Each year, the Fédération Internationale des Associations de
Footballeurs Professionnels (FIFPro) invites all professional footballers in
the world to compose their best team of the year. With 50,000 fellow peers from
49 member nations voting in total, for the players there is simply no bigger
recognition. It would also seem that with such large numbers, it negates any
bias or error in judgement from creeping into the final result. So does it?
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| Not a single red card was seen that day. |
The FIFA FIFPro World XI has always been dominated by the La
Liga in recent years but in 2012, this reached an unprecedented new level. For
the first time, all eleven players that formed the team were part of the same
domestic league. To me, this was as absurd as a dolphin driving a Lamborghini.
So I dug in. And after a full week of research (and four months of procrastination), I present to you the World XI
as it should have been.
#1. Goalkeeper.
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| My award. No, please don't. |
Fifth. For the fifth time in eight years, Iker Casillas was
chosen to be the best goalkeeper of the year. I do not fully know how many he
has deserved out of the previous four, but this one was insanely close. So
close to being first. I can understand why so many opted for the Spaniard – as captain
of both club and country, he put his hands on the league title and the European
Championship. But in the final match of the latter tournament, captaining the opposition
was another veteran goalkeeper – Gianluigi Buffon. Although he was on the wrong
side of a four-nil drubbing that night, the FIFPro award isn’t handed out for
winning trophies or captaincy. The definition not only contains stellar
performances but to combine such heroism with consistency.
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| Don't worry, it's safe with me. Comprendo? |
In the six matches both played at Euro 2012, Casillas was
only marginally better than Buffon. This, however, wasn’t the case at the
domestic level. Even though both of them were part of league-winning sides, the
Italian captain’s performance dwarfs that of his Spanish counterpart. In the 35
matches he started, Buffon faced 304 shots and let in 16 goals – owing to a
shot-to-goal (S:G) ratio of 19. The Real Madrid man, on the other hand,
encountered 353 shots in 37 matches in which he allowed 31 goals in the
process, to keep his S:G at 11.38. Meanwhile, this also meant that Buffon kept
21 clean sheets to Casillas’ 14 – a statistic that tends to attract too much
importance when in truth, it defines the worth of the defensive unit as a whole
than just the keeper.
#2. Right back.
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| Poland, where's that? |
Dani Alves was the best attacking right-back last season. I
will not argue that. But is attack really a right back’s primal purpose? Borussia
Dortmund, one of tonight’s Champions League finalists, won both the Bundesliga
and DFB Pokal last season. A permanent fixture of that squad was Lukasz
Piszczek, one of three Polish nationals in the team. Although the Brazilian
Alves has a better tackle rate and tends to get dribbled less by opponents than
the Polish Piszczek, the Dortmund man beats him in interceptions, clearances, offsides
and aerial duels won. His fouling rate per game (0.56) is less than a third of
Dani Alves’ (1.72) and the number of blocked shots (0.36) more than double
(0.15). Most importantly is the vast difference in disciplinary record for the
two players. While Dani Alves garnered 10 yellow cards and 2 sending offs in 43
appearances in La Liga and Champions League, Piszczek collected a single
booking throughout the whole season.
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| One ball. One booking. Logical, eh? |
#3+4. Centre backs.
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| Oh, no! |
If someone were to include Gerard Pique in their UEFA Euro
2012 Team of the Tournament, I’d stand by them. But his inclusion in team of
the year just baffles me and provokes a single exclamatory response – you’ve
got to be kidding me. Pique started only 17 of Barcelona’s 38 La Liga matches, with
teammate Javier Mascherano picking up more appearances (31) than him. Even in
Europe’s premium club competition, the ex-Manchester United man played a part
in only 5 out of a possible 12 games.
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| That Barcelona pretender. |
Sergio Ramos though, is much more of a contender. With 51
appearances for club and country, Ramos is what people like to call an
offensive centre back and he stands corrected with four goals and half a dozen
assists. A strong defence is what a team is built on, and although Ramos is one
of the strongest – he isn’t in the top two of last year. That particular award
belongs to Giorgio Chiellini of Italy, who had a brilliant season with
Juventus. A better tackling rate, more interceptions, causing less fouls, making
more clearances and winning more headers puts him above Ramos, who is marginally
better at catching people offside and not letting them dribble past him. Also,
as you’d imagine, the Real Madrid-man also earned seven more cautions than the
Italian and was even sent off on one occasion.
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| That was always going to happen. Y'knew it. |
Interestingly, even though Chiellini tends to get robbed of
the ball (0.61 to 0.40) and makes less turnovers (0.40 to 0.52), he does excel
in a few attacking aspects of the game. For instance, not only does he deliver
160% key passes than those of the Spaniard; his forward runs are more than
double in number of Ramos’ and he even draws more fouls from the opposition.
Getting back to the earlier case, the correct replacement for Pique in the team of the year is Inter’s Lucio. Even at the age of 34, the Brazilian had a brilliant last season with the Italian club. I’m gonna let his stats speak for themselves.
Getting back to the earlier case, the correct replacement for Pique in the team of the year is Inter’s Lucio. Even at the age of 34, the Brazilian had a brilliant last season with the Italian club. I’m gonna let his stats speak for themselves.
