"World Class"

[KILLA_SIN]

its too hard to judge whos world class or not, for me Unquestionably World Class players...have to have to have played in two of the three top leagues in their career [spain, italy, england] and won a league title at one of them. or two league titles at two different clubs in one league

But still its hard to judge as the Real-Ronaldo never won a league title but i dnt think many people would question that he was a truly world class player back then. Or Buffon who has won league titles at Juventus and played in one league

I dont think berbatov is anywhere close to being a world class player, ferdinand and vidic are though imo

Even if i made a list i dnt think many players would work to my rule

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

its too hard to judge whos world class or not, for me Unquestionably World Class players...have to have to have played in two of the three top leagues in their career [spain, italy, england] and won a league title at one of them. or two league titles at two different clubs in one league

But still its hard to judge as the Real-Ronaldo never won a league title but i dnt think many people would question that he was a truly world class player back then. Or Buffon who has won league titles at Juventus and played in one league

I dont think berbatov is anywhere close to being a world class player, ferdinand and vidic are though imo

Even if i made a list i dnt think many players would work to my rule

Surely though winning a title is a reflection of a great team not a great player. No one player can win a league title by themselves. Ronaldo (brazilian) being the perfect example.

Oh Buffon is a world class goalkeeper and has actually played in more than one league. But he is the benchmark for his position and I guess that is how I would class somebody as world class. If there are players significantly better then them in that position then they aren't world class.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Yea I a agree it's difficult and everyone has their own views on what "world class" actually is. If i'm being strict in my selection then I would say that there are 3 players who are on a level above other players at the moment.. Messi, Kaka and C Ron. Then there are probably 30-40 players who would be in a bracket just below those 3.

My sig has Riquelme, who is one of my favourite players of recent times, but has only won an Olympic Gold and wasn't really a success in europe apart from a few seasons at Villarreal. I still think he is a top quality player, but not on the level of the 3 guys mentioned above.

It's funny though that there isn't really a term used for players just below "world class" level, nobody really says "european class" etc

 

[KILLA_SIN]

Surely though winning a title is a reflection of a great team not a great player. No one player can win a league title by themselves. Ronaldo (brazilian) being the perfect example.

Oh Buffon is a world class goalkeeper and has actually played in more than one league. But he is the benchmark for his position and I guess that is how I would class somebody as world class. If there are players significantly better then them in that position then they aren't world class.

Winning the league for me personally just says that they performed consistently, rather than sporadic great performances. But if i clarified it a bit, they should play in two of the top three leagues winning a title in each, or two titles at one club in one league, or a title each at two different clubs in the same league. Just to show they perform consistently rather than just being part of a great team and getting lucky. I feel indifferent about players that have most of their success in cup competitions but naturally their has to be players out their that are world class that never got league success.

But then again my own rules doesnt really work. If I took Gerard as an example and Seedorf im sure many would say Gerard is a world class player more so than Seedorf but seedorf has titles at clubs in two different leagues albeit two great clubs that were great teams but to have been in those teams he has to be a great player to get that kind of success. But i wouldnt consider either to be world class myself.

Its all subjective what you class as a world class player
Out of the current strikers around these days id say torres, villa, ibrahimovic and etoo are world class i wouldnt consider any other to be off the top of my head to be

Just out of interest what was the other league Buffon played in.

 

[WhiteStripe]

Just out of interest what was the other league Buffon played in.

He hasn't played outside Italy...

Parma & Juve...Seria A

Juve Seria B

 

[deselina]

Big whoop.

Djimi Traoré has won:

2 League Cups,
2 FA Cups
1 FA community shield
1 UEFA Cup
1 UEFA Super Cup
1 Champions League

Not sure it's a particularly accurate reflection of his ability, because Djimi Traoré is terrible.

Yes Van Persie has won things during his career, but I'm not sure that can be used to define a good player, let alone a world class player. I think Van Persie is a distance off being World Class. He plays in a similar role to Ronaldo and Messi, they are the benchmark for his position.

someone said he hasn't won anything and then edited it to he hasn't won much, that's why i posted it.

