Top Ten Footballers 2021

It has not been an easy year to choose favourite footballers; there have been many great players, but also quite varying levels in what has been a long year, with many tournaments and that are hard on the physical and psychological aspects for players. This is my personal list of ten players that have caused an impression on me this year.

10) Lionel Messi: I was close to not putting Messi on the list. That said, he ended a dreadful 2020-21 season for Barcelona as the top-scorer in Spain, and a Copa del Rey. The soap opera of his change to PSG is hardly worth writing about, and the team has not yet been impressive. That said, Messi's great achievement is the Copa America title, where he was finally the experienced leader that Argentina has needed, in a team where he is well-integrated and the entire team is benefiting from his incredible skills.

9) Erling Haaland: One has to be careful about hailing new young stars, but Borussia Dortmund's Haaland was surely on fire, in particular in the first half of the year, when he was averaging two goals per match and reached his 20th Champions League in only 14 matches. He has stayed in Dortmund throughout the year, continuing scoring goals (he remains topscorer in the Bundesliga) at the end of the year, despite interest from all the big clubs. With Norway he missed World Cup qualification, but it will be interesting to follow him next year.

8) Mohammed Salah: Premier League is the best league in the world, and although Liverpool did not win titles in 2021, their performance has been impressive, and at the end of 2021 they remain contenders for the Premier League title with the great Egyptian as top-scorer with 15 goals, and well on his way to get the title of top-scorer that he lost to Harry Kane in the 2020-21 season. He only scored one goal for Egypt in 2021, but is heading to the Africa Cup of Nations and perhaps the World Cup in 2022.

7) Romelu Lukaku: The great Belgian won the Serie A with Inter Milan with himself as their leading goalscorer (but behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the Serie A). His change to Chelsea for the new season has been more mixed as he reintegrates into the Premier League. With Belgium he was also their main attacking threat, although Belgium disappointed in both the European Championships and the Nations League by not making it (yet again) to their full potential. But Lukaku remains a great players and a gentleman of the game.

6) Marquinhos: A bit of a strange year for Brazil's and PSG's Marquinhos because he did not win many of the titles that seemed at his grasp: with PSG they lost the French league to Lille and lost the Champions League semifinals to Manchester City. With Brazil, Marquinhos lost the Copa America final. That said, throughout the year Marquinhos has been a solid defender who is also a goal-threat with his potential headers.

5) Robert Lewandowski: The great Polish player of Bayern Munich is probably the best striker in the world, and according to Leo Messi himself, when receiving the Balon d'Or, was the rightful winner in 2020. Winning the 2020-21 Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, he scored an incredible 41 goals, the most ever in a season, and beating the record of legendary Gerd Muller. On the Polish national team he remains the leading goalscorer, and although Poland did not impress, he became the first Pole to score in three consecutive European Championships when he scored against Spain in June.

4) Edouard Mendy: There has been a lot of talk about goalkeepers this year; Gianluigi Donnarumma was named best player of the European Championship, and there have been impressive goalkeepers all-round (Emiliano Martinez, Kasper Schmeichel, Keylor Navas), but I think that Edouard Mendy has been the best of them all, being impressive in the European Champions League winners of Chelsea (and the first African goalkeeper in a CL final), and playing a crucial role in both Chelsea's and Senegal's strong defensive record.

3) Ngolo Kante: N'golo Kanté is one of the greatest players in the world, and alongside Jorginho make up an awesome midfield duo at Chelsea, that greatly contributed to the rise of the Londoners throughout the year, and their Champions League title. Kanté runs, tackles and intercepts throughout a match, and was also a key player for France's Nations League winners (despite the disappointment at losing out to Switzerland at the European Championships). Besides his outstanding qualities as a footballer, Kanté also displays one of the rare traits among footballers as being a humble man.

2) Alexia Putellas: I did not know Ms. Putella until this year, when I saw her shine in FC Barcelona's Champions League triumph against Chelsea. She crowned a fantastic season with Barcelona (where she also won the league) with almost-certain qualification for the 2023 World Cup, and is undoubtedly the best female footballer in the world right now, as well as certainly one of the best footballers overall in the world.

1) Jorginho: A fantastic year for a fantastic player who is perhaps the best in the world at the moment (just scoring goals is usually what gets all the credits, but versatile players like Jorginho do all the work on a pitch). He was the ever-working player in the Italian European champions midfield, and was the player who most ran in the tournament, recoveries, passes and interception. Surely having Jorginho on the team was like having an extra player, but also an intelligent player who is able to lead the team. And it was not only for Italy that Jorginho was impressive, but he was also key in Chelsea's Champions League triumph, and as Chelsea continues competing for the Premier and Champions League titles.

The day I became Napoli fan

I have never had a favourites Italian team. Many years ago I used to follow the Serie A closely, but this ended with the corruption scandals surrounding Juventus in the mid-00s. As an avid Maradona fan I had also always sympathized with Napoli. But the lack of results and the fact that I had never visited Naples, caused me not to become a fan.
That has changed today.
I am visiting the beautiful city of Naples for the first time in my life and when I learned that Napoli was playing Lazio I immediately got a ticket for the legendary stadium of San Paolo, the temple where they adored Maradona. As much of the city, the stadium is somewhat worn down, but remains beautiful and imposing, and with a fantastic atmosphere provided by the Napoli supporters.

The team itself has not started the Serie A in the best way, without victories in their first three matches. But that changed tonight when they resoundingly defeated Lazio 5-0. What most impressed me was how they achieved the victory: high pressure and good passing. There were certainly some signs of weakness in the defense (which stronger teams than Lazio could punish), the attacking combinations were flowing through Hamsik, Allan and Jorginho, to very mobile offensive players like Insigne and Higuaín (Higuaín is not a player I am fond of, but I must admit that he played a great match scoring two excellent goals. He certainly loves playing against Lazio!).

The new coach Maurizio Sarri has now led his team to score 10 goals in the last two matches (last week they defeated Brugge 5-0 in the Europa League), and his side is starting to show the potential for what could be a great season for a great team and a great city.
And I will be cheering on them all the way!