Name
|
Apps
|
Tackle
|
I
|
Fouls
|
OW
|
C
|
Drb
|
BS
|
Yellow
|
Red
|
AW
|
MoM
|
Pique
|
33
|
1.73
|
1.19
|
0.65
|
1.06
|
2.90
|
0.36
|
0.45
|
8
|
1
|
1.06
|
0
|
Lucio
|
41
|
3.27
|
3.84
|
0.70
|
0.90
|
9.85
|
0.93
|
0.52
|
5
|
0
|
1.60
|
5
|
I:Interceptions;
OW:Offsides won; C: Clearances; Drb: Dribbled by other players; BS: Blocked
shots; AW: Aerial duels won; MoM: Man of the Match
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| There. I left you, back there. |
#5. Left back.
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| I get to keep my spot. YAY. Thanks, Akhil! |
#6. Centre Defensive Midfielder.
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| Mikel, man. |
The battle for CDM saw heavy competition between two
childhood friends – Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta. If I were to take every
yellow card the former got as seriously as Manchester City fans do their recent
success, this award would be in the Arsenal man’s lap right now. But credit
where credit’s due – Xabi is the reason Cristiano Ronaldo can throw his hands
up in the air when he loses the ball, Marcelo crawl back on all fours when his
team are defending and Sergio Ramos continue to believe he still plays right
back.
#7. Centre Midfielder.
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| I'm disappointed. |
Apparently, the Spanish word for “pass” is still pásame. You’d have thought they’d have
changed it to Xavi by now. The Blaugrana midfielder delivered an astounding
99.9 passes per game at 93% accuracy. He lost the ball less than once (0.92)
per game, which is exactly half of the eventual winner.
Wait, what? Yes, sadly though even after such crazy video
game-ish numbers, Xavi was still the world’s second best centre midfielder last
year. The coveted number one spot belongs to..
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| No, not the godfather. |
..Andrea Pirlo, for those who have no clue who that is
and/or are on 64 kbps dial-up internet.
To continue not to confuse, Pirlo averaged 84.18 passes per
game at 87% accuracy, but managed more than twice the number of crosses,
delivered 50% more accurate long balls and 30% more accurate through balls. On
the attacking front, while Xavi had 11 goals to Pirlo’s 4, the Italian had more
assists (15) than the Barcelona vice-captain (10). The ex-AC Milan player had
more shots on goal, played more key passes, had a higher number of successful dribbles
and was fouled by the opposition more than twice as much as Xavi. Even
defensively, Pirlo performed better – while Xavi enjoyed a much lesser foul
rate and half the number of cautions, he lagged behind in number of tackles,
interceptions and blocked shots. Another minor failure on the Spaniard’s part
is his inability to challenge for aerial balls, thus contributing in totality to
Andrea Pirlo’s claim.
#8. Centre Attacking Midfielder.
God, this was close. Is. FIFPro gave it to Andres Iniesta, I’m
handing it to David Silva by the narrowest of margins. Time to show and tell.
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| Yes, *that* close. |
Iniesta averages 62.7 passes per game to Silva’s 56.1 at an
accuracy of 90% to the latter’s 87%. While the Manchester City man manages more
accurate crosses as per his team’s requirements, the World Cup Final winning
goal scorer delivers more long balls and through balls as suits his own club.
On the ball, Iniesta is admittedly better – notching up a
higher number of successful dribbles, drawing more fouls, and getting caught on
the ball and offside less than his Spanish counterpart. On the other hand, the
ex-Valencia player is responsible for more turnovers, key passes and shots on
goal. Even defensively, these two are split. The Barcelona man causes less
fouls, makes less clearances and isn’t easily dribbled past. But Silva hits
back with better tackling, interceptions, blocked shots and aerial duels won.
It would have been impossible for me to decide had it not
been for these two key stats that usually get all the attention and credit. In
43 apperances for club and country, Iniesta picked up 11 assists and 8 goals.
David Silva, meanwhile, had 21 assists and 10 goals to his name in 49 games.
Assisted more, scored more, and hence deserved more.
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| Iniesta, come give me a hug! |
#9. Centre Forward.
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| Yea, stats bitch! I'm Europa KING. |
There is no other way to put this. Radamel Falcaco was the
single biggest contributor for Atletico Madrid’s success in Europa League last
season. 12 goals and 2 assists in 13 games is a brilliant return for the €40
million investment made by Los Rojiblancos. That easily makes him Europa League
Player of the Tournament but in order to stake a claim in FIFPro World XI,
consistency is the key.
Enter Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In 43 games for club and country,
not only did he match Falcao’s numbers but better it by one to score 37 and
assisted 10 in comparison to the Columbian’s 5. Moreover, the Swede took more
shots on goal, delivered a higher number of key passes, completed almost four
times successful dribbles and was robbed of the ball marginally less than the
ex-Porto man. Falcao, on the other hand drew more fouls and was caught offside
a bit less.
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| What can I do, I'm too cool. |
In passing and winning the ball though, Zlatan triumphs him
with almost five times the number of accurate long balls and eight times the through
balls. While Falcao wins more battles aerially, the now-PSG player makes more
tackles, clearances and interceptions.
Thus, for lack of being a complete forward, the crown of
being the best centre forward for last season goes to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
#10. Left Winger.
This was never going to be a contest.
.jpg) |
| Obviously. Just look at me. «emphasis on both just and look» |
#11. Right Winger.
I’m tired.
#12. The Real World XI of 2011-12.
#12. The Real World XI of 2011-12.
Part Two of this article will chronicle the XI heroes of 2012-13. Do come back for more.
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