Move over Messi!

Today, Lionel Messi was inevitably crowned as Fifa World Player of the Year.

Messi may as well have been playing with the crown on his head for the first half of this season, as his exploits during Barcelona's record breaking successes last year all but guaranteed him earning the accolade.

He was unrivalled over the course of last season, leading the mighty Barcelona to an unprecedented treble of the La Liga title, Copa Del Rey, and Champions League trophies, scoring the winner in the final.

This year, he led Barcelona to the Uefa Super Cup title. Most recently, he scored the winner in the World Club Championships for Barcelona in Dubai on Saturday.

He topped the Champions League scoring charts, and amassed 38 goals and 18 assists in only 51 games last season and was undeniably the best player in the world in 2009.

2010 could be much of the same. Messi and Barcelona have won everything there is to win in 2009, but this seasons World Cup is an ideal opportunity for a new star to rise and take the crown away from Messi when next years awards are handed out.

Fabio Cannavaro was an unlikely winner after leading Italy to World Cup glory last time around and his success proves that team success on the biggest stage of them all goes a long way towards stars achieving personal glory.

So, which players have the opportunity and ability to have a year like Ronaldo in 2008 and Messi in 2009 and take the biggest award of them all?

Didier Drogba

The Chelsea hit man has started this season like a house on fire, scoring nearly twenty goals before the turn of the year that have contributed massively to Chelsea sitting on top of the Premier League.

In January, he will lead the line for Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations, hoping to provide the goals which could fire his nation to their second ever African crown.

In the second half of the season, Chelsea look set to mount a huge charge for the Premiership title. Their rivals are floundering, and barring a massive turn around in form, Chelsea look set to be crowned Champions in May.

Along side that, Chelsea will be relying on Drogba to score the goals which could take them one step further in the Champions League and earn the first ever victory in that tournament.

If successes in all those competitions are not enough for his fellow professionals, Drogba could also carry his country further than they have ever been in the biggest tournament of them all.

They have been drawn with Brazil and Portugal, but if Drogba can take his side into the latter stages, he will surely be a strong contender when the awards are given out next December.

Wayne Rooney

Prior to the start of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit from Manchester United piled the pressure on Wayne Rooney to rise up and take over the reigns as his clubs talisman.

So far he has taken to the challenge in typically bullish fashion. 13 goals for his club come on the back of the England ace being in blistering form in the World Cup qualifying campaign where he was the leading scorer in Europe.

In June, he has the hopes of an expectant nation at his feet, being England’s only world class striker and one who will be relied on to score the goals to bring the trophy back home.

The tournament also provides an opportunity for Rooney to eradicate disastrous memories from 2006, where his petulant stamp on Ricardo Carvalho caused him to see red and with it, end any hope of England progressing deep into the competition.

Rooney today is a different player. Now much mature, he has led the line for United admirably and looks set to do the same for England.

And if he can lead both to glory this season, he will be the name on everyone’s lip’s come next December.


Kaka

For a few days this summer, 2007 World Player of the year Kaka was the most expensive footballer in history.

Real Madrid took the plunge and stumped up the 70 million euros demanded by AC Milan for his signature and began building the second wave of galacticos.

They look set to make go close in every tournament they enter this season, already pushing Barcelona in pursuit of top spot in Spain and qualifying comfortably for the latter stages of the Champions League.

Kaka has been a somewhat peripheral figure so far in Spain, but once he settles in he is sure to replicate his successes with the national side at club level

Brazil manager Dunga is an obvious admirer of the 27 year old, building his new look Brazil team around the Real Madrid playmaker. In the 3 year period with Kaka as the focal point, the Selecao have won everything in their path.

Should that culminate in their 6th victory in South Africa this year, playmaker Kaka will be in for world wide acclaim once again.

Theres only one Jimmy Milner

Since the exit of Gareth Barry, Aston Villa's engine room has looked distinctly void of ideas. In my eyes, Barry was an extremely under-rated and highly talent player who bought an air of calm and reliable quality to the heart of my team.

To put it mildy, Steve Sidwell does not come close to doing that. In fact, his most telling contribution since signing for Villa was costing us at least a point by inexplicably gifting relegated Middlesboro three points last season.

So despite a reasonable start, there was clearly a massive hole to be filled in the centre of Midfield in January if Villa were to make a legitimate challenge for the Champions Leage spot this season.

But perhaps, just perhaps, Martin O'Neill has had the answer in his locker since the summer.

The return to fitness of Stewart Downing, despite the player himself making no massive contribution in terms of goals or assists, has completely rejuvinated a side who looked lacking in creativity.

