How good was Raul?

tentan

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Underrated? Overrated? Was he world class at the time or just a top player at best?
 

Art Vandelay

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I thought he was excellent back in the day, I just never thought he was quite as good as the other galacticos. Although that's not much of a damnation given how good they were. One of the best strikers in the world, but never the best. There were always a few around that were just that bit better. From what I remember anyway.
 

GifLord

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For me he was a top 10 striker in the world during the late90s to early 00s. Had a sweet leftie
 

Crashoutcassius

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Mysterious to me. Apparently elite in many aspects including finishing , linking up, holding up. I never saw it in him but wouldn't have watched him before maybe the mid 2000s
 

manutddjw

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Art Vandelay probably said it best earlier: one of the best in the world but never the best. A good comparison would be David Villa.
 

Bojan11

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Probably Spains version of Shearer.

Appreciated more in Spain, probably not so much in the rest of Europe.
 

VanKenny

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Id say he was a more elegant and slightly more clinical version of Karim Benzema. Slightly faster too.
 

The Urban Goose

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Shot into the scene as a teenager but never really developed into the consistent ballon d'or contender he promised to be.

In that sense he is much like Rooney, save that where Rooney had the talent but not the mindset, Raul probably made the most of his talent.
 

Web of Bissaka

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Top elite level. Didn't capture the limelight as the rest of his galacticos teammates did but hey that's the point - it works well, useful addition to his team at that time. I see him as a Shadow Striker.
 

thepolice123

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He was not a talented as his contemporaries if you compare him to someone like Recoba, but he definitely had the strongest mentality. Sort of like Frank Lampard in that sense. He had that silent and steely determination in his game.


The typical Raul goal. Big match, goal out of nowhere. Great finish too. Trademark goal celebration.
 
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Probably Spains version of Shearer.

Appreciated more in Spain, probably not so much in the rest of Europe.
Shearer before the injuries took a toll was one of, if not the best in the world. A level above Raul.

great goal scoring record mind, and it took Ronaldo to out score him to become Real’s record goal scorer. Top player clearly.
 

TRUERED89

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Wasn’t he Madrid’s top scorer before CR7? Great player, I always remember his goal at OT, was a ridiculous team goal.
 

#07

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The funny thing about Raul is that I can't tell you any one thing that he excelled at. Apart from, of course, scoring goals. He had the habit of showing up just at the right time to get his goals.

He wasn't lightning quick or ox strong. He simply possessed fantastic awareness of the game around him. He knew exactly where he needed to be in the build up and the box. He was very capable of ghosting in on the blindside of a defence. Despite the fact he always played centrally. Illusive.

I honestly don't think they make forwards like him anymore. That style of forward might be forced into being a second striker these days, or even played off the wing. He wasn't the lad they got the ball to and built around, nor was he a #10. However, he definitely made himself available in the passing and knew how to get into the box and score.

I think if he was playing nowadays he'd score tons, just cos so few strikers make the natural 6 yard box runs Raul knew how to time brilliantly. Think Gabi Jesus but several times better. What he did at Schalke also showed it was more than just putting the cherry on top for Galacticos.

IMO a top, top player.
 
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Invictus

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Madrid's version of Giggs in many ways — snatched from the grasp of a close rival (Atlético/City), great player who was also a great servant and embodied a lot of the best qualities of the club (both were deeply admired even by opposition fans in their playing days), and sometimes people underestimate how good he was in his prime because he was constantly under the microscope from 1994 to 2009 and went through the rigors of unyielding expectations year in and year out. The sale of Makelélé is often cited as a turning point for Madrid, but almost as pertinent were the departure of Hierro, and the decline of Raúl in the midst of his unsuccessful forced marriage with Fenômeno in the Galáctico I phase. For several years Raúl was a multitalented and remarkably intelligent/motivated reference point for the team — sometimes as a striker with Morientes, sometimes even as a midfielder with the addition of Mijatović and Anelka and Šuker — but he and Ronaldo never quite clicked — and it was until the signing of Higuaín / Van Nistelrooy, as well as the management of Capello, that Raúl recovered to a respectable standard. Anyhow, 700+ appearances for Madrid, eclipsed demi-god Di Stéfano for Madrid goals as well as European Cup goals (another parallel with Giggs, who was the highest assist-maker at the time), and top scorer for Spain while featuring in a collective that could never quite get their act together — not too shabby all things considered, and definitely a legend.
What he did at Schalke also showed it was more than just putting the cherry on top for Galacticos.
For some reason, two specific Raúl goals always stick in my mind: vs. Valencia where he latches onto Sávio's timely pass and exhausts ¾ths of the pitch before nonchalantly putting the ball past Cañizares/Dukić, and the one with that assist by Draxler at Schalke (Raúl was of secondary importance in this, but y'now).


