Europe's Top 25 Players List
How and why I voted for Ultiworld's European awards
Ultiworld recently posted their Top 25 Players in Europe lists. Definitely check them out before reading this.
https://ultiworld.com/2023/11/28/the-top-25-female-matching-players-in-europe/
https://ultiworld.com/2023/11/28/the-top-25-male-matching-players-in-europe/
I was one of the people invited to submit votes for these awards. I did consider turning it down but I figured I watched more of these players than most would have and am technically neutral this year since I wasn’t coaching actively.
My Voting Process
To be clear, although the awards were for top 25 players we all submitted our top 20 players in order - these were then given points from 1-20 depending on positions and all the votes tallied up. You can see all that documented here
I know this sounds like a cliche but it’s true: this was really, really difficult. I don’t know how many iterations of the list I went through but it was a lot. Here was my process:
Step 1:
I compiled a longlist of potential players. This was 80-100 players total. This mainly involved scouring all the tournaments with rosters on ultiorganiser, going through each team and copying any name that stood out into a spreadsheet. This was the easy part.
Step 2:
Go through my longlist and move any definites into my top 20 lists. This was about 5 players for each list. Long way still to go!
Step 3:
How the heck do you start to narrow the rest of the list down?? So many good players and such little footage and time. Panic sets in
Step 4:
OK, I can do this. I started to move more names onto my top 20 and delete names from the longlist. Here’s the general thought process I had going through the list - but bear in mind it wasn’t really this formal.
a) Major contribution to your team’s success. So you’ll notice there’s two parts to that equation, and they are both relative judgments.
Major contributor - to take a blunt hypothetical example, I’m generally more impressed with the best player on a semi-final team than the 5th best player on the title team.
Team Success - the better a team does, the more impressive your contribution to it looks. Where that gets tricky is, to go back to the previous example, your team could reach the semi-final but have been expected to win the tournament, or your team could have reached the semi-final and nobody saw that coming.
b) Consistency of high performance
This is where Europe gets really tough to judge. There is so much happening. The three biggest events that I was looking at were EUC, EUCF and U-24s, but of course paying attention to events like USA Nationals and other smaller European events.
The problem is not so much that there is lots of different events - that should really make it easier to make judgements - it’s that players are constantly playing for different teams with different strengths and having different roles within them. So did player X have a great national team season and a mediocre club season because they didn’t gel with their club team or because they actually overperformed with their national team? Is it because they don’t get given a big role in mixed but are considered a star in Open?
There were very few players that hopped around divisions and teams and played to the same level in all of them - so I’m trying to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. Or rather, it highlights something important: the quality of a player is not something that belongs solely to them in a team sport. You can’t rate a player as a completely independent character as you would in a video game - a player’s ability and quality is tied to the environment they are playing in. We see this all the time in professional sports - a player is bought for €100m on the back of great performances and then flops in their new team - the player hasn’t lost any quality but their playing context has changed.
c) Weighting Competitions
It would be difficult enough to weight performances purely on national teams vs club teams in the European season, but throw in U-24s and then the number of players doing well over in the US and it makes for a lot of complications.
It would really be great if everyone could agree they’d all show up to play one competition at the same time, OK? I’m being slightly facetious there, but when compiling the list it’s very clear how many incredible players there are in Europe and it really is a shame that the talent is so thinly spread across all these competitions and divisions.
d) Recent Performance vs Past Performance
It’s difficult to not be influenced by the most recent things that happened in this season. I’ve definitely fallen victim to it in compiling my list. As well as that, how do you balance someone having a slightly quieter season this year that was a standout player in prior years?
Step 5:
OK - so now I’m down to around 25 names for each division with about half definitely in and the other half still in contention for my top 20. But now the hardest part - ranking.
To some extent this was the most difficult part because although I really want to get this ‘right’ I was also equally aware that it was an impossible task - there is no such thing as the single ‘best’ player followed neatly by the second best and third best and so on. But I still went through at least 50 re-rankings -and every time I moved one player up or down I needed to examine everyone around them and if I moved someone else…you get the picture. At the same time I’m also desperately trying to figure out who I’m going to eventually leave out of my top 20. This is where I felt some pressure knowing that my votes were going to be published. I don’t think I let that actually impact me - I certainly left off a few players that were high on everyone else’s ballots.
Step 6:
Finally done, submit my ballot.
Step 7:
Get told Molly Wedge isn’t eligible. Spreadsheet back open for one final consideration for all the players I left off and one more reranking.
