Alexander Isak, pictured right, scored a hat-trick in Newcastle United's resounding win at Ipswich
I don’t like to criticise those in journalism. The job is hard enough without your own calling you out. But after catching sight of a list of the world’s best 100 players of 2024, I’ve had to break that rule.
This weekend, The Guardian revealed their picks for the best players in the world - and rather bizarrely Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak came in at number 90. It’s a ranking that raises eyebrows, and even more so given that Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo, Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Arsenal’s Kai Havertz are listed above him and by some distance.
In fact, Liverpool are well represented with Virgil van Dijk (30), Luis Diaz (37) and Alexis Mac Allister (38) all making the top 40. Yes, they are talented players. But stand outs in 2024? Arguably not.
If we take Gakpo’s stats for this calendar year, the Dutchman has only netted nine goals, Diaz has 10 and Mac Allister 4 - collectively that’s equals Isak’s 23 goals in the same period of time.
In fact, just six of the 89 players ranked ahead of him have scored more goals than Isak this year - do share a thought for Alexander Sorloth with his 25 goals in 2024, who doesn’t feature on the list.
Now it’s a simple point to make and yes it doesn’t tell the full story of the list - there are defenders, goalkeepers and creators on the list who deservedly are ranked higher, but for out and out goal-scorers, the final rankings are a bit of an insult to Isak.
For example, Tottenham’s Son Heung-Ming is ranked 60th - and the citation even points out how disappointed of 2024 it’s been for him with just 10 goals in that time. It’s all just a little strange.
This isn’t a Newcastle United bias thing, this is a ‘are you actually watching football thing?’ because anyone who has seen Isak dazzle this year should have had him ranked much higher 90 and above most of the Premier League entries in this list.
Isak’s goal scoring stats leave only Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer ahead of him and yet both have made it into the top 20, while Isak inexplicably languishes at 90th - and has fallen three spaces from last year. And we could talk about Ollie Watkins ranking of 54 but we don’t do that.
Watching Isak is a delight. He’s arguably the best goalscorer the club have had since Alan Shearer. He’s already made it into the top 40 of the club’s all time record goal scorer in just 85 games and he is just seven goals from becoming Newcastle’s second all time record goal scorer in the Premier League!
With Isak, United arguably go from a side who should be favourites to qualify for one of the lesser European sides while harbouring hopes of the top four - to a side that would struggle to meet the lofty ambitions of the club’s owners. He’s that important. A goal scorer and creator - and they aren’t easy to find. He scores all types of goals and has the eye for something special. He’s arguably the most talented and all rounded centre forward in the Premier League - and would cost any suitors the best part of £150m, one suspects if Arsenal managed to find the money and Isak replicated any where near the form he has in the last 12 months, he may feature a lot higher in the list.
As it is, he’s contracted until the summer of 2028 and while the club would like to extend that to keep admirers away, remain relaxed. The player is happy, not agitating for a move and more importantly is scoring goals. If he can fire Newcastle to League Cup glory in March, ironically beating Arsenal in the semi-finals, then being ranked a lowly 90th won’t matter one bit. Here’s hoping.
You can see The Guardian list here.
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