Juventus’s brilliant Chilean reckons he’s the best on the planet! Is he…?
Juventus’ superb Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal has claimed in a recent interview that he’s head and shoulders above any player in world football.
“I am the best player in the world in my position. That’s simply the way it is for me,” the Chile international was quoted as saying by Sport Bild.
“There are a lot of players out there in my position who try and play just like me and want to copy my style of play.
“But it’s quite clear for me that I’m the best in my role. Nobody puts in as much defensive work as I do and then scores a lot of goals on top of it as well.”
Vidal’s claims are bold, but after scoring 15 goals in just 24 starts this season for the table-topping Old Lady, he’s doing his best to justify his claims.
Here’s four players who could perhaps claim to be the world’s best box-to-box midfielder as well…
Yaya Toure – Manchester City
Perhaps the closest player to Vidal is City’s immensely powerful Ivorian midfielder. Toure has scored 12 goals in the Premier and Champions League this season, and assisted four goals for teammates too. He also has completed over 90% of his passes, but makes far less tackles and interceptions than the exceptional Chilean. Toure does have better set-piece ability, and is a bigger aerial threat thanks to his height, while Vidal is short and stocky. The Chilean undeniably scraps and harries opponents more than Toure does, who prefers to sit deep in an attempt to dictate tempo.
Paul Pogba – Juventus
Interestingly, a player who could arguably already stake claim to the title is the brilliant young Frenchman who plays alongside Vidal in Turin. The 20-year-old has a penchant for wondergoals, and has scored six of them this season. At just 20-years-old, he’s arguably the most promising young midfielder in the world, and his physical presence combined with his technical ability makes him a simply awesome prospect. His ability to find a teammate with clever passes is similar to Vidal, although the Chilean is currently more combative and a more enthusiastic tackler.
Ramires – Chelsea
The Brazilian midfielder is probably not in Vidal’s elite company, but is one of the first names on Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea team sheet. He provides constant energy up and down the entire pitch for the entire 90 minutes, and his work-rate is comparable to Vidal. Ramires is also rangy, and can cover ground quickly, although he offers nowhere near the same attacking and creative threat as the Chilean. Defensively though, he’s his equal.
Aaron Ramsey – Arsenal
This season, Ramsey’s almost been as good as any other midfielder in Europe. Granted, he hasn’t proved himself over a long enough period of time yet to be considered truly world-class, but statistically, he can match Vidal this term. Ramsey has scored ten and assisted seven so far, and has a higher pass completion ratio than Vidal. He’s averaged 3.7 tackles per match, which is only 0.9 less than Vidal, and Ramsey also averages over 20 more passes per match. If the Welshman picks up where he left off on his return from injury, Arsenal could eventually have a player who deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Juventus’s all-action South American.
(All stats used courtesy of WhoScored.)
