Blaise Matuidi
Matuidi showed exactly why he is considered to be the ‘Duracell Bunny’ of Carlo Ancelotti’s display with a performance against Valencia that saw him seemingly cover every blade of grass as
les Parisiens fought off the advances of the Spaniards. If the match at Parc des Princes was reduced to a firefighting mission by the hosts, it was Matuidi who always seemed quickest to the point of danger. Uefa’s statistics showed that he covered around 10.5 kilometres over the course of the matchMatuidi’s seeming omnipotence was induced by his terrific reading of the game.
Such intelligence is a transferable skill, and during 2012-13 he has established himself as PSG’s most consistently excellent performer, with the exception of perhaps only Thiago Silva and, arguably, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
That the 25-year-old has established himself in the PSG squad is testimony to his indefatigable spirit; that he is now one of their most-vital cogs is a mark of his quality.
Indeed, Matuidi is perhaps the most underrated midfielder in Europe at present. His arrival in Paris came in 2011, when he joined from Saint-Etienne in a relatively understated €7.5 million deal given that Jeremy Menez was signed on the same day and attracted a good deal more press attention.
Not that a move to a big club was a surprise for the France international. Arsenal had long tracked him only to turn their attentions elsewhere, as PSG moved quickly to replace the retiring Claude Makelele.
Matuidi has a similar style about his play, only with a modern twist. While he possesses the same solid defensive attributes as the France legend, he is also capable of becoming a dynamic attacking presence and has contributed three goals to PSG’s Ligue 1 push as this side of his game continues to develop and improve.
Against Valencia, though, it was his discipline and maturity that was to be applauded. In his first Champions League season, he acted as a seasoned pro as his side came under increasing pressure, pinpointing the potential sources of danger and - more often than not - quashing them.
Raheem Sterling
After a promising debut season a couple of years back, Sterling began to show remarkable improvements in his passing, link up play and vision last season as he helped Liverpool to a second place finish and narrowly missing out on the title. His form last season has seen him become one the football world’s most talked about prospects with many believing him to have the potential to reach the very top of the game.
At the same age as Sterling, Cristiano Ronaldo was earning himself the frustration of Manchester United fans who felt that he was more concerned with doing flicks and tricks over winning games. As he matured, he eventually learned what it meant to become a match winner and hasn’t looked back since. Sterling, on the other hand, is already beginning to develop a more mature game as evidenced by the stark improvements he has made to his passing game. Already a devastating dribbler, Sterling’s ability to pick out a pass last season made the Liverpool attack a fluid machine, which seen them rake up the goals like never before.
His talents haven't gone unrecognized, as he was named the European Golden Boy.
David Silva
Everyone knows about David Silva, and has seen how important he's been to City since he joined. I'll just leave this thread here to emphasize how highly he's rated.
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/how-good-is-david-silva.397858/
Some of the quotes from that thread from United fans.
He's the #10 I wish Mata was, to be frank.
One of my favourites too, always looks like he has time on the ball even though he's usually surrounded. Rarely makes the wrong decision too.
Absolutely brilliant player. I was arguing that Mata is as good a player Silva is, but I realize that I was totally wrong, he's simply a level or two above. A productive Iniesta in my eyes.
Silva is better than Hazard it's not even a debate. Hazard may go on to surpass (debatable) him but as it stands now Silva is on another level.
I was praising him in the match day thread before he'd even scored. If you can't see Silva's genius and clear superiority over Hazard then you're beyond help.
He's already one of the best players ever to play in the PL.
...when he's getting himself involved, he's almost unplayable.
Thomas Muller
Muller is able to play anywhere in the attacking midfield and on the front three forward positions. When asked about his natural position, he once told German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung that he was a “raumdeuter” which translates to a space interpreter. Because of this definition along with his style of play he often get compared to soccer legend and Bayern Munich icon Gerd Muller who famously was always at the right place to score goals even though they weren’t the most beautiful.
Germany used to play the 4-2-3-1 mostly but due to the rise of creative players coming from the country along with Low’s attacking philosophy, the three-time World Cup winners play in a 4-3-3 with plenty of passing and movement involved. Because of this, Muller’s play is critical to their success because the side depends on him to run the channels accurately to open up the pitch while making timely passes if he’s deep in the midfield
At the 2010 World Cup he scored five goals in six appearances as Germany finished in third place. He was named the Best Young Player of the tournament and won the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer, with five goals and three assists. At the 2014 World Cup he played a major role in helping the team win the trophy, scoring five goals and receiving the Silver Boot as the tournament's second top goalscorer, and was also named in the World Cup All Star XI.
Robert Lewandowski
Just last year he was heralded as the most complete forward in the world. Suddenly after joining Bayern he seems to have come under scrutiny, quite unfairly at that. The 26-year-old’s tally of four Bundesliga goals and two assists is a more than satisfactory return even by Bayern’s exacting standards, meaning he has been directly involved in 40 per cent of the side’s league goals so far this season. Yet Lewandowski’s ability to find the target is only one of the reasons he has settled and earned the respect of his team-mates so swiftly in the Bavarian capital.
“Robert is a fantastic player,” said Arjen Robben after the victory over Hannover. “He’s not the kind of striker who just stays up front and puts the ball in the net.” Indeed, the Polish attacker was constantly mobile, at times weaving between defenders to look for space, at others pressuring the last defender or even dropping deep to collect a pass. It is telling that only three team-mates, David Alaba, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Müller, have covered more ground than the forward in the Bundesliga in 2014/15.
However, as excellent as Lewandowski's off-the-ball movement is, it was his breathtaking skill that caught the eye at the Allianz Arena against Hannover: his velcro-like control of passes from Rafinha and Xherdan Shaqiri respectively were as good as the subsequent goals themselves. “He’s a very good footballer and it’s great fun to play alongside him,” Robben enthused.
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been equally taken with the club’s new No9, highlighting the qualities that have helped the Pole become an instant first-team regular: “He’s been playing really well in training and in our other games but when you go up against a five-man defence it's not easy. But he often draws two markers to him and that helps create space for other players, like Mario Götze for example. That's why sometimes he's not always in the game but today he was. Lewandowski is one of the best strikers in the world.”
. I could have sworn he played alongside Arshavin at club level as well, but evidently its just his Euro Championships performance that stuck in my mind.