foreveryoung Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Genuinely world class at his prime. Not like other players are labelled world class when they are just actually very good players, I.e the Salahs, the Sakas etc. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 25 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: Genuinely world class at his prime. Not like other players are labelled world class when they are just actually very good players, I.e the Salahs, the Sakas etc. Yeah I think Bale is criminally underrated due to injuries, not being loved by Madrid fans, and being outshone a bit by Ronaldo. For about 6 years he was one of the top 5-10 players in the world, and clearly the best British player of his generation. That goal against Liverpool is IMO the best Champions League final goal ever. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 9, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 9, 2023 1 hour ago, foreveryoung said: Genuinely world class at his prime. Not like other players are labelled world class when they are just actually very good players, I.e the Salahs, the Sakas etc. You don’t think Salah was world class in his prime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 1 minute ago, Stevo985 said: You don’t think Salah was world class in his prime? I’d have had him top of whatever the next band down is. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 (edited) 41 minutes ago, KentVillan said: Yeah I think Bale is criminally underrated due to injuries, not being loved by Madrid fans, and being outshone a bit by Ronaldo. For about 6 years he was one of the top 5-10 players in the world, and clearly the best British player of his generation. That goal against Liverpool is IMO the best Champions League final goal ever. Yeah, agreed. His second half hat-trick away at Inter Milan as well where he completely schooled Javier Zanetti - all of them just absolute pings into the far corner from the corner of the box. Thinking about it, he's scored a LOT of very good goals Edited January 9, 2023 by bobzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 Just now, bobzy said: Yeah, agreed. His second half hat-trick away at Inter Milan as well where he completely schooled Javier Zanetti in the second half - all of them just absolute pings into the far corner from the corner of the box. Thinking about it, he's scored a LOT of very good goals The one in the Spanish cup final where he ran off the pitch another iconic goal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Top 5 WC level for sure between 2013-late 2016. Just a top career, thought he might've staggered on for another 18 months but I think he knew from World cup he couldn't just be part time player any longer. He said he'd get Wales to a world cup and he did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 (edited) 5 minutes ago, bobzy said: Yeah, agreed. His second half hat-trick away at Inter Milan as well where he completely schooled Javier Zanetti in the second half - all of them just absolute pings into the far corner from the corner of the box. Thinking about it, he's scored a LOT of very good goals Maicon Edited January 9, 2023 by Zatman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 9, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 9, 2023 5 minutes ago, Genie said: I’d have had him top of whatever the next band down is. The premier league can’t have had many world class players then, because prime Salah is up there with the best ever in the prem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 4 minutes ago, Zatman said: Maicon Maicon was the White Hart Lane game when Spurs won 3-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: The premier league can’t have had many world class players then, because prime Salah is up there with the best ever in the prem I guess it’s going to come down to definition of world class, and everyone is different. For me the likes of Ronaldo, Henry, Shearer, Rooney would be world class. Only a small, exclusive group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 5 minutes ago, Genie said: I’d have had him top of whatever the next band down is. I would say Bale is on a level with Salah/Neymar the type that were unplayable on the day but not elite level for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Maicon was the White Hart Lane game when Spurs won 3-1. was the same in San SIro as Maicon played right back, Zanetti played centre midfield by the looks of it Coutinho and Hutton played 90 minutes Edited January 9, 2023 by Zatman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: The premier league can’t have had many world class players then, because prime Salah is up there with the best ever in the prem Yeah ridiculous to say Salah wasn't also world class for a period. 6th in Ballon d'Or vote 2018, 5th in 2019, 7th in 2021, 5th in 2022. Champions League winner and 2x CL runner up. 3 x top scorer in Premier League, and 1x player of the season (2x player's player). That's a WC player IMO, but shows how quickly memories fade. Bale sustained that kind of form a bit longer. The problem nowadays is everyone compares players with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who did it consistently for over a decade. Most great players only really shine as obvious standout talents in the global game for a few seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 18 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: You don’t think Salah was world class in his prime? World class, no, seriously good player yes. Messi, Ronaldo levels, I don't think so. I wouldn't say Mbappe is world class yet. Term is used much to lightly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 5 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: World class, no, seriously good player yes. Messi, Ronaldo levels, I don't think so. I wouldn't say Mbappe is world class yet. Term is used much to lightly. Errrrrrrr....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 19 minutes ago, Zatman said: Maicon I think he was up against Zanetti for each goal - Maicon was probably waaaaaay up the pitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 6 hours ago, foreveryoung said: World class, no, seriously good player yes. Messi, Ronaldo levels, I don't think so. I wouldn't say Mbappe is world class yet. Term is used much to lightly. Depends of how you define world class. ‘Amongst the best in the world at what they do’ is what I would say. I’d say that if you picked a World 11 A to play a World 11 B, and a player could be realistically picked for either team - then they’re world class. So probably in the region of the top 5 - 10 in each position. What you’re referring to as ‘world class’ I would define as ‘the best in the world’ (ie top 1-2 positions) I’m not saying I’m right and you’re wrong. Just my personal interpretation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 10, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2023 11 hours ago, foreveryoung said: World class, no, seriously good player yes. Messi, Ronaldo levels, I don't think so. I wouldn't say Mbappe is world class yet. Term is used much to lightly. Ok. It’s semantics. I think we agree on how good we think he is, just not on the term “world class” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted January 10, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2023 World Class would be getting into a World 11 team right now or even 22/25-man squad. Messi and Ronaldo are talked about as the best players ever - that's a level above even World Class. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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