Richard.H
Senior Member
And Eto'o wasn't?
Not saying Eto'o wasn't, but I just think Henry was more dominant on the pitch than Eto'o when both of them were in their prime.
And Eto'o wasn't?
I love Eto'o, and his Double Treble remains a miracle, but...
...234 goals in 442 games for Sporting, Zaragoza, Valencia and Barcelona since 2001.
...at least 20 goals every season for 10 years.
...47 goals in 76 games for Spain since 2004.
...2 Copa del Rey's with Zaragoza and Valencia, 1 Lliga + 1 CL & their respective Supercups in his first attempt with Barça
...1 European Championship and 1 World Cup, whilst being top-scorer in both.
you can't fuck with that CV for balance & consistency. two things every striker should have. Eto'o's Double Treble is a high water-mark, but he's had lows too. and he's disappointed for Cameroon despite scoring plenty. I know, I know, you'll say his team-mates are shit. and you're mostly right. but when his team-mates were good he was very much on the periphery of things. now he's at the front he scores, but never in the truly big clashes (which is weird coz that's his thing).
Villa, on the other hand, basically dragged a tired/injured Spain kicking & screaming to the World Cup Semi-Final. firing Spain out of choke-mode (at the WC and in general) cannot be underestimated. after Xaviesta, he deserves the most credit of any Spaniard for the recent dominance.
Could be said for Zlatan as well. Dominated 2 elite leagues and delivered titles everywhere. Assists as well as scores.
Carried team singlehandedly on club league level. shame that his charm does not extend to the continental level.
La liga? His presence brought about the Pedro. Also, he was leading the team during the first half of the season.
People do not give him as much credit as he deserves. He led a MUCH weaker AC Milan team to a title. Inter had a much better squad and yet, it was him that single handedly led the first half charge for AC Milan.
Also if you are going to use the old squad excuse for Inter, it is worth noting that AC Milan had a first XI that was, few years on average, older than Inter Milan. Inter that had won the treble a year before.
Decent is a massive understatement. He has had the same amount of assists as he has goals in the league.
Also, to further extend this debate, he has had a better record than David Villa (in terms of stats) when you compare their debut seasons whilst playing a fewer amount of games than the latter.
Only thing that goes against Ibra is that his role in the team was so crucial that if he sucked, he looked disjointed from the team but if Villa sucked (as seen in last game), he just gets by unnoticed cause his role is not as crucial to the team as weird as that may sound.