Great seasons you need to know about

by Jerrad Peters

23 November 2009

 

Francesco Totti scored a hat-trick against Bari on Sunday, bringing his seasonal total to 19 goals. He's played just 13 games. I learned this from watching Serie A highlights over the weekend, and it got me thinking: there's probably a handful of players who are having superb seasons, despite flying under the radar.

Totti is foremost among them. Sure, he's potted 10 goals in five matches against Europa League competition, but he's better than a goal-per-game pace in Serie A as well, with nine tallies in eight matches. He already has four more goals than he scored all of last season, and one more than the season before that. His 32 goals were enough to claim the European Golden Boot in 2006/2007, and he's on pace to shatter that mark this term.

Walter Pandiani won't contend for the continental scoring crown, but he's resurrected his career in Pamplona and is playing his best football since his heyday with Deportivo La Coruna in the first half of this decade. The 33-year-old Osasuna forward has scored six goals so far this season and has his side within striking distance of the top half of La Liga. A far cry from his anonymous days with Birmingham City.

Pandiani's countryman, Luis Suarez, will give Totti a run for his money. In fact, the Uruguayan already has three more goals than the AS Roma forward, with 17 of his 22 tallies coming in just 14 Dutch league games for Ajax. Suarez has also scored three international goals since June and was a vital part of his country's progress into the 2010 World Cup.

Moussa Sissoko has been capped twice by France since making his international debut against the Faroe Islands in October. The 20-year-old central midfielder is one of the up-and-coming talents for Les Bleus, having appeared 42 times for his country in the under-age categories. Sissoko has also scored an impressive six goals for Toulouse so far this season—twice more than teammate and former Ligue-1 top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Stoke City are making a push for European football in 2010/2011, and Ryan Shawcross is a major reason why. The 22-year-old central defender has been a stalwart at the back for The Potters, and is drawing the attention of his former club, Manchester United. Shawcross spent two seasons in the United youth system before sealing a move to the Britannia Stadium last year, but the Red Devils retain a priority on him should Stoke manager Tony Pulis opt to sell the 6-foot-5 behemoth.

Bayern Munich made two colossal errors over the summer. The first was to allow Lucio to bolt Bavaria for Inter Milan. The second was to let Ze Roberto flee to Hamburg. Both players have been excellent so far this season, but Ze Roberto has looked especially good. Never a prolific goalscorer, he has five already this season, to go along with four assists. His superb play in the centre of the park has Hamburg contending for the title, and himself in the running for a spot in the Brazil squad ahead of the World Cup.

Radamel Falcao wasn't supposed to find European football this easy. Granted, he had become one of the best players in South America by the time he left River Plate for Porto this summer, but there was always that niggling suspicion that things wouldn't work out for him across the pond—that he'd flop on the big stage, just like his former River teammate Ariel Ortega. Hasn't happened. Falcao, 23, has already popped seven goals for Porto this season, including one in the Champions league. He's never scored more than 19 goals in a calendar year, but that could very easily change in the next few months.

 

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