes were the two best defensemen in the league, even though he was only 20.
So yes I feel a Mexes is at least worth a Ramos based on how one is proven and the other not yet.
Afterall if not for his rough year in Roma, Mexes would be a starter for the national team (he was pencilled to be before his struggles).

And BTW, I agree with BF. Cech is already a difference maker. He doesn't make many flashy saves, but he's always there to make the save. The only weak goal I've seen him give up is one against Bayern.
And BTW, Cech WAS a phenom in the youngsters category.

Personally, I see Sinama as having Eto'o type of potential. Fast, agile and punishing.
Of course he's struggling in liverpool. He needs some quality playing time.

This will sound very homeristic, but I don't believe Mido is "stupid", nor does he act like a prima donna any more. He's apologised to the national team coach and is now a regular again, and he's admitted that he's done many things wrong in the past.
Everything about his arrival at Spurs has been positive (I was very skeptic but he's convinced me by his comments as well as his play) and he's had no trouble accepting a 4th striker role behind Keane/Defoe/Kanouté. I think he's definitely got the potential to succeed in the Premier League, and he'll be battling with Kanouté next season for the 'target man' spot.
Seeing Ziegler on the list is also a nice surprise, but I'm not sure he really deserves it.. f.x. Andy Reid (July '82), his direct rival at Tottenham, is already a full international (close to 20 caps) with Eire.

Mido is not a youngster anymore, and he still hasn't established himself on any team so far.

Neither has Sinama..
And 22 (early '83) is as much a youngster as many of the other mentioned prospects..

Well Mexes is only 22. Mexes is *4* years older than Ramos, so he better be more proven at this point (if he is, which can be questioned at this current point in time).

Seeing Ziegler on the list is also a nice surprise, but I'm not sure he really deserves it.. f.x. Andy Reid (July '82), his direct rival at Tottenham, is already a full international (close to 20 caps) with Eire.Reid is almost 4 years older than Ziegler, so again the achievements so far should be put into perspective. Ziegler will easily have 20 caps for our national team in 4 years, if he manages to stay healthy.

Neither has Sinama..
And 22 (early '83) is as much a youngster as many of the other mentioned prospects..
Sinama is way younger.
And he plays on a better team, who's usually playing with only one striker (Cissé, Baros and Morientes as the other strikers).
And again, Sinama has dominated in earlier stages of his career.

Mexes is *4* years older than Ramos, so he better be more proven at this point (if he is, which can be questioned at this current point in time).
He is. Undoubtably. He was a top 2 defenseman in a defensive league.

Well, Strizzi stole my words as for Ramos and Ziegler.

Well Mexes is only 22. Many people here forget that..Maybe because he is already 23?
Anyway, no one here forget he is young enough to be elegible.

Afterall if not for his rough year in Roma, Mexes would be a starter for the national team (he was pencilled to be before his struggles). But he isn’t and never was I guess.


He is (proven). Undoubtably. He was a top 2 defenseman in a defensive league.
It’s easier to be a top defenseman in a defensive team/league than in an offensive one.
And to be proven in the French league (weak pressure for example) doesn’t mean completely proven.

As for Mido, he IS a youngster, and a year younger than Mexes for example.
I used the word ‘stupid’ to reassume his poor attitude he showed along the last seasons. He needs to learn to work hard (and to be 100% fit), not only to stop complaining (which is already a good first step though). He has better shot, more strength, and is a better header than Sinama. My ranking already takes into consideration his issues, otherwise (potential) he would be higher.
Also, the torn ACL Sinama suffered didn’t help his case.
And no Mido doesn't have half of Sinama's potential.We really disagree here.

Nah Nilmar was not 4th overall on my strikers POTENTIAL list.
But he was 4th in your last overall list.



As for my overall ranking, I could, but I see very few of many of these guys, so I can't be objective.
Doing a french list is hard enough because of all the good prospects. Doing a world list is probably out of my capacity. No one can be truly objective as no one lives contemporary in all those country. Doing a world (partial European actually) list doesn’t imply to state certainties, it should just reflect your (not objective) current feelings.

If I have time though I'll take a crack at it and see if I can come with a top 30-50. I'm confident you'll need to do at least a top 50 to put on your list as many French as you like! ;)

Nilmar was ranked 4th overall in january.
On my LAST list, he was the 6th striker when based on potential.
And no, there aren't that many french that I would consider for my top list : Ben Arfa, Mexes, Menez, Nasri, Sinama, Le Tallec, Mavuba, Bodmer, Thicot, Yahiaoui, Clichy and Costil (possibly Mathieu too) should all be in a top 100.
12 out of 100. Which I think is fair considering the talent of the french youth in the youngsters category (especially the 87 generation that won everything with 6 of these 12 players).

It’s easier to be a top defenseman in a defensive team/league than in an offensive one.
So being the second best defenseman in the italian league doesn't mean anything?
I guess so when you see the success of Walter Samuel ;)

Really the comparison with Samuel is IMO a good one.
A guy that's dominant in its league and has trouble with his new team.
Yet does anyone write off Samuel right now? No, and there's no reason to.
The same applies for Mexes.
It's perfectly understandable for Mexes to have a weak season. H's on a new team, speaking a new language, on a dismal team in fact, with a lot of pressure and that's changed his coach 4 times.
Is this a good condition to succeed?
Mexes will come back big next season.

So being the second best defenseman in the italian league doesn't mean anything?
I guess so when you see the success of Walter Samuel ;)Eh eh, Samuel in Italy faced much better strikers on a regular base and under much bigger pressure than Mexes ever in France.
Also, as far as he struggled, Samuel this season has still done MUCH better than Mexes. Or if you prefer, Mexes has done much worse than him.

A guy that's dominant in its league and has trouble with his new team.
Yet does anyone write off Samuel right now? No, and there's no reason to.
The same applies for Mexes.Who is writing Mexes off? Certainly not me considering i still placed him ahead of many great prospects (J.Navas, Fabregas, Van Persie, Bojinov, Menez..)

Oh I don't mean Mexes is as good as Samuel either. I was just comparing the situations, not the players.

Nice to see Routledge at 95 helicecopter.. have you seen him play or is it me posting about him? :)

Good work putting the list together. I have trouble considering some of them prospects.. Cech is a lot younger than I thought but I tend to think of 20 or younger as prospects.

Nice to see Routledge at 95 helicecopter.. have you seen him play or is it me posting about him? :).Only a couple of times..but yes, i've seen him play! :)


Cech is a lot younger than I thought but I tend to think of 20 or younger as prospects.You can always extract a sub-list made of players born on or after 1985 only. :D

One of the biggest talents in the German Bundesliga this season has been 17 year old Gonazalo Castro of Bayer Leverkusen.

He's Spanish and plays mostly in the defensive midfield.
Started 10 games (played 13).

I guess he's not even known in Spain, is he?

Only a couple of times..but yes, i've seen him play! :)

What did you think? I'm curious to know how he rates with a Euro-neutral..

What did you think? I'm curious to know how he rates with a Euro-neutral..well, i’ve just seen two games (one versus Bolton, can’t remember the other one at the start of the season) and not the whole thing..
I saw that he is fast and talented (and with poor supporting cast on his team), looks to me like a guy that has a fair chance to become a dependable winger in the future. I think he deserved a spot in the top100 after a first year in the EPL where he was the bright note on his team despite being so young. Adding anything in one direction or the other would be a stretch with the little i’ve seen.

Btw, what’s your opinion on my ranks of the EPL players?

Ah, and I have some curiosities to ask for.
Wasn’t Kaviedes supposed to play for your team this year? Did he play and how?
Gonzalo Sorondo made a name for himself with Inter delivering with good consistency some big blunders…how did he do with Palace?
Big bust Nicola Ventola (HIGHLY touted when he was 17, 18 yrs old with Bari before struggling through knee injuries and shockingly regressing) was injured again this year? I heard he scored late in the season… same question again:how did he do for your team?
Where are these guys supposed to go?

Yeah Routledge was the only midfielder on the team with any real offensive ability. He's a bit controversial among the fans because he doesnt always make the right passes but has real talent. I think he's a bit like Joe Cole, twinkling feet, could really turn out good in the right team.

I'll have a look at your EPL listings shortly.. truthfully I didnt pay much attention to the order as they are all so close.

Kaviedes.. he played a lot for the reserves and scored quite a bit.. he did play a couple of games but didnt seem to have the work ethic Dowie wanted. Didnt settle in London either.

Sorondo was very popular with the fans.. most would say he was the best defender. (I wouldnt quite agree, Hall is better) but he is still prone to a rare big blunder. Superb on a smaller team like Palace, not consistantly excellent enough for an elite team like Inter I think.

Ventola was injured all season.. got healthy for the last couple of games and has looked very good. The goal against Southampton was the biggest of the year and would have kept us up if we hadnt conceeded a 94th minute equaliser.

Kaviedes has already been returned to Barcelona (Ecuador)
Sorondo's loan is up and he has returned to Inter as his wages are too high for a lower division team to consider.
Palace took over Ventola's contract which expires this summer. I really hope he stays signs a new one (he owes us something for sticking by him) but I guess another team in a top flight will take him instead.

2. Bundesliga finished today and Lukas Podolski scored 24 goals in 30 matches.

I'm really curious to see what he can do in the 1. Bundesliga next year as a 20 year old.
He scored 10 goals in 19 matches in his first season in the 1. Bundesliga as a 18-year old.

I hope he does well but at the same time everyone is waiting for him to struggle for once.

Jungle, you have an old PM to answer!!

Hey Jungle, i'd like to know what's the talk in Brazil on some players that joined Italian teams back in January (btw, two are still elegible, the other one is close):

Leftback pereira da silva Adriano (03/04/1982) Atalanta, on loan from Palermo.

