Zidane - Good player but not as good as people make out.
Kane - See above
Kane - See above
Player’s You Don’t Rate As Highly As Others
- Thread starter 432JuanMata
- Start date
I believe the peak of their Premier League careers was almost identical in terms of statistical output. I think @roonster09 post the stats a while back.
it was @Chipper
Going to do the obligatory Shearer comparison as they're often named as the best two strikers, or forwards if you'd rather call Henry that instead, in PL history. In some of Shearer's there were more teams in league so more games:
Shearer
1992/93 - 20 (21 apps)
1993/94 - 35 (40)
1994/95 - 47 (42)
1995/96 - 38 (35)
1996/97 - 32 (31)
Totals: 172 in 169, 1.02 per game
Henry
2001-02 - 29 goals + assists (33 apps)
2002-03 - 44 (37)
2003-04 - 36 (37)
2004-05 - 39 (32)
2005-06 - 35 (32)
Totals: 183 in 171, 1.07 per game
Henry just edging it there, and of course he was seen has having a better all round game by nearly everyone as he was better at making goals than Shearer ever was. Still quite close on those combined stats.
Another purely goalscoring comparison that I once came up between the two was that Henry was born on August 17th and turned 22 the same month he signed for Arsenal at the start of 1999/00. In 8 seasons at Arsenal he scored 174 in 254 in the league, 0.69 a game. Shearer was born on August 13th, and if you take the 8 seasons from when he was 22 you get 176 goals in 253, 0.70 per game. It's remarkably similar.
Way better was extreme to say overall, but we struggled the last years before we got Carrick. Keane 99 was strong with the rest and he is a legend.
I think I have always rated Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick more though.
With them and Anderson we really had 4 years being best in the world with only Barca being close once they got Pep.
As for Ruud I liked him, but feel the forwards after him gave us another level particular in Europe.
With Cantona he is before my time, but his stats are not that impressive and he did little at the biggest stage. His highlight though are legendary for good or bad. He got a big personality, but just like with Ibra he lacks the biggest titles to be mentioned with the very best.
- Kane
- Sterling
- TAA
- Firminho
- Sterling
- TAA
- Firminho
Because you don’t judge by looking at what trophies their team won (especially under Fergie, who won bucketloads of trophies with or without Ronaldo). You judge by watching them play.
Ronaldo is the better player because of his whole career (you do realise he has more goals than games played for Real Madrid, right?!)
However, if you look at the PL, he was there for 5ish years, and for 2 of them he wasn’t amazing. I can remember comedy programmes like Fantasy Football League mocking him for his propensity to do 50 step overs when 3 would suffice. He was also berated for diving all the time. He had a difficult transition as a teenager to another league (not uncommon).
Obviously he had a great third year and then a wonderful Ballon D’Or season but the year after (his last in the PL) his productivity dropped a little because he was sulking about being denied a move to Real Madrid.
No way I’m taking the totality of his Man United years over Henry’s time at Arsenal. You can think otherwise if you want
Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Good target man but not God's gift he has made his fans believe he is.
Misses too many chances to be considered world class for me.
Also chats so much shit which everyone eats up.
A bit of a 'look at me, look at me' insecure sad clown about him. Not as cool as he thinks he is.
Ander Herrera.
Decent midfielder but because he says what fans want to hear he's all that apparantly.
When he was at United you'd think he was the new Bryan Robson with the amount of adulation he used to get by fans!
Most overrated United player in recent year for me.
He was an Ok midfielder and injury prone..
Good target man but not God's gift he has made his fans believe he is.
Misses too many chances to be considered world class for me.
Also chats so much shit which everyone eats up.
A bit of a 'look at me, look at me' insecure sad clown about him. Not as cool as he thinks he is.
Ander Herrera.
Decent midfielder but because he says what fans want to hear he's all that apparantly.
When he was at United you'd think he was the new Bryan Robson with the amount of adulation he used to get by fans!
Most overrated United player in recent year for me.
He was an Ok midfielder and injury prone..
Carrick, great interceptor and decent passer, but just couldn’t handle tempo or pace at all.
Either in terms of teams playing at a high passing tempo or quick players running against him. The game just passed him buy. And always slowed down the tempo when we were in possession.
Either in terms of teams playing at a high passing tempo or quick players running against him. The game just passed him buy. And always slowed down the tempo when we were in possession.
Carrick better than Keane? Yeah Carrick is massively overrated.
Keane was the best player in a brilliant team that won the treble. Captain and leader too. He dictated and decided the tempo of the game and for three seasons he was never less than superb every week. I wouldn’t disagree that it was the right time to let Keane go, his hip operation restricted him massively he couldn’t get around the pitch anymore. That being said we improved because VDS Evra Vidic Rooney Ronaldo Tevez.