My Rankings
My Biases
OK, before looking at the rankings here are some of the major biases I have that I was at least aware of while doing this. If you’re not aware I didn’t coach in the 2023 season so some of these are historic biases.
a) My own players i.e. players that I have coached. I think they’re all fantastic. Players that I have won major events with in particular, I have such strong memories of them performing at extremely high levels so it’s hard to see them with any objectivity.
b) Players that have played well or not well against my teams
There are some players that maybe aren’t considered stars that my teams have struggled against, and similarly there are stars that my teams had good solutions for so didn’t perform as well as in other games.
c) Shiny New Talent
It’s so easy to get excited when someone breaks through. You just see all their potential and the things they do really well. Players that have been around longer it’s easier to see their flaws.
d) Aggressive > conservative players
I naturally prefer players that make big plays but turnover more over players that don’t turnover but don’t produce big moments.
Again to be clear - I was aware of these natural inclinations and trying to account for them as much as I could.
Finally, I’m going to be very brief for my comments on these, particularly if where I have someone ranked closely matches the Ultiworld rankings. Where I am very different I’ll explain my thoughts more.
My FMP Rankings
Anna Gerner (#1 Ultiworld)
You might have guessed this beforehand - when asked earlier this year which team outside Ireland I would most like to coach I said (a) I wouldn’t but (b) JinX because of Anna Gerner.
Levke Walczak (#3 Ultiworld)
I really went back and forth on the top 2 a lot. I could easily have put Levke #1. Strong performance for Brute Squad winning USA Nats is as good a reason as any. I do think that Brute Squad setup was basically perfect for the type of player Levke is - it was probably her (relative) difficulties with the German mixed team that made my mind up to put her second
Floor Keulartz (#7 Ultiworld)
Floor has been one of the strongest FMP in Europe in the mixed division for a long time. She was absolutely dominant playing in the women’s division at EUC - 46 goals and 16 assists! Floor has the complete package - huge throws, great speed and height, and can flick the switch on defence when she wants. I’m guessing GRUT losing EUCF and Netherlands not making semis at EUC (they finished 5th as a reminder) are the reasons for her being this low in the Ultiworld rankings.
Lena Trautmann (#9)
Trautmann has been the best defender in Europe for the past two years. Starting with her incredible performance (also incredibly underrated) with the Germany World Games team right through to what I personally thought was the strongest performance in the USA Nationals final with Brute Squad. An incredible athlete who make regular game winning contributions.
Irene Scazzieri (#6)
Dominant cutter and competitor, she has been brilliant for Shout and Italy over the past few years. Nice to see her playing with Fury and making it to a US nationals semi final.
Charlotte Schall (#2)
I was lower on Schall than the rest of the panel. I wrote about her incredible EUC performance earlier this year, but I thought she struggled a little with Shout later in the season. When she is able to play her way she in incredible, it will be interesting to see if she will learn to play at a similar level in teams where she’s not driving the bus.
Eva Bornot (#5)
Fantastic athlete, great D player who is developing into more of an offensive weapon. If she refines that offence potential she could be #1 very soon.
Francesca Sorrenti (#25)
This is the first really big disconnect between my rankings and Ultiworlds. For an Italy and Shout team that were better on defence than offence, she really shone as a strong playmaker and vital to helping those teams cash in on the opportunities they created. I thought she was key to Shout’s wins at EUCF in a very tough bracket for them.
Anne Minaard (#12)
Really impressive performances for Netherlands at EUC, and also notably for Netherlands Open at U-24s. She’s got a wonderful range of throwing particularly with her forehand - seems like she can put it to any part of the field against any mark. I feel stupid saying anything to GRUT about how to win EUCF but I think they do if Minaard is given a bigger role. Similar to Floor I think the (small) disconnect is that I rank the Netherlands EUC performance higher than most.
Nicole Lafiata (#14)
Brilliant offensive player - huge throws, churns up yards and scores goals. I probably weighed Italy’s run to the EUC final higher than most - nobody gave them any hope of that before the season and Lafiata was a huge reason for the surprise. Also great to see her playing and leading Tequila Boom Boom instead of joining a club more likely to win things.
Hannah Yorweth (#15)
You can also read about her incredible EUC performance. I would not have believed I would rank her so low down after that, but she really didn’t look like the same player for Deep Space, although no criticism there as it clearly worked for them! I did note even in that EUC performance how she dropped in influence a lot when GB switched their offence up so similar to my note for Schall, will be interesting to see if Yorwerth can learn to be influential in different offences or if she needs to play in one built for her style of play.
Kristýna Tlustá (#8)
Everything she does is so impressively quick - running, throwing, thinking. Had a great time watching her every chance I could. I have her lower on my list than most because she struggled to impose her influence when big games got tight. You’re already sick of me saying it but the step to rise up this list is to learn to play when the game doesn’t suit her - it’s always going to slow down in big moments.
