James Richardson, James Horncastle & Gab Marcotti take a look back at the career of a Roma icon, midfield legend and World Cup winner – Daniele De Rossi. Immortalised in Italian pop culture and in the hearts of fans at the Stadio Olimpico, we examine a man of impeccable integrity and character.
Listen below, or subscribe to Golazzo here.
As you’ll know by now, we’ve been spending a lot of time deeply engrossed in the statistics for the 2019/20 season so far and whilst football remains on pause – we’ve been putting together different XIs based on various criteria.
Today we’re looking at the best Premier League players at the sides currently sat in the bottom 5, according to our average player ratings. So that’s a Best XI from West Ham United, Watford, AFC Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City.
With apologies to fans of those clubs, for the reminder. ?
GK – ??????? Aaron Ramsdale, AFC Bournemouth
Only elevated to first choice at Bournemouth at the start of the season, the 21-year-old has matured fast and is now the youngest regular starting goalkeeper in the division. Asmir Begović has even had to go out on loan to AC Milan just to get games!
He keeps out two other English keepers who’ve had fine seasons themselves, with a rating of 6.56 to Ben Foster’s 6.33 and Tom Heaton’s 6.19.
LB – ?? Diego Rico, AFC Bournemouth
After putting a difficult first season in the Premier League behind him, Rico has impressed down the left in Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side – even providing two assists in his 21 starts.
CB – ?? Nathan Aké, AFC Bournemouth
Aké has had a fight on his hands for a spot in this side, with Norwich City’s Christophe Zimmermann registering the exact same average rating of 6.64, across the season. In the end, we went for the Dutchman thanks to his significant threat at both ends of the park.
CB – ?? Christian Kabasele, Watford
Now in his fourth season with Watford, Kabasele’s reliability sees him slot in here as our highest rated centre-back at any of the sides currently residing in the bottom five of the EPL. He has notched up 99 clearances and 32 interceptions across his 19 appearances.
RB – ??????? Ryan Fredericks, West Ham United
Like his Bournemouth counterpart on the opposite flank, Fredericks was enjoying a strong second season in the Premier League with West Ham United until injury struck in February. The good news is, should this season ever restart – Fredericks will be back to full fitness!
LM – ?? Philip Billing, AFC Bournemouth
Another of Bournemouth’s surprise Scandinavians (see also Josh King!), Billing moved to the club at the start of the season and has been on the fringes of our Premier League teams of the week, on a reasonably regular basis ever since.
CM – ?? Abdoulaye Doucouré, Watford
Always reliable for a few goals a season, each one seemingly following a late lung-busting run in to the box, Doucouré should be a popular inclusion for any Watford fans reading. He’s contributed 4 goals and 2 assists from his usual spot in attacking midfield, but he’ll have to settle for the central spot in our basic 4-3-3.
RM – ??????? John McGinn, Aston Villa
Aston Villa have won just three games since McGinn was forced out of the side by an unfortunate ankle injury just before Christmas. We’re not saying he’s the only reason for that disappointing points return, but his return might just feel like a new signing whenever the season does resume!
LW – ??????? Jack Grealish, Aston Villa
Probably in need of a crumb of comforting news after his UK lockdown appearance in the press this week, Grealish is the highest rated player in the XI. In fact, with an overall average rating of 7.44 he is second only to Sadio Mané, for his position in the division as a whole.
CF – ?? Teemu Pukki, Norwich City
Every team deserves a real goalscorer, and in Teemu Pukki this side has one. The Finn started the season in blistering form, bagging 6 in the opening 5 games and despite only adding another 5 since then he still rates at an average of 6.67 per match.
And now Finland’s long awaited debut at a major tournament has been put off until 2021, perhaps Pukki can get his shooting boots back on in the Prem, whenever we re-start.
RW – ?? Anwar El Ghazi, Aston Villa
After a year on loan with the club whilst they were in the Championship, El Ghazi has quietly adapted to life in the Premier League albeit perhaps with Villa fans left wanting more from their Dutch international? So far, he has scored 4 and provided 4 more for his teammates.
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If you fancy a deep dive into any of the countless statistics we cover on various league around the world, simply search by country, select a league profile and swipe right to the stats tab.
For more of this kind of thing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
You have 8 minutes to try to name as many of England’s opponents in major tournaments since the 1990 World Cup as you can.
