THE IBWM 100: THE CLASS OF 2012

Dig the new breed....

We always knew where we stood with Spanish football magazine Don Balon’s annual list of the 100 best young players in the world.

While there would always be blinding omissions, and a few names that should never have been anywhere near, the Iberian soccer periodical called things pretty well.  From each annual roster a few players would go onto become real superstars while the majority would never quite fulfil that youthful potential despite enjoying a reasonable career.  Some would blossom while others would ascend so far into their own posterior that you questioned how anyone could have ever rated them in the first place.  But that’s life, c’est la vie, asi es la vida; Don Balon judged what they saw and we liked that.  Continuity is a great thing.

Regrettably, due to a swirling vortex of issues and events that we won’t go into here, Don Balon is no longer with us, and no Don Balon means no annual 100 list.  Booooo!

We thought it was just us that lamented the demise of this annual roll call, but it turns out that we aren’t alone.  On the interweb there are plenty of decent stabs at recreating Don Balon’s critical century, but most end up being driven by hype rather than any bona fide justification.  Yes, we know Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling looks a player, and we’re sure he’s going to be great, but he’s not where Mario Götze is right now is he?  Come back next year son.

So having allowed a sizeable chunk of the last six months to be consumed assessing the performance of the 2010 Don Balon list, we ended up with a whole raft of other names that we thought could/should have been in there.  When this got to more than six hundred, we thought we’d best do something about it.

We’re not going to pretend that IBWM has anything like the clout that Don Balon wielded; this was a long running and well respected publication with a large audience after all.  But ultimately, Don Balon’s annual list would eventually be whittled down by a handful of editorial types in front of a computer, and we can certainly relate to that. 

For research, Don Balon would ask regional correspondents, journalists and media outlets to name names; so we asked regional correspondents, journalists and media outlets to name names.  Don Balon would ask players, scouts and coaches for their opinions; so we asked players, scouts and coaches for their opinions.  We’ve tried to get as balanced a view as possible, reviewing assessments, adding our two penneth and then prioritising names. 

We’re not what you’d describe as experts, but then again, who is?  You’d be hard pressed to find anyone that has digested and been involved in as much world football as we have over the last 20-30 years, so we think our views are reasonably valid…..well, when we’ve not had a drink anyway.   

We spoke to lots of people, watched games, checked videos, took notes, read everything we could, discussed, argued, fought, made up, reviewed stats and then started over….and then we asked a selection of people whose opinion we trust to tell us we weren’t going off on one with any of our selections.  The result is the 100 players listed below.

Our only criteria is that players should be have been born on or after January 1 1990 (yes, we feel old too).  We’ve attempted to maintain a good mix of nationalities and tried to make sure that all regions are represented, but the cut had to come at some point so several nations are not included. 

Most of the names are no brainers - Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshire and Mario Balotelli will be familiar to you, but players such as Joel Obi, Moritz Leitner and Valon Berisha might not.  We’ve had a good look at them all, and we’re confident that there is enough going on to warrant inclusion. 

We’ve tried to go with a more attacking feel, but there are some excellent defenders, defensive midfielders and goalkeepers included too.  Please leave comments, highlighting how wrong and stupid we are if necessary, there will be a good reason why your personal favourite is missing and we’ll certainly try to answer any questions via the comments section or on twitter.

For now its names only, no narrative, this is our watch list for the next twelve months.  We’ll talk about all in more detail this time next year, although we suspect you’ll be better acquainted with several before then.  Take note of the names and watch out for these kids, we’re backing every single one and 2012 could be really special for several of them.

So here it is, in the spirit of the festive fifty, the chart of the year and other new year’s honours lists, we present the annual IBWM 100: 2012 edition - the best 100 young players in the world (according to us) right now.

