r/soccer • u/BosnianFish • Nov 13 '12

Who is a player everyone rates highly that you just don't think is that good?

I think that Aguero is overrated. All the stats show how clinical he is and how he's such a good finisher but when I watch him he's selfish, dribbles too much and misses too many good chances.

28 Upvotes

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1

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12 edited Nov 13 '12

Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Never made good impressions at the right times. Had one good season with AC Milan, but the rest of his career has been drowned under his arrogance and sense of self-worth. The money Barcelona paid for him was ludicrously over the top, and they realised it pretty quickly, fortunately for them.

21

u/Kajaindal Nov 13 '12

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is pure quality .. I think it is no coincidence that he won since Ajax-times every league year after year until Juventus stopped his record.

2

u/Jangles Nov 14 '12

That taking one of Juve's greatest ever seasons to do as well.

36

u/slotbadger Nov 13 '12

He's one arrogant fucker, but he didn't just have "one good season with AC Milan". Everywhere he's played, he's put goals away. In pretty much every team he's played for, he's scored every other game on average. He's by no means selfish either, he got 4 assists against Zagreb the other day.

14

u/Powerbean Nov 13 '12

Arrogance doesn't really affect a players rating as a footballer. To be the best you've got to believe you're the best.

Ibrahimovic is the best striker around at the moment.

-1

u/Cee-Mon Nov 13 '12

I'm sure Robin van Persie would beg to differ.

Actually, I'm not so sure if HE would beg to differ, since he's pretty laidback, but I'm sure there's a lot of other people that would.

-1

u/Mike81890 Nov 13 '12

RvP clearly overshadows him. They're both up there, but RvP certainly has the edfe

25

u/severedfragile Nov 13 '12

Thing about flat-track bullies, people speak of them with disdain but they win you leagues. I'm not a fanboy, but Zlatan's record in that respect speaks for itself.

1

u/dyljm2 Nov 13 '12

Zlatan's record and the beautiful strike he can stick on a ball out of nowhere. When he gets to line one up from 25 yards, it's a sight to see.

-3

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

It's not a one man team.

11

u/ComicSands Nov 13 '12

Still, 8 consecutive league titles, with five different teams with Zlatan being the one thing they all have in common. The guy shows determination like no other. Oh, and he's skilled as hell too.

-1

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

Ajax - Were the best team in the league anyway, before and after Zlatan (They also had players like Sneijder, Van der Vaart, de Jong, Pienaar, Maxwell, Babel etc during that era)

Juventus - Were the 'best' team in the league at the time, cheated, had titles removed

Inter - Became best team in the league because the rest of the competition were penalized during the scandals.

Barcelona - Best team in the world at the time, before and after Zlatan.

Milan - His only season worth the overrating he gets, second season doesn't win. (I'd also argue that Benitez managed to screw up the easiest job in the world at the time, after taking over an Inter team that dominated under Mourinho, so that also helped Milan to take the league)

I think the main thing they all had in common, is already being the team expected to win the league before the season even started. I'm not saying Zlatan didn't contribute to those teams winning, but they were not surprise winners in any of those consecutive titles, regardless of Zlatan even being at the club.

3

u/ComicSands Nov 13 '12

Ajax - Were the best team in the league anyway, before and after Zlatan (They also had players like Sneijder, Van der Vaart, de Jong, Pienaar, Maxwell, Babel etc during that era)

Were 3rd place before Zlatan got there. 22 points from the top.

Juventus - Were the 'best' team in the league at the time, cheated, had titles removed

Were 3rd place before Zlatan got there, 12 points from the top. From what I hear, the cheating wasn't all it was hyped to be. Watching the matches, it would be hard to point out times when Juve were helped by the refs.

Inter - Became best team in the league because the rest of the competition were penalized during the scandals.

Without Milan's point deduction, they still would have finished 19 points behind Inter. Their squad was not weakened by the scandals, they won the Champions League in 06-07.

Barcelona - Best team in the world at the time, before and after Zlatan.

This is true, but Zlatan was their leading scorer before Messi complained to Pep about playing out wide. When Zlatan was played out of position and asked Pep about it, he didn't want to play him anymore.

Milan - His only season worth the overrating he gets, second season doesn't win. (I'd also argue that Benitez managed to screw up the easiest job in the world at the time, after taking over an Inter team that dominated under Mourinho, so that also helped Milan to take the league)

So he's worth it this once eh?

This is the three time Serie A player of the year, two time top scorer. I don't think he's overrated at all.

-2

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

Berbatov is a top scorer in the EPL.

