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The Best Wingers/Supporting Strikers in the World – 2011 Edition

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Messi or Ronaldo? We’ll get to that pretty quickly, but first, we need an introduction. Part V of Sportige.com’s best-by-position in the world of soccer today, on to the Wingers and supporting strikers among us. Sorry to Gareth Bale, Frank Ribery, David Silva, Thomas Mueller and Milos Krasic who didn’t make the top 6 cut but still deserve a mention. And now, on to the six best supporting strikers and wingers in the world today –

Number 6 – Angel Di Maria, Real Madrid and Argentina

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Until not too recently, Di Maria was one of Real’s best players this season. The return of Kaka and the general sloppy performance from Real Madrid has effected Di Maria as well who hasn’t scored since mid-December. Still, the Argentinian who had a fantastic season with Benfica last year, full of pace and trickery, purchased for 25 million Euros, has been a success at the Bernabeu, scoring 5 goals and adding six assists. Still, it probably won’t be enough to catch Barcelona.

Number 5 – Nani, Manchester United and Portugal

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Now in his fourth season at Old Traffod, Nani is finally living up to all the potential hype following him since his younger days with Sporting. Much more decisive and effective, Nani is enjoying the attention and finally stepping out of the Cristiano Ronaldo shadow, at least for club. With 8 Goals and 10 assists in 21 league games this season so far, Nani just might the front runner for player of the year in England. Pretty much the only spark of creativity on a very dull Manchester United team that still manages to lead the Premier League without too much trouble from the rest of the pack.

Number 4 – Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich and The Netherlands

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Has played only three league matches since returning from his long injury, keeping him out of the Bundesliga stadiums since the World Cup. Robben was fantastic in 2010 up until that injury, winning footballer of the year in Germany, scoring 16 goals and adding 7 assists while leading Bayern Munich, along with Ribery on the opposite flank, to the Bundesliga title and the Champions League final. He scored two goals for the Dutch en route to the World Cup Final, missing two one on ones with Casillas that could have sent the masses to celebrate in Amsterdam.

Robben has already scored 2 goals since returning from injury and if he sheds off the rust quickly enough, might give Bayern the needed spark to make one final push at the title which currently seems very much in Dortmund’s hands.

Number 3 – Pedro, Barcelona and Spain

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If 2009-2010 was the season Pedro put himself on the world’s soccer map, this season is the one in which he becomes a superstar. The 23 year old is following the World Cup, in which he gradually cemented his place in the Spanish starting line up with a brilliant 2010-2011 for Barca, scoring 12 league goals in 22 matches so far, adding 7 assists. It always helps playing with the most talented players in the world, but Pedro is showing week in and week out that he’s the perfect sidekick to Messi, Iniesta Xavi and Villa, somehow always a bit forgotten behind all the glitter and star power that Barcelona pack. With his ability to score and assists from both wings with both feet, Pedro is quickly becoming one of the best players in the world.

Number 2 – Cristiano Ronlado, Real Madrid and Portugal

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Forget the World Cup. Ronaldo wasn’t the only star who failed to impress there. Anyway, the center and focus of the world today is club football, and Ronaldo has only one player better than him there. The numbers sometimes speak for themselves – 24 goals and six assists in 22 league matches, 34 goals in all competitions. He has reached 50 league goals for Real Madrid in 50 matches, faster than any other player, including Di Stefano, Raul and a horde of legends. He’s too much of a soloist, which hurts the team, forcing his teammates to channel the game through and towards him, but there is no player who can shoot at goal from pretty much anywhere on the pitch, with both feet. And he’s never shy of trying – 167 shots at goal this year – 8 a match!

Number 1 – Lionel Messi, Barcelona and Argentina

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He’s so good it’s boring at times, like his hat trick on Saturday against Atletico (his third of the season). It’s impossible to prevent him from scoring when he’s in his zone, and he’s so often in int. The difference from Ronaldo is the attitude and the way he blends into the team. If you isolate their individual abilities, Ronaldo probably has the edge. But Messi is on the perfect team, and the perfect finisher on a side that is arguably the best one ever. And his stats? 24 Goals and 14 assists in 19 league games. He only needed 94 shots on goal to reach that number. He has scored 40 goals in all competitions this season and has reached 112 league goals for Barcelona since joining the senior team. A world cup is all that’s missing from this fella’s legacy and his bid to be the greatest of all time.