How, you ask? It has set James Milner free.

Since taking up a central midfield/free role position, Milner has looked a truely top player. He's scored three goals from outside the box, and provided two more through assists. His eye for a pass is uncanny, and had he been restricted to the right hand side all season we would never have known what a talent we possessed in our squad.

Yes, his first game in this role was away to struggling Pompey, where he scored a rifled shot from twenty yards. Yes, the second was home to Hull, who were blown away by the dynamic midfield three of Downing, Young and Milner.

But most recently, any doubts about Milner's ability to be a mature central midfielder rather then a winger with license to roam have been answered emphatically.

Away at Old Trafford, home of the Champions, he regularly showed both poise in possession and great discipline in tracking back and making important tackles in Villa's most impressive result for years.

And last night came his finest hour. An early assist was capped off by a thunderous thirty yard strike, where he held off a niggling Kieran Richardson before unleashing an astonishing strike past the helpless Martin Fulop.

As you can probably tell, I am extremely excited about the potential twenty-three year old Milner has shown in the last four victories. Not only from an Aston Villa standpoint, but injuries aside, and Milner is renowned for his consistent fitness, he must surely be on the plane to South Africa.

When he gets there, he could prove to be one of the upcoming stars of the tournament and a potential difference maker in England's quest to bring the trophy home.

Fabio Capello clearly likes him, using him in a number of positions recently, and he is now starting to take that confidence into his club side.

And as a proud Villa fan, I can't believe our luck!

Rafa: We will finish in the top 4

Rafael Benitez today promised that his Liverpool side would finish in the top four.

That is despite his side currently languishing in seventh position, level on points with newly promoted Birmingham City and five points behind the precious fourth position.

It also comes on the back of a 2-1 home defeat against Arsenal in which Liverpool lacked the grit and determination which has typically personified their side in recent seasons.

As an interested observer in this season’s race for the top four positions, I have been waiting for Liverpool's form to turn on its head and them to begin their ascent to the league positions they are accustomed to.

Recent games have appeared to be ideal opportunities for that to happen, but despite Rafa's confidence recent performances have gotten worse rather than better.

Blackburn away a few weeks ago was a fixture in which I expected that form to start. No disrespect to Blackburn, who are proving tough opposition on their home patch this season, but a team who started the season with title aspirations such as Liverpool would expect to come away with better then a 0-0 draw.

Then the opportunity to right the wrongs of their result in Florence earlier this year, which contributed towards their early exit from this seasons Champions League, came and went. Liverpool contrived to lose 2-1 at home to a Fiorentina side that are languishing down in ninth in their own domestic league.

Most recently, on the back of that shock home defeat, Arsenal arrived at Anfield for a game which typically brings out the best in Rafa Benitez' men and did so earlier this season in the home game against Manchester United.

But yet again, despite Rafa finally getting his wish of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres both back starting the game, Liverpool again let a lead slip at home and lost 2-1 to fellow Champions League rivals Arsenal.

There were no excuses on Sunday. Bar the potential inclusion of £20 million pound summer signing Alberto Aquilani, Liverpool had there strongest possible side out, and still produced a lacklustre performance.

But despite all this evidence to the contrary, Rafa still promises to finish in the top four.

Clearly he is a clever man, but making such bold assertions with no foundation is surely setting him up for a massive fall from grace.

This season has been like no other. No game can be taken for granted, and with at least three clubs ready to pounce, the Liverpool Manager must be secretly worried about the prospect of not making next seasons Champions League.

The game against Wigan tomorrow appears to be an ideal fixture for a club who need a result. Wigan’s inconsistency is clear, following up a devastating 9-1 loss to Tottenham with a solid 1-0 home victory against Sunderland; however they have still contrived to beat league leaders Chelsea and score a victory away at fourth placed Aston Villa.

This highlights the danger in Benitez making such bold assertions about his sides finishing position this season. Every team in the Premiership has the potential to win a game and given recent form it is highly unlikely Liverpool will not slip up against a few improbable opponents between now and May.

Defeat tomorrow would strike a catastrophic blow into the Spaniard's confidence and surely leave the clubs loyal supporters wondering whether their clubs form will pick up at all this season.

A win however, would set them up nicely for a trip to bottom placed Portsmouth on Saturday and a home tie against struggling Wolves. Rafa will be desperate that when his side go to Villa Park on the 29th of December, it is on the back of three straight wins.

Continued outward defiance and insistence that his clubs "clever fans" will continue to back him will only get them so far. Rafa needs a result against Wigan tomorrow night, and that is a fact.