Arjen Robben

[DonAK]

Carrying his team in to the semis is quite an achievment and certainly warrants him a place among the top performers in the WC so far IMO. (Talking about Messi - just to avoid confusion later on.....)

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Argentina is in the semi-final and Leo is clearly their most important player who makes things happen every game. Of course he is one of the best players of the tournament.

 

[linetty]

Yeah you know he practically dragged the whole team by himself to the semis so yeah

and he will probably win that shit by himself too

 

[Icarium]

I don't think both Robben and James did not carry their teams, they are their key players but they had help. Both still had an awesome world cup and better than messi but it is was close. Messi dragged the team in the group stages and against Switzerland not so much against Belgium but still was key for the victory. Netherlands wins credit should be given to Van Gaal. But the main test in semis, if messi wins it being their key player then he can easily get the golden ball.

 

[GoobiePls]

1 good moment in a game doesn't equal to the consistent good performance throughout the games of those other names I mentioned, even if it was a very important moment

 

[Clockwise]

Yes you can really tell he refined his craft over the years. Its art.

Ok, I dont get it. you talk about Robben and then you follow with pictures of these armatures?

He is a natural one

 

[Alarcón]

1 good moment in a game doesn't equal to the consistent good performance throughout the games of those other names I mentioned, even if it was a very important moment

1 good moment? are you watching the games

 

[Maria]

But guys, come on... Messi has been good this world cup but is he a constant threat like Robben is? I'm definitely not saying Messi is bad, I am just saying Robben is better than ever. It is not a shame that a Robben in top form is (a little bit) better than Messi, at this moment. Just admit/accept it and also think about the fact that Messi will be better again during the 11 other months of the year
I am trying to look at this as unbiased as possible. Robben made runs all night yesterday, from the 1st to the last minute, almost all of his passes were correct, I don't think he failed with any of his dribbles, he did A LOT of defensive work (proves he is as fit as it gets) and really carried the team.

Again, Messi is and will be the better player (he is the GOAT) but at the very moment, Robben is the better player, which is not a shame because Robben is a great player and Messi has been the better player during the rest of the last 8 years....

This Messi is still the player who made the most dribbles at the World Cup and created the most chances, so yeah I'm not buying that Robben is the better player. The problem that most people have with Messi is that they compare him with 2008-2011 Messi, not with the rest of the players. If they would do the sme with Robben, Rodriguez and Neymar they would look like finished players.
And like I said, if Messi would have played as much as Robben in the last 4 years he probably would have run just as much, but unfortuantelly this isn't the case(and I say this as someone who has criticized Messi this whole year for how little he runs without the ball).

1 good moment in a game doesn't equal to the consistent good performance throughout the games of those other names I mentioned, even if it was a very important moment

Between this and hearing that Di Maria was Argentina's best player I sometimes wonder if I was watching the same WC.

Best player of the tournament by far, in terms of technical qualities he is unmatched, Messi don't even come close, not mentioning his incredible workrate, really impressive.

 

[GoobiePls]

1 good moment? are you watching the games

I'm not going further into this discussion as it's a bit pointless and subjective. I would just say that my list of standout players in this WC goes more like this: James>Robben>Navas>Hummels>Luiz/Messi/Neymar/Neuer

 

[Jesse1509]

Messi was invisible against an ultra-defensive Iran, apart from his goal. Robben was a constant threat against Costa Rica, a defensive team like Iran. In this world cup, and arguably throughout the last season as well, Messi relies on single moments of magic instead of being a constant threat. Robben hasn't drifted out of games like Messi in this WC. So I agree with Gilles: Robben is better than Messi at the moment. Not overall, just at the moment.

 

[beautifulgame]

So dumb

And we all know that Robben is an outanding player. Has been for over ten years.

He is the only WC player left on this Nerherlands team as RVP is nt there anymore but still sharp finishers around him. His best INT tournament is thanks to LVG making the conditions for him to shine.

All that said, doesn't touch Messi even if he is more professional these days. Even his coach Pep would tell u the same.

 

[akaranzo]

I'm not going further into this discussion as it's a bit pointless and subjective. I would just say that my list of standout players in this WC goes more like this: James>Robben>Navas>Hummels>Luiz/Messi/Neymar/Neuer

Messi was invisible against an ultra-defensive Iran, apart from his goal. Robben was a constant threat against Costa Rica, a defensive team like Iran. In this world cup, and arguably throughout the last season as well, Messi relies on single moments of magic instead of being a constant threat. Robben hasn't drifted out of games like Messi in this WC. So I agree with Gilles: Robben is better than Messi at the moment. Not overall, just at the moment.

 

[JamDav1982]

Messi was invisible against an ultra-defensive Iran, apart from his goal. Robben was a constant threat against Costa Rica, a defensive team like Iran. In this world cup, and arguably throughout the last season as well, Messi relies on single moments of magic instead of being a constant threat. Robben hasn't drifted out of games like Messi in this WC. So I agree with Gilles: Robben is better than Messi at the moment. Not overall, just at the moment.

Messi scored a winner for his team when it mattered against Iran... what did Robben do against Costa Rica over 120 minutes?

 

[Hamzah]

Why do people always take things way too far on here? He has had a good tournament and that's it. He's not better than Messi.

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

Robben didn't do anything great against Mexico either. His only influence was diving for the penalty.