*For the other positions – Top Keepers Top Centre Backs Top Full Backs Top Midfielders Top Strikers

Peter Fisher

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13 responses to “The Best Wingers/Supporting Strikers in the World – 2011 Edition”

  3. IMO, Ronaldo is by far the greatest winger. He can do absoluletly everything and he is the guy who push his team forward everytime. Messi has talent but he’s not the star and the most important player of Barcelona, Xavi is.
    For the record, I don’t like Messi and I hate CR7 but I still think he’s the best player of this generation.
    There’s also an another winger who has incredible potentiel who could be in that list, it’s Eden Hazard from Ligue1.

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    • @Sando I see your point with Ronaldo, but when taking the way they both blend and affect the team, I have to say Messi is the better choice for anyone right now. And you can’t say Ronaldo doesn’t have talent around him. About Hazard – There’s tons of potential there, but he is still light years from these two.

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  4. Yes Hazard is far from Messi & Ronaldo but I believe he’s not that far from pedro/di maria.
    Right now, he’s playing for Lille who is the ligue1 team with the most beautiful game style. In a way, a little bit like arsenal or Barcelone.
    He is considered as the greatest player of ligue1 for the second year in a row and he’s only 19/20 y old.
    He has the chance to be very well advise (both parents were football pros too) and there’s no doubt in my mind, that HAzard will join one of europe top team in 2 or 3 years (hopefully Liverpool :p).
    Barcelona players are talented but what they have and madrid don’t, it’s that all players knows each other very well, they’ve been playing together for years. They almost grew up together. And I believe that Messi is that strong because he has Iniesta & Xavi to help him.
    Don’t get me wrong, Messi is an incredible player ;). I’m just saying that he’s playing in what is the greatest football team of all time maybe and it’s easier to be a godlike player when all your teammates are world class (xavi, villa, iniesta, Alves,…)

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  9. ………………..Previous….1 of 27….Next…………………………………………………………………………………….Shaun Botterill Getty Images………………………………………………………..The world of football is awash with young superstar talent players who look up to their football icons and want to become as good as if not better than them.Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has made himself one such football icon with his exquisite technique creative flair understanding of the game and overall work ethic making him one of the top players in world football today even if he has only managed three Premier League goals so far this season.In essence the superstars of tomorrow want to become the next Wayne Rooney. After all Rooney has played anywhere from support striker to full-back this season!To be considered on this list as the next Wayne Rooney these players are those who do have brilliant technique in finishing control of the ball passing etc as well as that creativity and playmaking ability which has seen Rooney be the key to Dimitar Berbatovs 17 league goals this season.So here on this list are 25 top talents with clear potential to become as talismanic to a top club as Wayne Rooney is for Manchester United and England…………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………Dubbed as the new Didier Drogba 17-year-old Romelu Lukaku has been well documented as one of the best young talents to come out of Belgium in decades.Whilst Chelsea forward Drogba is the joint highest active scorer in the Premier League with 82 goals since he arrived in England back in 2004 its the other highest scorer Wayne Rooney who Lukaku is most like.After all like Rooney Lukaku burst on the scene very quickly in his professional career and already has the likes of Real Madrid Arsenal and Manchester City drooling over him.The young Belgian who finished top scorer in 2009 10 in the Jupiler Pro League with 15 goals whilst still attending school has 10 goals so far this season and is valued at over 20million by his club RSC Anderlecht.He has many strengths to his game such as his technique when it comes to finishing chances and his knowledge of how to beat the goalkeeper as well as his overall control of the ball aerial ability physical strength and well-timed forward runs.And overall theres not much wrong with the Drogba look-a-like apart from his slight inability to bring others into play and lack of creativity when defenders correctly predict his tactics.However such issues can easily be ironed out under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson Arsene Wenger Jose Mourinho Pep Guardiola etc leaving the watching world with a player who could one day become more prolific than Lionel Messi………………………………

    Reply

  10. What has Messi done for Argentina? Nothing. Ronaldo still plays good for his country. Messi has only proven himself in one league in the world. Ronaldo has proven himself in 3 leagues in the world. One of them being the best league, the Premiership.

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