Forward, offensive midfielder Betanin Paulo Sergio Paulinho (1/10/86) Livorno

Rightback Mariano De Almeida Angelo (12/6/81) Lecce.


Also, what can you tell us about this new Brazilian youngster, Kerlon Moura Souza?


Let me know. ;)
hello there! lots of studies during the week :shakehead and parties in the weekend :yo: not much time left for hfboards
I don't know a thing about those guys (Brazil is a big country with lots of soccer clubs)
but I've seen Kerlon playing and he is very good (off-mid/fwd) he and Anderson (Inter is VERY interested on him) made a great duo at the southamerican u18. Kerlon plays for Cruzeiro Juniors (that's very good for him, they have great system and structure) he is starting to play for Cruzeiro 1st team, and I believe that by july he will be in the starting line up wearing the #10

Sorondo was very popular with the fans.. most would say he was the best defender... Superb on a smaller team like Palace, not consistantly excellent enough for an elite team like Inter I think. :eek:
I think this quote would leave astonished every single Italian fan!

Ventola was injured all season.. .Classic.
He had two goals in the season or just the one you described?

Palace took over Ventola's contract which expires this summer. I really hope he stays signs a new one (he owes us something for sticking by him) but I guess another team in a top flight will take him instead.Frankly i don't see him staying with Palace down in the championship..

I'll have a look at your EPL listings shortly.. truthfully I didnt pay much attention to the order as they are all so close.It would be appreciated. :)

Today #56overall Mirko Vucinic completed in style his fantastic come-back season (missed basically all last year with recurrent ACL problems) adding another gem to his collection. He has started in just 20 games (At first he had to recover from missing one season and was most times benched until Bojinov left for Fiorentina) and scored 19 goals without any penalty shots! :amazed:
Several bigger Italian teams are trying to acquire his services for next season.

BF could soon get a glimpse of the guy as he has been called for the game his national team (Serbia) will play on June 4th versus Belgium. He suffered a blow on his right foot today but hopefully he will recover in time.

Well, finished my brand new list, was alot of work but I didn't have anything to do today in the afternoon and this was a fun alternative. Any questions or comments are welcome!

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=2919054#post2919054

I'll make a team by team list with all the top Ligue 1 prospects (thus excluding guys like Cech and co).

Here it is :
http://www.hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=2922441&postcount=69

You forgot Mirallas :madfire:



;)

Well Mirallas only played in three games and sure he scored a key goal, but I can't consider him a good prospect yet (I hadn't heard of him before his first L1 game).

Is Bakary Kone too old or why did you not list him? Just read that he was the MVP in the Lique2 and will join OSC Nizza for next season.

Is Bakary Kone too old or why did you not list him? Just read that he was the MVP in the Lique2 and will join OSC Nizza for next season.

He's 22 right now so he might be an 1982 born...

BF could soon get a glimpse of the guy as he has been called for the game his national team (Serbia) will play on June 4th versus Belgium. He suffered a blow on his right foot today but hopefully he will recover in time.

He was scheduled to start (everyone is really hyping him up right now) but is now likely to come of the bench as Jestrovic works better with Ljuboja alongside him according to the coach and Nenad himself. He'll surely get some minutes though.

He's 22 right now so he might be an 1982 born...
Koné is 81 born.

Champions League newcomer Udinese started before others their moves on the market. As whispered a couple of months ago, it’s now official their acquisition of Brazilian diminutive quick striker Barreto from Treviso (serie B).
I talked about this new guy some months ago in this thread:
Speaking of Brazilians, the hot name at the moment in Italian serie B is:
Paulo Vitor Barreto F, 1’70(5'07"), 59kgs, 12-07-85.
A previously unknown member of Treviso (by three years now..so i guess he is completely unknown in Brazil too), Barreto has started making a name for himself this season, scoring his first ever professional goal and soon adding more (8 overall)..
This shrimp is really quick, looks starved for goals and so far seems to be a good finisher. Along his fellow Reginaldo (31/7/83) he is dragging his team to an impressive rally that could even lead to a completely unexpected promotion to serie A.
Worth to keep an eye on it seems.

But the big news is another one.
Upsetting the likes of Inter and Milan, they have acquired for 3.5M the half-ownership of last Atalanta’s youth system standout, defender Marco Motta (14/5/86).

Udinese completed two more transfers (no elegible prospects related), adding from Treviso again lateral midfielder Antonino D’agostino ( 27, not to be confused with prospect Gaetano D’agostino) and Vidigal, former international for Portugal, from Livorno.

Thinking of doing an update, but I need to know if there's any interest first. Not going to work on something unnecessary..

Thinking of doing an update, but I need to know if there's any interest first.Are you serious? We BADLY need an update about the marvellous prospects playing in that awesome league called Eredivisie! :teach: :D

Are you serious? We badly a need an update about the marvellous prospects playing in that awesome league called Eredivisie! :teach: :D

Hey, with such sarcasm you ain't getting nothing from me! :p:

Thinking of doing an update, but I need to know if there's any interest first. Not going to work on something unnecessary..

There's ALWAYS interest, besides you obviously need to write an entire new list as you have one Rafael Van Der Vaart, a workmanlike player playing for Hamburg of all teams on #1, surely that must be a mistake!

Furthermore, Kalou, Babel, Huntelaar, Maduro, Afellay and co all have to be ranked!

There's ALWAYS interest, besides you obviously need to write an entire new list as you have one Rafael Van Der Vaart, a workmanlike player playing for Hamburg of all teams on #1, surely that must be a mistake!

Furthermore, Kalou, Babel, Huntelaar, Maduro, Afellay and co all have to be ranked!

Van der Vaart will not fall out my top 3. His upside is the highest amongst all Dutch prospects..

But, I'm on the list as we speak or type.. whatever..

Hey, with such sarcasm you ain't getting nothing from me! :p:I have to say BF is right about Dutches' sense of humour..

I have to say BF is right about Dutches' sense of humour..

;)

Just before the final of the Coupe de France was played the final of the "Gambardella" cup. The Gambardella cup is played by U18 youngsters.

The final was between the heavy favourite Lyon (with talented Ben Arfa, Benzeman, Riou, Paillot) against a very good TEAM in Toulouse.
Final score : 6-2 Toulouse!!!
JM Larque (ex star player for St Etienne) about Ben Arfa : "when he learns that football is played with 11 players, the sky will be the limit".
L'Equipe about the game : "On one side, there was a real team, on the other a team full of individuals, especially Ben Arfa whose great talent doesn't justify the fact he plays for himself".

At 6-0 down, Benzema and Ben Arfa each scored a goal.

My top 10 is finished.. Full list will be done in a few days.

My top 10 is finished.. Full list will be done in a few days. :yo: :jump:

Well, finished my brand new list, was alot of work but I didn't have anything to do today in the afternoon and this was a fun alternative. Any questions or comments are welcome!

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=2919054#post2919054Deep work for Belgium BF! :handclap:

Some things:

-It really looks like Belgium is back producing good keepers with the likes of Proto, Verbauwhede, Bailly, Kalambay.. btw, how tall are the first two?

-I have problems with some name not sounding like Belgian (Alessandro Cordaro!!) ..
Is Alexis Kubilskis really from Belgium?
And are these other guys Belgian?:
Aborah (btw, where do you feel he would belong on your list?)
N’Galula M’buy.
Mirallas.

Serhiy Kovalenko ..Came over from Italy..:eek:
Never heard of him..do you know exactly from where?


-After reading the descriptions i still feel like the four names i mentioned in my overall list were the most deserving ones.
Considering what you wrote about them it sounds to me like Né and especially Vanden Borre should be higher on your list.
Btw:
I’ve always been of the opinion that Marco’s better than EbouéYet Eboué is # 3 and Né #6..do you changed your opinion just recently? Or do you think Né is better now but Eboué should be in the future? :huh:

-What’s up with players from Côte d’Ivoire in your country?!?

Deep work for Belgium BF!

I really have gone deep, I tried to list anyone with any potential I could find, many of them will probably never come to anything, but they have their moment in the spotlight thanks to my list :)
Looking at it now and comparing it with the squad lists I have here I noticed I missed about 5 players that shoud be mentioned as well (including at least one who should be in the top 20, from my own club whom I completely overlookd :eek: but I'll rectify the list soon)


Some things:

-It really looks like Belgium is back producing good keepers with the likes of Proto, Verbauwhede, Bailly, Kalambay.. btw, how tall are the first two?

Yeah, it's about time, all we need now is for those guys to be given a serious chance to succeed by getting some first team games under their belts. Very problematic right now for Verbauwhede and Bailly (Kalambay as well of course, but I assume he can learn a lot on training, moreso then the others)

_Proto is not extremely tall, 1.84 for 75 kilos. He's got long arms and big hands (or gloves) though.
_Verbauwhede is 1.87 for 80 kilos.


-I have problems with some name not sounding like Belgian (Alessandro Cordaro!!) ..

There's many people of Italian descent in Belgium, especially in Limburg (Genk) and Wallonia, a heritage from the 1950 where these people were brought here to work in the mines. Enzo Scifo, Luigi Pieroni, Silvio Proto, ..., ... all have Italian blood in their veins.


Is Alexis Kubilskis really from Belgium?

He definately has a Belgian passport, he's playing for the U-19 squad. Don't know what his heritage is but it sounds rather Baltic.



And are these other guys Belgian?:
Aborah (btw, where do you feel he would belong on your list?)
N’Galula M’buy.
Mirallas.

All of these have Belgian nationality and are playing for our youth teams (with the exception of Aborah, haven't noticed him on any of the rosters but I can confirm he is Belgian).

As you can guess Aborag and N’Galula M’buy have African roots, like Kompany, the Mpenza's, ...

