Think heās a bit of a victim of the era heās 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 weāve still got the likes of Modric performing to a much higher standard. Iād say that Cazorla has performed quite a bit better than Mata on the whole since coming to the PL
he had his chance but couldnāt compete at the same level as similar players of his type who were and are far better
bollocks mate, heās 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
Heās a brilliant player, one of the best Iāve seen at Chelsea.
Still pretty pissed at Mourinho for selling him (moreso now heās managing him again), particularly due to the deliberate way he āfroze 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.
Load of hyperbollocks m9.
Heās a decent footballer, and a ruddy nice bloke. Probably wouldnāt 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 canāt be separated, especially for the person in Neymarās 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 Iād say thatās an illustration of the gap between Mata and a āgreatā player
maybe, but I like to watch good football, and Neymar is a good footballer.
and, whilst a bit of a berk, isnāt as immensely dislikeable as certain former most expensive players
Modric (and Silva, mentioned further down thread) I completely agree on. Not convinced Carzorla over Mata though - but both are standard below āall 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.
Iniesta > Modric > Silva > Fabregas > Mata > Cazorla
probably
good ones are still highly prized now
Whereās big Xabi Alonso in that list?
Obviously a different sort of player, Iām just interested to see what non-Liverpool fans think of the worldās most handsome footballer.
Oh yeah heās utter class but apples and oranges. Heād have to be listed with yer pirlos and xavis, Iām doing the tippy-tappy diminutive number 10s here
Coutinho? Iād probably put him between Silva and Cecs.