ESPN rolls out “Top 100” list and barely any Bayern Munich players made the cut

It’s that time of year again.

ESPN has listed its Top 100 players in world football and some of the selections are, well, very interesting. Let’s take a look at who made the cut from Bayern Munich.

Goalkeeper

• Bayern Munich: No one.
• Other Bundesliga: No one.
• Other German national team: No. 2 — Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona).
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: Thibault Courtois (Real Madrid).

BFW Analysis: With Manuel Neuer injured for a god chunk of the season, his absence was expected, but Yann Sommer could have been considered for a spot here. However, Sommer did not make the list.

Right-back

• Bayern Munich: No. 7 — Joao Cancelo (Bayern Munich via Manchester City).
• Other Bundesliga: No. 10 — Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain).

BFW Analysis: Aside of the notables absences of Benjamin Pavard, who you could argue had a better season than Cancelo (who got himself loaned away from the team that won the Champions League title), Noussair Mazraoui also missed the cut after an injury-plagued second half of the season. It is also interesting to note that rumored Bayern Munich transfer target Kyle Walker (Manchester City) is rated No. 3.

Center-back

• Bayern Munich: No one.
• Other Bundesliga: No. 2 — Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: Ruben Dias (Manchester City).

BFW Analysis: What…a…joke. Not having Matthijs de Ligt as one of the top 10 center-backs in the world for last season is stupid. Dayot Upamecano’s poor performance in the Champions League likely killed his chances (sure the panel ignored his performance over the course of the full season). Interestingly, Bayern Munich transfer target Kim Min-jae was No. 10 on the list and former Bayern defender David Alaba (Real Madrid) was No. 3. Gvardiol was good this season, but No. 2? And better than De Ligt? No.

Left-back

• Bayern Munich: No. 1 — Alphonso Davies.
• Other Bundesliga: No. 9 — Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund, but has since transferred to Bayern Munich).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich).

BFW Analysis: Davies…was not the best left-back in the world last season. He still has the highest ceiling of any left-back in the universe, but his propensity for losing the ball, lapses with defensive awareness and spatial recognition, and sometimes lack of willingness to track back are too big of holes at this stage to occupy the top slot. Surely, he can be the type of player who can eventually grab the honor, but as of now, he is not there yet. Given the overall lack of talent worldwide at this position, Davies still likely was a Top 10 player at the left-back position, but this was not a No. 1-caliber season for the Canadian. Guerreiro had a great season for BVB and likely deserved a Top 10 position, though his role was sometimes fluid and not always as a traditional left-back.

Central Midfield

• Bayern Munich: No. 8 — Joshua Kimmich.
• Other Bundesliga: No. 1 — Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund).
• Other German national team: No. 4 — İlkay Gündoğan (Manchester City, but has since transferred to FC Barcelona).
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: No. 1 — Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund).

BFW Analysis: Kimmich’s placement seems a little low, while Gündoğan and Bellingham’s respective positions do seem a little high. In this group, it’s splitting hairs on preference, though. There is no major argument for or against any of them listed above, though if you view the entire Top 10, you might get hostile.

Photo by Stefan Brauer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Attacking Midfield

• Bayern Munich: No. 4 — Jamal Musiala.
• Other Bundesliga and German national team: No. 6 — Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: No. 1 — Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City).

BFW Analysis: Musiala is a dynamic talent, who suffered through a tremendous slump in the second of the season, following a very tough showing in the World Cup. Again, his potential is enormous, but his performance in the second half of the season made him a very iffy selection for the No. 4 spot. Brandt at No. 6 seems very high as well.

Winger

• Bayern Munich: No. 7 — Kingsley Coman.
• Other Bundesliga: No. 10 — Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: No. 1 — Bukayo Saka (Arsenal FC).

BFW Analysis: Coman’s placement is about right. You could argue he should be slotted a little higher, but the No. 7 role seems like a good fit. Diaby at No. 10, though, feels way too high. The absence of Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané was…telling on how people perceive the duo.

Forward

• Bayern Munich: No one.
• Other Bundesliga: No. 9 — Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig, but has since transferred to Chelsea FC).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: No. 1 — Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain).

BFW Analysis: No major issues with the list and not shocked that Bayern Munich did not have anyone listed here.

Striker

• Bayern Munich: No one.
• Other Bundesliga: No. 7 — Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt).
• Other German national team: No one.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: No. 1 — Erling Haaland (Manchester City).

BFW Analysis: Bayern Munich transfer target Dušan Vlahović (Juventus) was listed at No. 9, but that seemed high considering the lackluster season he had in Italy. Robert Lewandowski checked in at No. 5, which is too low (maybe it wasn’t, though), while Bayern transfer targets, Victor Osimhen (Napoli) and Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) checked in at No. 4 and No. 3 respectively. Haaland as No. 1 was a no-brainer that even ESPN could not botch.

Manager

• Bayern Munich: No one.
• Other Bundesliga: No one.
• Other German national team: N/A.
• No. 1 player as rated by ESPN: No. 1 — Pep Guardiola (Manchester City).

BFW Analysis: No beef with really any of this, though Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool) at No. 5 for this season seems high.

Overall BFW Analysis

If you want to drive yourself crazy, check out the whole list (which will surely infuriate many).

There is a clear preference to Premier League players and you can tell that some of the pundits who helped build this list are not focusing much (if at all) on the Bundesliga. Regardless, it is a subject for debate, so have at it in the comments.