World Soccer Blogger Top 20

Easiest team to rank: Barca. Best team in the world. Period. End of story.




Even though I must admit that I don't really see the point to worldwide soccer rankings, a lot of other columnists and websites indulge in this little game, so I figured I'd throw in my two cents. The reason it seems like a futile activity is because of the subjectivity of it all - are you rating the teams based on reality or hypotheticals, ie. what happens on the field or what you would imagine would happen on the field if they ever played? For example, who's to say how Boca would fare against Hertha Berlin? The former leads the Argentine Apertura and the latter is in first place in the Bundesliga. Although few would argue that the Bundesliga is a far superior league to the Apertura, I've got Boca ahead of Hertha simply because they seem like a stronger team from what I've seen of them thus far. If they were to play on a neutral field, I'd pick Boca to win. It is simply a guess. Then again, I've got Lyon ranked 3rd after their demolition of Real Madrid, who sit 10th, so that is a ranking based on an actual performance. If the teams were to play 10 times on a neutral field, though, I'd guess that Real Madrid would win a few games, they would draw a few games, and Lyon would win a few games. In that sense, based on a hypothetical situation, I'd have the two teams ranked much closer together. Plus, how can you reflect factors like league schedules? When Lyon won 2-0 last week, the French side had already had a full month more of practice than Real - that was absolutely a factor. How much of these rankings is about real games? And how much about predictions? The bottom line is, when it comes to rankings, all columnists, from the ones who vote on the AP College Football Top 25 to the ones who rate the NFL's best teams, do so using their own formula - to each his own. What all this means is that although I don't really see the point in these rankings, it's clear that readers enjoy them. They're a source of constant debate, as well as interesting discussions about not only the quality of specific teams, but leagues in general. If for no other reason than that, here is the first edition of WSB's Top 20. Assuming you readers are interested, we'll make a monthly habit of this. So here you go, installment numero uno:


1. Barcelona (just when Barca couldn't be any more likable, they're now sponsored by Unicef - I mean, enough already)
2. Chelsea
3. Lyon
4. Inter
5. Arsenal (the more desperate team usually wins - last week, Arsenal was just more desperate than ManU)
6. ManU
7. Liverpool (Xabi Alonso = brilliant)
8. Milan (Seedorf's free kick last week was a thing of beauty - why is he not on the Dutch team?)
9. Valencia (must-see TV: los Ches play Barca on Sunday at the Camp Nou)
10. Sevilla (watch out, folks, these guys are for real)
11. Real Madrid (another poor display in a 2-0 win over Sociedad - up next: Betis away - yikes)
12. Bayern (from bad to worse: shocking loss to Arminia Bielefeld and Hargraves is out for six weeks)
13. Roma
14. Boca (can Lavolpe keep los Xeneixes in first now that Basile has moved on to la Seleccion?)
15. Marseille (with Cisse back next month, could these guys really challenge Lyon?)
16. Sao Paolo
17. Hertha Berlin
18. Porto
19. PSV (their Champions League game vs L'pool was the worst game of the year thus far)
20. Ajax

On the bubble: River Plate, Benfica, DC United