Sarah Melvin (#16)
Honestly was a bit relieved to see her on the overall list because I wasn’t sure how much my bias was clouding my judgement here. I was also conscious that it could be affecting my judgement the other way because she was so far off the standards I have for her - expecting her to be the best player on the pitch in every situations is totally fair. Anyway, she was still unstoppable downfield for Ireland mixed on their road to bronze in EUC.
Sarah Eklund (#4)
It’s very interesting looking at the voting breakdown on Ultiworld because Eklund has one of the largest spread of scores across all the players. Her speed, height and intelligence are too much to handle for most teams, and I thought her quick energetic small ball in the middle was a big help to JinX as they looked for a few days of EUCF that they might have sorted out their zone offence problems.
Monika Zaczkowska (#20)
Apart from it coming at Gravity’s expense I loved seeing Troubles’ unexpected run to the semis of EUCF. Zaczkowska was absolutely everywhere for them - brilliant throws, athletic receiving and strong defence. Hopefully Troubles and Poland women can kick on from here and we’ll be seeing more of Zaczkowska in the coming seasons.
Aine Gilheany (26)
OK, the ratings say I might be a bit biased this time. As I just mentioned, Gravity getting upset by Troubles would be a fair reason to overlook Aine despite her key role in Ireland’s EUC bronze. She is up there with any thrower in Europe, probably the best in terms of creativity. Fantastic athlete who is so difficult to shut down and hoovers up blocks.
Lison Bornot (#11)
Strong defender, strong thrower and good goalscorer - definitely interested to see her with a team where she’ll take on more responsibility whether that’s with a mixed team or continuing with women’s club. I feel like she has the ability to be much higher in the ranks next year.
Barbora Hrušáková (#24)
Demonstrated fantastic cutting ability and goalscoring (I love goalscorers in case you didn’t get that so far) throughout the season for Czech Republic and East Block.
Paula Bass (#37)
The biggest gap between my rankings and Ultiworld’s on this list. I’ve mentioned this twice already but I think Netherlands women’s season has been overlooked and Paula was really strong for them, as well as for Yaka as always. If Yaka meet Shout in the EUCF final instead of semis I think they’d be higher on other lists too - or even if that semi was on YouTube instead of veo! Not only a fantastic player with the disc in hand, they are an incredible leader who really turned around that Netherlands season after a shaky start.
Maria Castillo (#19)
Very strong offensive presence for Yaka and Belgium. Watching Belgium come from 8-3 down to beat France 15-13 at EUC was one of the highlights of my year and Maria was insane in that comeback. One of the best individual performances you’re ever likely to see.
Major Snubs i.e. top 20 players I didn’t rank:
Rachel Naden (Ultiworld #10) - I don’t know what I was thinking. She was 21st on my list to be somewhat fair - but I don’t know why I didn’t have her higher. Definitely a mistake.
Leila Denniston (Ultiworld #22) - She was also close the making the list but couldn’t find room for her in the top 20. Great performances for GB and Deep Space. Absolutely loved that she always set the tone early on defence with a big block attempt. But there’s a lot of good players!
Martina Kmecová (Ultiworld #17) - Such an impressive young player. For me, putting her in the top 20 would have been based on very few performances at the top level and playing in an overall incredibly strong defensive unit, so I just didn’t see enough compared to the players I put on the list.
Lola Dam (Ultiworld #18) - I just didn’t feel she had that great a season this year, after being immense for GRUT in previous years. If I was including her it wouldn’t have been for performances in 2023.
My MMP Rankings
Daan De Maree (Ultiworld #1)
This is very long already and if you want to know why I think he’s great read this
Will Rowledge (Ultiworld #9)
I was surprised Rowledge was so low down. There’s a strong case to be made that he was the best player in both the EUC and EUCF Open Finals this year. An absolutely unstoppable and inspiring presence on offence, and a ferocious, intelligent defender too. For me he was closer to #1 than #3
Connor McHale (Ultiworld #2)
If you asked me mid-September - after GB mixed had underwhelmed at EUC and Clapham had just had their long nationals streak broken - I don’t think I would have had McHale in my top 10. But what an end to the season he had. Incredible performance in the EUCF final, really setting the tone for Clapham with his aggression on offence and then a huge part of Chicago Machine’s run to the USA national final.
Gael Ancelin (Ultiworld #12)
The rock around which France built their dominant EUC Mixed championship win. We all thought that the mixed division was going to be incredibly tight and even division at the top but apart from a pool play universe win against Poland, France looked more than comfortable in every game. Possibly they made it look too easy and that’s why Ancelin doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Missing out on EUCF can’t have helped his ranking either, but I love that he plays with his home team rather than hopping on a bandwagon for an easier time.
