EYE TEST SUPREMACY

Eye test or Statistics...which one trumps the other?

The modern era of football has seen statistics gain popularity like never before. This has seen the use of spreadsheets and graphical representations of players’ prowess. We live in a time where data is king. And I mean sure, stats can help put into perspective how productive a player has been through the course of their career. My thing is, football has always been an art form that brings entertainment for the fans globally. Billions of people around the world watch football for the spectacle that it is, and it goes without saying that the product on show needs to maintain peak entertainment. It’ll be very disingenuous of me to ignore that it’s also a results-based game. This is why there’s a big divide in the football discourse today. Some put more importance on the stats aspect of the game, while others, like me, prefer the aesthetics of the game to be more appreciated. At the end of the day, both statistics and the aesthetics of the game are important and should be treated as such. Here are 20 players currently playing that I enjoy watching, whether or not they rack up the numbers.

1. Lionel Messi - Inter Miami & Argentina

2. Pedri Gonzalez - FC Barcelona & Spain

3. Lamine Yamal - FC Barcelona & Spain

4. Florian Wirtz - Bayer Leverkusen & Germany

5. Paulo Dybala - AS Roma & Argentina

6. Jamal Musiala - FC Bayern Munich & Germany

7. Antoine Griezmann - Atletico de Madrid

8. Frenkie De Jong - FC Barcelona & Netherlands

9. Rafael Leao - AC Milan & Portugal

10. Francisco ‘Isco’ Alarcon - Real Betis & Spain

11. Alex Baena - Villarreal & Spain

12. Rayan Cherki - Olympic Lyon & France

13. Dani Olmo - FC Barcelona & Spain

14. Cole Palmer - Chelsea & England

15. Bradley Barcola - PSG & France

16. Desire Doue - PSG & France

17. Pablo Gavi - FC Barcelona & Spain

18. Vinicius Junior - Real Madrid & Brazil

19. Kenan Yildiz - Juventus & Turkey

20. Vitor Ferreira ‘Vitinha’ - PSG & Portugal