Gonzalo Higuain

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
You cant be serious. You really think he is so good at shooting that 14 shots on target in a 50 game season would have got him more than 4 goals?

The 31 shots alone should tell you he rarely shoots. Bearing in mind he starts most of Barca's games.
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31 shots is enough to score more than 4 goals, whether you shoot often or not. You have the 31 in the first place.
 
Ekeke said:
31 shots is enough to score more than 4 goals, whether you shoot often or not. You have the 31 in the first place.
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Is it really? Ronaldo scored 34 in total last season, from 354 shots: 1 goal for every 10 shots. De Rossi: 1 goal for every 17 shots. Robben: 1 goal for every 12 shots. Carrick 1 goal for every 14 shots... and so on.
 
Gio said:
Is it really? Ronaldo scored 34 in total last season, from 354 shots: 1 goal for every 10 shots. De Rossi: 1 goal for every 17 shots. Robben: 1 goal for every 12 shots. Carrick 1 goal for every 14 shots... and so on.
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Depends where the shots are from and how easy the chances are obviously. But considering we've already established that he doesnt take shots on too often, you'd imagine they arent all shots from 30 yards.

You can definately score more than 4 goals from 30+ shots. :rolleyes:
 
Ekeke said:
Depends where the shots are from and how easy the chances are obviously. But considering we've already established that he doesnt take shots on too often, you'd imagine they arent all shots from 30 yards.

You can definately score more than 4 goals from 30+ shots. :rolleyes:
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Of course you can. But the fact midfielders tend to average 10 shots for every goal means you cannot really criticise Iniesta for netting once every 8.
 
I think you've just misunderstood my point. I've made sure to mention his dribbling which was exceptional, second only to Messi in la liga last season. I've made sure to mention he was one of the key players in making sure Barcelona had ridiculous amounts of the ball last season. And that his productivity in the last 9 or 10 games, the last 3 months of the season, where he became much more of a match winner, was what he really needed to be doing for more of the season. He did that in the end and it was brilliant.

So to me its just one aspect of his role in the side. Less important than some of the others. But its still true that he wasnt very productive till the last section of the season and that he could certainly have been more productive than he was until that point.

That doesnt mean he wasnt brilliant last season. He's just capable of being even better as he proved at the end.
 
Ekeke said:
I think you've just misunderstood my point. I've made sure to mention his dribbling which was exceptional, second only to Messi in la liga last season. I've made sure to mention he was one of the key players in making sure Barcelona had ridiculous amounts of the ball last season. And that his productivity in the last 9 or 10 games, the last 3 months of the season, where he became much more of a match winner, was what he really needed to be doing for more of the season. He did that in the end and it was brilliant.

So to me its just one aspect of his role in the side. Less important than some of the others. But its still true that he wasnt very productive till the last section of the season and that he could certainly have been more productive than he was until that point.

That doesnt mean he wasnt brilliant last season. He's just capable of being even better as he proved at the end.
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It really depends on how you define 'productivity' keeping the ball,maintaining possession, successful dribbles and essentially controlling the game are other facets of productivity. He was productive all season in this sense but I see what you are trying to say.
 
Boss said:
It really depends on how you define 'productivity' keeping the ball,maintaining possession, successful dribbles and essentially controlling the game are other facets of productivity. He was productive all season in this sense but I see what you are trying to say.
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I'm glad. Personally when I speak of productivity I just mean goals scored and created. There is no doubt that in all other areas Iniesta was sensational for most of last season.
 
kouroux said:
Everyone against you Ekeke, you must be realize by now that something isn't right with your analysis and criticism of Iniesta.
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Not at all. They've just misunderstood my point and seem to have missed the parts when I referred to the rest of his game.

Nobody said that productivity was the most important part of a central midfielder's game. They read that somewhere along the line. Not my fault.
 
Ekeke said:
Not at all. They've just misunderstood my point and seem to have missed the parts when I referred to the rest of his game.

Nobody said that productivity was the most important part of a central midfielder's game. They read that somewhere along the line. Not my fault.
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Through out this thread your argument goes on like this

1) productivity means goals, assists or some other hardcode stats.
2) Iniesta played free attacking role in the middle
3) He made 30 shots at the goal and scored four

Iniesta was certainly a superior player than stats say.
 
vijay said:
Through out this thread your argument goes on like this

1) productivity means goals, assists or some other hardcode stats.
2) Iniesta played free attacking role in the middle
3) He made 30 shots at the goal and scored four

Iniesta was certainly a superior player than stats say.
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And at no point have I claimed that not to be true. In fact I've made sure to mention the other parts of his game several times now :p
 
Ekeke said:
Depends where the shots are from and how easy the chances are obviously. But considering we've already established that he doesnt take shots on too often, you'd imagine they arent all shots from 30 yards.

You can definately score more than 4 goals from 30+ shots. :rolleyes:
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:lol:Then why did a Ronaldo take 354 shots to score 34 goals?

If Ronaldo can take that many shots to score his goals. You can't seriously expect an Iniesta to score more than 4 times from 31 shots. With a mere 14 on target. When he doesn't shoot often and shooting isn't a major strength of his.
 
Eto'odinho said:
I honestly don't think he is as good as some of you are making him out. He is an above average striker who quite rightly wouldn't get into the Argie squad ahead of the likes of Aguero, Lisandro Lopez, Milito or Lavezzi.
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Tumbling-Dice said:
Spot on.

Over-rated by the usual suspects on here.
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Deary me.

He's just kept scoring important goals from everywhere, goals of real quality, continuing on from last season.

Think he's probably outperformed any one of our attacking players over the past year and a half.
 
He is one of Europe's hottest prospects imo. Over the past two years, he has really come into his own and is performing brilliantly for Madrid. I think he's up there with the likes of Pato and Aguero. Madrid would be mad to let him go, but then again they are Madrid and he didn't cost £30 million so they may let him go. Unless he becomes the next Raul of course.
 
i had him down as one of the best in europe based on his form and performances for madrid last season and people laughed.

I have a nag that he's never going to be one of the VERY best but he's a damn good footballer. Good on either side, fast enough, strong enough, carries the ball well and plays for the team.

he's still what 21? and he's keeping Benzema out the side and IS madrids number 1 striker and probably after Ronaldo the first name on the team sheet right now.
 
Missed an open goal last night. Can't find the video. Skipped past the advancing Lloris and hit it from just inside the box. The ball hit the inside of the bar. Comical miss. Probably ended up knocking Real out
 
kouroux said:
He's a good goalscorer but in every single important match he's always been invisible.
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Aye, his Champions League record is Zlatan-esque, but he's scored some very important goals domestically and is gaining a bit of a reputation for his Roy of the Rovers moments.
 
Don't know why will aim for the corner when it's an open goal, just like his goal against Germany right in the corner. He could have squared the ball to Ronaldo and Madrid will be in the last 8 right now.

I still have big questions against his European pedigree, he does not Impress me in the CL where it truly matters but he's young so he's surely to correct this. Looking back at last night he must be feeling like a right twat.
 
I personally think Higuain is a brilliant player..
 
He will be a star player at the World Cup unless Maradonna makes a fecked up decision to either not take him or to take him and not play him..
 
Manchester City are preparing a €50 million bid for Real Madrid 's Argentinian stars Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago , according to Spanish daily Marca.

City attempted to sign midfielder Gago during the January transfer window but were unable to push through an €18 million bid at the last minute. Nonetheless, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini commented at the time that "Gago is a fantastic player and we may attempt to sign him again in the summer."

The 23 year-old has had his opportunities limited to seven first team appearances so far this season at Real Madrid and would reportedly be keen to move.

Meanwhile, striker Higuain has been in excellent form this season and is Real Madrid 's top scorer with 18 goals in 26 games so far this season. The 22 year-old has forced himself into the Argentina side and is expected to star in this summer's World Cup. At 22 years-old, Higuain has a bright future ahead of him and Manchester City are closely monitoring the player's faltering contract extension talks at the Bernebeu.

Marca reports that Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has specifically asked Eastlands owner Sheikh Mansour for the funds to make a bid for the two Real Madrid players.
 
Real will just tell them to feck off, doubt either player would want to go there, Higuian would show up, and it would be Robinho all over again. you mean there is another club in manchester other than United
 
I think Higuain is a class player, doubt Real want him to go but i think he wants to go.
 
