Prime Aguero vs Prime Suarez

Rocksy

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Am I wrong in thinking Suarez peak was messi/Ronaldo territory?
Not wrong. I’d agree with that. Not just the Liverpool peak either. He was unbelievable for Barcelona, especially 2014-2015 Champions League.
 

Tee27

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As much as I hate to say suarez has been so underrated, there’s a case to make for him being the third best player in the world during his final seasons at Liverpool and first seasons at barca.

As good as aguero was and he’s of course a EPL great, for me the fact he never seemed to turn up in CL games or was able to take Man City to a CL also slightly puts him down in my eyes.
 

Drygon

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I think Lewandowski has surpassed Suarez now as next best forward. But it’s close.

Both easily better than Aguero. Benzema also better than Aguero.
It’s him & Lewandowski (with Benzema lurking just behind) who are the best strikers of their era, by some margin.
Suárez was at least half a tier above Agüero (persistent injury issues notwithstanding), methinks — offered a bit more within the collective framework as he boasted irrepressible competitiveness and workrate and pressing ability from front, was more self-sacrificing and excelled with a potpourri of forwards at practically every stage of the sport (de Jong with Ajax, Forlán and Cavani with Uruguay, Sturridge and Sterling with Liverpool, Messi and Neymar with Barcelona), and also put in dominant performances at international level (like the 2011 Copa América).
  1. Luis Suárez
  2. Robert Lewandowski *
  3. Karim Benzema
  4. Sergio Agüero *
  5. Edinson Cavani
  6. Gonzalo Higuaín *
Not even close :lol:

Benzema has been awesome since 18/19 season. However, Benzema comes short than many of his peers...

Their goal-per-game averages from top 5 leagues

Prime Robert Lewandowski (11/12-20/21): 269 league goals in 317 games = 0.85 goals per game
Prime Luis Suarez (12/13-20/21): 222 league goals in 289 games = 0.77 goals per game
Prime Harry Kane (14/15-20/21): 163 league goals in 231 games = 0.68 goals per game
Prime Zlatan Ibrahimovic (04/05-16/17): 261 league goals in 398 games = 0.66 goals per game
Prime Gonzalo Higuain (08/09-17/18): 208 league goals in 323 games = 0.64 goals per game
Prime Sergio Aguero (07/08-19/20): 248 league goals in 400 games = 0.62 goals per game
Prime Karim Benzema: (07/08-20-21): 229 league goals in 455 games = 0.50 goals per game

True. Seems extremely influential in the Madrid best seasons than it initially seemed to the eye.
Revisionist history at its finest. Benzema was very inconsistent & most Real Madrid fans didn't rate him much until 2018-19 season.

Overall career, I do not think Lewa would be over Suarez. Although both are so ridiculously talented, that it is difficult.
Lewandowski's FAR superior Champions League stats easily gives him the edge over Suarez.

Both are on equal footing in league competition & internationals
 
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Relevated

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Suarez was a swivel hip extraordinary player. For Liverpool I rate torres higher only.
 

Attila

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Not even close :lol:

Benzema has been awesome since 18/19 season. However, Benzema comes short than many of his peers...

Their goal-per-game averages from top 5 leagues

Prime Robert Lewandowski (11/12-20/21): 269 league goals in 317 games = 0.85 goals per game
Prime Luis Suarez (12/13-20/21): 222 league goals in 289 games = 0.77 goals per game
Prime Harry Kane (14/15-20/21): 163 league goals in 231 games = 0.68 goals per game
Prime Zlatan Ibrahimovic (04/05-16/17): 261 league goals in 398 games = 0.66 goals per game
Prime Gonzalo Higuain (08/09-17/18): 208 league goals in 323 games = 0.64 goals per game
Prime Sergio Aguero (07/08-19/20): 248 league goals in 400 games = 0.62 goals per game
Prime Karim Benzema: (07/08-20-21): 229 league goals in 455 games = 0.50 goals per game





Lewandowski's FAR superior Champions League stats easily gives him the edge over Suarez.

Both are on equal footing in league competition & internationals
Lewandowski plays in a one team league
 

KeanoMagicHat

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I don’t think he has surpassed Suarez, it’s certainly close between them stats wise but one area Suarez pushes forward is Assists. He didn’t just score insane amounts but would also regularly assist way into the double figures.

I actually haven’t watched all that much of Lewandowski either too be fair, seen highlights and the occasional games etc but I mainly just go off the stats with him.

Suarez was a weird footballer in the best possible way, he brought something I’d not really seen before in a player, he had that X factor like what Messi and Ronaldo have, not that he’s on their level but at his best imo he wasn’t far off from their level. He had a ridiculous ability to play 1-2 with his opponents…..where he’d literally consistently bounce the ball off of opposition players to get passed them, other players have obvious done such thing but Suarez had mastered it to an art and always left you thinking how the hell did he get through there…and then score.
Oh yeah I really rate Suarez as a player but Lewandowski scored 4 goals against Real Madrid in a CL semi-final with a 10 L’Équipe rating almost 10 years ago and has been doing it year in year out for Bayern and Dortmund since, then raising it another level in the past year or two, winning a CL along the way.
 

hasanejaz88

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81 goal contribution in 2016. Mental.
Agree. Sensational at his peak.
I saw that on transfermarkt as well but was sceptical, if you look at the individual matches his assists are vastly overstated. Also confirmed from Fbref, which had him at 18 assists that season, not 36 as transfermarkt say.