	Position	Nationality	Club
Aaron Ramsey	Midfielder	Wales	Arsenal
Abel Hernández	Striker	Uruguay	Palermo
Adam Maher	Striker	Holland	AZ Alkmaar
Alan Dzagoev	Midfielder	Russia	CSKA Moscow
Alex Sandro	Defender	Brazil	Porto
Alexander Merkel	Midfielder	Germany	Milan
Alexandre Laczaette	Striker	France	Lyon
André Carrillo	Midfielder	Peru	Sporting CP
André Schürrle	Midfielder	Germany	Bayer Leverkusen
Ante Vukusic	Striker	Croatia	Hadjuk Split
Bernd Leno	Goalkeeper	Germany	Bayer Leverkusen
Bojan Krkić	Striker	Spain	AS Roma
Chris Wood	Striker	New Zealand	Birmingham City
Christian Eriksen	Midfielder	Denmark	Ajax
Clément Grenier	Midfielder	France	Lyon
Danny Welbeck	Striker	England	Manchester United
David Alaba	Midfielder	Austria	Bayern Munich
David De Gea	Goalkeeper	Spain	Manchester United
David 'Junior' Hoilett	Midfielder	Canada	Blackburn Rovers
Diego Rubio	Midfielder	Chile	Sporting CP
Douglas Costa	Midfielder	Brazil	Shakhtar Donetsk
Dudu	Midfielder	Brazil	Dynamo Kyiv
Eden Hazard	Midfielder	Belgium	Lille
Emmanuel Mayuka	Striker	Zambia	Young Boys
Erick Torres Padilla	Striker	Mexico	Chivas
Erik Lamela	Midfielder	Argentina	AS Roma
Gastón Ramirez	Midfielder	Uruguay	Bologna
Georginio Wijnaldum	Midfielder	Holland	PSV Eindhoven
Granit Xhaka	Midfielder	Switzerland	FC Basel
Gueïda Fofana	Midfielder	France	Lyon
Iker Muniain	Striker	Spain	Athletic
İlkay Gündoğan	Midfielder	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
Inigo Martinez	Defender	Spain	Real Sociedad
Isaac Cuenca	Midfielder	Spain	Barcelona
Isco	Midfielder	Spain	Malaga
Jack Rodwell	Midfielder	England	Everton
Jack Wilshere	Midfielder	England	Arsenal
James Forrest	Midfielder	Scotland	Celtic
James Rodríguez	Midfielder	Colombia	Porto
Jano Ananidze	Midfielder	Georgia	Spartak Moscow
Jeffrey Bruma	Defender	Holland	HSV
Joel Campbell	Striker	Costa Rica	Arsenal
Joel Obi	Midfielder	Nigeria	Inter
John Guidetti	Striker	Sweden	Feyenoord
Jordan Ayew	Midfielder	Ghana	Marseille
Juan Iturbe	Midfielder	Argentina	Porto
Julian Draxler	Midfielder	Germany	Schalke
Kevin De Bruyne	Midfielder	Belgium	Genk
Kevin Strootman	Midfielder	Holland	PSV Eindhoven
Kolbeinn Sigþórsson	Striker	Iceland	Ajax
Kyriakos Papadopoulos	Defender	Greece	Schalke
Lacina Traoré	Striker	Ivory Coast	Kuban
Lazar Marković	Striker	Serbia	Partizan Belgrade
Leroy Fer	Midfielder	Holland	Twente
Lewis Holtby	Midfielder	Germany	Schalke
Lorenzo Insigne	Midfielder	Italy	Napoli
Luc Castaignos	Striker	Holland	Inter
Lucas Moura	Midfielder	Brazil	Sao Paolo
Lucas Ocampos	Midfielder	Argentina	River Plate
Luuk de Jong	Striker	Holland	Twente
Mamadou Sakho	Defender	France	PSG
Manolo Gabbiadini	Striker	Italy	Atalanta
Manuel Lanzini	Midfielder	Argentina	Fluminense
Mario Balotelli	Striker	Italy	Manchester City
Mario Götze	Midfielder	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
Mateo Kovačić	Midfielder	Croatia	Dinamo Zagreb
M'Baye Niang	Striker	France	Caen
Michele Camporese	Defender	Italy	Fiorentina
Miralem Pjanić	Midfielder	Bosnia & Herz.	AS Roma
Moritz Leitner	Midfielder	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
Neymar	Striker	Brazil	Santos
Ola John	Midfielder	Holland	Twente
Oriol Romeu	Midfielder	Spain	Chelsea
Oscar	Midfielder	Brazil	Internacional
Pablo Sarabia	Midfielder	Spain	Getafe
Pajtim Kasami	Midfielder	Switzerland	Fulham
Phil Jones	Defender	England	Manchester United
Phillippe Coutinho	Midfielder	Brazil	Inter
Rafael	Defender	Brazil	Manchester United
Raphaël Varane	Defender	France	Real Madrid
Ricardo Rodriguez	Defender	Switzerland	FC Zurich
Richmond Boakye	Striker	Ghana	Genoa
Rodrigo Moreno	Striker	Spain	Benfica
Romelu Lukaku	Striker	Belgium	Chelsea
Ryad Boudebouz	Midfielder	Algeria	Sochaux
Sebastian Coates	Defender	Uruguay	Liverpool
Ŝime Vrsaljko	Defender	Croatia	Dinamo Zagreb
Son Heung-Min	Striker	South Korea	HSV
Sotiris Ninis	Midfielder	Greece	Panathinaikos
Stefan Savic	Defender	Montenegro	Manchester City
Stephan El Shaarawy	Midfielder	Italy	AC Milan
Takashi Usami	Midfielder	Japan	Bayern Munich
Thiago	Midfielder	Spain	Barcelona
Thibaout Courtois	Goalkeeper	Belgium	Atlético Madrid
Toni Kroos	Midfielder	Germany	Bayern Munich
Valon Berisha	Midfielder	Norway	Viking
Wojciech Szczesny	Goalkeeper	Poland	Arsenal
Xherdan Shaqiri	Midfielder	Switzerland	Basel
Yann M’Vila	Midfielder	France	Stade Rennais
Younes Belhanda	Midfielder	Morocco	Montpellier