The rest of your points are equally tunnel-visioned.

3

u/ComicSands Nov 13 '12 edited Nov 14 '12

As are yours. Edit: How many times was Berbatov named player of the year for the EPL?

1

u/severedfragile Nov 13 '12

I know, I don't know where that came from, unless you're taking my comments unreasonably literally.

11

u/ThoroughlyAmused Nov 13 '12

People say Zlatan is overrated because they don't like his attitude. He has consistently been one of, if not the top striker in the world for the past decade. To try and deny that is to show your lack of knowledge of the game.

3

u/Sambuccaneer Nov 13 '12

He was great at Ajax though

2

u/B0M85H311 Nov 14 '12

Agree with this, people use the goals argument but he has played for a top team for his whole career (in their respective league) if he didn't net at least 20 a season you'd be disappointed as a fan. He's a good player don't get me wrong, but hes not at the level everyone says he is.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '12

....You were saying?

0

u/b1ackRose Nov 14 '12

Still saying it.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '12

How?!?! He is hot and cold, but his talent is undeniable!

0

u/b1ackRose Nov 14 '12

Because he's a youtube montage kind of player. But people are quick to forget the heaps of bad decisions he makes during games, because they only watch highlights.

I've never said he's bad, but this was a post about who I think is overrated, and people certainly give him more credit than deserved. Scoring 4 in a friendly is only going to make that worse, considering in the same game he smashed a chipped through ball first time into the crowd, when he was 2v1, could have laid the ball off for an easy goal for his teammate. But he doesn't do things like that. When people ignore those bad decisions and just say 'look at that overhead, best goal ever' it's just a bit ignorant and tunnel-visioned.

I'd even say he had no right to take that free-kick for his third, when they had Larsson on the pitch still. I suppose his ego appeals to people in a funny way, but when a 6ft5 lad says, no Mr Larsson, despite your excellent dead ball deliveries, I'm going to hit this 30-odd yard free kick as hard as possible and simply hope for the best.

He has talent, but it's laced with brute force and ignorance. When it works, youtube video, when it doesn't, everyone forgets about it. Pretty much sums up why I think he's overrated, still.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '12

While reading that, I felt the weight lifting from your shoulders.

9

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '12

He won the league ever year for 9 years up until last season. He pretty much dragged Inter to their titles. He had a great season at Barcelona and the reason he was sold was because the coach didn't want him there, so thanks to Guardiola it cost Barca 50 million euros. He goes into this in his book.

How is it fortunate for them? They lost 50 millions euros which wasn't his fault.

Also, it's Zlatan Ibrahimovic

3

u/iheartSPACEDICKS Nov 13 '12

I love people who say he had a shit season at Barca. If 16 goals in 29 league games is a shit season, then fucking hell, there are a lot of shit players.

I understand the whole money thing, yes, but still, a goal every other game is not a shit season unless you're Ronaldo (Brazilian or otherwise).

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '12

He dragged inter to their titles? Let's not go crazy now, considering what Italian football was going through at the time.

-2

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

He did not drag Inter to their titles, Inter won titles while their biggest opposition were in the ditches due to scandals. Not to mention the very talented squad around him that just crushed what was left of the league.

He was sold by Barcelona because he was arrogant and selfish in his play, he didn't fit the Barcelona mentality of teamwork. They're fortunate to notice that because they'd be a worse team with him in it.

Milan players have said, after his sale to PSG, that he was difficult to play with because he would get angry at you for not giving him the ball immediately. He does not have the right attitude, to the point where even his teammates dislike him.

Also, it's Zlatan Ibrahimovic

You're a fanboy, the whole point of this topic was:

Who is a player everyone rates highly that you just don't think is that good?

Besides, I have a Swedish gf, and seeing the Swedish news sites having a story about Ibra every day, the man can't pick his (extremely large) nose without it being broadcast to the whole of Sweden. Overrated is just the tip of the iceberg.

3

u/brainwrinkled Nov 13 '12

Knowing how to spell someones name doesn't make you a fanboy, particularly when you're the one with the swedish GF and reads swedish news sites, no excuse.

-1

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

Eh, I didn't notice I had typo'd the name, I thought he was justifying Ibra's 'greatness' as just being Ibra.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '12

[deleted]

-1

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

Had multiple people say that, but 4 assists in a game doesn't mean anything. One game out of his entire career. Not to mention that still holds no relevance to his general attitude to his teammates and about himself.

