THE DESTINY AND FATE OF KINGS: THE TEN BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD (RIGHT NOW)

Sancho may have saved, or at least jump-started the trajectory of his career with his escape from the doldrums of the Manchester City youth system to the Bundesliga.

10. JADON SANCHO (Dortmund)
      We've got a truly original young talent here in Mr. Sancho, only 18 and flying mercilessly high, taking on the Bundesliga with earnest brutality and a cold blooded lust for victory (we even saw the youngster duel with Franck Ribery in a physical tussle all match, only to rip the ball off of him and race towards the Bayern goal. Sancho was key in the creation of the 3rd goal in the 3-2 victory over big time rivals, Bayern Munich...go to 1:28 of the video below to see this)

      Sancho has become a wonder under the watchful eyes of Lucien Favre at Dortmund, showing all youth academy products rotting in England's 2nd division (or worse, not even playing) that they should go abroad and show the world what they're capable of, much like Reiss Nelson  (of Arsenal) has explored at Hoffenheim.
       Sancho has been amazing with superb patience on the ball in and around the opponent's box, combining beautifully with Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer and going through streaks where he's had assist after assist and then bagged goal after goal, proving this kid is working on all sides of his craft, that he is here to stay and quite good fun to watch. He's still young and raw, but he's easily the best teenager on the planet right now, scoring goals seems easy, creating them for other seems easier and playing for Dortmund under Favre seems a dream come true for the Englishman.
       Truly, if Sancho had produced even half of this in his maiden season last year in Dortmund (he probably would've had he played more if Favre had been manager then, as his 1 goal and 2 assists performance vs Leverkeusen late last year showed), he would've also been selected by Southgate for this last World Cup, such is the impact of his all around dynamism.

OVERALL STATS:
* 7 goals and 9 assists
* 1 assist in his first start for England (only 2 total international appearances)
* Has earned two penalties




9. OUSMANE DEMBELE  (Barca)
       The much questioned, maligned, criticized and derided French World Cup winner Ousmane Dembele, who was even ripped apart with his move to Barcelona being imminent in the wake of his refusal to train or play for his club at that time, Borussia Dortmund, until he was sold. He is a renegade, a maverick and a mystery to many, with his multiple hour tardiness to match days and practises calling into question his integrity and passion for futbol. 
        You could wonder about the kid's desire, or professionalism...until you see him on the pitch, responding to a world gone mad at him...a world upset and frustrated at his every move, calling him "a bust" even as he never had the opportunity to play against either Real or Atletico Madrid until this season (only appearing as a late substitute in both and dramatically impacting both matches in Barcelona's favor with 1 assist vs Real and 1 goal vs Atletico) and was nearly completely left out of Barcelona's Champions League campaign (when he did play, he starred against Juventus in only his second match in his first 3 days at the club, a big reason for his first injury, and scored an absolute ballistic finish in the second leg against Chelsea, deciding the tie on the strength of that goal) but through all of this, Ousmane Dembele was still called a joke, a bust...a fraud.
                  But what they could never question was his mental strength...what they could never call him was weak....or afraid.

        He has proven otherwise. He has shown he can get on the ball and massage the passes in his own adapted version of the Barca way, with his 74 pass, 78% completion rate match against Villareal and his 40+ passes completed performances in the Champions League against Inter Milan and in La Liga against Espanyol and he's averaging nearly 38 a game now across all competitions, very high for a young, still developing winger. And, he's also ceased giving the ball away or being dispossessed serially, averaging only 1.2 dispossessions a match and posting three straight 0 dispossessions in the last 3 matches for Barcelona.
       He's begun to tear teams apart off of the dribble, with 8 against Villareal, 7 dribbles from a right wing-back position vs Levante (in lieu of Nelson Semedo due to injury), averaging 2.5 in the Champions League and proving that nearly every dribble he pulls off could well be creating a goal (Harry Winks is still sliding) .