Carrick was a fortunate decent player who happened to play in a team full of world class players. Can anyone imagine Keane not being able to get a game for England over Gareth Barry like Carrick?
I'll say Schweinsteiger is a wee bit overrated - great player (and became quite sympathetic later in his career) in his heyday but at least in Germany I'd say he's (vastly) overrated. Müller to some extent as well.
Same people say that Shearer was better than Rooney for England and in the Premier League so I came to the conclusion that we shouldn't take very seriously everything that is written in the internet.Also keep in mind that we are the most hated club in Europe.
Are you mad? These myths were debunked well before he retired.
He was first class for us. His defensive positioning and anticipation were excellent and his passing was about as good as it gets.
He would walk into our side right now and transform our midfield.
Agree on this one. Excellent two seasons and now remembered as possibly the best PL player ever? No chance in hell.
Shearer - brilliant player, but his legacy is more down to his longevity than his ability. He also lacked the mentality for the top. Players like Aguero, Ronaldo and Henry were better but weren't here as long.
Ramos - great footballer, average defender. Nowhere near the level of past greats in his position.
Ramos - great footballer, average defender. Nowhere near the level of past greats in his position.
Firmino. Good at link-up play, but often talked about like he is the second coming of Bergkamp. Average finisher, who should have scored way more goals in a very dominant Liverpool side.
Sterling. Decent enough player, but I wonder how he would look outside of City. Whenever he plays us he misses a few sitters and is completely pocketed by AWB.
Carrick. One of my favorite players when he was active. His passing was a joy to watch, but I think he is overrated by a lot of United fans. Too easy to run past in midfield.
Sterling. Decent enough player, but I wonder how he would look outside of City. Whenever he plays us he misses a few sitters and is completely pocketed by AWB.
Carrick. One of my favorite players when he was active. His passing was a joy to watch, but I think he is overrated by a lot of United fans. Too easy to run past in midfield.
Ronaldinho, going by this thread. Seriously, highest peak of all time???? Seriously 
Cannavaro
Nedved
This being a united board, Paul Scholes
Hazard
I'm borderline on Iniesta
Cannavaro
Nedved
This being a united board, Paul Scholes
Hazard
I'm borderline on Iniesta
Good thread, fair breakdown. But if you throw in other statistical data (dribbles, key passes, chances created etc), I’m sure Henry would be ahead in those because that was more his game. Shearer was a bit more limited (though obviously a great goalscorer).
Messi rarely impacts the biggest games these days
Neymar almost always does
Maybe it's barcelona's fault, but while i agree that on a day to day basis Messi is still better, ultimately the CL is the biggest competition of all and should have a bigger impact when assessing these comparisons. And Neymar beats Messi there, for the second year in a row
Ronaldinho, going by this thread. Seriously, highest peak of all time???? Seriously
Cannavaro
Nedved
This being a united board, Paul Scholes
Hazard
I'm borderline on Iniesta
How dare you?!?!
PSG have a much better team at the moment
Might as well get in on the act;
Ricardo Carvalho - class player, incredibly elegant but people have elevated him to a level where it almost sounds like Terry was hanging on to his coattails in that defence. They complimented each other perfectly, but I rate Terry much, much higher.
David Silva - another incredibly elegant classy player who is spoken about as if he belongs at the upper echelons of Premier League midfielders when he's at least the very least a tier below, maybe more.
Didier Drogba - I have come to this painful realisation in recent years. I used to have him right up there next to Henry and Shearer as one of the all-time great strikers in this league. He's still wildly important to me and his record on all the big occasions will speak for itself, but I have reluctantly lowered his all-time status from neck and neck with Henry and Shearer to having an internal debate about whether he can scrape into the top 5.
There is one more, but I'd rather not feel the wrath of this forum.
Ricardo Carvalho - class player, incredibly elegant but people have elevated him to a level where it almost sounds like Terry was hanging on to his coattails in that defence. They complimented each other perfectly, but I rate Terry much, much higher.
David Silva - another incredibly elegant classy player who is spoken about as if he belongs at the upper echelons of Premier League midfielders when he's at least the very least a tier below, maybe more.
Didier Drogba - I have come to this painful realisation in recent years. I used to have him right up there next to Henry and Shearer as one of the all-time great strikers in this league. He's still wildly important to me and his record on all the big occasions will speak for itself, but I have reluctantly lowered his all-time status from neck and neck with Henry and Shearer to having an internal debate about whether he can scrape into the top 5.
There is one more, but I'd rather not feel the wrath of this forum.