Mirallas is indeed a Belgian, like I said in the post he left Standard's youth setup but he's a Belgian allright (U-19 squad right now).

I haven't seen more than 40 minutes from Aborah (in the CL) but he looked very impressive to me, and he's in good hands at Ajax. Definate top 15 but ranking him without seeing him more is difficult.




:eek:
Never heard of him..do you know exactly from where?

He came from Juve via their farm team (Lodigiani Calcio)
http://www.ukrnow.com/content/view/674/31




-After reading the descriptions i still feel like the four names i mentioned in my overall list were the most deserving ones.
Considering what you wrote about them it sounds to me like Né and especially Vanden Borre should be higher on your list.
Btw: Yet Eboué is # 3 and Né #6..do you changed your opinion just recently? Or do you think Né is better now but Eboué should be in the future? :huh:

Well in all honesty Vanden Borre should be 3 on my list. I am right now very positive about him (remember I said last year anything could happen with him from never breaking really through to becoming a top class player) well right now it looks at least as if he'll become a regular player at a top club in Belgium. I just pray that he stays with Anderlecht for at least two more years and doesn't make any foolish moves like going to sit on the bench in Germany.

I ranked him lower because right now Vandenbergh, Eboué and Né are better players AND because I didn't want to jinx him. Is that a satisfying explenation?

As for Né and Eboué: I was somewhat dissapointed by Né the last few games, he drowned with the rest of them and I expected him to stand up more. In fact only Romaric came through as a leader type of player those last few matches (wich is why he made a big jump). Né for me still has the better potential, but I htink it's time for him to move on, and strangely enough we're not hearing any rumours...



-What’s up with players from Côte d’Ivoire in your country?!?

Jean Marc Guillou, the main man behind the Académy in Abijan is more or less owner of Sk Beveren wich means he puts everyone in that club and then sells them on to bigger clubs
_Yaya Touré - perhaps the most talented of the bunch / somewhat inconsistent though - went to Metallurg Donetsk last season
_Yapi Yapo was sold to Nantes
_ Romaric is now off to Le Mans, there's Boka at Strasbourg and many, many more.

Secondly those who are good enough can go directly to better teams: Kolo Touré went straight to Arsenal (Beveren has an agreement with Arsenal, they have first option - see Eboué). Didier 'Maestro' Zokora went to Genk where he was picked up by Saint Etienne and he now looks set for a future in a top league in one or two years. And of course Aruna Dindane went straight to Anderlecht

232 Bundesliga players were asked who they think is the biggest talent in the Bundesliga. The results:

1. Schweinsteiger (27,9%) age:20 (Bayern Munich/Germany)
2. Castro (11,7%) age:17 (Bayer Leverkusen/Spain)
3. Mertesacker (10,8%) age:20 (Hannover 96/Germany)
4. Kruska (3,6%) age:17 (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)
5. Hanke (3,2%) age:21 (Wolfsburg/Germany)

232 Bundesliga players were asked who they think is the biggest talent in the Bundesliga. The results:

1. Schweinsteiger (27,9%) age:20 (Bayern Munich/Germany)
2. Castro (11,7%) age:17 (Bayer Leverkusen/Spain)
3. Mertesacker (10,8%) age:20 (Hannover 96/Germany)
4. Kruska (3,6%) age:17 (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)
5. Hanke (3,2%) age:21 (Wolfsburg/Germany)


You know that we are waiting for you to post a list, and not just wo the top 5 best prospects are but the top 25 or so

:jump:


Please????
;)

There's many people of Italian descent in Belgium, especially in Limburg (Genk) and Wallonia, a heritage from the 1950 where these people were brought here to work in the mines. Enzo Scifo, Luigi Pieroni, Silvio Proto, ..., ... all have Italian blood in their veins.What's bit surprising to me it's that they keep using Italian first names..like both parents were Italian (Italian immigrates keep on marring each other?? :joker: from fifties to nowadays it's a couple of generations..)

btw, Scifo..what a frustrating talented player!


He came from Juve via their farm team (Lodigiani Calcio)
http://www.ukrnow.com/content/view/674/31. Since when Lodigiani is Juventus' farm team?? Never heard about that at all...and the last player to enjoy success out of that team (the main one in serie C, not Primavera) is Palermo's Luca Toni, who never was under Juve's control.. :shakehead
btw, another curiosity for this weird story: Lodigiani is not the team of the city called Lodi (Northern Italy, Fanfulla!! the name of the team.. and i know their ultras' chief!) as one would suppose, but is rather from the region nearby Roma, not too close to Torino i would say!


I ranked him lower because right now Vandenbergh, Eboué and Né are better players AND because I didn't want to jinx him. Is that a satisfying explenation?If that's a satisfying explanation for you than it is for me as well! :sarcasm:

;)



And thanks a lot for the detailed reply!

Well, maybe he was just loaned out to them, read farm team somewhere but that doesn't mean that is indeed the case.


As for Scifo... World class talent but he never really learned how to use it to the fullest. His problem was usually that he ran too much with the ball and played to much lateral football, not playing it deep fast enough. When he first broke through (83-84) it looked as if he would be a world beater... maybe he went to Inter too fast, who knows.
Still had a very good career, mainly in France but he could have been soo much better

His best time for us was at the Mondiale in 1990 where he played brilliant team football. In fact Belgium as a whole played GREAT there and if not for ****ing Gazza diving and Platt scoring in the last minute of the last extra time we could have gone as far as in Mexico four years earlier (where he was also pretty good, don't worry, he did well in the big tournaments).
I really hate it when the English complain about diving and how they don't condone 'unsportmanlike behaviour' when they simply did the same thing to us.

As for Scifo... World class talent but he never really learned how to use it to the fullest. His problem was usually that he ran too much with the ball and played to much lateral football, not playing it deep fast enough. When he first broke through (83-84) it looked as if he would be a world beater... maybe he went to Inter too fast, who knows.Not using half of his thoughts checking his hairs would have helped i guess..

Still had a very good career, mainly in France but he could have been soo much better
His best time for us was at the Mondiale in 1990 where he played brilliant team football. In fact Belgium as a whole played GREAT there and if not for ****ing Gazza diving and Platt scoring in the last minute of the last extra time we could have gone as far as in Mexico four years earlier (where he was also pretty good, don't worry, he did well in the big tournaments). Indeed!

I really hate it when the English complain about diving and how they don't condone 'unsportmanlike behaviour' when they simply did the same thing to us.I will censor my thoughts on this subject. :o

Thinking of posting my top 15 shortly.. will expand it with 10 more in the upcoming days..

You know that we are waiting for you to post a list, and not just wo the top 5 best prospects are but the top 25 or so

:jump:


Please????
;)

I just can't!
I think too much about every player and the I get doubts...

First 15 are up..

http://www.hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=2932957&postcount=70

First 15 are up..

http://www.hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=2932957&postcount=70Great reading Ott!! :handclap:
Very nice work!

As for the ranking itself, two things stood out to me.
The first, you know, it's van der Vaart that high, ahead of at least a couple of special prospects, but that's not really a surprise from you. ;)

The most surprising thing for me is the exclusion from the top 15 of Farfan! I could not expect him any lower than 13th..

Waiting for the next additional ten!

And can't wait to see the Dutch under 20 team at the upcoming WJC! :jump:

yeah, they're broadcasting it on the NOS so i will be able to watch as well for a change. Speaking of wich, is anyone checking out the Toulon tournament, wich is taking place as we speak? There's only statistics and limited reports available through the net, but maybe someone has been watching the games (I believe Eurosport ususally has the tournament).

Great reading Ott!! :handclap:
Very nice work!

As for the ranking itself, two things stood out to me.
The first, you know, it's van der Vaart that high, ahead of at least a couple of special prospects, but that's not really a surprise from you. ;)

The most surprising thing for me is the exclusion from the top 15 of Farfan! I could not expect him any lower than 13th..

Waiting for the next additional ten!

And can't wait to see the Dutch under 20 team at the upcoming WJC! :jump:

Like I mentioned before, I'm not much of a fan of Farfan. I admire his game, I think he's a wonderful player, especially for his age, but he's not something special. He will be on the eventual list, just not in my top 15. Thanks for commenting though, the more the better.. And van der Vaart, placing him outside the top 3 would hunt me in the end and make me look like a fool.

And yes BF, watched the most of Portugal/Tunis yesterday. Quite impressed by Tunis actually, never knew they had such quality youth to go head to head with Portugal, if not outplaying them.

yeah, they're broadcasting it on the NOS so i will be able to watch as well for a change. Speaking of wich, is anyone checking out the Toulon tournament, wich is taking place as we speak? There's only statistics and limited reports available through the net, but maybe someone has been watching the games (I believe Eurosport ususally has the tournament).
I haven't watched any game yet, but Gigilotti has scored two goals for France in a 2-1 win. France didn't play very well though, but have three wins in three games.

Robin van Persie came on for the Dutch versus Finland today with I think like 15 minutes left. All he did was grab two assists and bag a goal for himself.

I was highly skepitcal when he arrived at Highbury. Has he ever grown...

Also, sounds like Maduro had a great match. Wenger reportedly tried to snatch him from Ajax reserves last year. So much young talent in the Dutch squad.

Germany tied with Russia yesterday 2:2.
They played good imo. Russia had like 2 chances and scored the 2nd goal in the 91. minute.

Schweinsteiger scored two goals, the first after a beautiful Podolski assist, the 2nd after a neat little dribble.

I always feel that Schweinsteiger plays kinda "Dutch", lol.

Germany tied with Russia yesterday 2:2.
They played good imo. Russia had like 2 chances and scored the 2nd goal in the 91. minute.

Schweinsteiger scored two goals, the first after a beautiful Podolski assist, the 2nd after a neat little dribble.

I always feel that Schweinsteiger plays kinda "Dutch", lol.