             Dembele has begun to combine with Messi with fervor, he has already cultivated a relationship with Suarez and Coutinho (despite rumors Suarez doesn't like Dembele, they have combined for a number of goals in both of his two seasons at Barcelona so far, with Dembele's debut assist going to Suarez's feet for a tap in, as well) and is now capable of playing for the team, hunting and pressing teams, tracking back defensively and using his superb speed to recover and blanket Nelson Semedo, or, such as the match against Levante: when Semedo or Roberto are injured, Ousmane Dembele can use his speed tactically to shield the back-line.
            But what I want to point out clearly is this guy has such a rich, dynamic finishing touch that is more advanced than Mbappe's (whereas Mbappe's finishing is more frequent and until now, consistent, yet Dembele continues to bag goal after goal with each shot). Besides the two goals against Atletico and Tottenham where he fakes a shot, crosses the ball back over to this opposite foot and unleashes a vicious blast at goal and scores, he did this against Inter Milan, sending three men sprawling with one fake, then launching a shot that slid on the ground like a snake high on rocket fuel, destined for the bottom left corner...that is...until Luis Suarez accidentally blocked it with his foot. 
           I haven't seen Mbappe pull this trick off with such frequency or aplomb, yet I haven't seen Ousmane deliver on the national team stage as often and as beautifully and importantly as Kylian Mbappe has. There's no use comparing the two young French talismen, but what begs to be asked is: why the hell aren't these two playing together, every match, for France? 

        And so we can tell Ousmane has worked on his finishing after the World Cup, where he had two fairly point blank, wide open shots against Peru and the Danish that he sent just off target. He looked at his teammate and friend Kylian and said "I want to do that, too", instead of sulking with jealousy like some other French stars have in Mbappe's limelight. 

        Dembele seems to relish it while not feeding into it, either, something that reminds me wholeheartedly of Lionel Messi.

         So does this:

OVERALL STATS:
* 10 goals and 5 assists (another shot off the post, created 3 other chances that hit the post)
* 45 Chances Created All Competitions 
* 5 Key Passes for France vs Iceland
* Dembele has scored 4 goals with his left foot and 6 goals with his right, showing the depth of his ambidextrous talents




8. LEROY SANE  (Man City)
      Leroy Sane, before this recent shitty overall team form for City (3 losses in their last 4 Premier League matches, an absolute shocking statistic which only proves why the now-injured Fernandinho made my A Team of the season, such is his value that City cannot even beat Crystal Palace or Leicester without him) Sane has progressed into a fantastic finisher, burying shots we wouldn't have even seen him attempt a season ago.
      We already knew Sane was a disgusting and often times filthy creator, setting up goalscoring chances for fun, but what most don't remember was his first skill was scoring goals for Schalke. 

          Sane has returned to the confident, assured finishing of his youth and abandoned the listless, aimless and sometimes borderline youth-league-esque finishing of his first few seasons at Manchester City. With 8 goals this season already to go with 8 assists (add 2 goals for Germany), 14 last season in all competitions, and 9 the year before, this is by far on course to be Sane's most prolific goalscoring season so far, while his 2 goals for Germany shut up some of the noise of the doubting German and world media, as well as the calls for him to be out of the starting XI and that his "grand experiment was over" and that, hey, maybe Lowe was right not to take him to the World Cup...but then, after two world class finishes and a telepathic connection with Serge Gnabry up top (it also helped that the first goal was assisted by a player who had openly called him out, Toni Kroos), the Germans remembered what a unique and otherworldly talent Leroy Sane is and can be.
          He's still young and like Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe or Mo Salah, he needs to get on the ball far more and work on his passing range, although his finishing skills in the final third are outrageous.
          It's been interesting and overwhelmingly entertaining to witness the development of Sterling and Sane under the guidance and management of Man City manager Pep Guardiola.
         Who knows what else he can achieve...

