'World class'?

[tgr]

namely world class:

Eboue,arguably one of the best RB
Henry
Lehmann
Risicky, czech caption
Ljungberg

acturally world class:
Gallas
Toure
Cesc

semi world class:
v.persie, world class in the making
hleb
gilberto

 

[11vanpersie]

i think world class players in our team are henry, lehmann, fabregas, gallas, toure (even though under-rated) and rosicky, but all of our playrs are class and when cygan was here he was just 'good' lol

 

[Alfonso]

World Class. Too many undeserving footballers are placed into that category in my opinion, as is evident in this thread.

However good certain players are was the name Alexander Hleb on our lips prior to his move here? No. For a player who was in his mid twenties it was not as though he was unproven or was a teenager with bags of potential. To me Hleb is not a world class player.

Fabregas is potentially the best central midfielder in the world possibly he could become the best player in the world. In order for him to achieve the latter I think he needs to increase his goal tally per season, as operating alongside Gilberto he has the run of midfield and all world class central midfielders who go forward are able to take the pressure of their strikeforce. Again I don't think he is world class yet, techincally he is.

Van Persie is simply not world class although he could become a very big player in time, whilst Baptista is not world class either. Does Andy Johnsons goalscoring prolifics make him World Class? I think not.

Rosicky is the one who I cannot bracket, I think he is an exceptional player but I am not bold enough to class him as one of the best in the world.

World Class players we do possess are:

Kolo Toure - Is one of the best three centre halves in the world alongside Terry and Cannavaro.

William Gallas - Is as good as the three mentioned above but those mentioned play with so much passion and comitment that they are put on another level.

Gilberto Silva - Along with Makelele is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world of football. His understanding of the game, power and ability to win the ball are all immense.

Thierry Henry - Simply breathtaking.

 

[anesumachoko]

anesumachoko

I think Neville is underated. I agree with the earlier post that the medals must speak for themselves.

He doesn't take the fame or the glory and therefore people think he is s***e because of that. But a team takes all sorts of players and he is about the less glamourous side to the game - much in the way Makalele is a hero at Chelski.

As for the Arse - only a few are truly world class imo

Henry
Gallas
RvP
Fabregas
Kolo

and Eboue has the potential to be a Lilian thuram - saw a post on another site about Wenger having LT at Monaco - could be a similar player imo.

PP

eboue has to be worldclass you do not get nominated to be one of the champion leauge best defenders for nothing, and obvously rosicky is one of the top 30 players in the world and that is world class

 

[croatia_gooner_girl]

for me henry is living legend,and hes bigger than world class...
lehmann is class,senderos too,rosicky and rvp,cesc.and gatuso,you forgot about him.i think he does some great stuff in milan,and in national team.

 

[lagos]

My definition of a world class player is one who has regular experience of, and performs consistently at, top level football competitions for club and/or country - A world class player does not have to be the best in his position it just means he will not be out of his depth in a team of stars. for this reason I will include ryan giggs as a world class player despite not featuring in a world cup competition

Arsenal
henry
lehman
fabregas
toure
rosicky
ljumberg
gallas
rvp
Lauren

oops i forgot Gilberto

 

[GunneDown]

I see a world class player as someone that can get in any team in the world.

As far as i'm concerned only Henry and Gallas are those 2 players at Arsenal.

 

[11vanpersie]

eboue, senderos, baptista, van persie will all be world class in the future, if they are not classed as that now!

 

[GunneDown]

lol they are not world class. no where near!! very good, but not world class.

 

[lagos]

lol they are not world class. no where near!! very good, but not world class.

this is why this is a very subjective topic

your definition of world class is a player who can get in any team in the world - by that i assume you mean is guaranteed a starting place in any team in the world?

by that definition there wouldn't be enough players to play in top competitions like world cup and champions league so I'd rather define such players as "elite" rather than world class

 

[phil15]

LOL how subjective is the term world class, IMHO it someone who has proven his ability over a number of seasons at the highest level. A certain level of consisitiency at the highest level seperates the best from the pretenders.

