China matters because players who goes to China has already checked out of the game mentally. Like you say yourself, players age mentally and players going from europe to china is mentally the age of 200 years old. They have no reason to play football anymore, except money. So to summarise: Paulinho went to Tottenham, he was shit there. He retired at the age of 26. And now he's supposed to come out of 3 years retirement and hold a position in midfield in one of the biggest clubs in the world, in the best league in the world? This is like betting on the horse who has 2000 to 1 odds in a horse race. By a miracle he might win, but there sure are reason behind those odds
He's giving up 7.5m euros in salary in the course of his contract just to play for Barcelona. There goes down the rain your argument. He went to China because after 6 months in Tottenham the coach who wanted him was fired. That team had signed dozen of players after selling Bale. It was a mess, after Villas-Boas left he was dumped to the bench and only started few games. He also went to China because a Brazilian coach wanted him there. He in fact improved his shot and pass there. He showed it in the NT.
He's got 5 goals and 3 assists in 8 games in the WC qualifiers. Neymar got 6 and 6, Messi: 4 and 2. Both played many more games. (Posting this in advance before you come back with another poorly thought argument saying the qualifiers are easy)
It's not like he played his whole career in that dreadful club and sucked there. He was a started for less than one season in Tottenham.
PS. I Haven't said anything about how he may be a great football player in this thread. I just keep posting a different perspective on his career, because I've followed it. How many of you watched more than 10 full games of him playing? I doubt 1% of this board did. So you are no expert on him, you are just parroting your way shamelessness, you don't know him. Just admit it. We live in a world where fools think that Googling and parroting other ones opinions make you an expert on it. It doesn't.
Yeh, he's not a finesse midfielder. Yeh, he's 29yo. Yeh, he cost 40m, all of this is true and I don't dispute that. In fact, I agree you have the right to be outraged about that. Barto may have put some money on his pocket. But shitting on him? That's ignorance. To say the starter of the greatest NT ever is shit without having watch him play in more than a handful games is just pathetic.