Send us a tweet and let us know how you did!
Looking for more? Try naming every Ballon d’Or winner since 1995.
What makes a hero? After picking their squad of supervillains in the last Stadio podcast episode, Musa and Ryan now assemble a squad of footballing superheroes.
Listen below, or search for Stadio in your favourite podcast app.
Below, Stadio co-founder, Musa Okwonga, takes us through the Superhero XI.
What makes a hero? Well, first of all, it is someone who saves their most memorable feat for the most daunting of stages. A superhero is someone who conjures these feats so often that they become the norm; to them, saving the day seems as routine as brushing their teeth. For them, greatness appears mundane.
Though football is a team sport, its defining moments often come when players act by themselves. There has arguably been no major footballer more exposed than Iker Casillas when Arjen Robben was through on goal against him in the 2010 World Cup Final; and yet that was when, in diving at Robben’s feet, Casillas stood taller in history than ever. Later that evening his team-mate Andres Iniesta had his own appointment with immortality, waiting for a lofted pass to fall from the Rio sky, and he showed the same grace under pressure. He could almost have earned a place in this line-up for his goal celebration alone, a uniquely moving tribute to his late friend Dani Jarque.
Casillas and Iniesta both feature in this team of superheroes; not only because of what they won, but because of how they won it. Being a superhero isn’t just about claiming a trophy. It’s about how inspiring your journey was on the way there. Javier Zanetti, John Charles, Lilian Thuram and Paolo Maldini excelled in a league often criticised for the cynicism of its defending, but each have reputations beyond reproach. It’s one thing to be part of one of the most fearsome rear-guards in your sport’s history: it’s quite another to be called a gentleman while doing it.
The true superheroes are always ready to lead. In 1950, Uruguay’s Obdulio Varela faced down a quarter of a million supporters against Brazil at the Maracanã; a crowd about as intimidating as any that Russell Crowe’s character encountered in Gladiator. In three different eras and contexts, Leo Messi, Alfredo di Stefano and Johan Cruyff strolled about the Bernabéu as if it were their living-room. And, most importantly of all, no greatness comes without profound struggle. The career of this team’s centre-forward follows a trajectory as grand as any classic Greek drama: from glory, to crisis, to glory again.
There may be sadness and even disbelief at those names we have omitted. Hopefully, though, the overwhelming sense will be of a team so glorious that to watch them gives the same contentment as a sumptuous meal. They would be coached by a genius and hosted by perhaps the most passionate fan base on Earth; their bench would be composed of the game’s greatest philosophers and ambassadors; and their bond would be as strong as the squad of supervillains they would oppose. Regardless of the outcome between these sides, the resultant battle would be epic; and it would be at least as much fun as it has been to select these two teams.
As you’ll know by now, we’ve been spending a lot of time deeply engrossed in the statistics for the 2019/20 season so far and whilst football remains on pause – we’ve been putting together different XIs based on various criteria.
Today we’re looking at the best Premier League players at the sides currently sat in the bottom 5, according to our average player ratings. So that’s a Best XI from West Ham United, Watford, AFC Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City.
With apologies to fans of those clubs, for the reminder. ?
GK – ??????? Aaron Ramsdale, AFC Bournemouth
Only elevated to first choice at Bournemouth at the start of the season, the 21-year-old has matured fast and is now the youngest regular starting goalkeeper in the division. Asmir Begović has even had to go out on loan to AC Milan just to get games!
He keeps out two other English keepers who’ve had fine seasons themselves, with a rating of 6.56 to Ben Foster’s 6.33 and Tom Heaton’s 6.19.
LB – ?? Diego Rico, AFC Bournemouth
After putting a difficult first season in the Premier League behind him, Rico has impressed down the left in Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side – even providing two assists in his 21 starts.
CB – ?? Nathan Aké, AFC Bournemouth
Aké has had a fight on his hands for a spot in this side, with Norwich City’s Christophe Zimmermann registering the exact same average rating of 6.64, across the season. In the end, we went for the Dutchman thanks to his significant threat at both ends of the park.
CB – ?? Christian Kabasele, Watford
Now in his fourth season with Watford, Kabasele’s reliability sees him slot in here as our highest rated centre-back at any of the sides currently residing in the bottom five of the EPL. He has notched up 99 clearances and 32 interceptions across his 19 appearances.