 

[Alfonso]

was Ian Wright ever world class?

 

[americanarf]

The term world class is hugely subjective. My personal definition is a player who has consistantly performed at the highest level. Using that definition my list four the Prem top 4 is

Arsenal
Henry, Gilberto, Gallas, Toure, Lehmann

Chelsea
Shevchenko, Ballack, Makelele, Cole, Terry, Cech

Liverpool
Gerrard, Alonso

Man U
Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Neville

A few notable exceptions
Rooney - Hasn't scored a competetive international goal since 2004. Overhyped.

Lampard - Very average midfielder who takes a lot of shots.

Fabregas/RVP/J Cole - Has the potential but not there yet.

Scholes/Giggs/van der Saar/Ljungberg - Past it.

And yes do think Neville is world class. Limited, but check the medals, he's an important cog. Complete pratt though.

i agree with most of it but imo Rosicky is also world class, jus an opinion

 

[goonerwarsh]

It's too subjective, and it's hard to judge because there aren't really any set guidelines to view a player.

If you go back a year and a half, everybody was saying Lehman is the weak link in our otherwise indestructable team, that he should go, that we should buy another goalkeeper because he's costing us games. If someone would have come on here and posted that he was world class they would have been slammed. If you go back one summer just before we sold Vieira that was one of the main talking points that Jens should go. So we're actually talking about a form thing surely?

It's the same for Rooney and Lampard, up until the world cup those two guys were absolutely flying. Lampard would have got into most teams in the world without a doubt, he was consistently turning in great performances for Chelsea. It's a form thing, and it's too hard to judge. Henry hasn't really looked world class this year, though we all know he is because of what he's done for us in the past.

World class players could be classed as the greats, the best players of their generation:-
Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Platini, Zidane

Or great players to grace the world scene such as:-
Bergkamp, Van Basten, Zola, Ronaldo, Baggio, Rivaldo, Ronaldinhio, Gullit, Carlton Palmer, Klinsmann, Sammer, Vieira, Gus Ceasar

There's a massive grey area as to what determines a world class player

 

[Alfonso]

Carlton Palmer Gus Ceasar

 

[GoonerBaby]

i guess its all to do with a player being consistently great that makes an impact in game's.

for me its henry, rosicky, toure, lehmann, gallas and ofcourse fabregas

from other teams, gerrard, ballack, lampard, kaka, ronaldinho etc etc

 

[Pinoy Gunner]

For me world class is being one of the top 10 in your position in the whole world. That would mean being chosen in the first team of the club and country consistently. Someone who, if he should move to another club or another league will still be able to perform in the firts team consistently.
With Arsenal, I believe Henry, Lehmann, Toure & Gallas are the world class players at present. When they are playing at their top level they can be considered as the best in their position. The one's for the future are Walcott, Cesc, RVP, Ade, Rosicky, Senderos, Baptista & Eboue. How many are still waiting to shine in the reserves I don't know but definitely exciting for Arsenal. Hopefully the English players in the reserves will come through as I think barging into the club's 1st team will help them earn their first caps.
With England, I believe Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand & A.Cole are the ones at present. Future would be L. King & A. Lennon. But honestly I'm more excited with the U21 players: Agbonlahor, Walcott, Nugent, A. Young.

 

[liridon]

post deleted for text

 

[jjmcjohnson]

When worldclass is definined quantitativly you'll have your answer; whether that could ever happen is another matter all together. There are too many variables/factors to computate- and even then if it were able to be done, my bet is that players who usually go without a mention would appear; the list would surprise many.

For example, I think that Ledley King is the only worldclass english defender and probably only one of approx. only 10 in the world (obviously i've set a mark for worldclass by even suggesting a 'worldclass' player). Interesting though is that he isn't even allowed to line in defence for england as an automatic first...

Well duh

 

[phil15]

was Ian Wright ever world class?

Looking at it objectively no and I think Ian Wright would be the first one to say it.