 

[Kendall]

van persie has the potential to e world class, but he isn't anything like consistent enough

 

[deselina]

28 games, 13 goals and 10 assists so far this season. if he stays fit, his dream transfer to barcelona might come true.

 

[Sbix]

I think a lot of people here are being way to liberal with the term world class! But if one is talking about it, then I'd prefer to do it in RMY:s way, of picking the team that would represent earth in a game against the little green Martians or those weird ones that are supposed to be from Venus. (drifts off wondering what the game and score of a proper game men vs. women would end up like... )

I always think "world class" would mean that they woul dget selected for a team representling the world. (so assuming some Aliens turn up and fancy a kick-about).

I know there's always plenty of different opinions on what makes a good player and that's part of the fun I guess... but if anyone wants to take this discussion further.. what would your world team be?

 

[donny1013]

World XI for me would be:
---------------------------------- Buffon -----------------------------------------

---Maicon ------------ Ferdinand ------------ Nesta -----------------Evra----------

-------------------------------- Mascherano---------------------------------------

Messi------------------------------- Xavi -------------------------C.Ron ------------

------------------------------------ Kaka -------------------------------------------

----------------------------------- Eto'o -----------------------------------------

 

[ShadyAftermath2k]

I'm expecting SpursKing any moment now, to reel off a list of wonderfully "gifted" players, he's scouted as "World Class"

 

[Rackybear]

Taiwo, Gervinho, Apalulu, Adeboombe - all world class, right, spursking? :lol:

 

[AngerManagement]

The word world class get's banded around as much as the term legend

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Its all subjective what you class as a world class player
Out of the current strikers around these days id say torres, villa, ibrahimovic and etoo are world class i wouldnt consider any other to be off the top of my head to be

Just out of interest what was the other league Buffon played in.

Good list of strikers. Ibrahimovic is always going to be a controversial selection as he has never really done it at International level in a big tournament. A lot of Swedish people would still rather play Henrik Larsson. He is supremely talented though (although not as talented as Berbatov) and probably one of the top 10 strikers in the world.

It would be tough to not include Henry. He is definately not the player he was and there is no doubt that at his best he was the best striker in the world. Even now he is scoring far better than 1 in 2 from a deeper role.

Buffon has played in Serie A and Serie B. When he was playing in Serie B he was in the top 3 players in the world (any position) and up to this point is still the best player I have seen live.

 

[mil1lion]

My world 11 would be....

Cech
Alves....R.Ferdinand....Nesta....Evra
Essien....Gerrard
Messi....Kaka....Ronaldo
Eto'o​

I wonder who the City owners would put down :think:

 

[spursandbarca]

world class players................

gk

casillas
buffon
cech

d
puyol
alves
terry
ferdinand
pepe
canavaro
nesta
evra
vidic
toure kolo
king (when fit)
woodgate
demechelis
lahm
sagna
sergio ramos?????
marquez
m

xavi
iniesta
toure yaya
robben
robinho
lampard
gerrard
ballack
fabre****
gatuso


strikers
eto'o
messi
henry
berbajudas
rooney
van nistelroy
aguero
zlatan
torres
villa
drogba
kaka
del piero
inzaghi
huntelaar
raul

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Cristiano Ronaldo isn't world class? :-|

 

[haxman]

I would rate Vidic as being more world class than Rio Ferdinand. Utd's defence didn't exactly struggle when Ferdinand was out injured.

 

[Bonjour]

No way in the wide wide world of sports is Kolo Toure world class.

 

[deselina]

how many records does vd sar need to break before he get's some regocnition?

so far he has won
league titles (6)
league cups (4)
league supercups (5)
uefa champions league (2)
uefa cup
uefa supercup
intercontinental cup
fifa club world cup

and he was no bystander either, he single-handedly, no pun intended, won finals for his teams after penalties and may i add broke records at ajax as well as man utd.