Ben Oort (#4)
Showed his level of offensive quality, seamlessly fitting into a USA national championship offensive line after being a key part of so much of GRUT’s success over the previous seasons.
Sam Murphy (#14)
OK I’m probably biased but he was such an unstoppable presence on offence and defence all season when on the pitch. An injury right before EUC and playing for a Ranelagh team in rebuild are fair reasons to not be able to see it but Smurph is playing at a much higher level than when he won MVP of the EUCF finals a year ago. His reading of the game on defence has improved - it was already great - and he is seeing the flow of the offence much better with the disc in hand. Looking forward to seeing him fully fit in 2024.
David Barzazi (#6)
Not much to add to Ultiworld, incredible U-24s and EUC performances. His complete control on offense when the pressure was on was really impressive, particularly from someone of his age. I thought he was underused for BFD La Fotta at EUCF, but easy to say that sitting at home.
Arvids Kārkliņš (#3)
I was considering why I was lower on Arvids than other panellists and I can’t really put my finger on it. Maybe my expectations for him are too high, but I think a lot of it is from watching him struggle (in relative terms) against teams threw zones or poaching looks against him - he in unquestionable top 3 for me when he can play against 1v1 coverage but I felt that I saw him slowed down by teams this season more than previous years.
Conrad Schlor (#8)
Nothing to add to Ultiworld - such a reliable elite defensive presence for every team. Good to see him stepping onto the offence line more for Germany too.
Ferdia Rogers (#11)
As with all the Irish players, a relief to see my ranking pretty closely match the consensus so I know I’m not completely biased about a player I coached. Ferdia’s intelligence and control of the offensive system is outstanding.
Elliot Bonner (#13)
So I was doing these right in the middle of WBUC and though I didn’t want to take beach into consideration watching Bonner rip teams apart wasn’t possible to ignore. Also, Smurph vouches for him as the best defender that he faced this year so that’s good enough for me.
Axel Ahmala (#21)
I was not expecting a Deep Space win at EUCF and I can’t imagine it happening without Ahmala’s dual threat as a thrower and receiver. He looked unplayable at EUCF.
Tobe Decreane (#5)
I was surprised I was so out of step with the consensus here - I adore goalscorers as I’ve mentioned above and Decreane is as elite and spectacular as they come. It was nice to see him distribute the disc more for Gentle at EUCF too. I think I got this one wrong.
Tom Abrams (#18)
Really strong performances for GB and Clapham. I love his vision and aggression with the disc in hand, and still an elite threat going deep and consistently pulled off some of the best layout blocks I saw from anyone.
Sofiène Bontemps (#23)
Two main reasons I have him ranked so high: the pulls are absurdly good and worth a couple of points a game, and he just comes up with clutch plays over and over. He may not be the guy Belgium/Mooncatchers turn to every point to run things through but so many times when they struggle it’s Bontempts pulling out something spectacular to turn the tide. Those types of players are priceless.
Tom Blasman (#16)
Wow, actually the same ranking as Ultiworld. That’s only happened for the #1 picks otherwise.
Lorenzo Pavan (#29)
He was immense as a thrower and receiver for Italy and BFD La Fotta all season.
Sebastian Rossi (#10)
Maybe harsh ranking here - possibly a victim of me having greater expectations for him. Pulls off the spectacular plays regularly and one of the most exciting talents I have seen - but I want him to be able to control a game. It felt like La Fotta were looking to him in that semi-final loss to Mooncatchers and he wasn’t quite ready for that moment. Sometimes you need to be there and lose to build the strength to win though.
Steffen Döscher (#30)
I sometimes think because he has an awkward looking throwing style that people miss how impactful he actually is. He is the engine of the German and Bad Skid offence, always moving, always quickening the pace of an offence which has the tendency to slow down too much.
Alvaro Monterde (#50)
A good year for Spain, and I though Monterde was the pick of the team.
Snubs:
Justin Foord (#7) - It felt like sacrilege to leave out Foord. I thought GB and Clapham had more impactful players over the year and like I said in the introduction, I tend to lean towards the best players on teams that finished lower than picking multiple from one team.
Reph Jonkers (#15) - undoubtedly an incredible player, but I felt he missed too many of the big events. (You’ve probably figured it out by now but I don’t consider tournaments like Elite Invite as being important.)
Nico Müller (#17) - Similar to Foord, I thought Germany/Bad Skid had better performers.
Ben Jonkers (#19), Conrad Wilson (#20) - Again, both played well this season, but I leaned towards not picking lots of players from the same teams.
So those were my rankings. Did you agree or disagree with me or Ultiworld? Is there anyone snubbed completely from either list?