Top 100 Young Players of 2001

[joey55]

I found this on another forum and thought it was quite an interesting read. I think it was compiled by 442 magazine.

2001 Top 100 youngsters in the world list
here goes:

1. Djibril Cisse (STR, Auxerre)
2. Andres D'Allesandro (AM, River Plate)
3. Leandro Bonfim (AM, Vitoria/PSV Eindhoven)
4. Fernando Jose Torres (STR, Atletico Madrid)
5. Jermaine Pennant (R/WNG, Arsenal)
6. Rafael Van der Vaart (C/MF, Ajax)
7. Florent Sinama-Pongolle (STR, Le Havre/Liverpool)
8. Piotr Trochowski (AM, FC Bayern Munich)
9. Anthony Le Tallec (AM/CFWD, Le Havre/Liverpool)
10. Mourad Meghni (AM, Bologna)
11. Pedro Mantorras (STR, Benfica Lisbon)
12. David Odonkor (FWD, Borussia Dortmund)
13. Darren Fletcher (C/MF, Manchester United)
14. John Welsh (C/DM, Liverpool)
15. Kim Kallstrom (CM, BK Hacken)
16. Philippe Mexes (CB, Auxerre)
17. Johnny Heitinga (CB, Ajax)
18. Juan Andreu Melli (CM, Real Betis)
19. Baldo Di Gregorio (CB, Eintract Frankfurt)
20. Andres Iniesta (AM, Barcelona)
21. Milan Baros (STR, Liverpool)
22. Marius Niculae (STR, Sporting Lisbon)
23. Fabricio Coloccini (CB, Milan/on loan to Alaves)
24. Ricardo Bernardo Quaresma (L/WNG, Sporting Lisbon)
25. Maicon (RWB, Cruzeiro)
26. Hugo Viana (CM, Sporting Lisbon)
27. Arjen Robben (L/WNG, Groningen/PSV Eindhoven)
28. Julio Colombo (CB, Montpellier)
29. Gregory Vignal (LB, Liverpool)
30. Jermaine DeFoe (STR, West Ham United)
31. Gareth Barry (LB, Aston Villa)
32. Marat Izmailov (AM/FWD, Lokomotiv Moscow)
33. Hassan Yebda (DM, Auxerre)
34. Leandro Romagnoli (AM, San Lorenzo)
35. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (CFWD, Ajax)
36. Dean Ashton (CFWD, Crewe Alexandria)
37. Ednilson (AM, Benfica Lisbon)
38. Chris Kirkland (GK, Liverpool)
39. Emilliano S. Dudar (CB, Velez Sarsfield)
40. Helder Postiga (STR, Porto)
41. Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam (STR/LWNG, Ajax)
42. Joaquin Sanchez (L/WNG, Real Betis)
43. Diego Ribas (AM, Santos)
44. Jay Lucas (CFWD, Southampton)
45. Niko Kranjcar (AM/CFWD, Dinamo Zagreb)
46. Christian Petereit (RB/CB, Schalke 04)
47. Ewerthon (STR/FWD, Borussia Dortmund)
48. Gael Givet (CB/LB, Monaco)
49. Francesco Lodi (AM, Empoli/Parma)
50. Massimo Donati (DM, AC Milan)
51. Gatti Ribeiro (RWB, Blooming)
52. Jeremie Aliadiere (STR, Arsenal)
53. Francesco Tarantino (LB/CB, Athletic Bilbao)
54. Lourenco Da Silva (FWD/LWNG, Sporting Lisbon)
55. Alexander Ludwig (L/WNG, Werder Bremen)
56. Landon Donovan (STR, San Jose Earthquakes)
57. Ricardo Costa (CB, FC Porto)
58. Filip Trojan (L/WNG, Schalke 04)
59. Carlos Martins (CM, Sporting Lisbon)
60. Serhat Akin (STR, Fenerbahce)
61. Johnnier Montano (AM/FWD, Parma-on loan to Verona)
62. Mark Fotheringham (C/MF, Celtic)
63. Rubinho (GK, Corinthians)
64. Michael Chopra (STR, Newcastle)
65. Edward Johnson (STR, Dallas Burn)
66. Johnny Van Beukering (STR, Vitesse)
67. Santino Quaranta (STR, DC United)
68. Andreas Hinkel (RB/RWB, Stuttgart)
69. Bojan Djrodjic (L/WNG, Manchester United)
70. Matteo Brighi (CM, Juventus)
71. Cherno Samba (CFWD, Millwall)
72. Hassan Ahamada (LWNG/STR, Nantes)
73. Theo Janssen (LM, Vitesse)
74. Derik Boateng (AM, Panathinaikos)
75. Mauro Rosales (R/WNG, Newell's Old Boys)
76. Dulee Johnson (STR, BK Hacken)
77. Fernando Macedo Nano (L/WNG, Barcelona)
78. Michael Essien (D/MF, Bastia)
79. Andres Oliveira (STR/FWD, Perth Glory)
80. Candido Costa (AM, Porto)
81. Tuomas Aho (CB, My-Pa)
82. Dimitar Berbatov (STR, Bayer Leverkusen)
83. Thijs Houwing (CFWD, Twente)
84. Labinot Harbuzi (AM, Malmo FF)
85. Michael Zepek (CM, Bayer Leverkusen)
86. Mika Vayrynen (AM, FC Jokerit)
87. Ramon Calliste (STR, Manchester United)
88. Christoph Preuss (RWB, Eintract Frankfurt)
89. Keith Kelly (CM, PSG)
90. Aldo Jara (FWD, Cerro Portano)
91. Kieran Richardson (L/WNG, Manchester United)
92. Leonardo Santiago (L/WNG, Feyenoord)
93. Shaun Maloney(STR, Celtic)
94. Azar Karadas (CFWD/CB, Brann Bergen)
95. Kaka (AM, Sao Paulo)
96. Benjamin Auer (CFWD, Borussia M'Gladbach)
97. Daniyel Cimen (LB/CB, Eintract Frankfurt)
98. Erdal Kilicaslan (CFWD, Bayern Munich)
99. David Prutton (D/MF, Nottingham Forest)
100. Alexander Hleb (AM, Stuttgart)