OVERALL STATS:
* 8 goals and 8 assists
* 2 goals for Germany
* had 11 key passes in a single match for Manchester City in the CC Cup this season





7. PIERRE-EMERICK AUBEMAYANG (Arsenal)
        The man cannot stop scoring and delighting Arsenal fans with his every whim, the Gabonian international becoming acquainted with French teammate and fellow striker Alexandre Lacazette. The two of them are going nuts together, although statistically only being credited for 3 goals directly (1 each in the last two Arsenal matches and another against Cardiff earlier this season, all Lacazette assists to Pierre-Emerick), yet if you've been watching, you would see that their unbelievably slick build-up play has been so crucial in each other's goals, no matter who had the assist or the final finish. Aubemayang and Lacazette go together like peanut butter and jelly or Rudy Giuliani and lying, it's always a show when these two play together.
        It would be nice to see Unai be more willing and casual enough to allow them to play on the pitch at the same time together to start matches.  
        However, we are here to talk about Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang, the Prince of Arsenal, the Sir Deluxe of London's coolest club...the man of all seasons and always with a laugh and a smile. He's a killer, though, this former Dortmund badass who was rumored to be going to every potential club in European futbol known to man until finally Arsenal were smart enough to go and grab him on the cheap. 
        Aubemayang has buried goals from distance, from close range tap-ins, from sneaky / sexy build-up tiki-taka play on the edge of the box with Ozil (rarely) and Aaron Ramsey (frequently), with Lacazette always involved if he's on the pitch, adding a trick or a flick. He has been magic for Arsenal futbol club....the fanbase were beginning to cave in on its own cynicism, led by the inactivity and inability of team owner "Fat" Stan Kroenke and his ghoulish sons as they sent Ivan Gazidis (former Arsenal chief executive from 2008-2018 during the Wenger era) packing to Milan with their lack of a clue. 

        At least Gazidis left the club in fantastic shape, with a slightly winning legacy under Wenger and a bright future with standout stars like Lucas Torreira, Laca and Auba, Guendouzi, Emil Smith-Rowe, Nketiah, Ainslay Maitland-Niles among a host of others in the locked, loaded and relatively unknown quantity that is the outrageous quality of the Arsenal youth academy (we're talking youth prospects like Saka, Emil Smith-Rowe and AMN, the brilliant Hoffenheim loanee Reiss Nelson who's already scored 6 Bundesliga goals whilst barely playing, had 2 assists vs PSG in pre season and another in added time to send Arsenal into a penalty shootout vs Chelsea, which he then dispatched against his club's eternal enemies......). Oh yeah and they've also got Henrikh Mhiktaryan who is actually playing one of his best seasons so far in his entire career, his all around game exploding into an aggressive, high pressing attacking midfielder, something we haven't seen him do since his days under Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund.
      Arsenal are in fantastic shape with Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang, and for being his first season in the Premier League, the amount of goals he has scored is stunning. What's even more impressive is the forward's work rate and hunger for team success as he presses and hounds defenders for the last bit of a ball before it goes out of bounds. I've seen Aubemayang running tirelessly and that is why Ozil sits....the comparison is too shameful: one new player who works and cares so much and one who is supposed to be the captain, the talisman, who could give a toss....
       Aubemayang is for keeps.

