Ian wright was a better player than Andy cole and probably Dwight York too but I take your point
And as much as I hate to say it if Kane keeps it up as it seems like he will you’d have to call him world class, if inzagi,Raul,Alan shearer etc were world class then you’d have to say he is too
I think taking his achievements out of the equation and just looking at Inzaghi the player, he was limited in much the same way Wright was but they both made the most out of their limitations. I think they definitely belong in the same bracket of striker but if you had to add career achievements into it then absolutely Inzaghi goes into a higher bracket. But based solely on ability, they’re very equal if you ask me.
Raul had the ability on the ball, technique and flair to be labelled world class. I doubt someone as basic as Shearer was considered world class outside of England. I don’t think a poacher like Inzagi can be considered world class either, he was limtied and wasn’t even scoring that many.
Inzagi was merely a competant poacher in front of a world class midfield. Wright was better in nearly every aspect of the game. Raul had a better skillset than both though.
Obviously I’m going off my memory as a football fan of about 10 years old but shearer was in the batistuta/ravinelli/vialli mold of strikers you don’t really get anymore but undoubtably in my mind (possibly coloured by youthful nievity) Shearer was the definition of what a number 9 should be
If you score 50 CL goals, if you play an huge number of CL games for top club in Europe you’re not simple a national player. Pippo Inzaghi was one of the best finisher I ever seen.
Ravanelli and Vialli weren’t world class either, Batistuta maybe. Weah, Ronaldo, Baggio, Del Piero all levels above Shearer, as obviously was Henry and Schevchenko. Shearer also went through a dry spout for England when many black players like Wright and Cole were ignored alongside Fowler. Le Tissier was the better Southampton striker by a country mile too.
No it’s the same as saying a defender who can only defend in a packed defense and is useless in a high line isn’t world class. A world class forward should be good in all aspects of attacking and skilled on the ball, the same as Maldini could defend in all ways and was world class with the ball at his feet.
Was Cafu a world class footballer? What about roberto Carlos? I doubt they would have been top level players in any other position other than the very specialised role of full back, or maybe wingers but still the point stands players that are limited to one aspect of the game can still be world class I don’t see why poachers can’t be world class too
Well Shearer only played 60 games for Southampton according to Wikipedia so I’m not sure that means all that much. Edit: oops, massively misread those stats, more like 160. But still a good deal were as a teenager and I’d imagine quite a few were sub appearances too.
Not saying Shearer was World Class though, he was just a tad below it for me.