What irks me most about the Champions league, is the fact that the teams that are in it are not always the champions of their own country. Bloody money again
Of course Rooney would get in the Barca team! Yes, Sanchez is good, and I know he plays wider than Rooney a lot of the time, but how many goals did he score in the Liga BBVA last season? (Quickly goes to check...) Wikipedia claims he got 12 goals in all competitions, while surrounded by the world's three or four best playmakers - Rooney got 34, and we all know the types of problems United had creating chances last year (although I appreciate he plays more central). Of course he'd get into the side! As for Wilshere, you're right - who knows how good he'll be? One thing's for sure - he was incredibly talented before he got injured. Time will only tell how much 14 months out of the game sets him back.
If Rooney is world class, how come he can't do it on the international level? To me, for a player to be world class, he should be able to perform all over the world. Mark Hughes, imo, managed it, as did Lineker and Tony Woodcock. Ian Rush however, was a great player for Liverpool, but didn't cut it abroad, so imo, was not world class. Rooney is in the same class as Rush in my eyes.
i really do not believe rooney would get in the barca team. even fabregas can't get in it! i think van persie is a better player than rooney and i'm not even convinced he'd get it in, though i think he'd have a better chance. it's not all about goal ratios - its about ability and rooney is lagging behind the barca players.
Too true. I watched the Manure game last night and it was totally devoid of excitement, endeavour and pace. Why qualify if you don't take it seriously. Yet I remember European nights years ago that were magical.
Thing about Sanchez is he's not a striker that is there to score goals. Rooney is, but I believe he shouldn't be.
As a kid, I used to love proper European nights, on the tv and the radio. Now I don't give a tinker's cuss
fact is, if they didn't have the current champions league setup the way it is, the big clubs would have buggered off and set up their own league by now. some may say good riddance!
Right, I don't know how to quote two people in one go, but first to Maestro; Messi doesn't cut it at international level, but you could hardly say he isn't world class, could you? Plus, you say you watched Manchester United's game last night, but Rooney isn't good enough? He was the best player on the pitch, in an international game! And supers, van Persie is a terrific player, but isn't as versatile as Rooney! Rooney could comfortably play where Sanchez plays, and, in my opinion, play there better. He could also play down the middle, or just behind Villa or Messi, and do a great job! He's just as technically gifted as any of Barca's forwards in my opinion, Messi excluded.
International matches used really to mean something. Now, outside of tournaments, they are called "friendlies" and treated as practice games. So there's really no way of gauging relative positions world-wide. Even in the world cup, qualification within continents allows teams into the tournament who wouldn't get there on merit. The FIFA rankings have to be seen for what they are, an attempt to order national teams in the absence of any better way of doing it. No doubt the ranking system will be refined over time, but it's always going to leave a lot to be desired. What makes our ranking of fifth in the world ludicrous (third even more so) is that we have shown that we were not good enough to progress beyond the quarter finals in the 2012 Euros, or beyond the last 16 in the 2010 World Cup. Any team we could put out right now would not be expected to do any better had it represented us at those tournaments.
so rooney played ok against cluj? so what? even anderson played well against them! i don't even think he played that well. all he kept doing was trying to hit 40 yard balls over the top. ok, it worked for the goal but he gave it away plenty of times. thing is, when he has a good game its all about him being 'a world class player' and its not true. rooney is one of the most overhyped footballers not just of recent times but of all time. as i say, good player, but by no means great. he has never reached the potential he undoubtedly had as a teenager. i'm not even sure he should be playing for england. he never brings anything to the side. also, comparisons to messi are laughable as messi has been in outstanding form over the last twelve months for his country. he was always used as a winger under previous regimes but now they let him play with freedom its made a huge difference. check this out from a couple of months ago. ever seen rooney do this for england? THIS is world class. [video=youtube;o0uR5Hsk1u0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0uR5Hsk1u0[/video]
Regarding Chile, I like Mauricio Isla as well, was at Udinese with Sanchez, Matias Fernandez is tidy player as well from what I've seen of him, I remember there was a lot of hype about him when he came went to Villarreal. Saying that I do think England are better, Chile do struggle at the back a bit, don't know many of the players they have at the back, Isla plays all over the shot, but they're not exactly blessed with talent at the back, correct me if I'm wrong. Quite interesting because a couple of years ago I did tip Chile and Belgium to be top 10 nations in the next few years.
Sorry can't agree that Rooney did much at all in last night's game. Certainly nothing to compare him to world class. Surely a world class ranking would mean if you had two international teams playing each other and using the best players on the planet i.e. 4 strikers, 8 midfileders and 8 defenders plus two goalkeepers, then can you honestly say how many English players would get in. Maybe Joe Hart if at all.
Messi certainly is world class. But what's great for him is the team around him are good. They are all brilliant individually but are even better as a team. Don't know why Barcelona did badly in the league (for them) last season though. I would call Rooney world class but he has gone quiet over the last couple of seasons and despite England becoming poor he has been taken over by players like Ashley Young.
