Comments on: More Foreign Stars Leaving EPL Than Arriving

By: The Gaffer

The Gaffer — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:55:00 +0000

A lot of us seem to forget that Gabriel Heinze was voted Manchester United player of the year for the 2004-2005 season -- his first at United and he beat Wayne Rooney to the honor.

Since then, Heinze has been plagued by injuries and hasn't been the same since, but I would consider him world-class based on his overall career.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

By: dpmorris

dpmorris — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:54:00 +0000

Interesting POV, and I agree that Spain & Italy (all things being equal) would attract players over England. But two things: you can never use “only” and “money” together, and for God’s sake, you’ve destroyed any persuasiveness by calling Gabriel Heinze “world class”. Did you not watch the AC Milan matches? He may have been a fan favorite, but I would have been happy to see him go even before he uttered the word “Liverpool”.

By: Kartik

Kartik — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Yeah but the very under rated Elano, has come to my club Man City. I didn’t expect a Brazilian of such quality to come to England, since most Brazilians tend to gravitate towards Spain, Italy, Germany or even Eastern European leagues. Actually I am pretty certain we have more Brazilians in MLS than the entire PL has.

But the general premise of your article is pretty spot on. I think that the English game doesn’t suit some players, and simply because some guys fit in Spain better than England (like Freddie Kanoute) doesn’t automatically mean the PL is so much tougher than LaLiga as some loudmouths on the radio claim. I could in fact make the argument about a few fairly obscure players who did well and held down first team spots in the EPL but came to MLS and hardly ever got a game. It’s difficult to compare leagues, because in many ways they are like comparing apples to oranges. (I’ll have a blog on this point later this week)

By: Chad

Chad — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 01:32:00 +0000

torres

By: MJ

MJ — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:01:00 +0000

The term “world-class” is thrown about too often these days, and should be reserved only for players who truly deserve it (Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, etc). To call Gabriel Heinze and Arjen Robben “world-class” is a stretch to say the least.

Heinze is a serviceable defender but nearly all the best clubs in the world have a player just like him on their team. He’s an interchangeable piece to any team who aspires to win the Champions League and their own domestic league.

Robben is, admittedly, a much more talented (and younger) player than Heinze. Still, he’s not “world-class” yet and a major part of that is he’s never healthy. I’m sorry; you can’t be considered one of the best players in the world if you’re not consistently in the lineup.