RB – ??????? Ryan Fredericks, West Ham United
Like his Bournemouth counterpart on the opposite flank, Fredericks was enjoying a strong second season in the Premier League with West Ham United until injury struck in February. The good news is, should this season ever restart – Fredericks will be back to full fitness!
LM – ?? Philip Billing, AFC Bournemouth
Another of Bournemouth’s surprise Scandinavians (see also Josh King!), Billing moved to the club at the start of the season and has been on the fringes of our Premier League teams of the week, on a reasonably regular basis ever since.
CM – ?? Abdoulaye Doucouré, Watford
Always reliable for a few goals a season, each one seemingly following a late lung-busting run in to the box, Doucouré should be a popular inclusion for any Watford fans reading. He’s contributed 4 goals and 2 assists from his usual spot in attacking midfield, but he’ll have to settle for the central spot in our basic 4-3-3.
RM – ??????? John McGinn, Aston Villa
Aston Villa have won just three games since McGinn was forced out of the side by an unfortunate ankle injury just before Christmas. We’re not saying he’s the only reason for that disappointing points return, but his return might just feel like a new signing whenever the season does resume!
LW – ??????? Jack Grealish, Aston Villa
Probably in need of a crumb of comforting news after his UK lockdown appearance in the press this week, Grealish is the highest rated player in the XI. In fact, with an overall average rating of 7.44 he is second only to Sadio Mané, for his position in the division as a whole.
CF – ?? Teemu Pukki, Norwich City
Every team deserves a real goalscorer, and in Teemu Pukki this side has one. The Finn started the season in blistering form, bagging 6 in the opening 5 games and despite only adding another 5 since then he still rates at an average of 6.67 per match.
And now Finland’s long awaited debut at a major tournament has been put off until 2021, perhaps Pukki can get his shooting boots back on in the Prem, whenever we re-start.
RW – ?? Anwar El Ghazi, Aston Villa
After a year on loan with the club whilst they were in the Championship, El Ghazi has quietly adapted to life in the Premier League albeit perhaps with Villa fans left wanting more from their Dutch international? So far, he has scored 4 and provided 4 more for his teammates.
[interaction id=”5e83699164e183c420597681″]
If you fancy a deep dive into any of the countless statistics we cover on various league around the world, simply search by country, select a league profile and swipe right to the stats tab.
For more of this kind of thing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Thanks to Liverpool’s dominance of the English Premier League during the 2019/20 season, the Best XI we drew up from the FotMob average player ratings was kind of boring. We found that, if the season ended now (and we really hope it doesn’t) Liverpool players had earned the highest average in 7 positions across our standard 4-3-3 formation.
Therefore, we thought we’d run through our stats for the Premier League again. And add some caveats.
The Rules: This time, we’ve limited who gets into our Best XI to one player per club. So, looking at our overall player ratings – Kevin De Bruyne sits top with an average of 7.93 so he automatically becomes the first and last Manchester City star to get into our line-up.
The next condition is that we run from the top of rankings down – so each position is filled by the player with the best rating, but if he takes the spot for that team it means even if someone from the same club has a better rating in their position, they will not be included. For instance – Sadio Mané is the best scoring Liverpool player, so he goes into the left wing position. His teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold is the most rated right-back but as Liverpool’s spot is taken, we can’t use him.
Over complicated? Probably, but this is where we are now with no football to report on!
Who makes the cut?
Our new rules make for some interesting changes from the original Best XI for the Premier League. Arsenal’s Bernd Leno actually has the 3rd highest average rating for a goalkeeper this season but as Alisson’s club spot is taken by Mané and Sheffield United’s Dean Henderson forfeits his chance, with centre-back Jack O’Connell taking their club spot – we pick Leno!
Elsewhere, JonJo Shelvey is our 4th best rated central midfielder behind not only De Bruyne and Maddison but also, David Silva (Man City’s spot taken by De Bruyne) and Jordan Henderson (Liverpool’s spot taken by Mané). By virtue of his club’s place not being taken by another Newcastle player with a higher rating, he slots in to our team.
Perhaps our most contested position on the pitch is at centre forward. Here Roberto Firmino, Jamie Vardy, Sergio Agüero and Raúl Jiménez all miss out due to other, better rated players from their clubs already taking a place elsewhere in the team. Instead, Harry Kane steps up as our number 9 (injury not withstanding)!
