5. Felipe Luis
Felipe Luis arrived at Atletico Madrid as a well-traveled
left back. After spending four seasons with Deportivo La Coruna, Luis arrived
in Madrid on a five year contract that cost the club €12 million. He has since
proven to be one of the most valuable transfers in the club’s history, by
leading them to the La Liga title last week. The Brazilian left back is often
described as tireless, which undersells the attacking threat Luis has going forward.
Defensively, Felipe Luis is as solid as they come. In La
Liga he averaged over 4 tackles per match in his 32 appearances for Atletico
this season. He also earned six yellow cards during the season, demonstrating
to opponents that he was accustomed in the dark arts.
4. David Alaba
In David Alaba’s first match for Austria, he went down in the
history books as Austria’s youngest capped player at the age of 17. Since then
he has set the Bayern Munich record youngest capped player in a competitive
match, the record for fastest goal scored in a Champion’s League match, and
lifted the Champion’s League trophy with Bayern Munich last season. That is
quite a list of accomplishments for any player, let alone a player who at 21
years of age still has over a decade remaining in his career.
In this past season, Alaba featured in 48 matches from Bayern
Munich, contributing four goals and seven assists. Although he struggles in aerial
challenges, Alaba offers a dangerous attacking threat thanks to his expert
crossing and ball movement. Alaba will not be participating in the upcoming
World Cup, giving him a chance to rest after a successful domestic campaign
that saw Bayern lift the Bundesliga crown and win the DFB Pokal.
3. Marcelo
When the legendary Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos retired,
many wondered how Brazil would replace him. Marcelo has masterfully risen to
the occasion and earned the respect of Roberto Carlos himself, who claims
Marcelo has surpassed him technically. Marcelo is one of the most lethal
attacking left backs in the world, possessing a deadly shot, world class
crossing ability, and possesses a bag of tricks that gives defenders
nightmares.
This past season he contributed six assists to Real Madrid
and could capture his first Champion’s League winner’s medal on Saturday.
Following Brazil’s success in the Confederation’s Cup, the 26 year old left
back will hope to lift the World Cup trophy on home soil in July. Marcelo will be an important figure to watch in Brazil.
2. Jordi Alba
In 2012, Vicente del Bosque included Jordi Alba in Spain’s
squad for the Euros. Jordi Alba thanked him by performing spectacularly. In the
quarterfinal against France, he sent in the cross that Xabi Alonso scored off
of to open the scoring in a 2-0 victory. In the final against Italy, Alba
pounced on a through ball from Xavi and could not be caught before slotting
home the finish which blew the game open at 2-0. He followed up that performance
by helping Barcelona capture the La Liga title the next season.
Alba has taken over as the regular Spain left back for Joan
Capdevila and performed well for Barcelona last season despite suffering a
hamstring injury that kept him out of the closing stages of the season. Alba
looks set to regain fitness for Brazil and will join Spain as they attempt to
win an unprecedented fourth consecutive major tournament.
1. Leighton Baines
No player has been more important to Everton over the past few
seasons as Leighton Baines. Following the departure of Marouane Fellaini and manager
David Moyes to Manchester United, many wondered if Baines would follow shortly.
Baines ultimately stayed with Everton and lifted them to a fifth place finish
in the Premier League, securing their qualification in the Europa League. Baines
has earned PFA Team of the Season honors in two of the last three seasons.
Baines possesses great dribbling ability, strong crossing,
and a knack for playing the crucial pass in buildup play. However, Baines
possesses a left foot that can hit free kicks with the power and accuracy of,
which no other player on this list can compare to. In the last four Premier
League seasons, Baines has contributed 19 goals, an impressive figure for a
defender. His performances have been good enough that England manager Roy Hodgson
has chosen to leave out Ashley Cole from the World Cup squad.
0 comments:
Post a Comment