Was this a youth game?

And why looks Schwein Dutch? heh.. just curious..

No, it was a friendly, preparation for the Confederations Cup.
Klinsmann is experementing pretty wildly. The denfese is horrible right now, pretty unknown for a German NT.

Well, he plays kinda "ungerman", I can't really describe it, he dribbles, he's creative. It's just his game ;).

The 2nd goal he scored yesterday was kinda Robbenesque! :D

Eremenko Jr was also very lively in the Finland vs. Holland match. Best Finn on the pitch, perhaps. And it was a *good* game for most of our players. :thumbu:

Then why did he get substituted ? I was thinking the same thing.

Then why did he get substituted ? I was thinking the same thing.

Well, he *had* threatened to quit his career if he has to experience another last minute loss. Perhaps our coach was trying to save him from that destiny. ;)

In other words, I have yet to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why. He's very impulsive for a Finn though and seems to get easily frustrated if his side is losing. And when he gets frustrated, he tends to forget he has 10 teammates to pass the ball to.

Also, sounds like Maduro had a great match. Wenger reportedly tried to snatch him from Ajax reserves last year. So much young talent in the Dutch squad.

Wasn't aware of this, though I do know Maduro already had some nice offers on the table before he even made his debute. Guess Arsenal was one of them..

The Dutch have seen some nice youngsters rising to the occasion the past few years. But our best two prospects have yet to make their professional debute (both are 16).. I'm still torn whether I should inlcude them on the list or not.

Added 5 more..

But our best two prospects have yet to make their professional debute (both are 16).. I'm still torn whether I should inlcude them on the list or not. I guess you SHOULD! :jump:

Added 5 more..And still no Farfan. :rolleyes:

I guess you SHOULD! :jump:

And still no Farfan. :rolleyes:

I'd have trouble placing them, so I'll give them an honorable mention.

Farfan will come.. be patience.. ;)

France won the Toulon tournament today, beating Portugal 4-1 in the final.
That generation was supposed to be the weakest compared to the previous (Le Tallec, Sinama, Meghni, Faty, etc...) and the next (Ben Arfa, Menez, Nasri, Thicot, Costil, etc...) but according to all experts, it has less talent but is a lot more hard working.
Another defensive midfielder won the MVP (Mavuba won it two years ago), this time it was Mvuemba (Rennes).
Briand (Rennes, see prospects thead), Haddad (PSG, see prospects thread) and Fauvergue twice (Lille) scored in the final, while captain Medjani (Liverpool) was impressive again (BF, you should be happy with that).

Only saw the first half of Holland - Japan (had to play some soccer myself), but I'm thinking of moving Quincey up..

Recap of the game by the media:

The Dutch squad under 20 started off the WC with a victory over Japan. The win seemed obvious after the first 20 minutes when Quincy Owusu Abeyie was everywhere, running around like the storm. But after the 2-0, Oranje laid back, letting Japan come back into the game (2-1). Quincy Owusu Abeyie was looking like a young Ronaldo during the opening moments of the game. The 19 year old attacker of Arsenal, combined his great physical strenght with his amazing speed. He moved through the Japanese defense like it wasn't even there.

The entertainment of which Quincy Owusu Abeyie spoiled the crowd resulted in 2 goals. He was the foundation of the 1-0 with his subleme actions. Ryan Babel (nice backheel kick) and Ibrahim Afellay (nice finish) finished the job.

Owusu shaked off 4 Japanese players in a rush of at least 60 meters in the 18th minute. He maintained sight and assisted Babel who scored the 2-0.

Oranje didn't manage the do much anymore after Japan had 3 men shadowing Dutch playmaker Hedwiges Maduro.

Only saw the first half of Holland - Japan (had to play some soccer myself), but I'm thinking of moving Quincey up..I could only saw the last 15-20minutes ( :dunno: ). Quincy looked athletically on a different planet.

Japan had two GREAT scoring chances to equalize late in the game due to POOR defending by the Dutches.

Today i watched Argentina-Usa.

I was very surprised to not see Leo Messi among the starters for his national team.. and after watching the second half you have to wonder what his coach was smoking to sit him for 45 minutes.. he was hands down the most dangerous Argentinian on the pitch after his coach was forced to use him by the disappointing result and play of his team. The guy showed his amazing legs speed and ball control, yet missed two great chances to equalize the game.

For USA, very unfortunately J.Spector suffered another injury early in the game that prevented me from give any better judgement..

Supposed 16yrs old Freddy Adu was also playing. IF his birthdate is correct he is indeed an intriguing prospect. He is skilled and talented, still has to put together and polish his game. One specific thing he definitely has to improve is ball protection.

One player i liked for their side was 18yrs old off. midfielder Eddie Gaven.


Tomorrow Italian national team will play his first game against Colombia.
As usual the U20 squad is not as considered as it should be. All the elegible players from the U21 team are not taken into consideration for this event. Add that they prefer to give chances to players of the '85 category over underagers (such as Lupoli, Rossi, Cerci, Savi,...) and you are left with a bunch of almost unknowns.. also some '85 are missings for (to me) unnkown reasons..
To give you an idea, looking back at my list of last September the highest ranked on the squad is Graziano Pellé at #76 (and he would be lower today).
The most known profiles at the moment are those of recent Juve acquisition Coda and fugitive De Martino. Marzoratti and Defendi should be two guys interesting to watch..but on paper this team doesn't hold many hopes to last till the end of the tourney...


For more on the U20 tournament:
http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,WYC2005,00.html?comp=WYC&year=2005

I could only saw the last 15-20minutes ( :dunno: ). Quincy looked athletically on a different planet.

Japan had two GREAT scoring chances to equalize late in the game due to POOR defending by the Dutches.

Owusu was average in the 2nd half. He was phenomenal in the first, I wish you could've seen it.

And yes, the coach said it too, the defense wasn't very good as the game went on.

Supposed 16yrs old Freddy Adu was also playing. IF his birthdate is correct he is indeed an intriguing prospect. He is skilled and talented, still has to put together and polish his game. One specific thing he definitely has to improve is ball protection.

You got to be kidding me, helicecopter. For all the hype he got, Freddy Adu was pathetic. He only stood out once, and that was a dive. He then missed the penalty..

Next Pelé my ass.. Americans should stop hyping all their products.

BTW, the media here picks a possible MVP candidate from every team whenever they play. Yesterday it was done by a Dutch superscout, who scouts for Abramovich. He picked out Messi and rated him a 77. The day before it was Owusu (87)..

Next Pelé my ass.. Americans should stop hyping all their products.

That's only a media title



BTW, the media here picks a possible MVP candidate from every team whenever they play. Yesterday it was done by a Dutch superscout, who scouts for Abramovich. He picked out Messi and rated him a 77. The day before it was Owusu (87)..

He's mainly a PSV scout you know, only works free lance for Roman and is not tied to Chelsea. (forgot his name though)

That's only a media title

He's mainly a PSV scout you know, only works free lance for Roman and is not tied to Chelsea. (forgot his name though)

Forgot his name too. But anyone who spends time with Abramovich on his personal yaught must be closer than a mere free lance scout.

Forgot his name too. But anyone who spends time with Abramovich on his personal yaught must be closer than a mere free lance scout.

Well he talked about it in lenght a few weeks ago (MY BRAIN IS LIKE CHEESE, HORRIBLE I CAN't REMEMBER HIS NAME!!!) and he is still PSV's head scouting, allthough he's taken a step back from what he used to do. He talks regularly with Abramovic, and has indeed spent time on his yacht but is not payed by Chelsea and only offers them advice from time to time, he's not on their books as scout.

Well he talked about it in lenght a few weeks ago (MY BRAIN IS LIKE CHEESE, HORRIBLE I CAN't REMEMBER HIS NAME!!!) and he is still PSV's head scouting, allthough he's taken a step back from what he used to do. He talks regularly with Abramovic, and has indeed spent time on his yacht but is not payed by Chelsea and only offers them advice from time to time, he's not on their books as scout.

Piet something.. puntje van me tong!

BTW, here's the site where you can vote on the MVP's:
http://www.nos.nl/noswktot20/voorpagina/index.html

Then hit "Meest waardevolle speler"..

You got to be kidding me, helicecopter. For all the hype he got, Freddy Adu was pathetic. He only stood out once, and that was a dive. He then missed the penalty..

Next Pelé my ass.. Americans should stop hyping all their products.For all the hype he got over there, yes, he was pathetic. For a sixteen (?) years old he looked indeed promising. The fact is i didn't trust the American hype about this guy, so i wasn't going to watch him like a new Pelé.. actually i don't trust his birthdate either..
and agree about your quote 'new Pelé my ass!' ;)

He did a very nice play in the first half though (dribbling-cross from the left side).

BTW, the media here picks a possible MVP candidate from every team whenever they play. Yesterday it was done by a Dutch superscout, who scouts for Abramovich. He picked out Messi and rated him a 77. The day before it was Owusu (87).. I don't get how this rating system is supposed to work.. :help:

I really hate it when the English complain about diving and how they don't condone 'unsportmanlike behaviour' when they simply did the same thing to us.

I will censor my thoughts on this subject. :o

I dont pretend the English are angels on the pitch. Arguably we've had to learn the dark arts simply to compete on a level playing field. We've suffered that way ourselves many times.

I will however point out that England are invariably near the top of the Fair Play league each and every season and usually are the only major power to be there. Only the Scandinavians have a similar record and its no surprise that English football is very popular there.

Here you go:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/fairplay.html

England won UEFA Fair Play places in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2003 - equal best with Norway and are almost always Top 5 every year.

Italy are 32nd, 34th, 22nd, 33rd in recent times.
Belgium 26th, 13th, 11th, 10th.

Maybe you'd better censor my thoughts about your complaints!

