World Class Debate

[Power n Glory]

Well considering I mentioned Vieria as a comparison then I think it's safe to mention him, despite the fact he works in gypo land. Bang goes the theory.

Where did you mention him? It doesn't matter anyway. It all stem from the point about World Class African Players.

[Niall_Quinn]

Where did you mention him? It doesn't matter anyway. It all stem from the point about World Class African Players.

And I mentioned that too. Isn't it a little embarrassing for a lesbian turncoat and the man himself to have to blow their own trumpets? But true, the African thing opened the door for the usual suspects.

[Özim]

He's no different to the mainstream media - they talk bullshit all year and don't bat an eyelid when exposed. They quickly forgot about their wise and informed commentary on Gerrard finally winning a title. Now it's the gypos all the way - just like they told us all along. WayneGooney looks credible by comparison.

I don't see why you don't think Yaya Toure and Drogba are/were world class players, Drogba delivered whenever his team needed and terrorised defences, not as graceful as Henry no doubt, but different players have different talents and his was based on his power, but it was very very effective.

Toure has 20 goals from midfield (goalscoring midfielders are like goal dust), makes marauding runs and is the closest thing I've seen to Vieira since he retired.

[fakeyank]

Toure and Drogba are both World Class IMO.. they have won trophies all over the world and are unplayable on their good days. And they have plenty of good days.

[hobson's choice]

Toure is not rated as world class because he's not world class. He bottles it when the fight heats up. Vieria or Keane would have eaten him as a light snack. Just because a player is massively hyped by the media doesn't make him world class. Xavi and Iniesta have not moved to the gypos, have they? There's an obvious reason for that.

We all get it NQ, no one who plays for Chelsea or City can be considered great, or good people because, they get paid a lot of money, they are soulless, they are mercenaries, blah, blah, blah. Arsenal and rest of traditional big clubs are the ONLYclubs, with any sense of right and fairplay, blah, blah.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I have no respect for Man City or believe anything they win is legitimate (same with Chelsea) but for me I don't think Yaya Toure was a world class player at Barca but I think he definitely is one at City.

The reason I don't like City or Chelsea is because they are littered with world class talent but they have never had to show the discipline, hard work or make the difficult decisions in order to get it and they are poster children for fiscal irresponsibility.


Aguero, Silva, Toure all world class for me

Hazard is for Chelsea and as was Mata before they sold him to United.

Drogba? I'm not sure he was definitely up there and he's a player we just couldn't deal with but his goslscoring record and consistency isn't up there with the top strikers in Europe.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

We all get it NQ, no one who plays for Chelsea or City can be considered great, or good people because, they get paid a lot of money, they are soulless, they are mercenaries, blah, blah, blah. Arsenal and rest of traditional big clubs are the ONLYclubs, with any sense of right and fairplay, blah, blah.

[Niall_Quinn]

We all get it NQ, no one who plays for Chelsea or City can be considered great, or good people because, they get paid a lot of money, they are soulless, they are mercenaries, blah, blah, blah. Arsenal and rest of traditional big clubs are the ONLYclubs, with any sense of right and fairplay, blah, blah.

Well summarised. The minute fans accept what is going on in chav and gypo land then you might as well pack it in. There's complacency in all walks of life and complacency never improved anything, no reason to accept it in football. If a bunch of crooks want to come in and start fucking up football then they and all their hirelings should be attacked and reviled at every opportunity. It's right and proper and if you want to see your game survive then that's what it will take, an outright rejection of everything they stand for and do. Don't be relying on the money men to change it, fans will have to do it. Or they can duck and cover and make disapproving noises at the ones standing up.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I was going to bring up P'n'G's point about players of African descent representing other nations, but I thought there were more than 3 top class African players in the last 10 years without even bringing that into the equation. My intention wasn't to spark a 'world class debate' but it is an interesting one.

Whatever the conclusion to what constitutes world class, I don't think it can be argued that most of these players are at the very minimum, top class which to my mind is somewhat understating their talent.

I don't think this is necessarily a Chelsea-City love-in NQ and I can't really for the life me understand why any gooners would have a particular bias towards them. They just garner more discussion due to their circumstances and profile......but I can't claim to know with 100% certainty the minds of every poster here.

Money has brought them a heck of a lot of good players between the two of them and unfortunately for us, some of them are very good and even respectable. I have no shame in expressing the view that I would be proud if Kompany was the captain of an Arsenal team as I think that he is an exceptional player, respectable and dignified. He refrains from needlessly slagging off other clubs and he keeps his sentiments about his own by and large. Appreciating Kompany,Yaya or any other exceptional player over there has little to do with City, they just happen to be those players' club. Kompany and Yaya have played for other clubs too other than City.

A season or two ago the pundits were going on about Chelsea and Manure and they asked Kompany for his opinion and he basically told them 'what are you talking about, Arsenal have been the best team we've played this season'.... He said what he thought and wasn't overly concerned with what he was expected to say. How many of us honestly would not be proud if Kompany played for Arsenal or wouldn't have loved it if Yaya's work permit didn't fall though several years back?

[Ernesto]

I think I'm with 'i am invisible' on the world class debate. It's essentially à player who can walk into any team at any given time, meaning that there would only truly be 11 world class players out there.

It's got its holes in it, does this argument. For example, the whole "form is temporary, class is permanent" issue comes into it. Kevin Phillips was perhaps "world class" in 2000, but does that justify him as world class forever? The same goes for Gerrard in 2006, and even Drogba. It's maybe unfair to question whether à player is still world class when they're the wrong side of 30. If they were considered world class for even one season, should that be enough to cement their legacy?

We all, as Gooners, hailed Tony Adams as being world class in his heyday. However, there's no way he could have walked into the Milan side at any point of his Arsenal career. Does that still make him world class?

Can of worms, indeed...