We've just about timed the climax of our 'Playmaker 72' to coincide with the finale of the EFL season, and we're down to the last - fabulous - four in this year's countdown.
It's certainly been no easy task, but - just to clarify - our '72' is less a roll call of the best footballers in the EFL and more a tribute to those players who have enjoyed the most memorable seasons while racking up the most impressive stats.
Whatever the criteria, we're confident in our selections of the most outstanding players through the Championship, League One, and League Two and welcome any debate on the subject!
Just missing out on a podium finish, the consolation for our Number 4 is that he was, in Playmaker's view, the League One Player of the Season.
Following a disappointing spell at Sheffield Wednesday in 21/22, Mendez-Laing moved to Derby County on a free transfer in 2022 and the rampaging winger has since clocked up over 100 games in two seasons at Pride Park.
Since joining the Rams, Mendez-Laing has provided genuine attacking spark - and he bagged a highly respectable seven goals and eight assists in 44 League One appearances last season, as Derby finished just a single point shy of a play-off spot.
Perhaps spurred on by that disappointment, Derby have raised their game this season under manager Paul Warne, and their mercurial winger has elevated his individual performance levels to inspire them to automatic promotion.
Mendez-Laing has scored nine goals and laid on an outstanding 16 assists in 46 league matches, starting all but one league fixture throughout the season, to finish the regular campaign with more goal involvements (25) than any other player in the third tier.
The 32-year-old has terrorised League One with his direct running and racked up a raft of other impressive statistics to complement his goals and assists.
The Guatemala international ranks joint-second for most key passes (89) in League One in 2023/24, only trailing Peterborough's Harrison Burrows (115), and also sits fourth for most successful dribbles (62) in the third tier.
A key metric when assessing our 'Playmaker 72' has been how effective players have been at key moments and Mendez-Laing has certainly delivered in this respect, a third of his L1 goals this season securing three points for the Rams - his matchwinner in a 1-0 win over Cambridge United a prime example of his ability to step up when needed.
Unsurprisingly nominated for the League One Player of the Season award, alongside eventual winner Harrison Burrows and Portsmouth skipper Marlon Pack, 'NML' has been a mammoth performer for Derby this season and deserves his spot as League One's highest-ranked player in this edition of the '72'.
With almost a century of Championship appearances under his belt, Mendez-Laing's next task will be to try and help the Rams reacclimatise to the Championship next season.
5: Leif Davis 6: Sammie Szmodics 7: Harrison Burrows
8: Elliot Lee 9: Adam Armstrong 10: Davis Keillor-Dunn 11: Georginio Rutter
12: Gabriel Sara 13: Marlon Pack 14: Macaulay Langstaff 15: Ephron Mason-Clark
16: Dan Kemp 17: Joe Taylor 18: Eiran Cashin 19: Ali Al-Hamadi
20: Jack Clarke 21: Isaac Olaofe 22: Carl Piergiani 23: Jaden Philogene
24: Alfie May 25: Will Evans 26: Jamie Reid 27: Morgan Whittaker
28: Conor Chaplin 29: George Thomason 30: Mickey Demetriou
31: Stephy Mavididi 32: Marc Leonard 33: Josh Sheehan
34: Matt Smith 35: Kwame Poku 36: Illan Meslier 37: Aden Flint
38: Ronnie Edwards 39: Josh Sargent 40: Alex Gilbey 41: Ben Sheaf
42: Jobe Bellingham 43: Devante Cole 44: Jacob Greaves 45: Paddy Lane
46: Herbie Kane 47: Dan James 48: Archie Collins 49: Karamoko Dembele
50: Haji Wright 51: Dan Crowley 52: Cameron Brannagan 53: Aaron Collins
54: Andy Cook 55: Connor Shaughnessy 56: Jannik Vestergaard
57: Willy Gnonto 58: Ellis Simms 59: Charlie Hughes 60: Fatawu Isshaku
61: Sam Hoskins 62: Paul Mullin 63: Chris Martin 64: Omari Hutchinson
65: Isaac Hutchinson 66: Sam Tickle 67: Ben Hinchcliffe 68: Michał Helik
69: Lewis Wing 70: Rob Apter 71: Kyle Walker-Peters 72: Alex Palmer
 |  |
NameNathaniel Otis Méndez-Laing Born/Age1992-04-15(32 -yrs-old) Nationality Guatemala  Belize PositionForward (Right Wing) / Forward (Left Wing) | |
|