Switzerland beat South Korea 2-1. Reto Ziegler was the best player on the pitch.

Maybe you'd better censor my thoughts about your complaints!On the contrary, I would be curious to read your thoughts..
My complaints? :shakehead
Which?
I remember complaining about an English pretending Italians always complain without reasons about referees when actually I realized at least on these boards it is the other way around..

That said, I think ON AVERAGE English PLAYERS play an aggressive but cleaner game than most of the others, and than Italians of course, so your fair play news are not surprising at all.

Switzerland beat South Korea 2-1. Reto Ziegler was the best player on the pitch.Did you see the game? Any more comments (in that case) ?

Did you see the game? Any more comments (in that case) ?Yes, I saw the game. Switzerland completely dominated the first half, and should have been up rather 3-0 than 2-1 at half time. In the last 20 mins of the game, South Korea also had some chances, but over the whole game the win was more than deserved.

Switzerland played with a completely new setup due to Behrami's injury. Barnetta had to play right back, and in midfield we had a box formation instead of a diamond. So the lineup was:
Lopar; Barnetta, Salatic, Senderos, Bühler; Djourou, Dzemaili; Zambrella, Ziegler; Antic, Vonlanthen.

Apart from Ziegler, Vonlanthen could also shine. He was very lively. I was not overly impressed with Zambrella and Djourou though. And as I said, Ziegler had an amazing game. Both assists (long, precise balls), a beautiful free kick that almost resulted in a goal, and generally a lot of involvement in the game).

Park had a couple of flashy moments for the Koreans, but overall they were outplayed.

Now we might only need one more point in order to qualify for the knockout stages.

Italy lost 2-0 against Colombia in his debut. A predictable result, even if in the first half the game was even, Colombia deserved the win in the second half but was overall disappointing.
Especially Rodallega was a major disappointment in this game.
Renteria, Marrugo and subs Toja, Moreno, Guarin did all better than him.

I remember complaining about an English pretending Italians always complain without reasons about referees when actually I realized at least on these boards it is the other way around..


Your realisations? I believe you said you were not actually here during the Italy-Korea apocalypse. Indeed the very mention of that game brings groans from HF posters - "not again!". You didnt experience it so you're passing comment without knowing the facts.

Your realisations? I believe you said you were not actually here during the Italy-Korea apocalypse. Indeed the very mention of that game brings groans from HF posters - "not again!". You didnt experience it so you're passing comment without knowing the facts.Once again Gwyddbwyll, i am passing comments on yours and Steve L's nowadays comments about that game and Portugal-England, so obviously i know the facts i am talking about (and anyway, whoever complained about Korea-Italy had PLENTY of reasons to do that).
That said, let's stop this (at least until the next episode! :naughty: )

Yeah the thread should get back on topic. Apologies for the side tracking.

PS Please quote me directly if you are going to make a claim about my comments. Contrary to your apparent beliefs I did not complain about the referee in either of those games! So I'd advise you to get your facts straight.

PS Please quote me directly if you are going to make a claim about my comments. Contrary to your apparent beliefs I did not complain about the referee in either of those games! So I'd advise you to get your facts straight.Don't worry, i always quoted you directly in the past as well as the others..now unless i have to go back through the threads searching for your quotes, i think we can agree you said Italy against Korea was NOT robbed more than England (wasn't) against Portugal... whatever that means in your opinion.

Italy lost again, Helicecopter!

As for the Dutch, they had little trouble beating Australia (3-0).. Maduro, Emanuelsson and Kruys scored (assists go to Emanuelsson, Quincy, which was a nice one btw and Vincken).

Italy lost again, Helicecopter!I know!!
However, judging from the highlights i saw it looks this time they didn't deserve to lose.

As for the Dutch, they had little trouble beating Australia (3-0).. Maduro, Emanuelsson and Kruys scored (assists go to Emanuelsson, Quincy, which was a nice one btw and Vincken). Saw the game.. heck, that Emanuelsson looked like a really interesting player!

there is this 16 years old boy called Anderson, this guy is just incredible since he got back from the u17 southamerican nat'l championship (where some euro scouts really liked him) he has played 2 games and scored 2 goals for Grêmio (same place where Ronaldinho started). He came out of nowhere and really impessed me with his talent. He is an OM with tons of ability and a great (ROCKET) shot, dude this guy maybe the next soccer superstar. If i had to compare him to someone who is playing now it would be a mixture of Zidane and Ronaldinho with Lampard's shot. I know I've only seen 2 games (1 and 1/2 actually) but what I saw really impressed me. :yo:As reported on the mercato thread, the guy has been acquired by Porto.
Anyone knows WHY he is not on the Brazilian team for the under 20 WC?

Time for an update about the under 20 world championships.
The group stage is over, things get serious now.
Italy needed to win with some goals against Canada to hope for a qualification spot after the two starting losses and did it, winning 4-1 with a brace by header specialist Pellé and a late goal (supposed to be the difference maker when scored, but eventually Chile made through in the end too) by De Martino. The guy was suspended in the first couple of games and surprisingly was not a starter against Canada. You could bet he will in the 1/8s. Btw, rumores are Bellinzona was just a parking place before joining Udinese this Summer, we will see soon.
Another sub, Agnelli, has been the guy showing the best things (and that doesn’t mean anything relevant) for Italy along the first three games, always coming off the bench.
So in the end Italy qualified as one of the best third placed teams and got a lucky draw: USA in the 1/8s and Morocco or Japan in the eventual quarter are good match ups for a team that barely made through.
Think about Colombia that won their group.. the prize is Argentina in the 1/8s (the big clash of the 1/8s!), probably Spain in the quarters and Holland in the semis!
The main surprise of the first round was the early elimination of Switzerland, one of the supposed favourites to win it all. After two good games (with an undeserved loss against Brazil) the team collapsed against Nigeria, with the defense (and Senderos) really struggling against the green speedy Africans.

Here are the scheduled 1/8s:

-Today-
USA-Italy
Morocco-Japan

Brazil-Syria
China-Germany

-Tomorrow-
Nigeria-Ukraine
Netherlands-Chile

Colombia-Argentina
Spain-Turkey



:jump:

Afellay is out for the tournament.. believe it or not this may have serious results of the Dutch chances at the title. Good news is that Babel is healthy enough to play. Anyway.. There was an all-star squad named of the round robin games, don't exactly remember all players, but I did know it featured Vlaar, Quincy and Maduro. The latter who's one of the MVP favorite's..

The main surprise of the first round was the early elimination of Switzerland, one of the supposed favourites to win it all. After two good games (with an undeserved loss against Brazil) the team collapsed against Nigeria, with the defense (and Senderos) really struggling against the green speedy Africans.It was to a very big extent the fault of the coach, if you ask me. His tactical lineup was just destined to fail...

Italy needed to win with some goals against Canada to hope for a qualification spot after the two starting losses and did it, winning 4-1 with a brace by header specialist Pellé
...

Great name there.

Depending on the context, "Pelle" means either "Clown" or "Fool" in Finnish. :D

As reported on the mercato thread, the guy has been acquired by Porto.
Anyone knows WHY he is not on the Brazilian team for the under 20 WC?
Grêmio wouldn´t let him go, he was Brazil´s main player during the south american u20.

Great name there.

Depending on the context, "Pelle" means either "Clown" or "Fool" in Finnish. :DHey, there is an accent there! And think about taking away one of those 'l'... :D

Grêmio wouldn´t let him go, he was Brazil´s main player during the south american u20.Ah, ok. Same destiny for Kerlon or any others?
Even in the confederation Cup?

While we're picking you brain Jungle boy, have you ever heard of a young striker nicknamed 'Jô' (playing for Corinthians)? He's supposedly attracting serious interest from anderlecht but they probably don't want to pay too much for him.

Ah, ok. Same destiny for Kerlon or any others?
Even in the confederation Cup?
Kerlon got injured (nothing serious). Anderson is the only case, Grêmio couldn´t afford to lose Anderson without getting anything back.
about Jô I once had him tied at #3 on my prospect list, but he felt a little bit (Corinthians didn´t help him) but now he is rising again. Coaches like to play him as a striker (he and Tevez were Corinthians attacking duo in the beggining of the year) because he is tall and will get stronger but Jô doesn´t like/know how to play as a striker. he plays better as a suppotter striker. he creates lots of spaces, with his agility and good positioning, finishes well. isn´t the quickest player but he is not slow either, it´s just his style with long steps proteciting the ball. Other good name in Corinthians is Abuda very quick and strong fwd. I don´t expect Jô to be moved unless he is involved on a trade for Liedson (sporting) or Wagner Love (CSKA)

Allright thanks for the info!!
That seems to confirm my suspicion that he's actually out of our reach. Although Anderlecht are really interested (and earlier it sounded as though it was just a matter of going to Brazil and doing some papers to get the transfer arranged), so maybe the splash some big cash on him, who knows - they just sold Aruna Dindane for €3M so that's an added bonus for the budget.

Hey, there is an accent there! And think about taking away one of those 'l'... :D

True, and "Pelé" never got me thinking of a clown/fool. In fact, I've always associated it with the Finnish word "Peli" which means "Game". Quite fitting, eh?

Wow, watching Netherlands - Nigeria right now and the Dutch are simply being destroyed as we speak. Nice team these nigerians.

Holland still holding on to a 1-1 draw though (I started watching just after Holland scored 1-1) but Nigeria hit two goalposts already and look dangerous every time the cross the half way line.

Even Maduro is being made look ordinary by this Nigerian team as we speak :eek:.


BTW Quincy's form has also gone downhill more or less. His game 1 performance was very impressive but once there was some real marking the level of his play went down to what we've seen before, on or two nice actions in a game (had a few assists even after the first match) but not yet an all round presence.


