RealGM

This isn't a kneejerk Haaland reaction. As good as he is I don't think he's there yet, though he's certainly earned the right to be in conversation.

That said, I think a lot of players could make a claim for that spot right now, more so than in years. I'm honestly pretty undecided about this, so I wanted to hear what everyone else thinks.

Overall, its still Messi.

Neymar, in top form (like he´s playing right now), its up there as well.

It's between Haaland, De Bruyne, Benzema, Mbappe and Salah. Modric is still godlike as well, had an unbelievable CL campaign, although I don't think he has a case to be the best. I've been straining to think of a defender to include there, but with Van Dijk's gradual decline it's harder to nominate one.

Benzema will (deservedly) win the Ballon d'Or. De Bruyne is clearly the best midfielder on the planet, and probably has been for 4-5 years.

**** it, I'm gonna pre-emptively say Haaland. He's like prime CR7 mixed with Van Basten or something, an absolute force of nature. Assuming he can stay relatively injury free, he's going to destroy goal scoring records like Messi and Ronaldo did.

Best player in the world is just stupid. You can't compare players of different positions. Ballon dor and all the other awards for it are simply a financial scheme.

HIF wrote:Best player in the world is just stupid. You can't compare players of different positions. Ballon dor and all the other awards for it are simply a financial scheme.

I don't think it should be taken that seriously. I agree that it's hard to value defenders and goalkeepers relative to attacking players, but sometimes it's just a fun discussion to be had. Water cooler stuff.

TheHartBreakKid wrote:This isn't a kneejerk Haaland reaction. As good as he is I don't think he's there yet, though he's certainly earned the right to be in conversation.

That said, I think a lot of players could make a claim for that spot right now, more so than in years. I'm honestly pretty undecided about this, so I wanted to hear what everyone else thinks.

It's kind of hard to narrow down one player due to positions etc.

For me I think these players are the best in the world in their respective positions.

GK - Oblak/Ederson
CB- Dias/Marquinhos
FB - Cancelo/Hakimi
Midfielders - De Bruyne/Modric/Kante
Wingers/inside forwards - Salah/Son/Vini/Neymar/Mane/Messi
Strikers - Haaland/Ronaldo/ Mbappe

Baphomet wrote:

HIF wrote:Best player in the world is just stupid. You can't compare players of different positions. Ballon dor and all the other awards for it are simply a financial scheme.

I don't think it should be taken that seriously. I agree that it's hard to value defenders and goalkeepers relative to attacking players, but sometimes it's just a fun discussion to be had. Water cooler stuff.

Yeah exactly what I had in mind creating this thread.

Haaland has been amazing

Personally,
1 De Bruyne,
2 Messi,
3 Haaland
4 Lewandowski
5 Sadio Mane

With Apologies to Modric

Vini Jr is top 10 right now. Aproaching top-5.

pedrobrazil1000 wrote:Vini Jr is top 10 right now. Aproaching top-5.

I really like Vini Jr but I'm not sure if he's quite there yet. He's playing incredibly well though.

Baphomet wrote:

pedrobrazil1000 wrote:Vini Jr is top 10 right now. Aproaching top-5.

I really like Vini Jr but I'm not sure if he's quite there yet. He's playing incredibly well though.

42 G/A last season (although im not really the biggest fan of using raw stats as a way to analyse soccer). And this season he´s even better.

Haaland almost look like what would happen if you put man athlete in a womens league. Just too big, too strong and too athletic for anyone to stop, hes like a different species.

James Maddison

UcanUwill wrote:Haaland almost look like what would happen if you put man athlete in a womens league. Just too big, too strong and too athletic for anyone to stop, hes like a different species.

This man just folded Man United in half couple weeks ago, it makes no sense

As much as this topic annoys me, it's been interesting/sickening to hear the media, commentators and some fans fawn about Messi, Neymar, Mbappe and Ronaldo (okay they haven't fawned about him but they've talked about him a lot). None of those players have been in the best 10 (or 20) players of the tournament.

I'd have to say that goalkeepers and defenders have been significantly better than attacking players and it has made me realise that if you really want to think about the BEST FOOTBALL player then it should be a player who can perform to the best overall standard in whichever position you play them.

