David Villa announces retirement

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Was a brilliant finisher.

First noticed him at Zaragoza, huge performance for them in the 2004 copa del rey final when they shocked Real Madrid.
 

Pow

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One goal that sticks out is when they spanked real 5 0 i think it was his second. Messi magic on the halfway line perfect through ball clinical finish through casillas legs
 

tentan

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Legend. Fantastic player with an incredible career.
 

Raees

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Only striker that comes close in this generation is Suarez (Suarez I rate higher) but Villa was a brilliant striker - arguably Spain’s greatest striker and one of Europe’s finest in modern era.
 

Raees

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Not surprising @harms @Gio and @Invictus love him as much as I do.. trust you to know a good striker when you see one. Agreed Gio though could you argue talking purely internationally Klose also had a cracking career too?
 

Carolina Red

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Fantastic player in the front line. He did so much for Spain in their run to the Euros and World Cup.

Between 2008 to 2010, he had 24 in 29 games for Spain and 59 in 88 games for Valencia.
 

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Between him and Eto'o for the #5 spot in the ranking of strikers from the last 20-ish years after Fenômeno, Suárez, Henry and Shevchenko (including the Kyiv period), IMO. Such a wonderful center forward — one of the select few that could excel in just about any scheme because of his movement, intelligence, balance, ability to link with team-mates and of course, unerring eye for goal. While the Zaragoza and Valencia years played a part in his progression, you have to wonder how much higher he would be regarded by the wider football-watching base if he had joined a major club sooner (and been the star of the show at #9). By the time he transferred to Barcelona at age 28, you-know-who was already establishing himself as a historically great False 9 and Villa had to cater to his needs — would've been much more impactful at center forward with the wide creative forward version of Messi from recent years! :drool:
I know this may be inadvertent but egad! Did you leave out Zlatan??
 

Invictus

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I know this may be inadvertent but egad! Did you leave out Zlatan??
Yep! I love Zlatan for what it's worth, but he would be in the 7/8 spots (or maybe the edge of Top 10 if I wake up on the wrong side of the bed). Consider someone like Eto'o, for example — wasn't always a match for mature Zlatan's domestic scoring record (though he did boast a 0.65 goals-per-game ratio at Barcelona and scored 400+ goals for club and country) or sumptuous technique or magisterial aura — but much more selfless within the collective framework, struck up a mutually beneficial with several world-class forwards over his career (including tricky ones like Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry), had a high workrate to lead the charge from the front, played a big part in Barcelona's Champions League campaigns (including 2006 and 2008 when they won the whole thing) and then tweaked his game to play ahead of Maicon under José, while staying out of Milito and Sneijder's way on occasions where he could have gone for glory, to lead Internazionale to the first treble in the history of Italian football. It's no coincidence that he excelled in 3 different teams under 3 different managers while having different remits to win Big Ears.

Similarly, even though they created a lot of chances, playing as the #9 for Spain would have been overwhelming for most center forwards because you had to be decisive yet patient and calculating and un-involved for prolonged stretches — one might even contend that Villa played the role to its absolute peak. In a sense, he was the forward version of Schweinsteiger, a consummate provider of balance...and without his efficient and low-maintenance lethality the scheme could have been frequently blunted. As @Gio said, he (or Klose) are quite possibly the best and most effective international striker(s) since Fenômeno.

It would be fair to argue that Ibrahimović would do be better as the main man at an underperforming club or a team that's on the rise (like Paris Saint-Germain) and take them to a good level as the attacking talisman who knits things together — but in an broader sense, the likes of Eto'o (while temperamental) or Villa would be a dream to coach because of their versatility, well-rounded skill set and team ethic (a bit like Benzema in recent years where he was willing to take a backseat to Cristiano and even Bale). Put them in the current Liverpool or City XI and they would do a really good job — can't say the same for Zlatan, and that's the crux of the issue. For all his profound gifts, Ibrahimović always needed a wide berth to perform at his best (hence why he couldn't coexist with some other stars), wasn't always a very intense player wrt. pressing or leading the defensive organisation from the front, didn't give a good account of himself in the Champions League (which is the gold standard for equalizing/measuring the performance of players in post-modern period), etc.
 

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The football brain side never ages. I saw a massively overweight retired Maradona run an entire (testimonial) game standing still.

He barely moved, but could still see things us up in the stands only visualised after he executed them.
Totally agree. I watched Seedorf play in one of those ex-pro charity games. He was amazing. He made the game look so easy.

You were lucky to get to see Maradona (all be it a massively overweight retired version).

Something to tell the grandkids.
 

Tom Cato

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David Villa was one one of the most brilliant finishers I had the pleasure to watch when I was in my 20s. What a career, enjoy retirement David.
 

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Totally agree. I watched Seedorf play in one of those ex-pro charity games. He was amazing. He made the game look so easy.

You were lucky to get to see Maradona (all be it a massively overweight retired version).

Something to tell the grandkids.
Saw the proper one too, absolute genius, but in full flow you saw all attributes at once. His vision and reading of the game wasn't as clearcut/standalone as seeing a beachball reading runs and pinging unreal balls left right and centre.
 

manutddjw

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Love him. Him and Zlatan were always my first 2 signings in FIFA 06. Going with the Fergie way of 4 strikers in that game, having Rooney, Ruud, Villa and Zlatan was pure filth.