Players that appear to perform better for their country

sillwuka

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There are certain players, who seem to impress for their country but seem to be pretty ordinary for their clubs.

It must be due to playing with better teammates!

I'll start:
Pickford
Dumfries
Blind
 
podolski
klose (he was good for his clubs but not as good as for Germany)

Maguire is an obvious one
 
Ochoa the Mexico keeper. Absolutely invisible for four years and then shows up at the WC

Shaquiri

our very own Arry Maguire

In the past, Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski. Deadly for Germany and meh for their clubs
 
Hate it when Klose is mentioned, he struggled at Bayern because he was playing in a different system with Luca Toni where Toni was the fulcrum of the attack, but other than that he was great at his other clubs (Bremen, Lazio, Kaiserslautern). He had a very good club career as well and would have been better had he not joined Bayern but gone somewhere else (I think he was linked with Spurs in 06 before they signed Berbatov).
 
hasanejaz88 said:
Hate it when Klose is mentioned, he struggled at Bayern because he was playing in a different system with Luca Toni where Toni was the fulcrum of the attack, but other than that he was great at his other clubs (Bremen, Lazio, Kaiserslautern). He had a very good club career as well and would have been better had he not joined Bayern but gone somewhere else (I think he was linked with Spurs in 06 before they signed Berbatov).
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hate it or not, it was a FACT that he scored on average of 0.39 goals per game while he played at club level (even AFTER disregarding his time at Bayern during which he scored 0.35 goals per game), while he scored 0.52 goals per game playing for Germany, so the say that Klose performed better for his country is factually supported.

saying that "Klose performed better for his country" does not mean that "Klose sucked at club level", mind that simple logic.
 
Dumfries always performs like this. If it's anyone for us it's probably Memphis.

The best Dutch example of all time is Ron Vlaar in 2014 who turned into primeBaresi for 3 weeks.
 
JeffFromHK said:
hate it or not, it was a FACT that he scored on average of 0.39 goals per game while he played at club level (even AFTER disregarding his time at Bayern during which he scored 0.35 goals per game), while he scored 0.52 goals per game playing for Germany, so the say that Klose performed better for his country is factually supported.

saying that "Klose performed better for his country" does not mean that "Klose sucked at club level", mind that simple logic.
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That's disregarding the assists he had, which were high, especially at Bremen. At Bremen he was the complete striker who was getting 15+ goals and assists.

At Germany ironically his assists numbers were lower.

His g+a per game was 0.63 for clubs excluding Bayern and 0.73 for country. Not a major difference and I'm sure you'll find similar for other players as well.

Edit: I can agree to the last part. I generally feel people underrated Klose are club level given how good he was at international level. He was a top striker at his peak and wasted part of it going to Bayern and having to play with Toni. He made up for it going to Lazio and having a great swan song to his career.
 
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Pretty much everyone. International football is much easier.
 
JeffFromHK said:
hate it or not, it was a FACT that he scored on average of 0.39 goals per game while he played at club level (even AFTER disregarding his time at Bayern during which he scored 0.35 goals per game), while he scored 0.52 goals per game playing for Germany, so the say that Klose performed better for his country is factually supported.

saying that "Klose performed better for his country" does not mean that "Klose sucked at club level", mind that simple logic.
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Exactly. Klose has the most WC goals on his record, but he is nowhere near such an exceptional record for his club career. Doesn't make it bad at all.
 
Tarrou said:
andy cole says hi
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He only started 5 international matches over about a 4 year period; harsh to judge him off that! It was critical that he didn’t get a better opportunity; he and Shearer would have been lethal.

Worryingly, most of our current players seem to pay better for the National team than the club.
 
Pickford is a good example. Blind is a terrible one.

Blind was a fine player for us and one I wish we’d kept. He’s been excellent for Ajax as well.
 
Perisic for Croatia.

Nani for Portugal

Bendtner for Denmark
 
Spaghetti said:
He only started 5 international matches over about a 4 year period; harsh to judge him off that! It was critical that he didn’t get a better opportunity; he and Shearer would have been lethal.

Worryingly, most of our current players seem to pay better for the National team than the club.
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I don’t think it’s harsh at all, you have to take your chances

sheringham was a brilliant partner so it stands to reason if you don’t pounce on your chance you won’t get picked

he was shite for England
 
Black Adder said:
He was first that came to my mind, zlatni lakat :D
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He was magnificient for us, often overlooked but to remember his assists to Vlaović in Euro 1996 against Turkey and in 1998 against Japan and France, had a pass to an eyelash on him and of course his lakat yes to fend of a challenge. :D
 
SportingCP96 said:
Perisic for Croatia.

Nani for Portugal

Bendtner for Denmark
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Not sure about Perišić, sure he's our 2nd most important player and a top scorer at major tournaments but he's been constantly good for the clubs he played for too.
 
Tarrou said:
I don’t think it’s harsh at all, you have to take your chances

sheringham was a brilliant partner so it stands to reason if you don’t pounce on your chance you won’t get picked

he was shite for England
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Of course chances need to be taken. Most players are given more of a chance before being labelled “shite”, though. If his starts had been in consecutive games then maybe I’d agree a little bit, but such sporadic opportunities are even more difficult, especially in international football.
 
Hakim Ziyech is an obvious one this tournament.

He’s putting in performances Chelsea haven’t seen.

Griezman is another who seems to excel more for France than Atletico/Barca.
 
Sofyan Amrabat, he is incredible inconsistent at club level...3 good games and then 7 mediocre games.

Granite Xhaka, bar the game against Portugal, he looks like he could play for Real Madrid whenever he is playing for Switzerland.

I guess inconsistent players can shine more in international football cause consistency isn't required there, while at club they get exposed more often.
 
Disagree with a lot of the names here. Ziyech though clearly disappointed at Chelsea, doesnt get a fair chance there either. The likes of Sterling, Havertz, Mount receive so much more grace, he was by far their best player in their last CL game I think, but was taken off.

Memphis had an unreal period for the NT under Koeman, but he was also unreal for Lyon that period. He was the best Ligue 1 forward after Mbappe and Neymar in that period. Eversince, he's been good for Oranje but also been good for Barcelona. Not world class, and will never be, he has really regressed since Wijnaldum also regressed.

Maguire thrives when a certain type of football is played, his form went to crap last season for us but our style of play also changed. He was a very fine defender for us in his first few seasons, just as he always is for England. When he has proper shielding in front of him, and he doesn't have to be on the opponents half the entire match, he has very obvious qualities.

His aerial presence, dribbling, short passing, and long passing can be very good. He used to be amongst the top defenders in terms of progressive distance carried (passing and dribbling). No matter how you want to put it, very useful.
 
Mæhle has 9 goals in 34 games for Denmark from full-back / wing-back. In his club career he has 10 in +200 games. Also, Skov Olsen and Damsgaard has shone much more for Denmark than in their respective club sides.
 
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