OVERALL STATS:
*15 goals and 3 assists




6. MOHAMED SALAH  (Liverpool)
      He has destroyed the one season wonder tag with goal after goal and assist after assist for Liverpool's strong, fierce EPL title challenge. Salah has produced the goods, even before his hat trick against Bournemouth finally set the headlines ablaze with rumors of his "resurrection", when in reality, Mo never left.
     Mohamed Salah has been consistent all season, carving out chances for Mane to shank over the bar, or Firmino to fluffily smack straight at the chest of kneeling goalkeepers. The front three haven't quite been tame, they just haven't been finishing their chances as of late, with injuries, lack of fitness and the 2018 World Cup all contributing to the either 1 or 2 of the front 3 of Mane, Salah and Firmino being out of sorts while the other(s) were firing.
    We've also seen a more measured Liverpool style of futbol, with dominant possession and a surface level abandonment of the "Hell Bent For Leather" free-for-all (high octane futbol, reliant on counter-attacking, speed in all movement, thought and personnel and fantastic passing) that was the first few seasons of the Jurgen Klopp era, albeit they haven't slowed down altogether.
     They've played the "Hell Bent For Leather" Jurgen Klopp Gegen-pressing in moments, saving their energy for the long term while still getting fantastic results only an East Coast indie-rock listening Liverpool fan could dream of, as they've taken on all comers in the Premier League and have become unassailable, allowing only 7 goals thus far in this season compared to the 23 they had at this time, last season. There's been even more emphasis on playing through the midfield, with the front three being bypassed for more conservative, deeper possession.
       Throughout it all, Salah has been instrumental, though: 2 goals and 1 assist in his first 3 matches, 4 goals and 2 assists in 3 matches in mid October proving to be key results for Liverpool's UCL knockout round quest and Premier League hopes against Red Star Belgrade, Cardiff and Huddersfield, he then did have a two match no show in a 1-1 draw vs Arsenal and the 2-0 loss to Red Star Belgrade that nearly damned Liverpool.
              Soon enough, though, these results seemed to resuscitate Salah into thrusting Liverpool passed Manchester City as the best team in England, currently: 8 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 matches, including the biggest goal of Liverpool's season thus far (the only goal in a 1-0 tilt-a-whirl face-off against Napoli that decided each other's fate on the last day in the UCL group stage) and the hat trick against Bournemouth. Salah now has had back to back 1 goal and 1 assist matches in back to back Liverpool victories over the last few days.
               Salah has had dazzling performances that show a maturity away from being hassled and routinely fouled, but more for being there in the decisive moment, for the opportunity to come and push Liverpool through. He does it all: corner kicks, free kicks, penalties, long shots, close tap ins, he can round the keeper with ease....Salah is a truly generational talent that is a beauty.

ALL AROUND STATS:
*12 goals and 6 assists all competitions for Liverpool (add an earned penalty against Crystal Palace and another earned penalty through a blatant dive against Newcastle on Boxing Day)
*4 goals and 2 assists in 3 matches for Egypt (post World Cup)
- 2 goals and 2 assists in a match against Niger, one in which he created 9 direct goalscoring opportunities wasted by teammates like Trezeguet. Salah puts on a vicious, world class performance that had his countrymen been even halfway decent finishing that night, would've set crazy numbers in assists (Salah even missed a penalty in the bizarre, African Cup of Nations qualifier)





5. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI (Bayern)
     The Poland and Bayern forward has seen his star fade from the headlines recently, as sexier, newer faces like fellow countryman Piatek and Kylian Mbappe get the plaudits, yet he has not only been in consistent, strong goalscoring form throughout the campaign, Lewandowski has shown he can light it up with assists, too.
        How about his most recent assist, the opener on the weekend in a 3-0 win vs Frankfurt, where he collected the ball in the box on the turn and rolled the ball with his momentum to Franck Ribery to dispatch?? That was an outrageous bit of play from the Pole!
      In addition he's notched 7 total assists and scoring-wise has been on a tear with 9 goals in his last 9 matches for Bayern Munich.

      He's even begun to drop into a deeper / behind the striker role for the Polish National team, supporting new kid on the block / flavor of the month(s) / brilliant young striker Krzysztof Piatek.
      Lewandowski, believe it or not, has evolved, he's grown, yet he's still doing the same shit: bagging goal after goal and leading a rudderless, seemingly leader-less Bayern Munich squad that is either capable of being rudely awakened by Liverpool and knocked out of the competition so quickly and early, or they're totally capable of making a final.
      And through it all, whether they're winning or not, don't forget to place a bet on Robert Lewandowski bagging a goal or two.
       I mean shit, this guy had 5 in 8 minutes once....

He's 20 now and he's already won a World Cup. What's next for Mbappe?

