The phenomenon that is Welcome to World Class continues, and this time we have one of the most controversial positions in the series: the left wingers.
We’ve already covered most of the positions: goalkeepers, center-backs, defensive midfielders, center-backs, attacking midfielders, and left-backs, so check out those lists if you want to re-familiarize yourself with them. You can find it all here.
But now we are going to detail some of the best attackers on the left in football today, stars who make scoring goals and facilitating plays for their teammates seem like child’s play.
Do you need a reminder of how the whole process works? This is what you should know.
-A world-class footballer is defined as one of the five best players in the world in his position.
-All players can fit into one of the 10 positions on the field: POR, RH, LI, CB, DCM, MC, CAM, ED, IS, DC.
-All players have been rated in ten different subcategories in the decision-making process.
Performance with the club and with the national team has been taken into account.
Let’s get down to business.
Games played: 48
Goals: 14
Assists: 7
Created occasions: 59
Shot conversion rate: 16.9
Vinicius Jr has always been an incredibly talented player, but in his first seasons in Spain he seemed … crude, messy, something was missing.
All that changed when he turned 21 in July. He came back from the Copa América (where he represented Brazil for the first time in 18 months) turned into a totally different player, finishing decisively and with real energy, rather than taking the extra touch to dribble himself.
With 12 goals and 9 assists in his first 24 games for Real this season, and as a consolidated Brazilian international, he has taken that step that many do not. What scares the most? He is still 21 years old. There could be so much more to come.
Games played: 49
Goals: 14
Assists: 16
Created occasions: 78
Shot conversion rate: 11.5
Leroy Sane’s debut season at Bayern Munich is widely viewed as disappointing. In fact, many would have expected him to be higher on this list at this point in his career.
However, since the turn of the year, the former Man City winger has been on an upward trajectory, one that has been in crescendo and has reached great form in the 2021/22 season.
Sane seems to have regained his best level and has already matched his scoring contribution in the national league last season. If it can keep going like this, who knows what the next 12 months may bring.
Games played: Four. Five
Goals: 13
Assists: 12
Created occasions: 84
Shot conversion rate: 14.6
Following the summer exploits of their other main striker, Tottenham needed Son Heung-min to step up and become their star, and that is what he has done.
Become the reference player every time the Spurs are in trouble, Son is famous for his excellent shooting ability – he scores 14.6% of his shots – while creating more chances (84) than the first two classified.
The South Korean missed the cut last year, but this time he deserves his place among the top three left forwards.
Games played: 44
Goals: 18
Assists: 6
Created occasions: 61
Shot conversion rate: 15.9
Liverpool have had a rough last year after their 2020/21 Premier League triumph, but this year they are back strong and Sadio Mané remains as important as ever.
The Senegalese star continues to be a reliable source of goals for the Reds – he scores once every 188 minutes – and his availability during a year in which his team was decimated by injuries made him even more valuable.
He may be feeling a bit aggrieved about dropping to second place, but Mané’s relentless quality at Liverpool’s forward makes him one of the most dangerous forwards in world football.
Games played: 48
Goals: 37
Assists: 14
Created occasions: 72
Shot conversion rate: 23.9
We can’t be too surprised that this guy comes first, can we?
You might think “new entry?”, But this is due to a change in position: Kylian Mbappé came in second on the list of forwards last year.
When it comes to sheer scoring ability, none of the Frenchman’s competitors come close to him: Mbappé racked up 37 goals with an excellent shot conversion rate of 23.9%, topping both metrics. His ratio of minutes per goal of 111 is also well above the others.
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