Pavel Nedved may not have the exquisite talents of Zidane but noone else has. However, world player of the year is supposed to go to the best player in the world for the respective year not just the most talented.Nedved throughtut 2003 was the best for Juventus and Czech republic.
Henry Thierry Henry was the best by far last year. The guy was awesome, the goals he scored were immense, his contribution to Arsenal's last three seasons has been utterly incredible and bordering on the unbelievable. A worthy winner and it was a crime that he didn't win. Even Nedved himself said Henry should have won it.
Valencia ousted Arsenal remember? Nedved pratically sank Madrid with a single goal. Henry is great but Nedved produced more.
Re: Henry Pavel Nedved cannot say he should have won it, so with the comment Henry should get it is a feather in Henry's cap but Nedved won serie A, made finals in UCL and Czech Republic played unbeaten all year. Henry fell away as Arsenal fell away in both premiership and UCL. Let's not also forget Nedved took the Czech Republic to France and beat a Henry included French team 2-0. (Netherlands also felt the power of Nedved as did Real) enough said?
Galatasaray made a bid to Sparta Prague one or two years before Nedved went to Italy. They said Nedved accepted the offer but Prague did not. I am still living with the fantasy of being a fan of a team which has Nedved.
Well, if we are considering the entire world lets consider *GASP* the ENTIRE world. That includes S. America where certain players had some pretty incredible seasons of their own. Carlos Tevez Alex Luis Fabiano Diego just to name a few... My World Player of the Year candidates would be Pavel Nedved Carlos Tevez and . . . I don't know who else. Its between Maldini or Alex.
Will people get over Tevez already? Sure Boca won the Intercontinental Cup..but not because of him. He is just simply way to young to be presented among greats like Nedved, Henry, or Zidane. Same with Alezx, ya he's good but can he be compared to Maldini?
South American leagues not challenging enough. Unfortunately for players like Tevez and Diego, they play in weakened leagues. They both are exeptional players but must step into a big European league to have a serious challenge. The game is much more open in South America wich doesn't offer sufficient testing for these players. Look at Denilson who had been tipped as a world class player, he hasn't made that great of smash at Betis. Palermo and Riquelme, both so brilliant in Argentina have barely rippled the waters in Europe. Both great players but yet to show great talents. Kaka has impressed coming over showing it's not impossible.
Re: South American leagues not challenging enough. Ouch! on the weekend thing..... Good stuff. Kaka is amazing. Dedved Cardoso Buffon In that order
Re: South American leagues not challenging enough. No one is saying he is as good as those players, even though he probably is or will be. If the award was for most talented player in the world Zidane would win everytime. The award is for the best player in the past year and players from leagues such as Argentina and Brazil are just as capable of having amazing years as players anywhere else. Um, no. That sort of attitude is why South Americans hate Europeans. There are 7 major championships in the world: Spain, England, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, in no particular order. These leagues standout amongst all else and teams from Argentina and Brazil can beat teams from Holland, France, Belgium, Greece etc... there is no huge gap between them. So give them their props, or was Kaka not good until he got to Milan? Ronaldo? Come now.
Re: Re: South American leagues not challenging enough. Kaka was unproven til Europe, Ronaldo (from Brazil) spent time at P.S.V. before goin to Barca where he blew up. I'm just saying you're not world class till you're proven in Europe. Say what you like but thats a fact. Argentina and Brazil have some excellent teams but they don't have enough to make it a real test. Kaka was brilliant at Gold Cup for Brazil u-23 but thats not a sufficient test. Kaka was great before MILAN but has proven exceptional at Milan, jus increased value. While at Milan he has put together a great case to take a slot on Brazilian national team from either Ronaldinho or Rivaldo.
Ignorant A lot of you on here haven't got a clue. No-one last year consistently produced more examples of individual brilliance than Henry last year, at such a high level. Nedved scored a goal against Madrid did he? Yeah, well that was from a through ball that even old Emile Heskey could have buried. Henry literally took on Roma himself and blasted them with a stunning hat-trick, IN ROME! He took on the whole of the Tottenham defence and scored in the North London Derby and to be honest, he deserves the award purely on the basis of the amount of incredible goals he has scored over the past 3-4 years. Only the likes of Van Nistelrooy or Raul can even come close. His pace, vision and skill ensured he scared the living crap out of almost every team that Arsenal played last year. Nedved is an exceptional player but he needs the right team around him. You could put Henry in at Wolverhampton and he'd still get 20 goals plus a season. There is an array of fantastic players, as have been mentioned but none have impressed or as been as impressive as Henry. And I state again that when Nedved won the award, he categorically stated that Henry should have won it. The man is talking sense.
Re: Ignorant Henry player at Juve and he struggled mightily, so putting him in serie A was a struggle. He is world class but the vry point about which playing at Wolverhampton and getting 20 goals, i don't doubt it. However, he would get 20 and still get relegated Henry is brilliant but MVP Nedved makes everyone better (everyone) whilst still getting 10 or so goals from midfield in the world's best defensive league. Henry is a sometimeish player, as was seen in Arsenal's title drive last year when lowly Leeds went to Highbury and left with 3 points, and the rest is history. (whilst Arsenal's next best attacking player Pires was injured). Nedved played in a league with 2 other UCL semi finalists, and even when Del Piero was injured carried Juve onwards as they won the title with a few games in hand. MVP while measured on individual talent also takes into consideration the team winning.
