Real Madrid's 4 Best Players At The Euros / Copa: Ranked.
It makes zero sense to do this ranking right now but you're welcome
Does it make sense to rank players based on a one-to-three game sample size in an international tournament? Absolutely not. Andriy Lunin, Nacho, Joselu, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo Goes, and Eder Militao have played one game so far. Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Kylian Mbappe, and Eduardo Camavinga played two. Jude Bellingham, Luka Modric, Antonio Rüdiger, and Toni Kroos played three.
Yet here we are. It’s Friday. I’m about to go away for a few days to the coast, to swim in the ocean and to watch the Euros on my laptop. I’m feeling good. I want to bless you by ranking the four best Real Madrid players at this summer’s international tournaments so far. This ranking will never be remembered, and will not hold up by the time the tournament is finished.
Fede Valverde
Do me a favour. Start staying up late to watch Uruguay. I don’t care if you’re in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East. If you have to switch time zones and move to North America, do it. Most realistically, you should probably just set an alarm.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay are fun and aggressive — a huge upgrade, entertainment wise, over Diego Alonso’s World Cup side where Fede Valverde was mis-used.
Valverde looked good against Panama, but looked *awesome* against Bolivia. The goal he scored last night was classic Fede: Drive, passes, sprint, shoot (score):
Valverde also completed 11-of-11 long balls. His idol would be proud.
Toni Kroos
(Said idol, and really, could’ve been number one on this list.)
Don’t overlook it: Toni Kroos’s defense once again has been off the charts. His defense looked great for most of his last season at Real Madrid. He continues to be vital in providing Germany with balance.
On offense, he has slung the most line-breaking passes in the tournament, per Opta.
Also:
Toni Kroos, so far, Euro 2024 (and just copy and paste this in every competition he ever plays):
1. 1st in progressive passes
2. 1st in passes into the final thrd
3. 1st in touches
4. 1st in progressive passing distance
By the way: Come see me in New York
Antonio Rüdiger
Don’t sleep on Antonio Rüdiger.
Rüdiger has successfully tackled 100% of the dribblers he's faced in Euro 2024. After Kroos, he has the most touches of anyone in the tournament.
Rodrygo Goes
Brazil are struggling. Vinicius is isolated on the left side facing multiple defenders — devoid of the combination play that surrounds him at Real Madrid.
Their spark in attack right now? Rodryo Goes. His line-breaking has been Brazil’s ultimate-problem solving method. He has linked up in various zones across the field — particularly down the middle — and he has been pro-active in taking players on when the team looks out of ideas facing a low block.
(Bonus!) Kylian Mbappe, Arda Güler, Dani Carvajal
Quick-fire:
Kylian Mbappe has looked as dangerous as ever in the two games he played, but hasn’t had his finishing boots on, yet. He is a blur. The 1-2s he played with Theo Hernandez and Bradley Barcola against Poland: Pure cheat code stuff. He gets from Point A to Point B before you even realized he left Point A. The goals will come.
Arda Güler was transcendant against Georgia. Then, when he came in off the bench against Portugal, Turkey started to, for the first time all game, put together meaningful and dangerous possession in the final-third. Against Czechia? Güler wasn’t great — outmuscled off the ball and wayward shooting. Still, overall, his first major tournament has been impressive.
Dani Carvajal has formed a great partnership with Lamine Yamal on Spain’s right side. From Sam Leveridge’s post-game piece after the win over Croatia:
“On the right, Carvajal not only got his goal but also won three of his four duels as neither Andrej Kramarić nor Ivan Perisić could find a way past him. He continued his fine form from the tail end of the season with Real Madrid, and some even began to speak of a potential Ballon d’Or should he lead Spain to glory in Germany.”
Have these been the only good Real Madrid players this summer? No. Have all of Real Madrid’s players been good this summer? No. Want to know my thoughts on the rest? Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel.
I’m selling one chapter of my upcoming book, secretly. You can purchase it here. Don’t share this link, it’s only for you, just in case you wanted a sneak peak.