4.  KYLIAN MBAPPE (PSG)
        As he has gone from a teenager into a young man (having turned 20 just this last week), he scored the only goal for PSG in a tepid 1-0 victory over Nantes, only the first Ligue 1 match PSG has dared to play since the riots that are holding France in a vice-grip have raged across the country, all to protest an unfair tax hike on fuel (gas already cots $7.06 in France, yet will continue to climb 30 cents a gallon this year and rising over the next few years. For a fantastic in depth read into the who, what and why of the whole violent French maniacal shabang, check this out:  https://www.vox.com/world/2018/12/3/18124093/france-riots-paris-macron-gas-tax-yellow-vests-pictures).
        That is what has caused the weird, boring 1 goal performance from the Parisians, rather than Nantes playing with any real commitment, although PSG did have another goal taken off from VAR, but the Mbappe goal showed he has everything in his locker: the poacher's finish from Nantes or in the World Cup against Peru, the high octane dribbling (vs Argentina among many others), the out of the box blasts (vs Croatia in the final), the bobbling, bouncing 1 touch finish in the 18 (vs Liverpool at Anfield), Kylian Mbappe has done it all as far as finishing.
        He still can miss some easy chances at times, yet barely at 20, Mbappe already has a World Cup, 4 World Cup goals, a goal in the World Cup final, a few Ligue 1 titles, has been to the UCL semifinals with Monaco, has had an unstoppable UCL campaign (with Monaco), is currently having one with PSG (UCL leader in assists and is scoring a plethora of goals as well, overall playing fantastically).
       Mbappe still needs to get on the ball more and improve his passing range, but as long as he's hovering over the box like a vulcher, or terrorizing opponents out on the wings, whether he's cutting inside from the left forward position on to his right foot and blasting in shots outside of the box, his game is so crisp, so pure, so soulful that we all know he can be anything he wants to be.
      Even LeBron James knows it....
       ....And Mbappe knows it, too.


OVERALL STATS:
*16 goals and 8 assists for PSG in Ligue 1, UCL and Coup De France
*has earned 2 penalties for PSG
*2 goals and a created own goal, fouled and scored another penalty for the French National Team (post World Cup)





3. HARRY KANE (Tottenham) 
    With 16 goals and 5 assists, adding in another goal and 2 assists for England post World Cup (both vs Spain in a masterclass performance), the Tottenham talisman hasn't stopped his endeavours that began a few years ago when he took the Premier League by storm as December 2014 turned into January 2015 and Kane was punishing Chelsea in a 5-3 match and became Tottenham's registered "Noble Son".
      Being a club icon as a young lad who grew in and around the club and the White Hart Lane area of London itself is one thing...being idolized as a player who came from nothing and then to the fringes of his favorite club?
      That's another huge deal.
      But.....to usurp Glenn Hoddle, Gareth Bale and every other Tottenham legend and become your own legend at your boyhood club, while also ushering in the most dominant era in their entire history, with you being part and parcel of the entire enterprise?
      That is what Kane wants to wake up and do every day.
      In spite of his sexual obsession with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Kane has already proven through absolute consistency that he isn't any "one season wonder" as many had plagued him with when the 2015/2016 season began (he finished what could've been a sophomore slump with 25 Premier League goals and 30 overall, adding 5 more from World Cup qualifiers for England and you've got 35).
      And he continues those exploits this season, with Tottenham absolutely flying ever since they gritted out a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp vs Barcelona, a result which saved their Champions League lives, all thanks to a ridiculous Harry Kane assist. Tottenham then followed up that confident boost with a 2-0 revenge victory over Arsenal in the league cup, another result thanks to another rip-roaring Kane assist, but what makes for sure-fire entertainment is the 11 goals the North Londoners have buried in the last two matches.