Henry at Wolves? Henry at Wolverhampton, maybe then he could beat Manchester United? Sorry, just too easy for you Arsenal fans.
Re: Re: Ignorant Henry struggled at Juventus because he was playing as a winger, not a striker. His struggles were not due to the playing style in Serie A.
Re: Re: Ignorant Henry struggled at Juve because they a) hardly played him and b) stuck him out on the wing. Hardly his best position. And in any case, he pratically destroyed Roma, the leaders of Serie A, in last season's champions league, scoring a hat-trick, in ROME. He has scored against every Serie A opponent that Arsenal have come across in the Champions league and has scored against all major European powers, being instrumental in thrashing the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and PSV and has scored numerous incredible goals, so he has NOTHING to prove. He's got a whole library of goals that even Pele would be proud of. The man is a goal machine and few, very few have been able to stop him. Nedved, I stress yet again, is a very good player in a team of world class players. Henry is an exeptional player in a team of world class players.
Re: Re: Re: Ignorant a) Roma were languishing near the middle/bottom of Serie A all last season. b) Henry is, in fact, a winger. He drifts out there constantly to run at opponents. He was lost preforming defensive duties however. c) If Henry has scored so many amazing goals versus so many great clubs why the heck are Arsenal crap in Europe? I rest my case. Henry, a fanstastic player half the time, the half that doesn't win championships.
Herny is world class? Henry not a proven big game player. WC1998 did amazingly in group stage and faded away in knockout stage. 1-0 Paraguay (Blanc) 0-0 ITALY (penalties) 2-1 Croatia (Thuram 2) 3-0 Brazil (Zidane 2, Petit) EURO2000 in big games versus Spain, Portugal and eventually in final versus ITALY he was a non entity. WC2002 hmm, no goals and a red card. Arsenal have not progressed well in Europe in his time at Highbury, a UEFA cup final defeat to Galatassaray but was he in the team? And last year had he been able to rise to the occasion and win the title for Arsenal but he faded much as they did. Herny is great but has some negative. I also hapened to catch the game against Villa this weekend, cheap freekick sad he would stoop, Sorenson was fixing his wall and ref didn't blow whistle, but its more the ref's crap than Henry's.
Re: Herny is world class? Ok, you are a clever one. Sure thing. Henry played only parts of the matches you named and didnt even played in Final. I guess that is your definition of "faded away" = not played. Add to this that he was only 21 at this time. Henry was always the main source of French danger, in final vs Italy in Euro. Rewatch the match please before saying stupid things. Was named in the UEFA team on the euro 2000. So clueless.
Tell me why paul scholes never gets a mention in anything at all, europe player or world player why why. he is a genius and better than nedved. altough nedved was class in 2003 but so was scholes he is class every year game and day
The Talisman!!!!!!! Scholes is a second tier player through and through..he will never be better than the Nedveds,the Tottis,the Aimars,the Ronaldinhos,the Kakas of this world. Let Ronaldinho recover fully from his nagging injuries and start to watch what is meant by a genius. or alternatively go look up the word in the dictionary and you will see Ronaldinho's picture there! Barca huffs and puffs when he is not around.You should have observed what happened when he had an injury towards the end of 2003.He is simply THE TALISMAN. Totti is on fire currently and he is now re-confirming his top billing as a real world class player.Roma breathes and eats Totti.He is Roma and I bet the moment he turns his back on them, there is gonna be a revolution. Aimar is the driving force, the inspiration behind the Los Che promising campaign in La Liga.He is just exceptionally good.A football demi-god, playmaker par excellence.Have you noticed how intelligent and perceptive he is?This boy is pure gold! And Kaka...from Sao Paulo now with Milan is another of that rare breed of high-class, peerless football artists.Please relax and watch..Kaka will make you feel good, trust me...
Paul Scholes An excellent player and if had my way he would get some nominations, but Scholes is the kind of player who is absolutely brilliant but does it in a very ordinary way. I doubt any team in world football would pass on Scholes but he just doesn't have the star power, but is more than sufficiently talented. Scholes, Baraja (Valencia, Spain), Pires (Arsenal, France) are some good examples opf players who play amazingly but never get the just recognition, while someone like Ronaldinho who doesn't alway play well but when he does he does it in a very SHOWCASE manner.
And you say you support Real Madrid. You have got to laugh. They will probally buy him anyway as hes just being warmed up at Barca. Henry is the best player in the world. Henry would run rings around Nedved. He would be left in embrassment.
And you say you support Real Madrid. You have got to laugh. They will probally buy him anyway as hes just being warmed up at Barca. Henry is the best player in the world. Henry would run rings around Nedved. He would be left in embrassment.