And we never really liked Zlatan either…

Good point John I agree with you and I think Ibra is the best striker now in the world

Posted from  Canada

I’d take Torres over Ibra 24×7. Main difference is that Torres does it in the national team as well. Zlatan disappears.

In a local blog/email amongst my footballing friends here I was asked who I rated the best striker in the world at the moment. I said Torres. Speed, headers, left foot, right foot etc. Great Player !

Posted from  Singapore

@finn: zlatan disappears? hrmm im pretty sure he has put in some very good performances for sweden. 21 goals in 50 odd matches. Got the winning goal against italy in Euro 2004. Only player to score against spain in last years euro.
don’t think you have watched zlatan play very many games for sweden there chief.
and for inter… week n week out he’s their best player and the best player in italy.

Posted from  Australia

@finn buddies i think you are bit harsh on zlatan.may be coz of his attitude(like me towards kuyt coz of his low footballing skills).
Zlatan can score acrobatic goals like nestel rooy.i cannt see any difference between torres and zlatan.i rate both of them equally and they are current best strikers in the world.

Posted from  India

I’m not saying Sweden should be winning world cups and if you don’t then you’re a nobody. But any world class player who plays at major tournament with there country must stand up and shine and zlatan has failed to do so, whether thats scorin in the final or the group stages.
Futhermore Sweden aren’t a bad side. Yes they’ve seen better years but you only have to ask England about tough teams to beat and the swedes will be near of the top of that list. Also Look at his champions league performance against Man U Zlatan went missing!

Ermm best striker in the world, surely thats Torres.

Posted from  United Kingdom

As for Inter Mourinho at the helm, Cambiasso, Zanetti, Stankovic, Muntari, Maicon, Burdisso, Julio Cesar, Chivu, Materazzi, Balotelli, Zlatan and more. Surely Inter should be achieveing more with this bunch in the Champions League?! Or do Inter and all of these players flatter to decive?! (I don’t blame Mourinho for there lack of success in the C.League he needs more time)

Posted from  United Kingdom

1. eto’o
2. zlatan
3. villa
4. torres
5. drogba
6. forlan

Posted from  Hungary

i’d say that 3-4 years ago rvn was the best,but now he’s quite old and after this long injury he might not return to his best. i don’t consider huntelaar as a world class striker. he’s lethal,clinical,all right but nothing special,technically quite average.

Posted from  Hungary

If you have dealt with scouting or player selection you will know how difficult to judge players. Look around you, there millions of people that play futball in any level from Amateur, Semi-pro, pro, and high level pro. What separates these levels is a tinny character or skill. Also luck.

These scouts most of the time cut players based on less important issues just to cut the numbers quickly. I call it Filtration process.

The good player are the one that try everything in order to reach. Heerenveen, Groningen and Twente are less desired than Ajax, PSV, … so they have pool to pick from which lead to better assessment.

Its a long way to reaching far, it need LUCK and persistence. Rud V.N was a CB most of his youth career, or until he turned into pro (at age 21).

Posted from  United States

Fares is right, it’s certainly difficult to judge players when you only get to see a glimpse of their abilities and when you are judging them amongst a group of other players that are also trying to impress. I’ve experienced this personally when running try-outs for my team… sometimes players that look good in a practice/try-out can turn out to be quite disappointing, and I’m sure I’ve probably missed some good players who just didn’t do well in the try-out.

Posted from  Canada

@fares and caleb: That is indeed so true. I don’t know if you follow the NFL or not, but Bill Parcells (famous coach with the NY Giants and an absolute hero in NY) says his biggest mistake was as a young scout being sent to a small southern school to check out a wide receiver from Mississipi Valley State University. He said he thought it was a joke. He watched the young lad, came back and said it was a complete waste of time and effort.

The player he scouted was Jerry Rice…We all make mistakes.

i for one never liked Zlatan

Posted from  Netherlands

@goose: actually i have never liked him,a pretentious,egocentric guy,but he’s brilliant.

Holland Team Of The Decade 2000-2010
Van der Sar
Heitinga – Stam – F. de Boer – Van Bronckhorst
Sneijder –Cocu – Robben
Van der Vaart
Kluivert – Van Nistelrooy

goal.com

Posted from  Hungary

just to complete about bastos
he took some time to be good here in france
he realised a great season tgis year, maybe the first one
and lyon, after seeling benzema has few M€ to spend
the first season at lille, he wasn’t a regular starter,
and not really brillant.
about the best striker … zlatan is dumb, égocentric, only plays for himself
he can’t be present as “the best”
i like someone with big qualities, who also run for the team, and makes other player play better, like torres, rooney, or eto’o
even if selfish guys may also be great

@ferenc
i like ur team, but u can’t kick out bergkamp or overmars !
i also think numan was our best left back

this is not my team,this is from goal.com. actually bergkamp finished his international career after the ec 2000. it means he didn’t play too much for oranje in this decade. i miss davids and know that seedorf didn’t perform too often but still consider better than vdv or sneijder.

Posted from  Hungary

Davids for van der Vaart (VDV doesn’t have the tournament moments that Sneijder does, but he could easily be on the team of the NEXT decade!)
Reiziger for Heitinga (this is a no-brainer)

Other than that, it’s OK; better than I would’ve thought for goal.com. Bergkamp (and Overmars too, right?) retired from the national team in 2000, which I guess is too early to be on a team of this decade.

Question is, who is AJAX’s team of 2000-10? My picks:

——————–Stekelenburg————————
—–Maxwell—-Vermaelen—-Heitinga—-N. de Jong—–
——-Sneijder—–van der Vaart—–Maduro————
——-Suarez———Huntelaar———-Babel———-

No, wait…Litmanen instead of Babel.

stekelenburg
maxwell,chivu,heitinga,emanuelson
sneijder,de jong,van der vaart
suarez,ibrahimovic,babel

Posted from  Hungary

@ lucas and finnster about ibra

You cannot say that ibrahimovic isnt the best striker in the world because of how he does on the national team, especially on a team like sweden. as a striker you need service and with sweden who is going to provide him the quality balls? nobody, and when he scores for sweden you can tell because there all brilliant goals nobody else in the world could do. I hope he goes to barca and shows how good he really is, with xavi, inesta, and messi giving him the ball.

Also hope huntelaar goes to arsenal hell fit in well, and rvp and hunt, good for developing chemistry for national team

Posted from  United States

@David: I can say whatever I want and so can you. That is the beauty of freedon of speech. As far as Zlatan goes, I think he is a fantastic striker but I just do not think he is the best in the world. And there isn’t much anyone can say to make me change my mind. I think he is far too selfish and is a problem in the dressing room and off the pitch (as was witnessed by his ban from Sweden). To me (and that is just me), the best striker in the world at the moment is Fernando Torres. He doesn’t complain, he just signed a contract extension, he behaves off the field, he seems to be scoring at will for both club and country, and what more do you want from a player?

As a Liverpool fan, I’ll admit I am probably biased, but I do not consider Zlatan to be as complete a player nor a striker as Torres is. But again, That is just my humble opinion.

I’m with you finnster, well said!!! zlatan has talnet but he’s by no means the best in the world.

Posted from  United Kingdom

Yep, I’m with you too Finnster, I think the same way about Zlatan. Plus I think he’s a big douchebag which doesn’t help anything.

Posted from  Canada

Poetry Blog Part Three:

There once was a Swede called Zlatan
He often behaved worse than satan
he was gifted as few
but greedy as a jew
And one day he choked on a hotdog from natan.