Too much quality posts but since i'm manager on duty today i have some time to reply to half.
the last part...really. Hiquain has been your game changer. he takes the team from 0-0 to 5-1 etc. and watches ronaldo and co take the credit.
Higuain is a game changer for one reason , he is ice cold.. he is not your typical Zidane or Messi but when it's high octane battle and the game is like 3-2 for the opponent you can bet higuain will not choke in front of the goal even though he is lost much of his sharpness following his back injury still better than many strikers but not the pre-injury Higuain
Pipa is the better goal-scorer. Since your club don't value him all that much (seeing how much he's earning) and your machine works better with your current heartthrob Benzema than with Gonzo. Do us all fans of La Albiceleste a favour, will you? please sell him to a club where he can start regularly. A striker of his caliber isn't meant to be a back-up whatever club. It's criminal. And it's heart breaking to 've to see our #9 being reduced to one.
Now Adebarndoor is a back-up you can buy to adorn your bench. Don't mess with our boy.
Z.. Higuain was earning like 1.5 Million when he signed for RM a 18/19ish year old with not even a single international game for his NT team.. he negotiated his deal last year and move to 3.8 so he is happy with his pay slip and renewed for an extra 5 years
He is not a back up but we are not rushing someone who did a back operation last year and the choice will always be for whoever is in better form
Benzema deserves to start ahead of Higuain. I'd say Higuain is the better goalscorer, but Benzema is a more complete forward, he has really impressed lately. Not to mention that he accepts playing second fiddle to Cristiano, unlike Pipita.
Hard to argue with Mourinho's decision here. Benzema and Di Maria have probably been Real Madrid's best players this season, both have established themselves among the very best in the world at their position in the past year.
At the moment i agree .. without the second fiddle part
It's really no surprise that Mourinho prefers a physically strong centre forward who can shield the ball, dribble, pass, drop deep to contribute in build up play and play on the wing as well ahead of a "fox in the box" kind of player that Higuain is currently. Higuain has a slightly better goal per minute ratio. Benz therefore has like 3 times more assists than Gonzo. His movement has caused us all sorts of problem in the last Clasico. Including a nice square ball inbetween Pique and Puyol to Ronaldo from the left wing which the latter blasted into row Z. I agree with Manuel here. Benz is the more complete player. Some of you don't really believe Mourinho is benching Higuain because he is Argentinian, do you? What's going on in this thread?
They are two different type of forwards but Higuain is not a fox in a box type of players , agree with u for the rest
That second last sentence I agree with. He is so good as a poacher that he makes Messi hug all over his nuts when playing for Argentina.
Higuain the poacher*
Higuain is far from being a poacher but he can do it without a problem if asked to
Is he? I'll 've to see if Gio approves of that.
He was winning you games single-handedly when you didn't 've a certain Cristiano or Benzema in your team. Now all of a sudden he's become a mere poacher. Not good enough to start ahead of the Frenchman. I'm sure the Getafe, Malaga, and Zaragoza goals 09/10 wre put on a plate for him. Granted, Benzema's holdup play & passing is better but gonzalo is a far superior goal threat, but also a consistent one. He also presses better than any of your strikers. But if you're looking at assisting your superstar with a 'subordinate' forward, then Gonzo is def not your man. That also extends to the National team.
I'm with La Furia..Free Higgy!
No i don't conquer with the poacher tag , Higuain play brilliantly inside or outside the box.. at many times prior and even after his injury he provided the goods for Crisitiano from the wings needles to mention he scored from outside the box couple of times .. he don't stay there waiting for the ball , his strength remain pressuring the defense (he is better than Benz in that ) and play in the spaces behind the defense he is probably one of the best in that
Benzema is no doubt a better overall footballer as many have already stated but reducing Higuain to a mere poacher is being criminally unjust to the Argentinian.
One thing Benzema lacks that Higuain brings to the table is the ability to take over games and put the team on his back. If RM are not playing well Benzema's level usually reflects that of the team, he is not nearly as effective when RM are not playing well as a unit. Higuain however has the ability to lead his team when their down, he has a winning mentality, that is a stat you cannot measure.
Well Real was playing bad in the second half of the super cup and the last classico and Benzema was there ..but Higuain is more a shinning example of that as i mentioned he has nerves of steel an excellent trait for a striker i can rememeber so many games from last second penalty he scored to Getafe (pepe madness game ) last minute winner from outside the box
They can match his production, just let them kick the penalties:
In Liga
Cristiano Ronaldo: 1524 minutes played, 21 goals(7 penalties). A goal every 72 minutes
Benzema: 892 minutes played, 10 goals(0 penalties). A goal every 89 minutes
Higuain: 828 minutes played, 13 goals(o penalties). A goal every 63 minutes
So, it's clear Higuain is a better goalscorer this season(imagine the difference if Higuain could not kick all the penalties, but at least the ones he has earned)
Benzema would be a better goalscorer if he could kick some penalties as well, but he doesn't need to score as much as CR to be ahead of him, his contribution to the game andlink up play are enough for him to bench him
I'm considering the goalscoring aspect, because CR has been reduced to that mainly. His contribution in other aspects in offense is minimal, let alone his deffensive contribution
So you are right, there is no two ways about it, Higuain deserves to be ahead of CR, RM could play as a team actually and they could have a player who is not that useless against the biggest rival
Not to get fooled here and without taking anything from Higuain some of the games he came when the other team was down or tired so he has better goal ratio especially that some of his goals are packed in some games (hatrick couple of times ) Benz goals is spread all over the games.. some things stats won't show you but actual watching the game or remembering the incidents ..
so your statment lacks the behind the scenes
as for CR contribution , under Pellegrini we lost CR for 50 days and we didn't suffer .. even under Jose some people say that we function better without him as a team ..
I won't underestimate his importance in the overall tally in terms of points , he is an excellent goal scorer and he did save us many times .. but the issue with me is that at crunch times (except few games like the Copa final ) and the supercup first leg he will vanish under the pressure of the game .. if he had Higuain mentality this boy would be top of the world i hope this season they would do a miracle on him like they did with Benzema last year but my bet is he is too stubborn to listen
but Real without Ronaldo ? we will still win , we have two excellent forwards in Benz and Higuain and two playmakers in Ozil and Di Maria plus Kaka and Xabi-Marcelo but for Sure this year CR level is beyond last year until this moment
thank you all for your nice conversation , it's been a while since we had a decent conversation on the forum without trolling ..
