Quote:
Originally Posted by Brwned
I reckon the only reason Nani's winning the poll is because the improvement in his game has been more recent (and dramatic, as Hectic says) so people are of the belief that he'll continue to improve at this rate but I can't see that ending well, that level of expectation is only going to lead to more criticism down the years if (and I believe when) he doesn't reach the level below Ronaldo and co., and people will end up not appreciating just how good a player he really is just because he's not the player they hoped he would be. A bit like Rooney now I guess. The other thing is that this improvement happened over a year ago, I'm not sure it's ongoing now...he went up from a useful squad player and a talented young player to one of our most important players and one of the best players in the league throughout the year of 2010, I don't think he's improved since then he's just maintained that level for the most part. Another factor is it's more fashionable to criticise Rooney than Nani now, I believe.
|
Excellent points. It is interesting because Nani could effectively be doing exactly what we saw with Rooney, but at a later stage of his career instead. It would be a different result had we had the same discussion but with Rooney from 2006 instead, the votes would clearly be in favour of Wayne because his development at that time looked to be huge.
I don't think this will be the case with Nani, or at least he won't keep improving at the same rate for years on end, but he'll reach a level which is high enough to be accepted as his limit, and consistency won't be a concern.