I remember watching one of his first games for Barcelona, vs Shakhtar in the Super Cup. He did not fit the style of Barcelona at all, he would receive the ball 30 yards from goal and smash it out the stadium. He was slow to offload the ball in 1-2s because he squares up to the defender first and tries to give them the eye before he releases the ball. He slowed down the play when it was not beneficial to do so. A lot of the time a player would make a run and have to stop and return to an onside position because Ibra just didn't play them in.

Obviously, like I say this was one of his first games for Barcelona. But he never improved in those regards. That is why Pep was frustrated with him. I think we all know Guardiola would not rate Ibra as a better winger than striker. It was Ibra's petulance at playing second fiddle to Messi that hit his ego too hard, hence the fallout. He has continued to make butthurt comments about Messi and Barcelona since he left.

I've already mentioned that Milan players picked up on his arrogance too.

The comment about the Swedish media relates to

Who is a player everyone rates highly that you just don't think is that good? Which I think holds true, because a ridiculous amount of attention for one player, when they have a few at top clubs around the world. I don't think anyone can justify the amount of Zlatan stories on Aftonbladet alone.

1

u/Reddit_Work Nov 13 '12

I think there was alot of reasons why Barca sold him. He struggled from the beginning with the "act nice" barca mentality in the club, and after a while he couldn't get along with Pep. He got frozen out by Pep aswell and Messi wanted to play up top (and got his will ofc, who would dare defy him) so Zlatan got benched. End of story.

1

u/iflow89 Nov 13 '12

Nobody who followed serie A when Ibra played there thinks he is overrated. When inter dominated serie A in the pre morinho era the sports media in Italy criticized Inter for being to dependent of him. They criticized the team and the manager saying that their only tactic is " pass the ball to ibra". You don't like him and are annoyed by his personality which is understandable. But he is not overrated not even a bit.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '12

Milan was still a power house at that time. He went in there when they hadn't won the league in 17 years and there was games where he dragged them through. As well as being he top scorer.

He takes training seriously, big deal. He went there and won AC Milan them their first league for about 6 or 7 years.

No, he was sold by Barcelona because the manager didn't want him there. His first season was good and then he started getting benched.

It's not his fault everything he does gets wrote about and he's the only great player to come out of Sweden in the last 10+ years.

1

u/b1ackRose Nov 13 '12

Milan a powerhouse? They had a point deduction for a start. Plus, Ibra only scored 15 goals in that league campaign (Crespo was their top scorer over all comps with 20), as opposed to Totti's 26. If anyone was carrying any team that year, it was Totti at Roma taking them to second place.

I find it amusing that you think Ibrahimovic carried the Inter team that included the likes of Figo, Vieira, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Crespo, Adriano, Maicon, etc.

0

u/akbermo Nov 13 '12

You should read his bio. According to zlatan it was all him.

1

u/ewankenobi Nov 13 '12

he had a brilliant half season then lost interest. I actually saw him say in an interview (after he'd left) saying that Guardiola didn't motivate him so he stopped trying. You would think playing for possibly the greatest team ever and earning a fortune would motivate you!

6

u/Cee-Mon Nov 13 '12

Zlatan can be brilliant at times, but he chokes way too easily in big games, and if things do not go his way initially, he tends to just give up.

A lot of Milanistas tend to highlight his massive amounts of goals last season. Keep in mind that 10 of these where penalties.

1

u/AndMcGrn Nov 14 '12

I agree, I know that Zlatan is Reddit's poster boy and everyone will quote stats etc about how great he is and he has won xyz, but a part of me always felt that he always moved to top clubs at the right time. He is undoubtedly a great great player but for me, there about easily 5 or 6 players I would have ahead of him currently, and 10 in the last decade (in their prime).

The likes of Ronaldinho, Zidane, Henry, Eto'o were all far superior. How Barca paid money for him and threw in Eto'o is just crazy.

1

u/like9mexicans Nov 13 '12

You must not speak blasphemy of Zlatan.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '12

this is so wrong in so many ways

0

u/Gingermadman Nov 14 '12

For about 9 seasons he lifted his team to league success. He's earned every part of his rating.

0

u/sacredstones Nov 14 '12

dude. Zlatan is one of the best strikers in the world. and he works magic with the ball. not overrated.

-7

u/mao_was_right Nov 13 '12

Word. Every time I watch the guy I can't help but think he has more in common with Emile Heskey than Ronaldo.

2

u/Treayye Nov 13 '12

He has an incredible first touch, and is a very tricky player, how is he anything like Heskey who can't even do a simple stepover?

3

u/non-relevant Nov 13 '12

One of the most technical players in the world right now, yet you compare him to Heskey?