Flash-in-the-pan goal-a-game bollocks!
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In the beginning, Fowler created the Heaven and the Earth. -
One thing i'd like to see next season is him getting into the best positions again instead of all the legwork he's been doing. He's in the top 3 players in the world surely he should be the focal point.Comment
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****ing selfish selfless vole traitorGlass Half Full
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New Spanish guy at work is a Real Madrid fanatic. He is utterly convinced Suarez is joining them in the summer. I have been educating him on Liverpool but his stance remains unchanged.
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Luis Suarez is Europe's most influential player as 31-goal Uruguayan ranks above Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in Top 50 Power List
- Liverpool striker comes out on top in Bloomberg study of top five leagues
- Suarez ahead of Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo
- Martin Demichelis is ranked 17th - one of four Manchester City players
- Chelsea's Gary Cahill is highest placed Englishman - in 36th
- Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid have eight players on list
- Southampton have three - Dejan Lovren, Jose Fonte and Rickie Lambert
His electrifying performances lit up the Premier League and very nearly delivered Liverpool their first title in a quarter-century.
And now it's been revealed that 31-goal Luis Suarez is statistically the most influential player in Europe's big leagues.
An exhaustive analysis by Bloomberg Sports of every player and every game in the English, French, German, Italian and Spanish first divisions has produced the 2014 'Power 50' rankings and the Uruguayan tops even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bloomberg claim their evaluation of Europe's leading five leagues is the most scientifically-advanced in the world and takes into consideration the defensive and attacking responsibilities of each player as well as the strength of the opposition.
It finds that Suarez topped the charts with an index of 86.02, beating Barcelona star Lionel Messi into second position (85.43) and Paris Saint Germain talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic into third (84.91).
World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, of Champions League finalists Real Madrid, came fourth with 84.59, while his adversary in Lisbon on Saturday night Diego Costa, of La Liga champions Atletico, was sixth (81.68).
Diego Simeone's team, who smashed the hegemony of the Clasico teams in Spain by winning their first league title since 1996, have eight players in the Top 50.
Serie A champions Juventus have seven, as do runners-up Roma - including Manchester United target Kevin Strootman, who came fifth following an impressive campaign (81.86).
Premier League champions Manchester City fare best of the English clubs, with David Silva, Yaya Toure, Martin Demichelis and Joe Hart all making the Top 50.
Southampton have three players - Dejan Lovren, Jose Fonte and Rickie Lambert - on the list and all of them rank higher than Manchester United's Wayne Rooney (48th).
It is a testament to Southampton's good season that their trio puts them on a par with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and PSG in the table.
Chelsea centre-half Gary Cahill is the highest ranked of five English players, though he's only 36th overall.
The 'Power 50' features a total of 13 players from the Premier League - one shy of Serie A - with Eden Hazard, Aaron Ramsey and Daniel Sturridge also included.
A total of 17 players from the list will not be competing in the World Cup and that includes half of the top 10 - Ibrahimovic, Strootman, Mehdi Benatia, Robert Lewandowski and Tiago.
Bloomberg analysed both the defensive and attacking qualities of each player in Europe's big five leagues, taking into account strengths and weaknesses in passing, creativity, tackling, heading, shooting and scoring.
They also factored in the relative strength of the opposition and the performance of the team as a whole.
THE TOP 50 POWER RANKINGS IN FULL
50 Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim, 79.01); 49 Joe Hart (Manchester City, 79.02); 48 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, 79.03); 47 Simon Kjaer (Lille, 79.04); 46 Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, 79.05); 45 Rickie Lambert (Southampton, 79.05); 44 Andrea Pirlo (Juventus, 79.08); 43 Andrea Barzagli (Juventus, 79.10); 42 Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool, 79.13); 41 Loic Perrin (Saint-Etienne, 79.22)
40 Adrian Ramos (Hertha Berlin, 79.27); 39 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, 79.28); 38 Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal, 79.29); 37 Paul Pogba (Juventus, 79.30); 36 Gary Cahill (Chelsea, 79.30); 35 Jose Fonte (Southampton) 79.34; 34 Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain, 79.39); 33 Morgan de Sanctis (Roma, 79.45); 32 Eden Hazard (Chelsea, 79.48); 31 Dejan Lovren (Southampton, 79.59)
30 Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund, 79.61); 29 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, 79.63); 28 Koke (Atletico Madrid, 79.64); 27 Daniele de Rossi (Roma, 79.84); 26 Juanfran (Atletico Madrid, 79.92); 25 Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus, 79.94); 24 Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, 79.96); 23 Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid, 79.96); 22 Gabi (Atletico Madrid, 79.97); 21 Miralem Pjanic (Roma, 80.01)
20 Thiago Silva (Paris St-Germain, 80.08); 19 Gervinho (Roma, 80.18); 18 Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid, 80.21); 17 Martin Demichelis (Manchester City, 80.27); 16 Leandro Castan (Roma, 80.28); 15 Carlos Tevez (Juventus, 80.30); 14 Yaya Toure (Manchester City, 80.31); 13 Miranda (Atletico Madrid, 80.36); 12 Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund, 80.66); 11 Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich, 80.78)
10 David Silva (Manchester City, 80.79)
City's creative force as they wrestled the Premier League title back from neighbours United, the Spaniard scored seven goals and contributed 12 assists during their campaign.
9 Tiago (Atletico Madrid, 80.79)
Veteran Portuguese who has been Atletico's central midfield heartbeat in a season of unprecedented success for the Madrid club.
8 Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund, 81.21)
Pole departed for Bayern Munich with 20 Bundesliga goals and 11 assists, though Dortmund fell well short of their rivals.
7 Mehdi Benatia (Roma, 81.30)
Moroccan centre-half helped Roma to a second-placed finish in Serie A after his £11.8m transfer from Udinese last summer.
6 Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid, 81.68)
The Spain striker has enjoyed an outstanding season, finding the net 36 times in all competitions as Atletico won the league and reached the final of the Champions League.
5 Kevin Strootman (Roma, 81.86)
Consistent performances in central midfield made Strootman Roma's stand-out player and attracted interest from Manchester United among others until a cruciate ligament injury ruled Dutchman out of the World Cup.
4 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 84.59)
The World Player of the Year maintained his stratospherically high standards this season, with a half-century of goals across all competitions, including a record 16 (and counting) in the Champions League.
3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain, 84.91)
The world's most extravagant player reached new heights in 2013-2014, scoring 41 goals in all competitions and setting up 18 more as PSG won Ligue 1 and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, 85.43)
It may have been a season interrupted by injury, but Messi still managed to score 41 times as Barcelona took the La Liga title race to the final day.
1 Luis Suarez (Liverpool, 86.02)
Simply outstanding as Liverpool enjoyed their best season in years, the Uruguayan's 31 goals took Liverpool within a whisker of ending their title drought in an incredible personal transformation from villain to hero.
Last edited by Shaggy; 21-05-14, 10:21 AM.Thanks very much for beingComment
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Am surprised Gerrard doesn't figure - 13 goals and 13 assists!Comment
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Or that most of his goals were penaltiesOriginally posted by fah-qComment
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Lovren at 31 in the list - just ahead of Hazard
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Must be doing something good.Brandt - Keita - Van Dijk - SessegnonComment
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Demichelis in the top 20, wtf! He's not even in the top 20 at Man City ffs
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Rumours that he's hurt his knee in training and will miss the world cup. Not confirmed though.Are we winning?Comment
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