Player of the tournament so far

[Winterfell is Burning]

This World Cup has seen great players playing terrific football, and also Germany and Argentina.

But who is THE BEST player so far in this tournament? Who was the best in the group stages.

While there has been great performances by CR7 (not in the last game, of course), Cheryshev (ditto), Hazard (considering he didn't even play, that's obvious) and Philippe Coutinho, I'd have to vote on Luka Modric. Croatia dominated what was, on paper at least, the hardest group of the tournament, and he was their most important player, bossing the midfield. If Croatia makes to the semifinals and he continues like this, I could see him being the best player in the tournament even if they don't win, like Forlan in 2002.

EDIT: Also, who was the most disappointing player so far? Judging by what he did in the previous 2 WCs, I have to vote for Thomas Muller. Looks like he won't beat Klose's record, after all.

What do you think?

 

[Iskaral Pust]

Modric has been the one I’ve enjoyed most so far.  Isco has been very good too. Shaqiri deserves a mention alongside Coutinho.  Musa is possibly the best performer going home early.

But it’s early yet.

[Mark Antony]

Absolutely Coutinho imo. Cr7 against Spain still the best performance in a individual game.

[Davrum]

As soon as I saw the thread title I thought of Modric and Coutinho. Not surprised I'm not the only one.

Rui Patricio has been ace too.

[polishgenius]

Modric gets the nod so far for being the only one who's been good in all three games.

Shoutout also to Hirving Lozano though. I assume he didn't do much in their loss to Sweden but he was cracking in their first two games and might be the breakout player, if there is one, of the WC so far.


Most disappointing for me has to be Neymar. Muller and Lewandowski were very bad but also depend much more on team-mates showing up just by the nature of their game - Muller can't function properly in a disjointed team and Lewandwoski needs to be fed. Neymar's just been a selfish self-glorying arse for most of the time.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Coutinho for me. Shout out to Modric. Honourable mention the Belgian team as a whole, and Eden Hazard in particular.

 

Biggest disappointments fill in almost any German player. I go with Müller though. As for Klose's all time goal scoring record, Müller has at least one more World Cup in him (agewise), maybe even two.

[baxus]

I'd be very surprised to see Muller play in 2026, at the age of 36-37.

As for the best player so far, I'd say Coutinho. Modric gets a close second.

[Consigliere]

Coutinho and Modric have been the standout performers. Hazard has been very good too. Granqvist has been a rock at the back for Sweden and Rui Patricio has looked very impressive (great signing for Wolves). Kane and Lukaku have done the business so far as well - they haven't been involved as much in build up play but have been very reliable in sticking away chances. 

Müller and Neymar have been the biggest disappointments. Neymar more so than Müller. The former thinks he's playing FIFA on a playstation whereas the latter struggled in a struggling team. David Silva has also been a big disappointment for me. He's not been anywhere near the level he is for City. His play for Spain thus far has been reminiscent of how Mata often plays for United or Wijnaldum for Liverpool i.e. very conservatively, always looking for the easy pass and his off the ball movement has been poor as well. 

[Philokles]

Modric and Coutinho for me as well.

The breakout stars so far Golovin, Lozano and Etebo. Stoke must be delighted that they got the deal for the latter done so early as his value will have skyrocketed based on his showing.

Müller, De Gea and to a lesser extent Smolov the disappointments so far. Russia was supposed to be built around Smolov going into the tournament but he got dropped after just one game.

Also credit to Willy Caballero for being handed the opportunity of a lifetime with Romero's injury and managing to screw it up about as much as is feasibly possible.

[Daemon the Leaner]

From the guys who haven't been mentioned so far:

-Colombia's Quintero is a good surprise

-Ngolo Kanté's been the pillar that holds France as a whole

The bigger disappointments are Neymar, Griezmann and Muller IMHO. Three world class players playing for top nations, but all three failed to find their feet in this tournament. Sure, the consequences aren't exactly the same for all three teams: Brazil could rest on Countinho, France could rest on… erm, good fortune?.. and Germany was unable to fill the gap.