Kaka is 90 places below Jermaine Pennant and Berbatov is 41 places below Mido!

 

[Dougal]

Who the hell is John Welsh!?! :lol:

 

[the_king]

Some of them are classic, looks like a shortlist for someone on FM

Some top class players on the list though.

 

[Kevealis]

Some fantastic players, some players ive never heard of, and some major flops!

 

[the_king]

What the hell happened to Andres D'Allesandro?

Used to think he was great!

 

[the_king]

David Prutton!

:rofl:

How did that one escape me!
:grin:

 

[Kevealis]

Who the hell is John Welsh!?! :lol:

Stevie Gerrard's real name

 

[DEFchenkOE]

What the hell happened to Andres D'Allesandro?

Used to think he was great!

He plays in Argentina now, I think San Lorenzo but not too sure, either way he is usually on the bench.

Is the list supposed to be in order of who they thought the best talents were or just a random order? Because it wouldn't make too much sense to have someone like Odonkor so high up, although I guess his pace at a young age probably made him stand out.

Actually quite impressive that Dean Ashton is on the list, a good spot from whoever compiled it.

 

[bubble07]

CHERNO SAMBA is classic Champ Manager. He is currently a freee agent after being released by Plymouth

He must be thinking WTF happened to me

 

[Supersonic]

Kaka is so low.

SHouldnt Tevez/Mascherano be on there? I dont remember seeing them.

De Rossi at Roma?

Aimar?

Some of that list has some great spots, some amusing flops but I think a fair amount has just been lifted straight from championship manager.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Who would be in people's list now? say for the top 20-30 players under 21. The obvious Barca "whizz kids" would be in there Bojan, Messi (is he still under 21???) etc. Also Aguero would be in there.

 

[DoublePivot]

40. Helder Postiga (STR, Porto)
41. Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam (STR/LWNG, Ajax)

Both way ahead of #82 :grin:

 

[DC_Boy]

good post Joey - very informative

 

[KeaneIsKeane]

Interesting read. Mascherano and Tevez were pretty young when this list was made Supersonic, so they might not have been on the radar yet. Did anyone watch Berbatov much at Leverkusen and I don't mean youtube clips, actually see him play. I'm trying to understand why he wasn't a giant success there, but just slightly above average.

 

[joey55]

Interesting read. Mascherano and Tevez were pretty young when this list was made Supersonic, so they might not have been on the radar yet. Did anyone watch Berbatov much at Leverkusen and I don't mean youtube clips, actually see him play. I'm trying to understand why he wasn't a giant success there, but just slightly above average.

I saw him and he was a big success. He was brilliant and I was desperate for us to sign him. It's just he played for an unfashionable club. I'd compare him to Arteta, in that, regular watchers of the Prem think he is top class, but fans of Serie A or the Bundesliga wouldn't know that much about him or rate him. Also, he didn't become a big part of the Leverkeusen side until the years after the CL final, when Ballack had left and they weren't doing so well. And of course, he's Bulgarian, so wouldn't get that much International recognition. Our media never really picked up on him, though he was linked with Arsenal and Celtic for a while. I think the general consensus in Germany was that he should have left for a bigger club the Spurs.

 

[Kendall]

Kaka is so low.

SHouldnt Tevez/Mascherano be on there? I dont remember seeing them.

De Rossi at Roma?

Aimar?

Some of that list has some great spots, some amusing flops but I think a fair amount has just been lifted straight from championship manager.

Tevez and Mascherano would only be something like 16/17 in 2001

 

[Kevealis]

Who would be in people's list now? say for the top 20-30 players under 21. The obvious Barca "whizz kids" would be in there Bojan, Messi (is he still under 21???) etc. Also Aguero would be in there.

Lulinha
John Fleck
Taarabt
Henri Saivet


Not too big on youngsters but theres plenty of great young talent about to burst onto the scene

 

[miles_64]

Wasn't John Welsh an incredible Champ man 02/03 signing?

 

[miles_64]

To be honest, that was pretty fascinating. Some of them didn't turn out as expected, some of them became stars, others picked up career-ending injuries.

Example:

87. Ramon Calliste (STR, Manchester United) - moved to Liverpool without ever breaking into the first team, then to S****horpe where he broke his ankle having not played 1 competitive game, then turned down by Wycombe after a trial at his cousin's, Jermaine Easter's, club. And he's still only 22. Just goes to show what can happen!

 

[Kevealis]

Mark Fotheringham


wow. How did he make it onto a list of anything remotely good.