18 is still a fantastic number alongside his 40+ goals that season.
 

Drygon

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Lewandowski plays in a one team league
Ok, that's why Lewandowski also has incredible stats with Poland & in Champions League too?

Lewandowski is a phenomenal player & would dominate in Premier League as well. Only Gerd Muller has been on his level in Bundesliga.
 

TheLord

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Among current day / very recently retired strikers and their peaks
Tier 1: Two freaks (not necessarily strikers)
Tier 2: Lewandowski > Suarez = Zlatan > Aguero = Eto’o
Tier 3: Benzema = Kane > Higuain
 

AltiUn

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Am I wrong in thinking Suarez peak was messi/Ronaldo territory?
Pains me to admit it but he's one of the greatest players I've ever seen, his peak was a bit below Messi and Ronaldo but he was far and away the best of the rest. He's also a lot better than Lewandoski, Cavani, Benzema et al, in a league of his own for strikers of this generation, and they're all very, very good in their own right.
 

Skills

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I don’t think he has surpassed Suarez, it’s certainly close between them stats wise but one area Suarez pushes forward is Assists. He didn’t just score insane amounts but would also regularly assist way into the double figures.

I actually haven’t watched all that much of Lewandowski either too be fair, seen highlights and the occasional games etc but I mainly just go off the stats with him.

Suarez was a weird footballer in the best possible way, he brought something I’d not really seen before in a player, he had that X factor like what Messi and Ronaldo have, not that he’s on their level but at his best imo he wasn’t far off from their level. He had a ridiculous ability to play 1-2 with his opponents…..where he’d literally consistently bounce the ball off of opposition players to get passed them, other players have obviously done such things before but Suarez had mastered it to an art and always left you thinking how the hell did he get through there…and then score.
Did he mean that though? I thought he was just a fluke bastard.

Suarez was sensational though, and what made him so unique was that he was that good despite being so rough around the edges technically. I remember watching Barcelona at the Nou Camp in 2016 and the likes of Neymar, Messi, Iniesta were quite clearly cleaner than him. But it didn't stop him being just as effective
 

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Ok, that's why Lewandowski also has incredible stats with Poland & in Champions League too?

Lewandowski is a phenomenal player & would dominate in Premier League as well. Only Gerd Muller has been on his level in Bundesliga.
He is a great player but his stats from the bundesliga shouldn't be compared with players in other leagues. He has it easy and can be well rested for the champions League while everyone else needs to play hard every game
 

Lay

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I’m sure a few years ago people complained that Lewa misses too many chances in big games.
 

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Oh yeah I really rate Suarez as a player but Lewandowski scored 4 goals against Real Madrid in a CL semi-final with a 10 L’Équipe rating almost 10 years ago and has been doing it year in year out for Bayern and Dortmund since, then raising it another level in the past year or two, winning a CL along the way.
But Suarez dragged a average Uruguay team, with only Forlan as the creative source to Copa America win.
 

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But Suarez dragged a average Uruguay team, with only Forlan as the creative source to Copa America win.
An average NT don't reach Semi-finals in World Cup 2010 lmfao.

Uruguay were a great team during the early 2010s, let's not rewrite the history.
 

KeanoMagicHat

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They were not, they had a average defense, but a legendary forward line of Suarez and Forlan, along with an young and upcoming Cavani
I don’t agree that it was an average defence, Godin was emerging as world class, Fucile and Alvaro Pereira were good full-backs, Lugano and Cacares were good defenders. Not amazing players but good international players and better than average.
 

giorno

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They had a *great* defence, and Suarez. Forlan was bad in that copa america, uruguay's attack was ball to Suarez and inshallah. It worked because Suarez was a genuine monster who could make that work
 

B20

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Suarez was a swivel hip extraordinary player. For Liverpool I rate torres higher only.
Nah. Suarez was a level above Torres.

And Salah is probably better than Torres too.
 

Kinsella

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I don't it's hard to say at all...

It's Suarez, obviously.
 

criticalanalysis

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No Villa love in this thread?

Not as prolific but 'unfortunate' to have spent most of his career with Valencia and then injured/playing second fiddle to Messi at Barca.

Similar kind of career trajectory and path to Suarez too, Valencia/Liverpool, Barca (La Liga and Champions League win) and then La Liga win in first season with Atletico. Villa even got a Champions League FInal with the latter too.

Villa not as important as a singular talisman for Spain but so important for the World Cup and Euro wins.
 

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Aguero from 2008 to 2012 > suarez at any top level.

Aguero destroyed every team in La liga and was on pair with Messi and Ronaldo in terms of superstars back then, playing in a 100 times worse team which is not even close to the actual Atletico Madrid. Many people think Aguero's peak was at City while i think it was while he played at Atletico, he was terrifying defenses on his own.
In this game I remember him tearing up Puyol and Milito in their prime, being present in every single goal and scoring an incredible goal at the end to close the staidum.