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That's because Pep loves sideways passers.
Some people don't deserve to watch football.
Not so sure it's much better, but one can only judge based on what happens, not what might be. It's fine margins, i'll give you that
I'd agree, I would rather have Neymar or Mpabbe in a big game these this. It was still some screamer Messi scored against PSG.
This will be my last post today (not a fan of these strict post limits but whatever) and because Drogba (as Eto'o) is one of my all-time favs: he did suffer to a certain degree from the extremely defensive approach Chelsea had back then (and now
). Since I rarely see anybody putting him over Henry for example I wouldn't exactly say he's overrated regarding that. And like Ramos, who's also mentioned here, he had that great "never giving up.ever" mentality and was able to take the whole team with him on that which I think is extremely important and an equal part of what makes you a good sportsman (within a team-sport) and which should be taken into consideration as well. Not arguing against you btw, just my thoughts on this one.Gazza
He was class under Rikjaard before Messi was established and Iniesta was a youth player. He was class when they had Marquez in midfield. scored 25 and 26 league goals before Pep got there and was 3rd in world player of the year voting. Even won champions league top assister in 2006!
you buggin
He knows a great midfielder when he sees one.
Look at all these sideways and backwards passes.
agree with all of these. Maybe Bruno is an elite scoring/assisting midfielder but has deficiencies with other aspects of his game
Goretzka
Ousmane Dembele
Gio Reyna
Pogba
Ousmane Dembele
Gio Reyna
Pogba
If anyone thinks Carrick was better than Keane then they're either massively overrating Carrick or massively underrating Keane.
Would agree with the VDS shout, to an extent. He was generally an excellent keeper and is rightly seen as such. However, you sometimes see posters say things like "he never made mistakes and was always so assured", which just isn't true. He made his share of mistakes for us but they get forgotten when you're in an excellent side that can bail you out when they do happen. He also could/should have done better for goals in all three CL finals he played for us and made another high-profile error in the 1996 CL final with Ajax. Add in a slew of other errors that saw him depart Juve for Fulham (including a crucial error against Lazio that ultimately cost Juve the title). All of which is sometimes ignored by United fans when assessing him as a goalkeeper.
Would agree with the VDS shout, to an extent. He was generally an excellent keeper and is rightly seen as such. However, you sometimes see posters say things like "he never made mistakes and was always so assured", which just isn't true. He made his share of mistakes for us but they get forgotten when you're in an excellent side that can bail you out when they do happen. He also could/should have done better for goals in all three CL finals he played for us and made another high-profile error in the 1996 CL final with Ajax. Add in a slew of other errors that saw him depart Juve for Fulham (including a crucial error against Lazio that ultimately cost Juve the title). All of which is sometimes ignored by United fans when assessing him as a goalkeeper.
Roberto Firmino
Willian
Wilfried Zaha
Philippe Coutinho
John Terry
Víctor Valdés
Willian
Wilfried Zaha
Philippe Coutinho
John Terry
Víctor Valdés
He knows a great midfielder when he sees one.
Look at all these sideways and backwards passes.
That's obviously a Caf Deepfake.
Rashy. He could still go on to be one of the best in the game but his play over the last year or so has been very patchy to put it kindly yet he starts every single game no matter how poor or wasteful he has been previously.... Capable of the sublime on his day but in need of consistency and adding more to his game. He currently doesn’t seem to be learning from his mistakes at all.
Mason Greenwood.
There. I said it. Come at me
There. I said it. Come at me
Nobody thinks Griezmann? I’m surprised his name isn’t brought up
Saint-Maximin - being good at dribbling doesn't make you a good player. Knowing when to dribble is just as important
Greenwood - really good for his age but I don't think his ceiling is as high as some people think
Greenwood - really good for his age but I don't think his ceiling is as high as some people think
MBappe. Rashford has more to his game and would get the same numbers in Ligue 1.
Sterling. Not a natural footballer.
Kompany. Continually made mistakes to his head went in big fixtures. Not saying he wasn't good, he wasn't great. Just not amazing like some people harp on about. Like Vidic really (Torres).
Sterling. Not a natural footballer.
Kompany. Continually made mistakes to his head went in big fixtures. Not saying he wasn't good, he wasn't great. Just not amazing like some people harp on about. Like Vidic really (Torres).
Yeah VDS definitely had periods where he wasn't great for us and he had his weaknesses. It's just when you zoom out enough to look at his full time here he was excellent.
Carrick as some mentioned was the same, had some poor periods for us and definitely had some major weaknesses to his game. Still a fecking superb player.
That for me just shows that even top players have their downsides. Fans shouldn't expect perfection or constant form. It's all so hyper critical.