Hopefully someone who saw the entire match can tell me what happened earlier, because i can't believe the Dutch have been dominated the entire match, they're too good for that...

Wow, watching Netherlands - Nigeria right now and the Dutch are simply being destroyed as we speak. Nice team these nigerians.

Holland still holding on to a 1-1 draw though (I started watching just after Holland scored 1-1) but Nigeria hit two goalposts already and look dangerous every time the cross the half way line.

Even Maduro is being made look ordinary by this Nigerian team as we speak :eek:.


BTW Quincy's form has also gone downhill more or less. His game 1 performance was very impressive but once there was some real marking the level of his play went down to what we've seen before, on or two nice actions in a game (had a few assists even after the first match) but not yet an all round presence.


Hopefully someone who saw the entire match can tell me what happened earlier, because i can't believe the Dutch have been dominated the entire match, they're too good for that...


I'm not sure which game you are watching, but the Dutch aren't being dominated by anyone here. Both teams have gotten their fair amount of chances and the game is actually well equally played. The Dutch even have 54% ball posession..

But we really lack a creative midfielder with Affelay out, I figured Medunjarin would come in but he still hasn't been brought in. And yes, Maduro seems utterly tired, he's playing a very slow-paced game and has had many turnovers, he's layed way, way below par. As has Quincy.

Vlaar is easily the man of the game for the Dutch may it end right now though.. Vincken has been solid as well

You were completely overrun between 65-85 or so.

Vlaar was the best Dutchie on the pitch, completely agree.

John Obie Mikael looked good for Nigeria but urgently needs to learn how to use his left foot, you can see he's a raw player who hasn't had an 'education' in a great youth system in France or Holland, you never see that kind of clear "one-footedness" with an Ajax player or a player from a French centre de formation.



Too bad Holland lost out on penalties, it was an entertaining shootout though from a relatively neutral perspective, soo funny watching the goalies go at it.


And Collins John was AWFUL! did he have problems with Foppe for being on the bench or something like that? He looked as though he wasn't interested.

Even Maduro is being made look ordinary by this Nigerian team as we speakMaduro sucked the game before as well and he wasn’t facing Nigeria.

Both teams have gotten their fair amount of chances and the game is actually well equally played. You meant bad equally played right? ;)

I mean, it has been the most irritating game of the tournament, with the teams just losing time for most of it.. it was impossible to watch through the overtime.. i guess the amazing decision of scheduling the game at 3.30 PM in the Summer didn’t help though.

And Collins John was AWFUL! did he have problems with Foppe for being on the bench or something like that? He looked as though he wasn't interestedThe game where he was a starter he sucked as well..

Time for a recap of the elimination rounds (bolded is the team making through):

-1/8s-:

Italy-Usa=3-1
Usa took a lead on a penalty shot gained by Adu. The hyped one failed once again to convert on it but for unknown reasons the referee needed to command the repetition..
Usa had not allowed a single goal in the group games but strangely enough Italy already had 5 great scoring chances in the first half. In the second half Italy scored the equalizer on a deflected shot and added two more later to surprisingly and deservedly advanced to the quarter finals. Pellé showed to have some feet too!
Anyway, Usa clearly had better or more promising players on the team: Spector (bad game against Italy though), Barrett, Adu and especially Feilhaber and Gaven (my favourite).

Argentina-Colombia=2-1
Just like the US, Colombia finished the first half with the lead and having allowed zero goals in the tournament..and just like for the US that wasn’t enough as Messi came up big to save Argentina.
Colombia is out but showed some interesting players in this tournament: Renteria (athletical tools), Toja (ball control), Guarin (great shot), Zuniga (speedy and energetic right back), Marrugo, Otalvaro and especially Zapata (probably the main reason why Colombia allowed zero goals in the preliminary round).

Nigeria-Ukraine=1-0

Japan-Morocco=0-1
Japan clearly deserved the win.

Holland-Chile=3-0
Despite a subpar performance by the Dutches.

Brazil-Syria=1-0
Brazil struggled in the last 15 minutes to keep the lead.

Germany-China=3-2

Spain-Turkey=3-0


-Quarterfinals-:

Italy-Morocco=2-2 (shoot-out)
Morocco started much better and took the lead..but after the first 30 minutes Italy took control, hitting two crossbars and missing two times one penalty shot in the first half.
Late in the game they were able to finally tie the game and looked ready to finish the game before or during the overtime. Unfortunately Coda got hurt and his sub Battaglia displayed an awful effort seasoned with an unlucky own goal that put Morocco back with the lead. Central defender Canini was then ejected from the game and with one man and one goal down Italy was just able to tie again to end up with penalties.. by then you already knew which team was going to advance, as the opponents were not the Dutches, the only ones who seem to have a chance to lose on penalty shots against an Italian team.

Argentina-Spain=3-1
This match-up was probably worth a final.
Spain dressed a good and solid team (aside from the keeper) in this tournament but that was not enough to take care of the malefic dwarf Lionel Messi (:amazed: we have something special here!).

Brazil-Germany=2-1 (OT)
Once again Rafael Marcio is the man for Brazil.

Nigeria-Holland=1-1 (shoot-out)
Disappointing game. Holland misses a great chance to make through the final. They would have not find many problems solving Morocco in the semis. They have two or three good players (especially Jazour!), but they are weak defensively and in the air, two things that would have been probably lethal against a ball possession team like Holland.


-Semis-:

Nigeria-Morocco

Argentina-Brazil


Predicted final:
Nigeria-Argentina

Italy was just able to tie again to end up with penalties.. by then you already knew which team was going to advance, as the opponents were not the Dutches, the only ones who seem to have a chance to lose on penalty shots against an Italian team.

Sorry but this deserve a :biglaugh:

On penalties, the rule is :

Germany>Argentina>Czech Republic>England>France>Italy>Holland

Sorry but this deserve a :biglaugh:mmmh..considering that flag in your profile i am not sure that's the right smily.

On penalties, the rule is :

Germany>Argentina>Czech Republic>England>France>Italy>HollandLet me disagree. One win in the direct contest is not enough..Italian record on penalties it's too impressive to be second to anyone..
second last: Holland.
LAST: Italy.

Let me disagree. One win in the direct contest is not enough..Italian record on penalties it's too impressive to be second to anyone..
second last: Holland.
LAST: Italy.

HOlland:

EC 1992 (Van Basten)
EC 1996 (Seedorf)
WC 1998 (R de Boer, Cocu)
EC 2000 (KLuivert, F De Boer - during match / F De Boer, Bosvelt, Stam during shootout)

EC 2004 (vs Sweden) was the exception. They have also missed a few during qualifications as well (Seedorf against Turjey comes to mind)


When have italy lost in shootouts? I remember 94 (who wouldn't) but I also remember them winning in 2000

When have italy lost in shootouts? Oh please, don't do that to me...

They lost in 98 on penalties too :D
Good times!

What about 1990? Just to name another one.. pretty important occurrence i would say..

Oh My God.

Few minutes into the Brazil-Argentina semifinal and Leo Messi has already taken away the cobwebs in the top corner with his surgical left foot.
Not that could surprise me after watching him in the previous games.. but a couple of things he did later made my jaw literally drop. Add the running, the quickness and the determination he is showing in recovering vacant (or not!) balls and maybe you can realize how flabbergasted I am after watching this first half.

Yeah, great goal and amazing level of skill overall displayed by Lionel Messi.

The only problem is that he's not in the game a whole lot, especially in the second half.

The defenders for Argentina (Cabral- the other too) and the 'keeper look very good to me. I also like the attacker Oberman, not the biggest talent but he's a typical Argentine pain in the ass type of striker you hate to play againt.


For Brazil nobody really stood out, Rafael has a pretty quiet game thus far. they just scored the 1-1 though!

What about 1990? Just to name another one.. pretty important occurrence i would say..

I agree, one of the best national teams I've ever seen, that time I was hoping Italy to win it all (unlike in 1982), made me hate Maradona even more than before (although I'm not denying his greatness as a player).

But Giannini was one of the best playmakers I've ever seen, who could not love the enthusiasm of Schillagi, and young Baggio was a joy as well.

Argentina makes through the final, a really deserved result!
Brazil equalized with an header off a free-kicks, but that was the only way they could bother the Argentinians for the whole game. So Messi had to invent the winning assist.
I LIKE this team. Some solid players (Zabaleta, Formica) and some very interesting ones: Oberman and midifielders Cardozo and Gago (:amazed: ).
Also in the last minutes of the game Sergio Aguero, born on June ’88, has made his appearance on the pitch and did one AMAZING play through three Brazilians.

I think Messi just shot up to the top of most prospects list.

Yeah, great goal and amazing level of skill overall displayed by Lionel Messi.

The only problem is that he's not in the game a whole lot, especially in the second half.Today in the first half he definitely was! In the second half no more but no less than strikers on average i would say. In the other games i noticed some quiet 15 minutes though..
but today i was amazed by the way he jumps into the play and grabs vacant balls with his quickness and anticipation.
Did you see the whole game?!
If that's the case i think you should be more excited!


The defenders for Argentina (Cabral- the other too) and the 'keeper look very good to me. Personally I think the defense is not the best asset of this team, Paletta is imo the worse among the starters (did you see previous games? ).
As for the keeper i noticed he looks good playing the ball.

I also like the attacker Oberman, not the biggest talent but he's a typical Argentine pain in the ass type of striker you hate to play againt.mmh..not the biggest but still a talented player!


For Brazil nobody really stood out, Rafael has a pretty quiet game thus far. they just scored the 1-1 though! Brazil has several good players on the team (for example Sobis, Roberto, Renato and especially Rafael Marcio) but nothing special, agree (btw, today was missing Tardelli, weird but talented player).

I think Messi just shot up to the top of most prospects list.Looks like a comment made by someone who has just watched the semifinal.. did you?