Prez Making Same Mistakes At Madrid

Pérez Making Same Mistakes At Madrid
Even by their own insane standards, the Real Madrid-aligned sports daily Marca found an unusual target to blame for the club's sixth successive exit from the Champions League last-16 stage.

Along with calling for the head of Manuel Pellegrini (of course), the paper stepped up their campaign to see Argentinean striker Gonzalo Higuaín booted out of the club too.

Although the forward was far from his best in the ties against Olympique Lyon - along with most of his team-mates - Higuaín was ripped into tiny pieces in the paper which has never attempted to hide its affiliation to Madrid's all-powerful, media-controlling, paranoid president Florentino Pérez.

The crime for which Higuaín was hung, drawn and quartered was failing to pass to Cristiano Ronaldo in one chance during Wednesday night's second leg 1-1 draw and hitting the post with another.

'Ronaldo is paying...for Higuaín not thinking of the team,' tutted Friday's edition that took time out to praise Ronaldo's famous sense of team spirit.

This was simply the continuation of a nasty, mean-spirited, politically-motivated campaign that has been running throughout the season and is at the beating heart of why Florentino Pérez - who is Marca's unofficial editor-in-chief - continues to mock the notion that Madrid is a 'club of gentlemen'.

Just two weeks before, Marca's director Eduardo Inda responded to widespread praise for the striker's performances by writing that the 22-year-old would only be considered great, 'when he scores a decisive goal in the Champions League final, in el Clásico or in the final in Johannesburg on the 11th July'.

From all these damning accusations, those unfamiliar with life in la Liga would assume that Higuaín was footballing deadwood, a dunce, an overpriced flop, like Karim Benzema and Kaká, for example, two of Pérez' show ponies brought in over the summer.

Instead, the Argentine international will be leading the line for his country in the World Cup, was Madrid's top league scorer last season with 22 strikes, is the club's top scorer in the league this season with 19 goals in 16 starts, is loved by the fans for his hard work and attitude and has a habit of scoring vital, comic-book great goals when the side is in ten shades of s**t.

But all this is of no interest to Florentino due to three major issues.

The first is that Higuaín is making his own import Karim Benzema look very poor indeed, especially as the brooding Frenchman vanished without trace into the club's treatment rooms some time ago.

The second is that Gonzalo's seven-letter surname doesn't sell enough shirts - a serious offence in itself.

But the third is the most heinous of all for Higuaín: the international was signed by Madrid's presidential predecessor and sworn enemy, Ramón Calderón.

The last Galactico project failed dismally as President Pérez was all-controlling and would not allow any of his many, many coaches to drop under-performing superstars to the bench, no matter how indifferent their form. This created a poisonous atmosphere in the dressing room between the Galactico Zidanes and the journeyman Pavónes.

To an extent, this policy still remains as seen by the fact that the (Calderón signed) Rafael Van der Vaart has spent much of the season on the bench, only to replace Kaká - and be considerably more effective - when the €68m Brazilian is injured.

Another area where Pérez still just doesn't get it is the idea of letting his coach do the coaching.

During the summer, Manuel Pellegrini claimed that Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder would play crucial roles in his tactical plans for the season ahead.

Both were swiftly sold for the simple reason that they were star signings of the Ancien Régime. Pérez' prickly ego easily won the battle over pragmatism.

If Florentino happened to be the owner of Real Madrid then all this would fine and dandy. If he paid all the bills, then he could do what he wanted, no matter how unhinged. But one of the construction magnate's biggest tricks has been to be convince the world that he is and he can.

Pérez is supposed to act in the best interests of the club and its owner-members and not himself. But in this all-important aspect, the president is failing once again.

All Florentino managed over the summer was to win the presidency by being the only candidate who could afford to stand and pull political favours to persuade banks to fund the insane summer spending at a time when hundreds of thousands of businesses all over Spain were desperate for the cash too.

Whilst sporting director Jorge Valdano is quite right to say that Madrid's latest project is a five-year one, a good €100m of the members' money could have been saved by keeping Robben, Sneijder and Spanish international striker Alvaro Negredo and not splurging on Kaká, Benzema and the really-not-up-to-the-job Esteban Granero.

