World football team of the season: 2021-22

As most (I appreciate it’s not all) football seasons draw to a close, I thought it could be a challenging idea to pick a team of the season but only allowing myself one player from a certain league.

To make it slightly easier, I was allowed to pick players from leagues which have only recently started (such as the MLS) and accounted for their form since the beginning of last season to now. I am picking the players on how they have performed since September 2021; not how good I think they are.

So, without further ado, let’s get into the XI. All stats in this article have been taken from FBRef.

GK: Mike Maignan (AC Milan, Serie A)

The goalie with the most clean sheets in the league (15) and the ‘keeper for table-toppers AC Milan, Maignan has filled the 6ft 5in hole left by Gianlugi Donnarumma. He has had a great first campaign in Italy, he is in the 98th percentile for goals against per 90 in Europe and in top 99 per cent for shots on target save percentage.

LB: Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax, Eredivise)

One of the many brilliant players brought to Amsterdam by Erik ten Hag, Tagliafico has been brilliant for Ajax since he joined in 2018. An attack-minded full-back, Tagliafico is a great cog in the Ajax team who will most likely win the Eredivise this season.

CB: David Alaba (Real Madrid, La Liga)

The Austrian left Bayern Munich for Madrid this summer and has slotted into Los Blancos’ defence perfectly. Alaba is in the 99th percentile for assists and expected assists for centre backs this season. Real secured the La Liga title with a 2-0 victory against Espanyol on Saturday.

RB: James Taverneir (Rangers, Scottish Premiership)

Tavernier might not have reached his heights from last year, but has still got the most assists in the Scottish Prem this season. He has been a massive part of Rangers reaching the Europa League semi-finals this year.

CM: Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco, Ligue 1)

It may seem a surprise that no PSG player has made this team, but as mentioned in the opening paragraph, this team is based on how a player has done this season. Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr have simply not been good enough and Kylian Mbappé has made way for other players. Still, Tchouaméni has emerged as another great French prospect.

CM: Danilo (Palmeiras, Brasileirão)

A 20-year-old Brazilian, Danilo is not alone in being a talented youngster coming out of the Brasileirão. It is fair to say he is not the best player in this XI, but he is a good player nonetheless who has filled this spot to make space in other positions.

LW: Raheem Edwards (LA Galaxy, MLS)

Edwards is someone who can play anywhere on the left flank and has the most assists in the MLS season so far, with five. Edwards is one of many Canadian players who have improved greatly since John Herdman has arrived as head coach.

CAM: Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich, Bundesliga)

Müller has not seemed to drop his standards since last season, with the most assists in the Bundesliga so far.

(Photo by Roland Krivec/vi/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

He has won his 11th Bundesliga title, which is the joint-most. A midfielder whose main job is to create, ‘Radio Müller’ does what his nickname suggests, distributing the ball to Robert Lewandowski to score.

RW: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Premier League)

There is not much to say about Salah which hasn’t already been said. He has the most assists and most goals in the Premier League season so far and is arguably the best player in the world. Salah is another class and had to feature in this team.

ST: Julian Álvarez (River Plate, Primera División)

Whilst he is contracted to Manchester City, I picked Álvarez on the basis that he played for La River Plate from 2018 to January 2022 and once he signed for City he was loaned straight back to La Banda. Álvarez is Argentina’s best prospect right now, and will look to break into City’s starting XI once he returns to Manchester.