He was far more entertaining to watch back then, and along with forlan made the best attacking duo in atleticos history in my opinion. At city, he had to become more of a goalscorer and gain muscle, he lost his dribbling and pace.


Saying this, Suarez is the only player that I wanted to be born in our country. He was just born on the other side of the Uruguay river.
 

Pretzels81

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Suárez, in my opinion. And Messi would agree.

But they are both underachievers in the UCL.
 

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Suarez.

When did Aguero peak ? I must have missed it because I'd put David Villa and Radamel Falcao over him.
 

Physiocrat

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Suárez was at least half a tier above Agüero (persistent injury issues notwithstanding), methinks — offered a bit more within the collective framework as he boasted irrepressible competitiveness and workrate and pressing ability from front, was more self-sacrificing and excelled with a potpourri of forwards at practically every stage of the sport (de Jong with Ajax, Forlán and Cavani with Uruguay, Sturridge and Sterling with Liverpool, Messi and Neymar with Barcelona), and also put in dominant performances at international level (like the 2011 Copa América).
  1. Luis Suárez
  2. Robert Lewandowski *
  3. Karim Benzema
  4. Sergio Agüero *
  5. Edinson Cavani
  6. Gonzalo Higuaín *
Phenomenal 3 year peak from 2013—16 where he was the top scorer in both the Premier League and La Liga to win 2 European Golden Boots (briefly disrupting the unprecedented Messi/Cristiano hegemony), best center-forward of the fairly illustrious 1987—88 cohort (while Agüero was more Top 5-ish), and among the foremost non-Cristiano/Messi footballers of the last 15-ish years with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Lahm, Modrić, Robben, Alves and Neuer.

* = functionally similar as strikers, and a bit less giving/generous than the other three. e.g. On top of being the 4th highest European Cup goalscorer and within range of being in the Top 5 for goalscoring in La Liga, Benzema has almost 100 La Liga assists and 27 European Cup assists — that's close to Xavi in terms of pure volume, and on that basis alone he earns a buncha brownie points.
Where would you put David Villa? He's a bit older than them but I would tend to group them together.
 

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I don’t think the gap is as big as made out to be here. Aguero suffered from playing for the worse European and national team for the peak of his career, and also way more susceptible to injuries, but in pure quality the only thing Suarez has over him is his work rate.
Uruguay isn't a better team than Argentina.

They weren't better in 2014,2015,2016 or 2018, only in 2010 Uruguay was actually better than Argentina.
 

Wolf1992

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Lewandowski plays in a one team league
Lewandowski scored a lot for Dortmund as well, and he scores for fun in CL as well, both with Bayern and Dortmund

If we judge by league, then we have to discuss 90s United achievements in PL for playing in a two team league at best , until Abramovich bought Chelsea ,in the early 2000s, to make PL a harder challenge.

Lewandowski is definitely in the conversation to be compared with Suarez, both clearly above Agüero.
 
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Wolf1992

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But Suarez dragged a average Uruguay team, with only Forlan as the creative source to Copa America win.
Uruguay team wasn't average between 2010-2014, they were a very good team.

From 2016 and on yes, they looked a bit underwhelming, but that's now.
 

Ladron de redcafe

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I saw that on transfermarkt as well but was sceptical, if you look at the individual matches his assists are vastly overstated. Also confirmed from Fbref, which had him at 18 assists that season, not 36 as transfermarkt say.

18 is still a fantastic number alongside his 40+ goals that season.
Which ones did you feel weren't legitimate? For what it's worth, many sources have him at 17-18 assists for 2016.
 

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Where would you put David Villa? He's a bit older than them but I would tend to group them together.
Between Suárez and Lewandowski at their respective peaks, methinks; Villa is a bit tricky to judge as Valencia was clearly no Barcelona/Bayern (or even Rodgers era Liverpool in terms of widespread allure), but that appears to be an appropriate spot for him, at least for the time being, as an individual that rose above his environment.

A pity that he was a late arrival to the scene...following the widely heralded (and foreordained heir to Raúl's crown) Torres, and in comparison with the likes of the aforementioned duo or Benzema — didn't exhaust the bulk of his prime with a more storied institution (which automatically elevates the view of prolific center forwards in the public consciousness) and couldn't contend for the highest of honors in club football (i.e. the latter-most stages of the Champions League) till the age of almost 30 (when he had to accommodate False 9 Messi instead of leading the charge and was no longer at the peak of his powers), but his remarkable career as the cutting edge of what was arguably the greatest international team of our lifetimes gives his profile a significant boost.

So clever with his reading of space, stealthy with his movement and purposeful with his link-up play; you could argue that no other center forward from the period would have been as effective as Villa in terms of seamlessly binding off Spain's intricate latticework (especially from 2008—10 where he plundered a total of 32 goals and was an irreplaceable component of both the EURO 2008 and 2010 World Cup vintages). One of the few center forwards, even in the pantheon of greats, that would excel in just about any team because of his intuitiveness and the sheer heterogeneity of his skill set. :drool: