I'm finding it so hard to put a word to what I'm trying to describe, but that ability to really lift his physical intensity frequently is what I see separating him from Kelly. He is definitely not soft as a player, but I see Kelly as being able to go against the tide and crack in with a ridiculously hard ball get or similar, while when Bont turns games, it is through other means (intercept marking, class disposal, thinking his way through things).
They are both at the top of this group, but I just like Kelly's game that bit more than Bont imo.
The thread is interesting comparing these 4, and I guess if I had to chuck Matt Crouch in, I would out him just ahead of Cripps. Crouch has just got more runs on the board now, and has reached AA as a mid, when from this group, Cripps hasn't. His outside spread is now on par if not better than Cripps (still very heavily inside biased), but doesn't have as much of a goal sense as Cripps.
Depending on next year, Crouch vs Merret may become an interesting debate, albeit between two very different types of Player