However, that would have significantly reduced the amount of times that Florentino could have stood in front of the adoring masses of the Bernabe, over the summer unveiling his footballing trinkets.

Pérez has been considerably less visible in recent days in the wake of another Champions League exit with Marca claiming that his silence is 'his best weapon'.

Instead, gushing editorials have appeared in the paper disassociating Mr President for the latest disaster including Saturday's back-page butt-lick which lists seven reasons why Florentino was completely blameless.

As well as much grovelling, solutions have also been sought to fix Madrid's ongoing Champions League glitch.

But rather than the answer being patient planning and consistency both on the field and on the bench, the Madridista press have been calling for the signings of Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Frank Ribery and David Villa in an uncanny impression of the "I want that one" character from Little Britain.

Despite Real Madrid responding to Wednesday's crushing blow in Europe with a 4-1 away win over a tremendously violent Valladolid, it was yet another bitter night for Madrid's presidential bigwig.

The victory saw a hat-trick for Gonzalo Higuaín - the international striker who only scores in unimportant games against unimportant teams.

One of those goals came from a headed pass from Ronaldo allowing Marca to note that the Portuguese player was the spirit of teamwork whilst castigating his forward partner for celebrating his strikes in what appeared to be an angry manner.

And that'' not surprising considering the treatment that Higuaín has received in the press during the week - treatment that Manuel Pellegrini claimed badly affected him.

"'Pipa' was feeling down but he's got personality," claimed the Real Madrid coach after the win which sees Madrid top of the table on goal difference to a Messi-inspired Barcelona, although the end-of-season places will be decided on a head-to-head basis.

Jorge Valdano, who has the job of controlling his president's tantrums, claims that Madrid are keen to keep his young countryman at the club for life. However, they are going about it in a very half-hearted way.

Higuaín is currently on a deal which sees him on €1.5m a year until 2013, but he has rejected renewal offers which would reportedly see the striker on €2.5m. And that's not too surprising considering Benzema is on €8.5m.

The expected departure of the international over the summer could be a win-win situation for everyone except for Real Madrid supporters who have grown rather fond of their talisman, despite the attempts to smear him in Spain's most-read newspaper.

Florentino can rid himself of tainted goods he considers to be an embarrassment to himself and his own prize players and Higuaín can find himself a club where he will be respected for being the fantastic player that he is.

Any transfer - with Manchester City the strong favourites to sign him up - would simply show why Real Madrid are continuing to get it wrong where it matters most.

For the all-powerful club president, it will always be Florentino first and football second.
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Nice blog post on F365 outlining Real's problems.
Marca really is a vile newspaper isn't it. Makes the Sun look like proper journalists.

Higuain would do well in the Premiership I reckon. And if Madrid want to get rid then I am assuming he will be available for a decent fee too. Not that I think we'd sign him.
 
I rated him as a good RW last season, he did perfect and slotted in to score goals Ronaldo-esque though their styles our totally different. Most people said I was mad and he was overrated, but another consistent run from him and I think its proven that he has what it takes. At just 21, I see him as a good threat already. He costed a predicted 18m last season as he galaticos was coming in but no one went for him, now he should be at least 25m from my guess... which you'd all say I'm spastic.

He didn't cost RM to lose to Lyon, that was just 1 chance FFS, Ronaldo had an open header and put it over the bar and no one cares... Kaka had so many chances... It is certainly not his shot, RM just played badly and taking Kaka which by all means was playing one of his best matches off was insane coaching... Pellgrini is the culprit but behind all of this, he has not found his best 11, also Perez for buying Benzema when Pellgrini didn't opt for him, if Club presidents do not support their coach, it will end up like Mourinho at Chelsea Mark II and its proven now to me that its the truth. ( Let's not forget the Rafa story ).
 
prateik said:
benzema earns 150k a week .. thats just wrong
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Well it actually is just that. He earns 100 k euros. Thanks to the pound's near landslide against the euro in recent times, it makes it look like he's on around £90 k+ a year when if you used the exchange rate from just two years ago, it's around 70k. While Real have spent a lot last summer, it's made to look a bit worse due to the conversion rate. Something that's been overlooked it seems.
 
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