FIFA Team Of The Year: 11 Overlooked Players Who Deserved Inclusion

7. Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund & Germany)

The complete absence of a single player in either the FIFPro team or its reserve selection from Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund in a year in which the Ruhr Valley club were only beaten by the brilliant Bayern to both Bundesliga and Champions League titles seems odd. It is especially odd when you consider that the FIFPro team does contain two players from the Real Madrid side defeated by Dortmund in both the Champions League Group Stage and then again in the Semi-Final. While Real conceded 18 goals in their Champions League campaign, Dortmund let in just 14 and progressed one round further. If there is one reason for that better defensive record it's Mats Hummels, who, since being rejected by Bayern Munich at the age of 20, has gone on to establish himself as one of the most consistently excellent defensive players in the world. Strong in the tackle, Hummels is also an old fashioned libero in Franz Beckenbauer mould, capable of bringing the ball out of defence and starting attacks. En route to the Champions League Final last year, Hummels played 11 games in which he made 30 tackles (2.7 per game) and 117 clearances (10.6 per game). This compares favourably with the stats from the same competition from the FIFPro selection: Thiago Silva with 2 tackles and 5.7 clearances per game and Sergio Ramos with 2.9 tackles and 5.1 clearances per game. This year's competition, in which Dortmund topped a tough group with Arsenal and Napoli, has an even more marked difference with Hummels' 4.3 tackles per game compared to Ramos' 1.3 and Thiago Silva's 0.7.