Something Great

Arsene Wenger cobbled together starting lineups with spit and duct tape and Denilson and somehow the team dragged its ass over the finish line in third or fourth.

Friday, May 29, 2009

The Signing Season

At least this season ended on a positive note. And yes, I'm intentionally posting this before the outcome of the FA cup. Barcelona not only beat ManUtd to such an extent that I laughed uproariously every time I read the headlines* but also curb-stomped Chelsea fans in the round before. I laughed hysterically as Ballack did the, "not touching. not touching. not touching." routine we all did as children. Just 10 more Chelsea and you'll join Arsenal in the devastatingly bad calls club. Current members, 1.

So with the off-season approaching, TLOCA asks, is a player's salary associated with that player's value as a soccer player. Or another way of thinking about that is, can my manager buy the best squad if it were possible.

We took the top 50 highest paid players last year and ranked them based on their performance that year. We only considered those top 50 paid players so the rankings are relative. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo clearly had the best year last year but was the 10th highest paid player. Shevchenko was ahead of him at 9th...

Anyway, here are the results in order of highest salary


Nome Clube Annual in $ Jim's rating Juan's rating
1 Ricardo Kaka AC Milan $11,514,600
12 4
2 Ronaldinho Gaucho FC Barcelona $10,900,488 24 17
3 Frank Lampard Chelsea FC $10,439,904 8 18
4 John Terry Chelsea FC $10,439,904 16 12
5 Thierry Henry FC Barcelona $10,317,082 34 32
6 Fernando Torres Liverpool FC $10,132,848 2 2
7 Michael Ballack Chelsea FC $9,979,320 17 19
8 Andriy Shevchenko Chelsea FC $9,979,320 49 50
9 Steven Gerrard Liverpool FC $9,825,792 7 9
10 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester Utd $9,825,792 1 1
11 Didier Drogba Chelsea FC $9,441,972 30 13
12 Wayne Rooney Manchester Utd $9,365,208 18 29
13 Iker Casillas CF Real Madrid $9,211,680 4 14
14 Michael Owen Newcastle Utd $8,597,568 35 47
15 Sol Campbell Portsmouth $8,444,040 42 33
16 Ruud Van Nistelrooy CF Real Madrid $8,213,748 21 28
17 Raul Gonzalez CF Real Madrid $8,213,748 31 31
18 Rio Ferdinand Manchester Utd $7,753,164 11 11
19 Darren Bent Tottenham Hotspur $7,599,636 46 34
20 Fabio Cannavaro CF Real Madrid $7,522,872 36 42
21 Carlos Tevez Manchester Utd $7,522,872 27 22
22 Luca Toni Bayern Munique $7,062,288 10 6
23 Francesco Totti AS Roma $6,985,524 13 15
24 Arjen Robben CF Real Madrid $6,831,996 14 20
25 Ryan Giggs Manchester Utd $6,678,468 28 23
26 Jamie Carragher Liverpool FC $6,524,940 25 24
27 John Arne Riise Liverpool FC $6,524,940 47 48
28 Michael Essien Chelsea FC $6,448,176 19 44
29 Gianluigi Buffon Juventus FC $6,397,000 20 10
30 Andres Iniesta FC Barcelona $6,397,000 15 25
31 Patrick Vieira Internazionale $6,397,000 45 37
32 Sergio Aguero Atletico Madrid $6,397,000 9 16
33 Samuel Eto´o FC Barcelona $6,397,000 33 30
34 Charles Puyol FC Barcelona $6,397,000 38 35
35 Adriano Lima Internazionale $6,397,000 48 46
36 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Internazionale $6,397,000 6 7
37 Willy Sagnol Bayern Munique $6,397,000 44 43
38 Oliver Kahn Bayern Munique $6,325,354 43 45
39 Edwin Vandersar Manchester Utd $6,217,884 32 26
40 Fernando Morientes Valência $6,217,884 41 38
41 Lúcio Bayern Munique $6,141,120 39 35
42 Alessandro Del Piero Juventus FC $6,141,120 5 3
43 Franck Ribery Bayern Munique $6,141,120 3 5
44 Djibril Cisse O.Marselha $6,141,120 40 39
45 Harry Kewell Liverpool FC $6,141,120 50 49
46 Joe Cole Chelsea FC $5,987,592 23 21
47 Pedro Pauleta Paris SG $5,895,475 27 41
48 Juninho Pernanbucano O.Lyon $5,834,064 26 40
49 David Trezeguet Juventus FC $5,757,300 22 8
50 David Beckham LA Galaxy $5,757,300 29 27


(Remember, these rankings are based on last year, that's why Del Piero is 3rd and 5th in my and Jim's rankings respectively. Also, I thought Essien was hurt last year but apparently he wasn't.)

Summary

Jim and I agreed perfectly on:
Cristiano - 1 overall
Torres - 2nd
Rio Ferdinand - 11th
Raul - 31st

These players "pay" rankings are 10th, 6th, 18th, and 17th respectively making, no shockers here, Cristi and Rio Ferdinand the most undervalued players (that we agreed upon) and Raul the most overvalued player.

Jim and I agreed near perfectly (less than 2 rankings difference) on quite a few players:
Titi Henry, Ballack, Shevsucko, Gerrard, Totti, Carragher, Riise, Adriano, Zlatan, Willy Sagnol, Olver Kahn, Del Piero, Ribery, Cisse, Harry Kewell, Joe Cole and David Beckham

Here are the top 5 most "appropriately" paid players in our opinion:
Ryan Giggs, Fernando Morientes, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Samuel Eto'o

Top 5 most overpaid:
Shevchenko, Henry, Michael Owen, Sol Campbell, John Arne Risse

Top 5 most underpaid:
Franck Ribery, Del Piero, Ibrahimovic, Joe Cole, David Beckham

With regards to David Beckham I'll leave you with a line from Jay-Z. "Who the f%ck is overrated? If anything they underpaid him."



*Barcelona dismantles Manchester United
United beaten soundly
10,000 Red Devil fans injured in failed mass suicide