Looks like a comment made by someone who has just watched the semifinal.. did you?


;) I've been following the whole tournament closely, from Messi's first appearance in the second half of the first game. I've only seen highlights and match reports ( Canada sucks at coverage ) but I've been quite impressed. I'm also a big Barca fan so I've followed Messi closely.

;) I've been following the whole tournament closely, from Messi's first appearance in the second half of the first game. I've only seen highlights and match reports ( Canada sucks at coverage ) but I've been quite impressed. I'm also a big Barca fan so I've followed Messi closely.ONLY highlights?
I can tell you you can't realize what this guy is showing through highlights.
Most jaw dropping plays have been away from scoring chances..what is AMAZING me the most is the way and speed with which he can react and solve situations.. the little things he does with impressive continuity..it's hard to explain, the easiness when he does some difficult things..the impressively low percentage of errors..his crisp passes..the genius in some plays.. he reminds me of his f...ehm..his left foot really has something of..*cough*..*cough*... i must shut up!

Predicted final:
Nigeria-ArgentinaHere you go.. Nigeria had little problems solving Morocco as they dominated the game (and in the air. 3-0 the final). Argentinian central defender Cabral will be suspended for the final and the speed of Nigerian strikers should cause some problems to the South American.
It’s to be noted how young the Nigerian team is (if those birthdates are correct!):
if I am not wrong among the starters of tonight game only one player is an ’85 born! (’85 is the limit) There are even three from the ’87 class and one more born in ’88 (16yrs old!).

I'm also a big Barca fan so I've followed Messi closely.
Good years coming for you i would say..they are right on time as it seems this evening they have extended Messi’s contract till 2010!

3rd place final:
Brazil-Morocco=2-1


FINAL:
Argentina-Nigeria=2-1 (Messi-P, Ogbuke, Messi-P)

Argentina struggled a bit in this match and they really missed suspended midfielder Cardozo, but deserved the win after scoring the second goal.

Leo Messi was once again the decisive man on the pitch (gaining the first penalty shot, a mistake by the referee imo, and converting both with exquisite class), while Nigerian Mikel was probably the best performer until Argentina second goal.

Sergio Aguero, the just 17turned striker, came in for Argentina in the second half and impressed again, earning the second, decisive penalty shot.


Congrats to the Argentines!! :handclap:

Here is the team of my favourites out of the U20 Worldchampionships:
(between brackets are reported the nationality along with the month and the year of birthdate)


----------------------------------Llorente(SPA.2/85)----------------------------
-------------------Messi(ARG.6/87)---------------------------------------------

- Ziegler (SWI.1/86)-----Gago(ARG.4/86)----Gaven(USA.10/86)----Cardozo(ARG.8/86)

Formica(ARG.1/86)----Zapata(COL.9/86)----Adeleye (NIG.12/88!)---Rafael(BRA.9/85)

---------------------------------R.Adler(GER.1/85)-----------------------------


-bench:-
K: Viviano (ITA.12/85)
LB:Jose Enrique (SPA.1/86)
RB: Zuniga (COL.12/85)
CB: Alexis(SPA.8/85)
M: Mikel (NIG.4/87)
LM: Jansen(GER.11/85)
OM: Sobis (BRA.6/85)
ST: Yazour (MOR)
ST: Aguero (ARG.6/88)

Note that the players i chose were the ones that i liked the most (impressed me AND enjoyed watching) but not necessarily the best prospects playing in the tourney, of course. The fact big names such as Quincy, Babel, Senderos and others are missing doesn’t mean i am not high on them.

Here is the team of my favourites out of the U20 Worldchampionships:
(between brackets are reported the nationality along with the month and the year of birthdate)


----------------------------------Llorente(SPA.2/85)----------------------------
-------------------Messi(ARG.6/87)---------------------------------------------

- Ziegler (SWI.1/86)-----Gago(ARG.4/86)----Gaven(USA.10/86)----Cardozo(ARG.8/86)

Formica(ARG.1/86)----Zapata(COL.9/86)----Adeleye (NIG.12/88!)---Rafael(BRA.9/85)

---------------------------------R.Adler(GER.1/85)-----------------------------


-bench:-
K: Viviano (ITA.12/85)
LB:Jose Enrique (SPA.1/86)
RB: Zuniga (COL.12/85)
CB: Alexis(SPA.8/85)
M: Mikel (NIG.4/87)
LM: Jansen(GER.11/85)
OM: Sobis (BRA.6/85)
ST: Yazour (MOR)
ST: Aguero (ARG.6/88)

Note that the players i chose were the ones that i liked the most (impressed me AND enjoyed watching) but not necessarily the best prospects playing in the tourney, of course. The fact big names such as Quincy, Babel, Senderos and others are missing doesn’t mean i am not high on them.


Odd team for sure.. Not bad, not at all.. but not the usual suspects.

A few Dutchies as possible candidates:

Vlaar was named the Dutch MVP and was IMO, tourny's top defender. I'd definitely have him on it.

Maduro, despite his below par finish of the tournament was still one of the more valueble midfielders.

No player played a better, played more entertaining and showed more potential in one game than Quincy Owusu-Abeyie vs Japan.

Vermeer (goalkeeper) impressed me a lot. Not saying he deserves a mention to be on this team but he played a stellar tournament and might very well make his debute for Ajax this year.

Odd team for sure.. Not bad, not at all.. but not the usual suspects.

A few Dutchies as possible candidates:

Vlaar was named the Dutch MVP and was IMO, tourny's top defender. I'd definitely have him on it.

Maduro, despite his below par finish of the tournament was still one of the more valueble midfielders.

No player played a better, played more entertaining and showed more potential in one game than Quincy Owusu-Abeyie vs Japan.

Vermeer (goalkeeper) impressed me a lot. Not saying he deserves a mention to be on this team but he played a stellar tournament and might very well make his debute for Ajax this year.Hey, those i chose were the ones I LIKED more in THIS tournament. As clarified above, i am not saying they are the best prospects or even the best performers in the tourney (otherwise Mikel and Quincy would have been obvious starters).

Quincy for example irritates me with all his useless stuff of moves on the ball when he is still 2 metres away from his opponent, but that doesn't mean i don't recognize him as one of the main characters of the tourney or as a prospect with great potential. Even if the Dutch team realy disappointed in the final rounds it was easily one of the teams that featured the greatest number of promising prospects. I hope it's clear now. ;)

Update time! I promised it, I procrastinated, but I delivered it!

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=3072027#post3072027

Update time! I promised it, I procrastinated, but I delivered it!

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=3072027#post3072027

:yo:

Narsi scored an absolute beauty in an Intertoto game yesterday.
25 meters rocket in the top corner.

Lazio has acquired Swiss Valon Behrami’s half property from Verona for 2.5/3M!
The other half is Genoa’s property..

In other news, 18yrs old Ignazio Abate (Milan property and in Napoli on loan last season) will play for Sampdoria on loan next season.

@ Evilo:

I already wanted to ask you but forgot.. i can't find Taiwo even in your old top70 for prospects playing in French.. he never played with Marseille?

@ Evilo:
I think I already answered you on that one... :dunno:
Taiwo has made three short appearances for OM, but I've never seen a minute of him.

I think I already answered you on that one... :dunno:
Taiwo has made three short appearances for OM, but I've never seen a minute of him.If you ever did (i don't think so :dunno: ), i missed it! :o

If you ever did (i don't think so :dunno: ), i missed it! :o

He did ;)

He did ;)Then, what's scary is that there is a good chance he did, i read and forgot it! :(

Tonight was played "Le Trophée des Champions" which takes place every summer one week before L1 starts. It matches the L1 Champs Lyon) against the Cup winners (Auxerre)?
Lyon won 4-1 and the line up was kind of interesting.
First, Juninho and Cris weren't ready, so Clément and Berthod played, but that's no indication.
However, Houiller put Ben Arfa on the field for the whole game. In fact Malouda and Wiltord were both on the bench!
Ben Arfa started by making a superb pass to Carew, who was heavily fouled by Auxerre's goalie. Ben Arfa shot and scored the penalty (3rd minute). Mathis tied the game, but then it was the Carew show with three straight goals.
Anyway, if Houiller plays Ben Arfa as a started, he'll go up in my list.
Kahlenberg had a good game for Auxerre.

And L'equipe had a few comments about Ben Arfa, saying two players flew over yesterday's game, and Ben Arfa was one of them "Carew was the other".
Translation of the rest :
"At 18, he had spent the last 6 months having his ears whistling (basically a lot of people unhappy about him). OL even asked themselves about a transfer, describing him as too individualist, with a bad behaviour. Caricatural in the Gambardella final, which saw him incapable of passing the ball against Toulouse, Ben Arfa seems to have changed. He has played his best pro match. When his game is turned towards efficiency and simplicity, everything shines around him."
His mark was 7.5, an extremely good mark by L'Equipe's standards.
Later on in a small write up for each player : "at 18, the playmaker has played a symphony. Yesterday he not only displayed his technique, he knew how to pass the ball after his dribble. When he purifies his game like this, Ben Arfa can be very impressive.

For the other prospects, Berthod got a 5.5, Clément a 6.5 (good game), and Kahlenberg a 5 (second player on his team behind Benoît Cheyrou and some good comments.

I'm preparing a huge update without the 82, and very in-depth.
But as I have some trouble comparing upside and actual results, I chose to rank by generation.

Update posted!
I got rid of most of the players playing abroad (although I did put Meghni because he's rumored to be coming back and Songo'o, because he's not playing much in Barca and he needs exposure).