      Kane scored 2 against Everton and another goal against Bournemouth, but the most impressive attributes Kane showed weren't on any score sheet or statistical list: Harry was all over the pitch creatively, too: Against Everton, Kane used a terrific one touch long-ball to wave goodbye to the entire Everton back line, leaving Jordan Pickford and Kurt Zouma to sprawl in a half-hesitated rush, neither of them making much, if any contact on the ball, completely missing it but deflecting it enough to take away the assist from Kane. The ball laid out perfectly for Son to smash from an improbable and fantastic angle.
      Then, for the 5th goal against Bournemouth, Kane was unlucky as he desperately set up Danny Rose while falling down (Rose smashes it off of the keeper), Kane gets up while maintaining control of the ball in an absolute world class feat, then propels it with the shake of his right hip and boot to the tip of the box, a beautiful on the ground chance set up by Kane that Moura then thrashed off of the keeper, only for Heung Min Son to grab on to it and swivel it passed the desperation of Begovic.
      Kane has shown an impressive new wrinkle to his game, amassing assists at a higher rate so far this season than any other season he's had before (7 assists total was his largest overall tally for a season, coming two seasons ago and he's already got 5 assists total for Tottenham and 2 for England).  He's had 4 assists in his last 7 matches, with 1 more not counted from the Everton match.           The absolute class of the assist he provided against Barcelona sends Kane higher up this list, deeper into the consciousness of futbol fans and freaks, alike...Kane can already bury goal after goal, he takes nearly 5-10 shots a match...but yet, deep into a match where Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cilessen had made marvelous save after save and Tottenham had the luck of the Irish in the 1860s when it came to finishing, Kane didn't take it upon himself...he didn't assume absolute responsibility for carrying Tottenham into the Champions League knockout stages, he simply played an unmissable, on the ground ball that went across the Barcelona 6 yard box, landing flat and perfect for Lucas Moura to finish however he saw fit.

       That assist shows Kane's overall improvement and his progression to being called the world's greatest pure striker, yet he's showing he can provide much more than having his back to goal and holding the ball up...we're now getting used to seeing the Englishman blasting a cross-field ball to the streaking right back, clear from the deep left wing and putting it right on the money, with aplomb. It's something you don't see traditional #9's doing....ever. Tell me the last time you saw Lewandowski launching a 90 yard long ball to a fullback? Fernando Torres maybe pulled it off once or twice. Aguero tries to do this, but fails often, showing Kane's overall ability skyrocketing by the season.
        But most of all, his 2 assists vs Spain were legendary to me, and I'm not even an England fan. The way he destroyed Spain's back line with those 2 crisp pieces of passing was something that must be seen to be believed, with the usual shot-happy Kane realizing the best way to beat one of the best teams on the planet was to use himself as a diversion, kissing the ball off of his toe across the face of goal in a sprawling dive for Sterling to tap into the net for the 2nd assist, all following a phenomenal Ross Barkley chip over the scattered Spain defense (thanks to the tandem of Sterling and Kane's zig-zagging movement).
         Though the first assist is perhaps most indicative of the bigger picture here, which is Kane's staggering all-around ability: he turns as he smashes a low, perfectly weighted ball across his body and through the feet and vacated passing lane left by Sergio Ramos (flying in trying to stop the ball), Sergi Busquets (next to Kane, trying to take him down) and Nacho (all over the place, head in the sky, may as well have been doing cocaine with Adrien Mutu in 2004). Sterling runs on to this through ball and picked it up, finishing again and turning Kane's amazing passing into 2 iconic assists England fans will remember for a long time (this was the first England victory in Spain since 1987).
          Watch for Harry Kane to continue notching assists or getting his teammates in fantastic positions to score with key passes left and right.....look for this new evolution to his game....it has made Tottenham a far more dangerous, entertaining and clinical club.
       Kane only is placed over Mbappe due to his consistency of 25+ goals a season for 3-4  years, something Mbappe is on the cusp of doing but Kane deserves the top spot above Mbappe (FOR NOW!!)
    INTERESTING STAT: Kane has already amassed 10 hat tricks in his career at Tottenham

OVERALL STATS:
*16 goals and 5 assists for Tottenham all competitions
*1 goal and 2 assists for England (post World Cup)




2. EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea)

        With 4 goals and 5 assists in his last 7 matches, following his brace of goals against Watford (he also contributed a chance that Willian hit off of the post in the same match and earned the match-winning penalty), Hazard has not only made a claim to be the best player in England (we know that), but in the tier just below Lionel Messi: next to Mbappe, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski among others), but with an edge on all of those players: he's simply better than all of them, barring Messi. 

