As 2020 draws to an end, I thought I’d take a reflection on some of the best footballers we’ve seen this year. I will do a three-part countdown from 60 to 1, with this second part showing us the entrants from 30 to 11. These rankings are based solely on their performances in the calendar year of 2020. If you missed part one, you can catch up on it here. Let’s begin…
Source: Bundesliga.com
All statistics are correct as of 26th December 2020
30: TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD / LIVERPOOL AND ENGLAND
At 22 years of age, Trent Alexander-Arnold has rewritten and redfined the role of the full-back. He featured in every single match as Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions last season, recording 13 assists. There is no more influential right-back in world football as so much of Liverpool’s play comes through the homegrown talent. Furthermore, his defensive abilities have dramatically improved this season, which admittedly has seen a decrease in his offensive output.
29: DAVID ALABA / BAYERN MUNICH AND AUSTRIA
One of the most decorated players in Europe, David Alaba has enjoyed something of a rebirth under Hansi Flick at Bayern in the last eighteen months. Formerly one of the best left-backs in Europe, Alaba has been repositioned as a centre-back under Flick, in response to an injury crisis Bayern suffered early last season. The 28-year-old has been elegant and classy as ever in the heart of the defence as they won their treble. Alphonso Davies has credited Alaba as being a great mentor to him, too.
28: CASEMIRO / REAL MADRID AND BRAZIL
Possibly the world’s best defensive midfielder. Possibly the most important player to Real Madrid. The 28-year-old was in inspired form as Real won the league title with a surge at the end of the season, and he has started this campaign superbly too. A wonderfully technical footballer, but so much of what makes him great is what’s inside his head. His mentality makes him an animal to play against, a horrible man who opposition detest, because they know that wherever they are, he will be too.
27: ALISSON BECKER / LIVERPOOL AND BRAZIL
Liverpool have had two awful first halves this season, one at Aston Villa in October and one at Fulham in December. They were genuinely appalling in both. At Aston Villa, they were 5-1 down at half-time and out of the game. At Fulham, they were 1-0 behind but still in it. The difference? Alisson played against Fulham. In fact, all of Liverpool’s (admittedly few) high-profile blips this year – Atletico in the Champions League, Everton this season, Arsenal in the League Cup, Chelsea in last season’s FA Cup – didn’t feature the Brazilian goalkeeper. Much is, rightly, made of Virgil Van Dijk’s huge influence on this team upon arrival, but Alisson Becker was arguably just as transformative a signing.
26: MARQUINHOS / PSG AND BRAZIL
One of the most underrated footballers in Europe right now, Marquinhos is legitimately among the elite centre-backs. The 26-year-old committed his future to PSG at the start of 2020 and ends it as the club captain, after the departure of Thiago Silva. He has replaced Silva positionally too, moving back from a midfield role he was deployed in, back to his preferred central defensive area. A remarkably consistent and excellent performer for the French champions.
25: THIBAUT COURTOIS / REAL MADRID AND BELGIUM
In October 2019, Courtois was subbed off at half-time of a Champions League game, after suffering from illness, which many suspected was a panic attack, following a disastrous first half. Just over a year later, there is a fair case to be made that the Belgian has been the world’s best goalkeeper in 2020. Game after game he makes a top save for a Real Madrid team that is functional rather than fluent, and so often relies on not conceding goals. A huge part of the La Liga title win.
24: BRUNO FERNANDES / SPORTING CP, MANCHESTER UNITED AND PORTUGAL
He might not wear the armband, but there is no mistake about who the leader of Manchester United is. Fernandes sets the standard on the pitch every single week. Nearly all of United’s goals or positive play involve Fernandes in some capacity, and his influence on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team since arriving in January has been stratospheric. Since Fernandes’ arrival in England, only Liverpool have accrued more points than Manchester United.
23: ANDREW ROBERTSON / LIVERPOOL AND SCOTLAND
A model of consistency. At times this season, the Liverpool stars of Salah, Mane, Firmino, Alisson, Alexander-Arnold and even Van Dijk have had the occasional off day. Yet Andrew Robertson puts in a 7/10 or better every single game. His energy and constant overlaps provide Liverpool so much in attack, but he is also first-class in defence, and rarely makes a mistake. An absolutely outstanding full-back who helps set the tone for so much of what Liverpool do.
22: JORDAN HENDERSON / LIVERPOOL AND ENGLAND
So much of football is measured in statistics, goals, assists, contributions and things we can see and measure in front of our eyes. But with Jordan Henderson, it’s the intangibles. The effect he has on the Liverpool team when he is – and isn’t – there is staggering. The leadership qualities he brings and the desire that emanates from him are part of the reasons that no matter what other midfielders are available, Jurgen Klopp always finds a place for Henderson, whether its as a number six or eight.
21: THOMAS MULLER / BAYERN MUNICH AND GERMANY
Muller has always been a difficult player to understand and appreciate. Not a striker, not a ten, not a midfielder. So what on earth is he? Hansi Flick has selected ‘none of the above’ and has deployed him in a wide attacking midfield role, and to great effect. A staggering 21 assists in Bundesliga last season. He has been part of the soul of Bayern that has been reborn this year in much the same way that Muller himself has been.