BTW, Frank Djadjedje (PSG) is in contact with Liverpool and Chelsea :shakehead

And about the hype, I gave you a few names from the 88 and 89 generations, but the big hype right now in football circles is the 90 PSG generation.
During the 04-05 season, they were unbeaten, finishing with 22 wins and 2 draws, with a goal average of +80 (94 goals for, 14 goals against). They won the Ostande tournament by beating Ajax, Ostande, Liege in the group matches, Leverkusen in the semis and Schalke in the final. They gave up only 1 goal in 7 games in that tournament.
The MVP was OM/ST Yacine Brahimi.

They finally lost in the final of the Manchester Cup, losing to Fluminese, even though they had beaten them in the group stage.

France are U19 European champions!
Diaby was again the best player on the pitch.
Baldé scored again, the go-ahead goal this time and Gouffran scored a beauty to make it 3-1, final score.
France outrageously dominated but came up 0-1 down at hafltime.

In other prospects news, Eliot Grondin (Caen) has scored in his first pro game in L2 action.

I added Jean Gallice's comments about some othe 86 players. Gallice is the U19 national coach.

Tonight is the second part of the L1 starting games.
Projected to start :
Nasri, Taiwo, Ribéry (OM) - Mavuba, Chamakh (Bordeaux)
Debuchy, Makoun (Lille) - Didot (Rennes)
Nancy - Gigliotti (Monaco)
Keseru, Fae, Toulalan (Nantes) - Jussie (Lens)
Nice - Grax (Troyes)
St Etienne - Ajaccio
Sochaux - Aubey, Congré, Mathieu (Toulouse)
Farnerud (Strasbourg) - Kahlenberg (Auxerre)

Le Mans - Lyon will be sunday.

I'll give you a full report tomorrow morning with grades from L'Equipe.

Since my first release of the overall ranking two months are passed. During this period important new inputs were thrown in the mix:
-the valuable comments from other posters about the first release
-three new deep lists (Belgian, Dutch and Danish) and one more divided by birth years (French)
-the U20 WorldChampionships, with an eye-popping performance by a small left footed Argentine…
-some left games of the past season.
-the U19 Euro Championships finals.

For these reasons, as supposed back at the time of the previous release, I felt an update was necessary and I’ve now completed it, just within the fixed deadline (end of July) and before the start of the new season (only one game of Ligue 1 already played as for the big leagues).
This will be my definitive ranking for the ’82 limited class.
Of course my head was still full of doubts while compiling and still is while releasing it (btw, unfortunately RoyIsALegend never provided his promised help about players in La Liga), but it’s the nature of such things and, even if still aware of the unsurmountable difficulties, after having seen and known more about several prospects I have an increased confidence in this new ranking.
Nothing assures this list will be proven better than the previous one when all will be said and done, would be funny if not, but I am confident overall this should be the case.

There are five new entries if I’m not wrong and some big raisers. Two of them would have actually deserved even higher positions for the potential they showed at the U20 WorldChampionships, I am talking about Mikel (yes, he is elegible since he played in Norway this past season) and Quincy; But the fact they still have to be tested against top competition restrained me a bit.
There are some additions in the ‘honorable mentions’ and ‘very close’ departments as well.
(the reference page for the ‘not ranked yet’ players has been updated with the new names.
the links for HOL, BEL and DEN now point at the new Dutch, Belgian and Danish lists).

As for the most known guys, until #18 the ranking remained very similar, with one huge exception of course! Guess which?
The more you go down through the list, the more variations you will find. I think not many guys stayed exactly in the same previous position, but I kept that as starting reference.


And now, as hors-d’oeuvre, here come some thoughts on

-----------my marvellous ten-------------

1- Kaka : give him some space along with the adrenaline provided by big games and…good luck! Should improve ball protection, use more and refine long range passes. Great attitude and athletical tools.

2- Adriano: the only way he could have overcome Kaka was learning to use his right foot:no signs of improvement there.. could improve the anaerobic part of his game as well, he is too often motionless. One of the most powerful players ever seen.

3- Lionel Messi: a Maradonian left foot, great quickness, change of pace and intuition for the game. Already time for him to play regularly on Ronaldinho’s side. They just have to teach him to play more without the ball. Only relying on limited viewings (most against juniors) and size prevented me from placing him even higher.

4- Wayne Rooney: I resisted again to the temptation of placing Torres ahead. I like Wayne’s heart, it should keep high forever his motivations.. and fit his body. His talent is unquestioned along with what he has already accomplished at such a young age.

5- Fernando Torres: my feelings would put him at #4. Not sure Rooney athletical tools will improve (and not decrease with the years), while confident about Torres’ room for overall improvement.

6- Arjen Robben: Frailness more than talent or potential effectiveness is what made me scratch him from 4rth place competition.

7- Vincent Kompany: one of the most intriguing prospects i have ever seen. Heck, something like a Beckenbauer with less leadership but more skills is not out of question..

8- Cristiano Ronaldo: I feel like I was/am higher on his potential than most here. But I also feel like he represents a riskier pick than the first six guys.

9- Antonio Cassano: Going to Juve would suck from my point of view, but would really enhance his chances of fully exploiting his outstanding talent. (Capello, and a rigid, solid management).

10- Alberto Gilardino: this past season his overall play was far from previous year’s level.. as a result he has 23 goals in serie A on a sucking team.


Enjoy the whole, supposedly improved, overall ranking: http://www.hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=2869972&postcount=67
And don’t forget to post your comments! (in this thread)
Now I am hoping for at least a couple of more overall lists to appear in the future! (with the ’83 birth date limit)

You want my comments, you'll get them :D
I still think Torres is too high. He should be below Robben and Kompany.
I think Ronaldo is a marvelous prospect, but shouldn't be that high.
I think Ben Arfa is at Messi' level.
When comparing the top 87, there are 5-6 names IMO : Messi, Ben Arfa, Nasri, Menez, Cesc and Pique. IMO Ben Arfa is the best of the bunch, with Cesc and Messi right behind.
I know you were dazzled by his performance in the U20, but Ben Arfa's new shown commitment will IMO dazzle you even more.
This guy dominated an Auxerre side nearly all by himself with great passes, mad dribbling and good calm in the key moments.

FInally, I'd put GIlardino above Ronaldo, Cassano and Torres. Scoring that much in the italian league with few support is really more impressive than what Torres ever did IMO.

Oh and of course I still think Iniesta is not the top spanish prospect outside of Torres.
Finally, if Essien is still considered a prospect, he should be top 10-11.

OK, 8 out of 9 games have been played (Le Mans-Lyon is tonight).
Here are the prospects' marks according to l'Equipe :

Nantes 2-0 Lens :
Toulalan 6 (an average performance for his standards), Glombard 6 (started in place of injured Keseru and made a big impression with a nice goal), Fae 6.5 (best player on the pitch)

Sochaux 0-1 Toulouse
No mark because he didn't play long enough, but Menez was spectacular when he played, Aubey 5, Congré 5.5, Mathieu 3.5 (bad game for him)

Marseille 0-2 Bordeaux
Taiwo 4 (didn't impress me), Nasri 4.5, Ribéry 4.5, Barry 4, Mavuba 4.5

Lille 1-0 Rennes
Makoun 7, Débuchy 5.5, Mirallas missed a big opportunity but didn't play enough to get a mark, Didot 5, Briand 5

Strasbourg 0-0 Auxerre
A. Farnerud 4.5, Sagna 6, Kahlenberg 6

I'll try to do a writeup on all the "graduated" 1982 prospects this week.

I'll do a new ranking after a few weeks in the season, a few interesting prospects moves have happened but I need to judge their impact first. And that at a time where I'm unable to watch the available matches on the TV :madfire: :madfire: :madfire: :madfire:

Kubilskis went to GBA but is not likely to get a starting XI position
GBA also strenghtened itself with Sezer Ozturk, one of the better players in the Turkish U-20 squad a few months ago on loan from Leverkusen. I must say he looks very good.

Also there a new interesting talent starting to make noise at Racing Genk but I can't remember the name (also a guy with African roots like Kompany, Vanden Borre and co)

BF any word on Romaric? He was with Beveren last year, and he made a big impression in his first game with Le Mans against Lyon tonight (1-2).

BF any word on Romaric? He was with Beveren last year, and he made a big impression in his first game with Le Mans against Lyon tonight (1-2).

I was hyping him up in the prospects thread, check out my last ranking (he was at #5)!

I'm very high on him, the only issue is his mental game, he tends to have blackouts where he starts elbowing, yelling at refs or make two footed tackles at knee height.

But as I said in my last profile, the talent level is extremely good, a real rocket of a shot (also great at set pieces) and incredibly strong player and some leadership abilities.

(I also predicted him to score 10-15 in France this year and move on to a bigger club somewhere)


Was Aruna on the pitch this weekend?

Yeah Aruna was on the pitch for Lens, starting as lone striker.
He's impressed in the friendlies and Intertoto, and they hype machine is on. Personally, I'll wait to see him against L1 competition. He was reportedly not impressive against Nantes.

Yeah Aruna was on the pitch for Lens, starting as lone striker.
He's impressed in the friendlies and Intertoto, and they hype machine is on. Personally, I'll wait to see him against L1 competition. He was reportedly not impressive against Nantes.

I think he'll do well, as long as he has a finisher around him. He's really of the Emile Heskey mold in front of the goal and has real trouble finishing his moves off. When paired with a genuine goalscorer his runs will pay dividents though, he's very hard to mark because he moves so well, is pretty strong and is an amazing dribbler.

Yesterday :
Le Mans 1-2 Lyon
Berthod got a 6 and De Melo and Romaric got a 6.5.
De Melo and Romaric will soon be added if they keep on playing like this.
Romaric (1983) is a talented OM with a huge shot. De Melo (1985) is a tall brazilian with a good header and a physical presence.

Another prospect that could be added soon is striker Ducasse from Bordeaux. It was his first pro game (subed Smicer