       Hazard is the second best player in the entire world and has been for some time. He waved bye bye to Cristiano Ronaldo as he passed him in the dust last season with the 6 brilliant performances by Hazard in the 2018 World Cup (3 goals and 2 assists doesn't begin to explain his majestic exhibition at this tournament) seeing him pass the goal-poaching Portugal captain and part time rapist's lack of enthusiasm and obvious entitlement.

        Hazard's finishing has improved beyond belief, with his dragging of the ball around Watford keeper Ben Foster (no slouch himself) with a fake shot and a feint, then passing it into the net just to highlight his atrocious humiliation of the goalkeeper. 

       Remember what he did against Liverpool?

       Twice! 

       Hazard has attempted some of the coolest finishes outside of Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele on the season, poking the ball through keepers' legs and feet, tucking the ball under their oncoming and flapping arms, using his hips to swivel and dictate, but most of all to deceive, as it becomes nearly impossible for any defender, let alone an on-rushing goalkeeper, to have any chance of predicting what the Belgian captain will do. The second they've prepared for his shooting ability, he's switching the ball to the other foot, swiveling his hips to the opposite (just because he can) and then flipping the ball to an open player to dispatch into the net.

        Chelsea manager Mauricio Sarri has found the perfect role for Hazard in his tactical vision: he's their Raheem Sterling and their Lionel Messi at the same time; Eden roams, he presses and pulls defenders and deep lying / defending midfielders out of position, forcing them deeper, or breaking a center back pairing to the wings, creating a large gap in the middle for the likes of Willian, Pedro, Giroud, Kovacic, or even Kante himself (as he did vs City) to go rushing into the box for the perfect pass from Hazard (which he has pulled off most of this season). 

        He really is doing (in the Premier League) what Messi is doing in La Liga, for Barcelona. Two different leagues with their own drawbacks and their own advantages, yet what Eden Hazard has majestically proven is that he belongs next to Messi more than any other player.

       What Hazard has continued to do, at a blistering pace this season (almost without stoppage since the World Cup began) will most surely beckon us all who care about futbol (who care about these things) to definitively call him the 2nd Greatest Player on Planet Earth.

       And my god has he earned that right.

   

OVERALL STATS:

*12 goals and 9 assists

*scored 2 goals and added 1 assist for Belgium (post World Cup)

*earned more than a few penalties

*created many chances that teammates hit off of the post

Messi is as cold blooded and as calculated as ever before, all to illustrate the point that he is the greatest of all time as he leads his club to yet another treble? With Messi there is always the potential.


1. LIONEL MESSI  (Barcelona)

     To quote the great commentator  (and reader of this blog) Ray Hudson of GOLTV and BEINSports fame "Messi has been majesterial" to begin this season, exposing  the idiocy and flippant stupidity of recent criticism from Pele among others.
     To illustrate Messi's brilliance (which even his mind-boggling stats can't depict), the Barca captain has had 11 goals and 7 assists in his last 10 matches, with another two possible assists being missed at point blank range by both Suarez players at Barca. He has simply been at his filthy best, dribbling through everyone, creating magic with his runs, his perfectly timed through balls and dictating terms to his opponents.
       Messi has also been cruelly unlucky, hitting the post 12 times this season and seeing a litany of chances created from his feet going wayward as teammates have missed the mark. This only highlights the incredible prolific magic the Argentine conjures time and time again for his club.
      We've seen a smarter Messi, too, knowing full well he won't get any rest from his manager, the player himself has dialed it back seemingly every other match, conserving himself from the unnecessary, all while still delivering profound moments that decide the matches. Watch every moment and savor it...he is the greatest of all time and he won't be here forever. We are all lucky to be alive at this time, to get to see this sacrifice of human love that he sheds through the pure lust and joy of his play, the magic he ensures upon us all with his brilliant futbol mind...
        Pele is lucky he's alive to see Messi, too.

OVERALL STATS:
*21 goals and 12 assists for Barcelona in all competitive matches