20: JAN OBLAK / ATLETICO MADRID AND SLOVENIA
The most efficient and reliable of performers, Oblak has been absolutely sensational for Atletico Madrid this year. It isn’t often that you see the Slovenian make a save that makes your jaw drop, nor does he ever look like he has had to work particularly hard to pull anything off. Oblak makes the difficult look routine, every single week. Just five goals conceded all season for Atleti.
19: HARRY KANE / TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR AND ENGLAND
Kane’s year began with an injury, but since football restarted in June, he has been world-class and metronomic in his consistency. The English striker has become so much more of a complete player this season, adding build-up play and tremendous passing to his already superb goalscoring exploits. He is doing the job of a number nine, as well as the number ten, which he adorns on his shirt. Jose Mourinho teams are always built around a top striker, and this one is no different.
18: NEYMAR / PSG AND BRAZIL
Neymar’s quality is not easy to quantify. He plays in a team that dominate their league every year, but this year he came closest to achieving what he set out to achieve when he first went to France: win the Champions League. Neymar was influential in getting them to the final, scoring in both legs against Borussia Dortmund, and inspiring the late comeback win over Atalanta in the quarter-finals. It wasn’t his night in Lisbon in the final, but he seems determined to get them back there, with some exceptional performances in the group stages so far this season.
17: CIRO IMMOBILE / LAZIO AND ITALY
A striker who has flown under the radar, largely because of the league and the team that he plays in, but one who is starting to gather some attention. He won the European Golden Shoe, as the top scorer in the continent for the 2019/20 season, and has maintained his ridiculous numbers this season, bagging 14 to add to his 20 in the second half of last season. His goals were crucial as Lazio qualified for the Champions League for the first time in a decade.
16: HEUNG-MIN SON / TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR AND SOUTH KOREA
Work-rate. Pace. Ruthlessness. Clinical. Effort. All things that are associated with the best Asian footballer in the world, Heung-Min Son. The 28-year-old winger has been key to Tottenham’s bright start to the season, scoring 14 goals in all competitions, as well as seven assists. One of few players on this list who can say they’ve scored four goals this season, as he did in the second week of the campaign away at Southampton. Give him a chance and he’ll probably score.
15: MANUEL NEUER / BAYERN MUNICH AND GERMANY
Another Bayern man who has enjoyed a revolution in 2020. After a tough few years, he has re-established himself as one of the world’s elite goalkeepers. Man of the match in the Champions League final and his footwork is back to its best too. Neuer’s revival, at 34, has been something of a surprise, certainly the extent of it. Not many would’ve backed him to finish in the top 20 of this countdown this time last year.
14: ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC / AC MILAN AND SWEDEN
By a distance the oldest player on this countdown, the revival of the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic is surely one of the best football stories of the year. He arrived at AC Milan in January after two years in the MLS, and has proved everyone who said he was only there to sell shirts. Ibra helped inspire an immediate upturn in results last season, Milan rising from 11th to 6th. He started this season on fire, with ten goals in six games, helping his team to the top of Serie A. He may be 39, but he still has so much more to give.
13: JOSHUA KIMMICH / BAYERN MUNICH AND GERMANY
The Bundesliga title race was ended as a contest last season in May, when Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund by a single goal away from home. Until the moment that Joshua Kimmich delivered the most beautiful of chipped finishes over Roman Burki to give Bayern the lead, the league was in the balance. Of course, the 25-year-old was only in a position to score that goal because of Hansi Flick’s decision to permanently move him from right-back to central midfield, where he has operated brilliantly all year. One of the best players in the Champions League final, where he filled in back in his original role at right-back. An outstanding component in the year’s outstanding team.
12: ERLING BRAUT HAALAND / BORUSSIA DORTMUND AND NORWAY
This Norwegian star joined Borussia Dortmund on 1st January 2020 and has had a quite absurd first year at the club. In 32 matches, he has scored 33 goals, an unbelievable rate that just keeps on continuing. His pace is electric, as is his awareness in the box. But his technical skills are not what makes Haaland the animal that he is. It’s his mental skills. Between the ears, he is ice cold. His finishing record is incredible, and the fact that he is so clinical means that he rarely needs more than one chance to score. At 20 years old, what more is to come?
11: KARIM BENZEMA / REAL MADRID AND FRANCE
Jose Mourinho once labelled this man as a cat, but there is nothing cat-like about the Frenchman these days. Now 33, Benzema was the clutch man for Madrid as they clawed back the deficit to Barcelona and ended up winning La Liga. Zinedine Zidane’s team scored just sixteen goals in the last ten matches of the season, with Benzema scoring seven and assisting three of them. The league-winning goal was of course scored by Casemiro, but it came from a delightful back-heeled ball from Benzema. The man once known as a cat is now one of football’s top dogs.
Join me soon for the third and final part of this series.
Daniel Daykin
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