This being predominantly a basketball site I make the case of Lebron (whom I dislike) possibly being the greatest of all time because he is able to play all 5 positions and be a top 5 player in the league (even at Centre during his prime years).

If we use this idea in football then you can forget Messi who couldn't play any of the defensive positions and you would end up looking at a modern day CB or goalkeeper. It'd probably be someone like Ederson who with his ball skills, speed and size could probably play any position on the field in a top league.

It seems "goat" in football is always related to being exceptional in an attacking sense whether that person has any defensive ability at all.

HIF wrote:As much as this topic annoys me, it's been interesting/sickening to hear the media, commentators and some fans fawn about Messi, Neymar, Mbappe and Ronaldo (okay they haven't fawned about him but they've talked about him a lot). None of those players have been in the best 10 (or 20) players of the tournament.

I'd have to say that goalkeepers and defenders have been significantly better than attacking players and it has made me realise that if you really want to think about the BEST FOOTBALL player then it should be a player who can perform to the best overall standard in whichever position you play them.

This being predominantly a basketball site I make the case of Lebron (whom I dislike) possibly being the greatest of all time because he is able to play all 5 positions and be a top 5 player in the league (even at Centre during his prime years).

If we use this idea in football then you can forget Messi who couldn't play any of the defensive positions and you would end up looking at a modern day CB or goalkeeper. It'd probably be someone like Ederson who with his ball skills, speed and size could probably play any position on the field in a top league.

It seems "goat" in football is always related to being exceptional in an attacking sense whether that person has any defensive ability at all.

It is ridiculously over the top to say Mbappe and Messi haven't been in the best 20 players of the tournament. None of the players or former players would agree with you. And their salaries should be some indication about how attacking contributions are valued compared to the rest, unless you think teams aren't serious about winning. If everyone has that wrong some team would catch on and destroy everyone with better salary allocation.

Bobbcats wrote:

HIF wrote:As much as this topic annoys me, it's been interesting/sickening to hear the media, commentators and some fans fawn about Messi, Neymar, Mbappe and Ronaldo (okay they haven't fawned about him but they've talked about him a lot). None of those players have been in the best 10 (or 20) players of the tournament.

I'd have to say that goalkeepers and defenders have been significantly better than attacking players and it has made me realise that if you really want to think about the BEST FOOTBALL player then it should be a player who can perform to the best overall standard in whichever position you play them.

This being predominantly a basketball site I make the case of Lebron (whom I dislike) possibly being the greatest of all time because he is able to play all 5 positions and be a top 5 player in the league (even at Centre during his prime years).

If we use this idea in football then you can forget Messi who couldn't play any of the defensive positions and you would end up looking at a modern day CB or goalkeeper. It'd probably be someone like Ederson who with his ball skills, speed and size could probably play any position on the field in a top league.

It seems "goat" in football is always related to being exceptional in an attacking sense whether that person has any defensive ability at all.

It is ridiculously over the top to say Mbappe and Messi haven't been in the best 20 players of the tournament. None of the players or former players would agree with you. And their salaries should be some indication about how attacking contributions are valued compared to the rest, unless you think teams aren't serious about winning. If everyone has that wrong some team would catch on and destroy everyone with better salary allocation.

We can just disagree it's obvious that our point of view and experiences are so different. Mbappe wasn't even in the top 15 players on the pitch against England. You like many underestimate the value of defence. It's defence that wins championships and titles , not attack.

He might not have been in the top 15 in the pitch vs England but he is was in the top 1 or top 2 in his other 3 starts, and wasn't negative vs. England. +1 to just disagreeing.

Bobbcats wrote:He might not have been in the top 15 in the pitch vs England but he is was in the top 1 or top 2 in his other 3 starts, and wasn't negative vs. England. +1 to just disagreeing.

The Best outshine everyone in games against the best. Good players outshine everyone in games against the weaker teams.

I don’t think there is any best player at the moment.

There was a time when Messi and Ronaldo where heads and shoulders above everyone else but that time has passed for a couple years now.

Now there is a bunch of players who are world class and have about the same quality but nobody who is truely a proven best player of the world.