Bayern Munich's Javi Martinez has also enjoyed a marginal increase from 84 last year to 85. The second of three players on this list to enjoy an increase in stats, this one makes a lot less sense than Lloris's. And that's because Martinez scarcely played last season. The defensive midfielder started the 201314 campaign on the substitutes' bench and found it difficult at various points of the campaign to crack Bayern's starting XI. He made just 18 appearances in the Bundesliga and started only 14 of those, with four more of his outings coming off the bench. However, he played in cup competition more frequently and helped his side win the DFB-Pokal, which may be one of the reasons why he has seen a slight increase. Nevertheless, there are some who will say this is undeserved, particularly given Fabregas's score, and there's no hiding from the fact that Martinez was part of a Spain side that bombed at the World Cup - with the 26-year-old making just one appearance at the finals in Brazil at that.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