So, what does all this mean? We’re not sure! But we thought it was a perfectly good way to lose ourselves in the vast number of statistics we carry here in the app.
The overall Best XI.
Here’s a reminder of the original team produced from our ratings for the Premier League. The one without the rules applied!
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For more of this kind of thing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
You have 8 minutes to try to name as many Ballon d’Or winners since 1995 as you can (plus the second and third place finishers). As a hint, the club the nominees played for is listed in each year.
Just tap Play below and begin typing your answers. Then, send us a tweet and let us know how you did!
Looking for more? Try naming as many clubs as you can from Champions League history.
What makes a hero? After picking their squad of supervillains in the last Stadio podcast episode, Musa and Ryan now assemble a squad of footballing superheroes. Players who save some of their most memorable moments for the world’s biggest stages, with an ethic that aims to spread all of what we see as good in the game. Just like the last episode, they will also be led by a mastermind and play their games in a ground that suits.
Listen below, or search for Stadio in your favourite podcast app.
In 2017, Hull City’s Andy Robertson wasn’t your first pick as a future Champions League winner, but no one would doubt his value now.
Tifo Football teamed up with The Athletic to bring you the best signings of the last ten years.
Whilst we await a resolution for what remains of the 2019/20 Champions League, we thought we’d take a look through the FotMob stats to put together this – our team of the best rated players to appear in the competition this season.
GK – ?? Keylor Navas, PSG
Not everybody’s automatic thought maybe, but Navas has performed heroically in his first season with Paris Saint-German in the Champions League. He’s kept 5 clean sheets in 7 games and saved the only penalty he’s faced.
LB – ?? Alphonso Davies, Bayern München
Now a regular in every team of the season we seem to draw up, Canada’s breakthrough star of 2019/20 has appeared in 4 of Bayern’s UCL games, providing 3 assists to date.
CB – ?? Dayot Upamecano, RB Leipzig
Upamecano has been at the heart of RB Leipzig’s defence in the year they made their first ever appearance in to the knock-out stages of the tournament.
CB – ?? Kalidou Koulibaly, Napoli
The Senegalese international impressed in the Group Stages as his Italian side progressed after finishing second to reigning Champions, Liverpool in Group E. He did however miss the Round of 16, 1st leg against Barcelona.
RB – ?? Nélson Semedo, Barcelona
Our MOTM in that game against Napoli was Barça’s right-back on the night. It was Semedo’s pass that gave Antoine Griezmann the chance to level the tie going into the 2nd leg, yet to be rescheduled.
LM – ?? Serge Gnabry, Bayern München
We could have put Gnabry in any number of positions in this team, such has been his form and versatility this season. He’s scored 6 goals in the tournament, all of them against English sides – particularly sweet after his early career in the Premier League was seen as something of a failure.
CM – ?? Toni Kroos, Real Madrid
The player with our third best average rating in the Champions League during the campaign, Kroos has been central to Zidane’s plans for Real Madrid – and they’ll need him to fire again, if the club are to overturn their 1st leg defeat in the R16 to Manchester City, should that second game ever take place.
RM – ?? Achraf Hakimi, Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund’s only representative in the team after we failed to squeeze Erling Haaland in to a packed front line(!), Hakimi provided four goals on the club’s run to the R16, where they were defeated by PSG.
LW – ?? Neymar, PSG
The Parisians are into their first Quarter-Final for four seasons, thanks in part to the excellent form of their talisman, Neymar. Despite being restricted to just 4 appearances in the competition, he’s scored 3 and set up another 2 goals along the way.
CF – ?? Robert Lewandowski, Bayern München
Bayern’s third player to make our team of the season won’t need any introduction – after all, he’s had a freakishly good year in the competition, even by his standards! Lewandowski has scored 11 goals as Bayern destroyed their group and took a 3-0 lead back to Germany after the 1st leg of their R16 tie against Chelsea.
RW – ?? Lionel Messi, Barcelona
Enjoy him whilst you can! This might not be a vintage Barcelona side but the second top scorer in the competition’s history has still managed to work his magic – adding 2 goals and 3 assists in this year’s edition of the tournament.
If you fancy a deep dive into any of the countless statistics we cover on various league around the world, simply search by country, select a league profile and swipe right to the stats tab.
For more of this kind of thing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.