What Makes a World Class Player?

What do you have to do to be a world class player? Do you need to have technical ability? Be physically perfect? Have an amazing mentally? You could argue that you would need all three but they’re will always be players that are out outside of that spectrum, so my main question is what makes a world class player?

The reason I ask this is because people have been spouting that Yaya Toure had a world class performance against Dynamo Kiev whereas from my point of view all he did was score a top quality goal in the dying embers of the match...is this enough to call yourself world class? If so then surely Lewis Cook for Leeds united deserves to be called world class after the goal he scored on Tuesday…

I remember Robbie Savage talking about his playing career stating “at times I was world class; on individual games” and he got absolutely slated for it but he did raise a good point. When does it go from a player having a good game to him being world class? Robbie Savage marked Zola out of a game so for that day he was world class. Yaya Toure does nothing for 89 minutes and then in for 1 minute was world class...why’s it mad when Savage said it?

Another example would be Eden Hazard. He has done nothing all season, looked about as lively as a house party at James Milner’s but fans and pundits alike are still calling him world class? We’ve all heard the old saying “form is temporary, class is permanent” but without form, the class is pointless. I’m not saying Eden Hazard hasn’t got the qualities to be world class but the form he’s been experiencing this season just makes him look average.

Toure did the same thing earlier on in the season against Arsenal which I was fuming about! He did absolutely nothing for 80 minutes and then once Arsenal were 2-0 with 10 minutes to go he thought he’d actually try. He scored but Man City still lost 2-1. I’ve literally just checked the match report of this game on the Sky Sports website and it says Toure got a match rating of 8...what a fucking joke by Sky Sports.

I, like Savage, think consistency is key to being world class. It really aggravates me when a player begins to show signs of quality so he is stamped world class and then slowly slips back to his previous state. I remember Johan Elmander scoring something like 3 goals in 3 games and he was getting all types of labels put against his name.

Another example would be my friend telling me that Giroud was the best striker in the Premier League. We all know the circle Giroud goes through.

• Scores a goal against a well known club (Man United, Olympiakos, Tottenham, etc.)
• Continues to score for a couple of games against relegation strugglers (Norwich, West Brom, etc.) Labelled world class
• Fails to score against a better side but looks lively.
• Begins to miss easy chances.
• Doesn’t score in a few games. People stop calling him world class.
• Cycle repeats

It happens every year but he still gets the “world class” stamp of approval. At least with Aguero you can guarantee he’ll be out for eight months with a vaginal injury and still score double figures in the two months he’s back.

My main reason for writing this is to remind people what true world class players are. The type of player who can play for any team, with any players, in any climate and against any opposition and still play well in every single minute throughout the season. Just to show that that I’m not just against Toure, this is what he was like two years ago.

Two years ago when Toure more or less dragged City over the line to win the title, he was world class. Now I feel like fans and pundits alike are just seeing him score a goal, relating it to the player of the 13/14 season and saying he is world class when in actual fact he isn’t putting in the performances that we’ve come to expect from him. As lazy as I see him on the pitch, the blame still goes to the regular scapegoats e.g. Otamendi, Demichelis, etc.

~ Side note: I’m not taking blame from Otamendi and Demichelis, they’ve been shit as well. I just think Toure isn’t covering himself in glory ~

When I think consistency I think of players like John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Jermain Defoe, James Milner, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs. The type of players who achieved a high level of performance and have continued to achieve those expectations since.

Of course then there is the big two; Messi and Ronaldo. These two epitomize everything a world class player should be. Physically fit, technically brilliant and mentally know the game inside out. To top it all off they are consistently superb in every season/game/minute/second they play. This is why they are the best in the world.

This for me is the difference between the best and Hazard. At the end of last season Mourinho said Eden was going to be the best but without high level consistency to his game it will never happen.

Last thing I would like to say is that the poor season that Manchester City have had are, for me, down to the “world class” players they have not being good enough game after game. Lads like Toure, Sterling, Fernado, Kolarov, Navas, etc. It’s just embarrassing for the lads who actually are consistent like Silva, Aguero, Kompany…

I think next season if Pep really wants to make an impact he is going to have to sign some truly world class players to match his world class tactics otherwise City are gonna be in for another season of Raheem Sterling and Yaya Toure playing abysmally against Tottenham losing 2-1 only to turn up and dominate Dynamo Kiev just a week later…

Apologies for writing ‘consistent/consistency/consistently about a million times in here. Sick to death of saying that now but I do hope I got a consistent point across. Hopefully you enjoyed it too and that it consistently fulfilled your footballing needs consistently. For anyone who did enjoy it, please follow me on Twitter consistently or like me on Facebook where I consistently post my thoughts on all matters to do with football. Consistently. Consistently…

~ Doesn’t even look or sound like a word now ~

~ Anyone who enjoyed this please follow me on Twitter @ThePenaltyKing1 or like me on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ThePenaltyKing1 ~

Cheers for reading.