[Corvinus85]

In terms of goalkeepers, I think Ochoa has been the best. We can say all we want about Germany, but with a weaker GK, Mexico may not have won that game. He has often carried Mexico in the past, and he is doing it now, despite the 3-0 loss to Sweden. Other excellent GKs have been Sommer, Schmeichel, and Rui Patricio.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, baxusalah said:

I'd be very surprised to see Muller play in 2026, at the age of 36-37.

As for the best player so far, I'd say Coutinho. Modric gets a close second.

36. Yes, it's a stretch, but it is not totally inconceivable, as Klose played his last World Cup at the age of 36. Ok, Klose also wanted to win that World Cup (like the whole squad in 2014), while Müller will lack that incentive in 2026.

p.s. I admit when I initially suggested he might be good for two more WC appaearances, that I thought he was a year younger than he actually is.

[Melphis Amekia]

Inui, Shibasaki and Yamaguchi for Japan have been pretty good too, if we're talking about breakout players. All three of them should get decent transfers from what they've showed so far.

Best player(s), yeah, Modrić and Coutinho definitely.

[Mark Antony]

6 hours ago, Fellaining Da Bruyne said:

Modric gets the nod so far for being the only one who's been good in all three games..

Coutinho definitely has. I’d argue Kante has too just France as a whole have been meh.

[Davrum]

On 6/30/2018 at 3:55 PM, Triskjavikson said:

I feel like there's sort of an elephant in the room, if you will.  Has Cristiano not entertained you all enough?  

ETA:  I do understand the impulse to name someone else, I really do.  

Choking on penalties does not a player of the tournament make my friend.

[Disturber of Peace]

In the best one-game individual performance category, i think both Cavani and Mbappe were better yesterday than Cristiano against Spain.

Mbappe dismantled Argentina in the counterattacks and the defensive work that Cavani did in addition to his goals has made for an even better performance imo.

And it being the knockout stages should count.

[Mark Antony]

Wrong thread  

[Winterfell is Burning]

12 hours ago, Disturber of Peace said:

In the best one-game individual performance category, i think both Cavani and Mbappe were better yesterday than Cristiano against Spain.

Mbappe dismantled Argentina in the counterattacks and the defensive work that Cavani did in addition to his goals has made for an even better performance imo.

And it being the knockout stages should count.

I agree that Mbappe's was the single greatest performance of the tournament so far.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Only one shout out for my main man Harry> This is bollocks! He's leading the WC with 5 goals despite playing way less time than anyone else who has scored a mere 2 goals. He's 5 for 5 on shots, averaging a goal every 31 minutes. Compare that with CR7, who has scored a goal every 90 minutes and Lukaku, who is averaging a goal every 60 minutes. The answer is Kane, and when he holds the Golden Boot and the WC championship trophy on July 15th you will all know how wrong you were! 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/world-cup/top-scorers

On 6/29/2018 at 6:47 AM, Prince Onyinye W. Ndidi said:

Müller and Neymar have been the biggest disappointments. Neymar more so than Müller. 

Ever heard of this guy name Messi? He was clearly the biggest disappointment. You can't be called the best ever, or even the best of your generation if you're going to disappear like that on the biggest stage. And I say that as a huge Messi/Argentina fan.

On 6/29/2018 at 8:37 AM, Corvinus of Teranga said:

In terms of goalkeepers, I think Ochoa has been the best. We can say all we want about Germany, but with a weaker GK, Mexico may not have won that game. He has often carried Mexico in the past, and he is doing it now, despite the 3-0 loss to Sweden. Other excellent GKs have been Sommer, Schmeichel, and Rui Patricio.

It feels like everyone forgot that this dude was a meme at the last WC. Dude was wall. I'm surprised he's not on a bigger team, or even in a bigger league for that matter.

[Davrum]

26 minutes ago, chiKanery et al. said:

It feels like everyone forgot that this dude was a meme at the last WC. Dude was wall. I'm surprised he's not on a bigger team, or even in a bigger league for that matter.

I didn't forget Ochoa from 2014.

But then I also didn't forget Ospina was the other heroic gk of 2014 and look how it worked out for him.