The value of world class players

It’s amazing to see how much the salaries of footballers keep on growing as the years go by. Some people are shocked and might be wondering how far it will go? How much money can the clubs pay out in salaries before it all stops? And of course why on earth would the clubs pay so much money for just a footballer?

Wayne Rooney

I can understand why people think it’s sick when the look at what the players get paid to play football. And especially those people who don’t care on bit about the game. But if you analyze it a bit more you will understand why the best clubs can afford to pay such high salaries to keep the best players, or the “World class players”.  Of course the problem is that most players want a piece of the cake and if the best players get paid a lot more than the rest there will be complaints. This is another good point, but this article is about the world class players and their value to the top teams.

The best example right now is Manchester United. They have made an impressing start to the season but have struggled in 3 games so far. If you look at the start line in those three matches you will only find Wayne Rooney in one of them. And in the one game he played he looked out of form and tired, in the match against Benfica. In the two other matches Stoke and Basel United have looked poor as a team and they don’t have the same structure and flow in their game. For me it’s clear that Manchester United with and without Wayne Rooney is two different teams. It’s not just that Wayne Rooney have been brilliant and proven himself as a world class player this season. It’s the character Rooney with his enthusiastic style of play which gives the whole side a mental boost; one could call him a talisman. It’s still too early to say how big the loss of Rooney is but as it looks like now United is very much in need of him to produce the results. They still have a lot of good players in the side but with Vidic out in defence I can’t see any other world class player in the side.

Luka Modric

Another example for me is Tottenham Hotspur and Luaa Modric. Spurs opened the premiership with two horrific results against Manchester City and Manchester United. Both game was played while Modric wanted to leave for Chelsea and he looked unhappy and not comfortably in the Spurs shirt. After the transfer window closed and Redknapp managed to hold on to Modric it turned around. Modric all of the sudden looked happy and started playing as he did all last season. Tottenham hammered Liverpool at home after a brilliant strike from Modric and went to win 3 games in a row. It proves that Redknapp made the right decision to keep Modric. He knows that he needed to keep his world class player if they would to stand any chance in fighting for a champions league spot this year.

Steven Gerrard

My last example is Liverpool and Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool captain and talisman have shown time and time again what a world class player he is and what important part he is in the club. The biggest achievement was more or less alone winning the champions league in the 2004/2005 season. The Liverpool side is looking good so far this season but is still in need of a fit world class player like Steven Gerrard if they are to challenge the top sides this season. The question is now if he will ever come back in the world class form that he has shown so many times. Let’s hope so for Liverpool and England.

If one analyzes all the top clubs in the world, most teams have 1-2 players in the side which can win the tight games for their teams. Those players are the once who shows the skill and dedication for their club to be called world class players in my opinion. And those players are worth their time on the pitch in gold. The value of the players is best shown when they are not playing, and one should therefore never take that quality for granted.