Sports Illustrated may not be the first publication you think of when you want quality football reporting, but SI columnist Grant Wahl proves that he’s been paying attention to world football this year as he has named six FC Barcelona players to his world ‘Team of the Season’. Wahl explained the rational behind his player selection: “In putting together my World XI, I wanted a solid defense, but I also kept in mind three things. One, the more you possess the ball, the less you have to defend. Two, Barcelona and Spain don’t get enough credit for the pressure they put on teams to win the ball back — pressure that starts up top with star forwards who are willing to work hard. And three, you need quality two-way players in important positions on the field, particularly in the central midfield and the backline.”
With this criteria in mind, here are the 11 players who topped the list this year:
GK: Iker Casillas
RB: Dani Alves
CB: Gerard Piqué
CB: Nemanja Vidic
LB: Patrice Evra
M: Bastien Schweinsteiger
M: Xavi
M: Andrés Iniesta
F: David Villa
F: Lionel Messi
F: Cristiano Ronaldo
No comments:
Post a Comment