Have to agree with that, the thing with Rooney is if he is up top on his own and we're under a bit of pressure he will come looking for the ball. I would never call him selfish, I can't wait for him to return, a fired up Rooney wanting to prove a point? Yes please! As for tomorrow it will be interesting to see how we play, thought we done well against France and were value for our point, against Sweden we should show some more attacking intent though and I do think we will win.
From personal experience there's certainly a correlation. People who watch him regularly think he's amazing, people who don't think he's overrated. Hmm.
I agree to the extent that he is magnificent, on his day, but even for Milan he is inconsistent. He had some awful games in the champions league. Unlike Joe I certainly wouldn't write him off, he's extremely dangerous, even when he's having an off-day, and when he is having a good day he is unstoppable, but he is also guilty of disappearing quite frequently.
Like I said, he's capable of scoring even when he's having an off-day, but his contribution to the team effort varies enormously, and if you have seen him play more than a few times you will have seen some very indifferent performances. I haven't watched him play in the league for Milan but in the champions league he had some very poor games.
There's not a player I've seen who doesn't turn in indifferent performances. If it weren't for Zlatan having them more frequently than some than he'd be universally considered the best in the world. He's won 9 league titles in his last 11 seasons, and 10 of those seasons his team's offense revolved around him - Barca being the only exception. He more than makes up for the occasional off day (not nearly as regular as some make out) by being absolutely incredible other games. There are several league games for Milan where I've just been amazed at how much of the game he controls, you saw it in the first Sweden game how every single attack of note went through him at some point, add in players who can supply him more of the ball and do more when he gives it to them, and you can imagine how good he is. He's like Lambert in the way he can control a game. For a player that good, I'll allow him off days without casting him aside as "overrated".
I never said he was overrated, I think he's a great player. And you're right that everyone has off-days but he has a lot. Maybe it's just more stark with him because sometimes he is in complete control of a game and he does incredible things, so you know what he is capable of when he is in the mood, but other times (and it is frequent) he just looks like he can't be bothered and his impact on the game is imperceptible. A bit like Balotelli in a way, although I would venture to suggest he's not quite that inconsistent!
I wasn't referring to you with the overrated comment, more the general assertion from some people. I don't watch much CL football (Sky Sports, bah) and hardly ever see him play for Sweden so I can't really comment on how inconsistent he is on those levels - if you say he's inconsistent in CL I'll believe you, but this season gone he scored 5 and set up 5 in 8 European games... if that's a player being inconsistent then I'll take him!! However a career record of 31 in 94 European games seems to make me believe he's not always at his best. All I can say is, I regularly watch AC Milan league games, and in the league he's really not that inconsistent. If he is in Europe and if he is on the international stage that's a different story, and seeing as there's no denying he's a bit of a bellend, it could well be that he just can't be bothered if it isn't a league game.
Indeed and that feeling is clearly shared by all the top clubs that he has played for! There's a good article on the BBC from a few weeks ago that sums up why so many people don't rate him: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18033836 The 3 goals in 15 appearances against English clubs stat probably sums it up adequately though, and Sweden's win ratio with (55%) and without him (100%) is even more damning than Rooney's (albeit from a much smaller sample of games, just the Euro qualifiers). At any rate, he had a shocking game the last time Sweden played England so I'm sure you'll join me in hoping for a performance like that tomorrow
Yep I think the 3 in 15 vs English clubs will probably do it combined with the horrifying nature of English media and the public gobbling it up. Can guarantee most of his biggest critics will have never seen anything other than Zlatan vs English clubs. The Sweden win ratio fact is an interesting one though, considering how much the quality of their squad deteriorates if you remove him.
Defending is just far better in English football than anywhere else. I'm pretty sure that's the reason.
Well a lot of people say Messi is disappointing against English teams (ignoring the 4 goal Arsenal game) and nobody in their right mind would claim he's not that good, so this could well be true.
Yes, the worst offenders are the likes of Alan Hansen who proclaim he's useless at every opportunity and you just know they've only ever seen him play against the English teams. Given that kind of information it's hard to blame people for erroneously thinking he's no good I suppose.
Messi is poor when he plays in against English clubs in England I think he has only scored 1 goal in 6 and that goal was in the final againt Man Utd (2011).
Very true. It's a shame when people like him, whose job description is just to know a lot about football, are so bad at their jobs. If you, for whatever reason, didn't know much about him and all you know is what you hear from "experts" like Hansen then like you say, they can't really be blamed for being misguided.
This is very flippant ...... but perfectly sums him up for me . I don't see enough of him, but when I do, I always think like that statement. He has everything, but often gives nothing. His record is outstanding though.
