Do great players have to have won trophies? by SV
This article may seem a little off-topic to many, but it is a question that has been nagging my mind for some time. When people are arguing about who is a better player (Ronaldo or Messi, Henry or Drogba, Adams or Ferdinand…you get the idea), the statistic of how many trophies these individuals won is always pulled out.
This is, in my opinion, a ridiculous way of comparing or judging players. First and foremost, as a team sport, any trophy won is due to the contribution of the whole squad, not a single player. The best footballer in the world could be playing for an average team and so not win any trophies. So how is it fair to compare individual players like that? Let me give you an example. Last season, Romelu Lukaku won two prestigious honours, the FA Cup and Champions League; Robin van Persie, on the other hand, won nothing. Does that mean that Lukaku is a better player? Of course it bloody doesn’t.
Secondly, and this only really applies when you’re comparing players across nations or time periods, some trophies are far easier to win than others. In Scotland, for example, there were only really two teams in for the top honours, and the quality of football is generally lower, so a SPL League win really can’t be compared to winning, say, the Premier League. I say this matter-of-factly, by the way, and am not disrespecting the Scotland in any way (having lived there for a large part of my life myself). So the number of trophies a player, or even a team, has won is often no indication of their strength, as a number of these trophies could be worth relatively little. Think about it, we as Arsenal fans could say how may Emirates Cups we have won, but it won’t really be seen as impressive.
Finally, I’d just like to point out a few players who, despite not being hugely successful, are still classed as great players. Think about Alan Shearer, his only trophy was the Premier League in 1995, yet he is still widely recognised as one of the greatest ever Premier League strikers. Think about Paul Gascoigne, he is touted as the greatest EVER English player, and yet he one five trophies in his career. Bear in mind, though, that four of these were during his time in Scotland, which, as I said before, can’t really be compared to major league honours.
Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that when judging a player, please don’t use the lazy statistic of ‘how many trophies they have’, it really is most infuriating.
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