Comments

[Dan Milne]

Great list, that I agree with in the most part...but Chris Wood? I can't help but feel he's only been included only to make the list more nationally diverse.

[IBWM Jeff]

@ Dan Milne

Cheers Dan. I won't lie, we have made an attempt to provide some universal appeal, but we remain confident Wood will really kick on in the coming years. There's a *very* good top level striker in there, just give him time.

[Adam Digby]

Nice to see Lorenzo Insigne get a mention, a very good prospect doing remarkable things for Zeman (Oh yes indeed!) at Pescara. A large number of Serie A players included, just hope they are given chances in the league & don't fade away through a lack of opportunity, Gaston Ramirez is most definitely one to keep an eye on, almost impossible to see him still being at Bologna come June.

[Ben B]

Brilliant list, I agree with Dan Milne's view on Chris Wood. I didn't realise how young Gastón Ramirez was, saw him in the Genoa vs Bologna match at the weekend and he was superb creatively like Merkel for Genoa

[IBWM Jeff]

Thanks Adam and Ben.

Turning into quite a beast is Ramirez.

[Jay]

Been looking forward to this list since you annouced it. Pretty close to what I expected, but I was surprised you included Leno over Ter Stegen.

[James W]

Pleased to see Guidetti in there, think he has real promise. Interesting to see whether he will force his way in at Man City among the superstars and the egos.

[FcTwente]

Adam Maher isn't a striker, he's a midfielder akin to Cesc Fabregas. Great list though.

[RB]

<nitpick> If Courtois is listed as an Atletico Madrid player, surely Campbell should be listed as a Lorient player?

Also, there's a typo in Lacazette </nitpick>

[Mort]

Keep an eye on Celtic's <B>Victor Wanyama</B>. Brother of Inter Milan's McDonald Mariga. Victor has played both central midfield and centre back for Celtic this season and has been one of the stand-outs of the season. Still only 20 so could be in next year's list.

[Red]

I feel Wilfried Zaha for Crystal Palace should have had a look in. He has really added some end product to his game this season and leaves defenders feeling dizzy in the championship every week. Showed his class in recent Carling Cup game against Man United where he gave their defense the run around.

[Nani]

-5 Albanians in the list
Granit Xhaka
Pajtim Kasami
Sotir Nini
Valon Berisha
Xherdan Shaqiri

[Punani]

Valon Berisha plays for Norway, not Albania, Nani.

[Sammac]

Joe Allen? Where is he? Part of the sky sports team of the first quarter of the premier league season.

[IBWM Jeff]

@Jay

it was a very close one, but we feel that - right now- Leno is the better all round keeper.....might not always be like that though!

@FcTwente

Thanks for that, but we think, long term, he's a striker. A really good one at that....

@RB

Yes, agreed, thanks for that, will update....

@red

He is very good, but not quite ready just yet...

@Nani

That is an excellent observation!

@punani

True, but we can see what he is getting at, could all be Albaninan players right now.

[Dave]

Quite surprised not to see Sturridge on there. Thought he had a good loan spell with Bolton and has carried it onto this season. Hope he gets his chance in the England squad soon.

[IBWM Jeff]

Adam Matthews, Aleksandr Korkorin, Antionne Griezmann, Frederik Sørensen, Kyle Walker, Mateo Musacchio, Gerard Deulofeu, Kleber, Marcos Rojo, Martin Montoya, Maxym Koval, Yaya Sanogo, Nicolas N’koulou, Ravel Morrision and (we really hated to do this) Sergio Canales were culled in the final draft having been in our thoughts throughout…..apologies to all!

[IBWM Jeff]

@sammac

We like him a lot, but didn't quite think he'd done enough for long enough.......just yet.

@dave

He's too old to get in! (born 1989)

[Brendan]

@Nani

Around 300,000 Albanians left the country between 1991 and 1992. Given the proximity and the financial ease, Greece is the most common. But Italy truly depicted the Western ideal to Albanians; they sought the most capitalist things like Italian TV and radio whilst the cultural differences are hardly apparent. What's more, Italian is the second most spoken language in Albania. The latter fact explains the massive movement towards Switzerland. Between 1992 and 1995, however, Switzerland, Germany and other Western countries made moves towards more restrictive migration policies, something on which Sweden and Norway had always been relaxed.

Saying that, we're no nearer to why some of 300,000 emigrants parented really good footballers. But that Geography lesson I remembered does make me look kinda clever.

[Seb Salaforis]

Delighted to see Sotiris Ninis making an appearance on the list.

Such a rare talent that has been unlucky with some fairly long term injuries and not leaving Greece early enough. That last comment was not 100% a dig at the quality of the Greek league (as someone who has watched alot of it over the years, the standard isn't the best but improving), but more a concern over the effect of being a star at Panatha or Olympiakos can have on a young player. It can be relatively easy for a player to achieve stardom and icon status at the big clubs in Greece, lulling young players into a false sense of security. Causing a drop in effort and drive to reach the very top of the game. Kiriakos Papadopoulos has been lucky to escape the trap, its now up to Ninis and Fetfatzidis to do the same.

Ninis is a rare talent. He combines great intelligence, passing range, technique and shooting ability. Wonderful little player. His display in the Olympico vs Roma last season was a joy to behold and should have led to a move to a bigger nation.

I trully believe that Euro 2012 will be his coming of age and finally see him getting a major move. World Cup 2010 could have been this moment, but Rehagel is apparently alergic to young players.

Ninis is not the most high profile player on the list, or the youngest. However, the team that gets him after Panatha are very very lucky indeed.

[Ste]

I'd love to hear the rationale behind choosing Rafael over Fabio!

I personally rate Apostolos Vellios, James McCarthy and Victor Moses, so am curious as to how close these guys were?

Absolutely amazing work guys.

[John]

Didn't pick Yaya Sanogo? Obviously didn't buy FM2011, he's an absolute beast!

[Paul]

Nice to see Valon Berisha on the list. He is an amazing player, but still has learning potential when it comes to distributing the ball creating chances for others. I got my eyes on this player, and hopefully he will bring in a lot of cash for my club, Viking.

For next years list, take a look at his little brother, Veton Berisha. Up-and-coming, amazing talent!

[IBWM Jeff]

@brendan

well recalled squire, we'll be doing crop rotation in the seventeenth century next week so you might want to stick around :) (great comment!)

@Seb

Good insight sir, Fetfatzidis has just stalled slightly we reckon, Ninis looks the better player.

@Ste

Cheers! Rafael looks, to us, the better player. All good names, just not quite enough shown yet....but we do like Moses a lot. Victor, that is.

@John

We actually spoke to some people involved with FM - the scouting network is better than that at any club we've encountered.

@Paul

Yes, heard a lot about him from a few people...next year may include the younger siblings of Hazard, Thiago, Lukaku, Berisha and Ayew!

[Cathal Wogan]

I really dislike lists and ratings systems generally, 100 greatest whatevers or fifty whatevers to do before you die. Pitchfork for goodness' sake!

BUT, the very purpose of this list is not prophecy, and it isn't that the IBWM team are the arbiters of excellence or, indeed, fate, like the great many listing endeavours are in any "critical" discourse. I like this because for the past number of weeks we've been keeping an eye on it and discussing these players, all players, ideas of skill, potential, nationality, etc., all in the name of a more genuine critical discussion. This is a fantastic catalyst for football discussion, particularly as the New Seriousness has polarised soccerball punditry to unromantic statistical overload on the one hand, and Jamie Redknapp on the other (not that I don't like Jamie Redknapp). So thanks lads, really enjoy the list and it has inspired several very enjoyable conversations between my friends and I already, and will do many more I'm sure.