Well the right side of 30 would be 28/29. He's 31 so the wrong side of 30. I'm really not sure what's tripping you up?
Gonzalo Higuain | Chelsea Player
- Thread starter RDCR07
- Start date
Hahaha. I always thought the right side of 30 meant in the 30 to 35 group, as opposed to the wrong side of 30 as in from the 35 to 40 age group.
His last season under Sarri really was incredible. No striker other than Suarez was playing at his level - His all round play was superb too. They were a fantastic side to watch.
Showed signs of declining at Milan though and the Premier League will be a tough test physically. Very interested to see how he does.
Showed signs of declining at Milan though and the Premier League will be a tough test physically. Very interested to see how he does.
In any case, I do not think age is a big problem for a striker of his style.
They don't have to pay his wages.
He will score goals. But I would worry about him getting used to the frantic pace of the league. Saw him v Juve in the Supercoppa looked absolutely knackered.
Not a player who instills much fear in me. Couple of years ago sure, but he's been off his best for a while now. However Chelsea just need someone to get 8 to 10 or so league goals between now and the end of the season to make sure they stay top 4, and he's certainly capable of doing that so its probably a good move for them.
I think he’ll be a dud. Here’s hoping.
Never rated him particularly. He's one of those players who's always been more effective than his attributes would suggest however.
Yeah but the general consensus is he has regressed since then, and there's a difference between a one off two legged tie and playing every week in a more intense league. Look at how comfortable Immobile is in Italy yet couldn't hack it in Spain or Germany.
I think he looked great in the CL and if he can replicate that long term Chelsea will easily get third, but it's far from a given. 31 year old striker not exactly known for his fitness moving from Italy to England strikes me as easily having potential for failure.
Remind me which games chelsea have played at a pace not set by them?
He will be fine for another year or two, he has good movement, technique and finishing. Only in special high pressure games he will bottle it, but over the whole season, he will be good i reckon and score against the lower league to midtable teams with ease as long as Chelsea play well and he isnt isolated. He will buy them time to look for a more mid to long term striker in the future.
Bit of both. I can see him pretty much standing still most games. He's a brilliant footballer so if they can get the ball to him he will orchestrate things, but i cant see him working for it if they cant.
Yeah I generally agree, but I'm not sure that's an issue more prevalent than other countries. The pace of the game is different but a lazy uninvolved player in a slower pace is equally as useless IMO. And like you say, even in a fast paced game that can be accommodated.
Higuain's always really confused me so I'm looking forward to seeing him week in, week out. At Madrid he started off as a really hardworking player, out on the right wing when they won the title under Schuster (?). Since then I've found him a really hard player to define.
Definitely think he's potentially another big name striker flop for Chelsea. He clearly isn't a guarantee.
I haven't seen Higuain in a while, is he still carrying too much timber? Chelsea will probably get lucky and he'll hit the ground running and seal their top 4 spot.
Think he'll be a mess of a signing. Will score against cannon fodder naturally enough.
Good call really. Liverpool ? But if Morata struggled with it he will to I guess..
Chelsea manage to control the ball in the vast majority of games they play. They can set whatever tempo they need to get Higuain involved. Besides, shouldn't read too much in the last 6 months. He didn't want to be at milan
True, he definitely doesnt want to be there. Sarri will probably have him scoring in no time.
Van Persie and van Nistelrooy were significantly quicker and Zlatan struggled quite a bit because of his lack of pace (he should've had so much more goals from through-balls). And all of them were more talented players.
Don't get me wrong, I think that Higuain would be a relative success but I don't think that it's appropriate to compare him to those three. Even paceless Zlatan could produce an odd mid air backheel control or simply bully a center back with his sheer physicality, Higuain's arsenal is much more limited.
I don't think Zlatan struggled particularly myself, and I'm not sure either Dutchman was much quicker (or in van Persie's case, not with us). Agree about the physicality though - could definitely see him struggling partly due to that! But I really don't know. Haven't watched much of Higuain in recent years in fairness.
Aye, same for me. I remember him scoring crucial goals in the title run-in for Capello's Madrid, when he often played out wide and was quite mobile. I actually see a lot of similarities between Rashford and young Higuain, even in the way they've been used.
Seems like since he went to Napoli, he enjoyed Italian food a bit too much and bulked up considerably and became more of a pure poacher. Although since his Juve move, he ended up showcasing a more rounded game, which I think he had to because the Juve side was never built around his goals like Napoli.
Not good enough for a top team? Your insane. He spent 6 years at Madrid scoring 107 in 190 games. He also has a great record at Juventus.
Higuian while an elite striker has never been the best in the world. And if you wanna say he’s old and he may not adapt to EPL then sure. But don’t paint the picture like he has been some second grade striker throughout his career.
*You're*
He has been though.
Never really held down a starting place for Madrid did he?
Not wanted at Juventus.
I havent seen him play at Milan but from what ive heard hes not exactly wanted there either.
That sounds like second grade to me.
Heck hes not even wanted by his own fans for the country he plays for.
Higuain is probably the most complete striker out of any of those, maybe not Ibra but certinly every bit as much as the two dutch strikers. He never needed any extra pace to make a difference, his overall game is world class and he scores for fun.
Not wanted at Juventus? They certainly would have kept him if they could, he was a clear success at all of Madrid, Napoli and Juventus.
Higuain is anything but a second grade striker. He's been a top 10 striker in the world for nearly a decade. He doesn't get the respect he deserves because of a couple of chances he missed in high profile matches throughout his career but in truth he's scored plenty of big goals too.
Obviously he's getting older and there's no guarantee of how things will turn out at Chelsea but if he keeps playing the same way he's been playing for years then a lot of people here are in for a big surprise.
Do not rate him. Not at Chelsea. Is it a done deal?
What? How was he not good enough for Juventus?
I still have to laugh, when I remember how out of shape he was at times for Juve. Chunky fecker.
Not official but it's done.
In transfer forum mentioned Milan need to complete Piatek as his replacement then Higuain and Morata deals can be done too.
Can’t be any worse than Morata
Really? Why not?
Quality player but this transfer has a Shevchenko feeling about it.
Probably didn't really want to leave Juve, but they didn't have much choice after signing Ronaldo.
Extremely insightful stuff there...pointing out my spelling mistake while ignoring my response to your initial post.
That's an interesting take that I don't agree with at all. I'd have him as van Nistelrooy's equal, probably, skill-wise, but van Persie was on a completely different level to him (at his peak) — shooting technique, hold up play, dribbling, heading, creativity
Higuain is probably better in off-the-ball movement that's pretty much it. Ibra was even better — an absolute menace that combined van Persie's technique with freakish physicality.Higuain over Van Persie any day of the week. He's not the poacher type player that you're portraying him as, his link up play and technique is world class. He's better at both dribbling and creating chances than Van Persie ever was too.That's an interesting take that I don't agree with at all. I'd have him as van Nistelrooy's equal, probably, skill-wise, but van Persie was on a completely different level to him (at his peak) — shooting technique, hold up play, dribbling, creativity
Higuain is everything you want a striker to be, if a couple of games in his career go differently he'd rightly go down as an equal to someone like Luis Suarez and be in contention for being the best striker of his generation.
No way. Have you even seen RVP dribble at all? I think you might be overating Piggy here too much.