The 23 man Ballon d'Or shortlist for 2013 was released earlier today, and as per usual there are talking points aplenty regarding questionable omissions and inclusions. FIFA, nor anybody else for that matter, cannot produce an infallible list of the best performers in any given time frame and points to debate will remain nigh-on impossible to eradicate. Here, WhoScored.com's statistically-based rating system gives a alternative top 23 players since 1 January 2013, based purely on performances in club competition and the summer's Confederations Cup, whilst only players with at least 25 appearances have been considered, so as to ensure a degree of consistency.
Given the success of the Bundesliga this year, it is apt that the list is dominated by German players and others who have been plying their trade in that league. While the familiar faces of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo top the charts with respective ratings of 8.43 and 8.30, Franck Ribéry (8.03) leads a group of 11 Bundesliga players in the 23, 6 of whom make up the majority of the top 10. The Champions League final was an all-German affair at Wembley back in May, and the scorer of the winning goal in that match, Arjen Robben is amongst those to have performed to an outstanding level throughout the year, obtaining a rating of 7.78 over 30 appearances.
The rise of the Bundesliga further contributed to the plight of La Liga, and while Messi and Ronaldo stand out for fantastic displays and unparalleled personal goalscoring records, only one other player from the Primera is amongst the rankings, with Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic's flying start to this campaign boosting a decent end to last season. The heroic goals of Gareth Bale at Tottenham and Daniel Carvajal's impressive, consistent displays at right-back for Bayer Leverkusen won them both moves to the Bernabeu, perhaps giving indication of Madrid's realisation that other leagues were outgrowing the Spanish one.
Carvajal is, interestingly, the only Spaniard in the list, in a year where the country's two big sides were embarrassed by Bayern and Dortmund in the Champions League and the national side's record-breaking unbeaten run of 29 competitive games came to an end in comprehensive Confederations Cup Final defeat to Brazil. Xavi and Andrés Iniesta both made the official list but their performances were only enough to rank 186th and 70th, respectively, in WhoScored's rankings. What exactly they did this year to even be close to winning the Ballon d'Or is certainly debatable.
Mario Götze, Julian Draxler, Marco Reus, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Max Kruse and Stefan Kießling make up the German contingent in our top 23; more than any other nationality boasts. Leverkusen striker Kießling has scored 19 Bundesliga goals since the turn of the year, ranking him second in Germany and 6th in Europe's top 5 leagues. He has struggled, given his physical, domineering and rather unattractive approach to the game, to hold on to a spot in a short-passing Germany squad, but he can't be overlooked much longer if his performances continue to this standard.
Not far behind is Liverpool's Luis Suárez, who ranks fourth in the Ballon d'WhoScored list, helping his side to 3rd in the table this season, aided in his endeavours by captain Steven Gerrard's performances, who is the only Englishman on the shortlist. One Italian makes the list in Mario Balotelli, one Frenchman in Ribéry, one Portuguese player in Ronaldo, one Dutchman in Robben and one more from the likes of Poland (Lewandowski), Sweden (Ibrahimovic) and Chile (Vidal).
In fact, only Argentina (2 - Messi and Rodrigo Palacio) and Croatia (2 - Mario Mandzukic and Rakitic) join Germany with more than one player in the top 23 performers of 2013; it has been a good year in football to be German, and that could bode well for them with the World Cup coming up next summer. An eclectic mix of nations make up the rest of the list, but as we have come to expect, Messi and Ronaldo, with an incredible 28 goals each in the league, Champions League and Confederations Cup in 2013, lead the way just as they did last year.
Who do you think have been the best players in 2013? Let us know in the comments below
