Only the Best Should Be Called World-Class

The term world-class is overused. Five years ago a player would have to put together multiple top-class consistent seasons to be considered world-class but nowadays a five-game run of 8 out of 10 performances gets a player the tag.

Anthony Martial, for example, had an amazing purple patch post-lockdown and was instantly considered world-class however he only has four league goals this season; the same as Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma.

World-Class Tag Thrown About Too Much

Defining World-Class

World-Class should only apply to the best in the world, to players that are consistently performing week in and week out. So what are the criteria for being world-class and how many players are. Let’s start with the criteria.

Criteria

• Top five in the world in their position
• Playing in the top five European leagues (Ligue 1, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A)
• Multiple top-class spells (six months or more)
• Has won multiple individuals or team trophies
• Excels in both domestic and non-domestic competitions

Now we’ve got the criteria sorted let’s put it to the test. Heung-Min Son misses out using these criteria. He passes the first three points but hasn’t won enough individual or team honours to make the cut.

The Korean international is a six-time national Footballer Of The Year but the award lacks sufficient competition to make it mean something. Another notable exclusion is Manchester City centre-back Ruben Dias. He is currently playing at a world-class level but hasn’t been doing it for long enough to pass. Fellow countryman Bruno Fernandes is included with his four Premier League Player Of The Month awards in a year being enough to see him through.

Eden Hazard is a player who was considered world-class by the formula until recently. Since signing for Real Madrid, Hazard has clearly dropped out of the top five wingers in the world and therefore is not world-class anymore. Should the Belgian international have a resurgence soon he’ll become world-class once again.

The Players Who Are Currently World-Class

(based on the criteria used above)

Goalkeepers

• Jan Oblak – has like an 80% save percentage
• Alisson (despite his blunders against Manchester City)
• Ederson
• Manuel Neuer – the inventor of the sweeper-keeper

Centre Backs

• Virgil Van Dijk – fundamental to Liverpool winning the Premier League after 30 years
• Jerome Boateng
• Sergio Ramos – most complete defender
• Raphael Varane

Full Backs

• Andrew Robertson
• Joao Cancelo
• Jordi Alba
• Benjamin Pavard
• Trent Alexander-Arnold

Centre Midfield

• Thiago Alcantara
• Joshua Kimmich
• Ilkay Gundogan
• Toni Kroos – 90% pass rate – PRECISION
• Leon Goretzka

Attacking Midfield

• Bruno Fernandes – 31 goal contributions in a season – RECORD BREAKING
• Kevin De Bruyne
• Thomas Muller

Wingers

• Mohamed Salah – The first player to score 40+ goals in the league since Ronaldo
• Sadio Mane
• Neymar
• Kylian Mbappe
• Lionel Messi
• Raheem Sterling

Strikers

• Luis Suarez
• Robert Lewandowski – 63 goals in 58 games last season
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Harry Kane

Just Missed Out

Ruben Dias, Paul Pogba, Heung Min Son, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Emiliano Martinez, Yassine Bounou, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Alphonso Davies, 

Review

Overall, this formula is quite accurate it makes players like Anthony Martial properly prove themselves before they’re considered to be world-class but it does leave conundrums like Trent Alexander Arnold. It stops players like Gareth Bale being considered world-class way after their prime has passed. The one problem is it stops loyal players like Jack Grealish and Harry Kane getting the recognition they deserve as world-class as they don’t win as much with their respective clubs. A move to a bigger club is always touted for them but is it really time for them to make that step-up so they don’t waste their prime years without winning trophies?

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