Nothing happening but transfers football thread

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Think heā€™s a bit of a victim of the era heā€™s in tbh, absolute class act but the time for diminutive playmakers has been and gone a bit. I absolutely love the bloke but had he peaked in the 00s he would be an all-time great.

all-time great is pushing it somewhat

also weā€™ve still got the likes of Modric performing to a much higher standard. Iā€™d say that Cazorla has performed quite a bit better than Mata on the whole since coming to the PL

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:joy: he had his chance but couldnā€™t compete at the same level as similar players of his type who were and are far better

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bollocks mate, heā€™s barely the 4th best player in his position in his country in his time

Might have been a bit hyperbolic there but think the point stands that he would have been fucking brilliant back in the days when the small playmaking number 10 was still a widespread thing

Silva is a very good example of that sort of player being able to have a massive effect in the premier league in the modern era, and is a better player than Juan Mata

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Heā€™s a brilliant player, one of the best Iā€™ve seen at Chelsea.

Still pretty pissed at Mourinho for selling him (moreso now heā€™s managing him again), particularly due to the deliberate way he ā€œfroze him outā€. Forgotten the exact fixture, but in one of his last games for us there was a point where he was subbed of early and was nearly in tears on the dugout - it absolutely ruined me. I went full heartbroken Ralph Wiggum in my living room.

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Load of hyperbollocks m9.

Heā€™s a decent footballer, and a ruddy nice bloke. Probably wouldnā€™t have him in my current Liverpool team, which errs on the side of stopping him being an all-time great.

Agreed, would consider Silva an all-time great though innit.

Sure, so do i, but modern football has created a duality, that footballers actively participate in, whereby they are part person and part wildly exaggerated financial investment. Those two elements canā€™t be separated, especially for the person in Neymarā€™s position. A footballer getting injured is not funny but an exorbitant financial deal steeped in hype that get nixed by random chance certainly would be.

oh yeah, but Iā€™d say thatā€™s an illustration of the gap between Mata and a ā€˜greatā€™ player

maybe, but I like to watch good football, and Neymar is a good footballer.

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and, whilst a bit of a berk, isnā€™t as immensely dislikeable as certain former most expensive players

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Modric (and Silva, mentioned further down thread) I completely agree on. Not convinced Carzorla over Mata though - but both are standard below ā€˜all time greatā€™ obvs. Think Carzorla bit more versatile and def more of a presence compared to Juan, but never feel quite like he has those moments of effortless magic/skill in the same way.

Agree with @anon5266188 in that my love for Mata was growing up with football in the 90s and early 00s when that kind of playmaker was so highly prized.

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Iniesta > Modric > Silva > Fabregas > Mata > Cazorla

probably

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:joy: good ones are still highly prized now

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Whereā€™s big Xabi Alonso in that list?

Obviously a different sort of player, Iā€™m just interested to see what non-Liverpool fans think of the worldā€™s most handsome footballer.

Oh yeah heā€™s utter class but apples and oranges. Heā€™d have to be listed with yer pirlos and xavis, Iā€™m doing the tippy-tappy diminutive number 10s here

Coutinho? Iā€™d probably put him between Silva and Cecs.