Top stuff! :drool:
 

Jeppers7

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He was world class. I went to Madrid in 03 and they battered us that night. Everyone was raving about Zidane and Figo on the coach, I said it was Raul who stood out to me, we couldn’t get near him all night. Kind of got laughed at until Sir Alex said the same thing in his post match interview.
 

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Tremendously misunderstood player in modern parlance. Was also a nomad of his own era beings as his role of withdrawn forward didn't exist then as definable role - in his own era, you were either a lead the line #9 or creative #10 who could score too. Raul would therefore be compared directly to out and out #9's or ridiculously skillful #10's, and invariably come up short as his only comparable metric then was goals.

He scored loads of them, of course, but merit was taken from him somewhat because it was seen as a given seeing as he broke through so young and was the undroppable golden boy at Madrid where others might've been more talented and 'rightfully' denied their shot as Raul supposedly ruled behind the scenes there.

His international record and career as a whole was also held against him as both the proper #10's and #9's if the era were mostly magnificent for their countries, too.

Raul is essentially an enigma, but categorized amongst his kin folk of withdrawn forwards, easily one of the best to play the game. Put him in generic #9 or #10 lists and he's nowhere to be seen in the grand scheme of things.
 

giorno

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Rooney best goal scoring seasons were better than rauls and he spent most of his career playing all over the pitch. He offered so much more to the team.
Yeah, you don't know what you are talking about
 

Lay

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There was a Madrid player, can’t recall who, maybe Roberto Carlos who said Raul was the fastest player he’s played with. I always wondered if he meant mentally because Raul never was quick.
 

MiceOnMeth

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Wasn’t he Madrid’s top scorer before CR7? Great player, I always remember his goal at OT, was a ridiculous team goal.
He was the CL's top goalscorer too before Messi and Ronaldo stopped being human.
 

11101

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He was a key player in a good team that shone in a relatively weak period of the early 2000s. He had some fantastic moments in his career but his longevity and consistency contribute to his reputation much as they do to Shearer's.

I'd say he was a bit similar to Robbie Fowler or Tevez, not so much in style as i don't think there's ever been a player like him in England, but that he was a great player without ever quite being the best.
 

Righteous Steps

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He was a key player in a good team that shone in a relatively weak period of the early 2000s. He had some fantastic moments in his career but his longevity and consistency contribute to his reputation much as they do to Shearer's.

I'd say he was a bit similar to Robbie Fowler or Tevez, not so much in style as i don't think there's ever been a player like him in England, but that he was a great player without ever quite being the best.
Fowler stylistically is actually the best comparison for him imo. He was a Fowler with more flair.
 

Trezeguet17

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Good Thread.
With all that free time right now i was watching some old classic matches of that Galactico Team and was asking myself the same question about how good Raul really was but also how about Figo?
Was Figo considered absolute World Class back in the day? Maybe he was at Barca but he never really stood out at Real imo
 

André Dominguez

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He's "just" one of football's greatest. Even in his veteran years at Bundesliga he offered a lot to his team.
 

Gio

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He is slightly under-appreciated. Partly because he fell in the shadow of, firstly Ronaldo amongst top strikers, and then Zidane at Real Mardid. Partly because he just missed out on the Spanish golden generation who swept all before them. And partly because he hit his peak earlier on in his career, yet stayed at the top level as a slightly lesser player. Which means I think we forgot that he was a more aggressive and quick striker in the late 1990s, at a time when La Liga didn't reach the same audience it would by the mid 2000s and beyond. He didn't have the physical gifts of most of his contemporaries, be it Ronaldo, Henry or Owen's pace, or Vieri's strength, but he made up for it with superb instincts and anticipation.

Brilliantly clever player. Very few thoroughbred goalscorers could play as a second striker or operate as a 10 behind two centre-forwards and still knit it all together. Solid pedigree coming off the left flank too, particularly early on in his career, but latterly too. Hugely influential in Real Madrid's three Champions League wins between 1998 and 2002, scoring in two finals, plundering goals every year through the competition, and scoring decisive beauties like this in el Classico semi-finals no less:

 

Gio

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Good Thread.
With all that free time right now i was watching some old classic matches of that Galactico Team and was asking myself the same question about how good Raul really was but also how about Figo?
Was Figo considered absolute World Class back in the day? Maybe he was at Barca but he never really stood out at Real imo
Yes. And you're right he was better - younger and quicker - at Barca.
 

izec

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Top player with the short hair. End of 90's-start 00's, he was one of the best strikers in the world. He was one of their main star players in a team full of stars

The longer haired Raul wasn't quite the same for me. Mid 00's to going to Schalke around 2010, i barely noticed him.
 

pacifictheme

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Fowler stylistically is actually the best comparison for him imo. He was a Fowler with more flair.
Rooney is quite similar

Rooney goals per game

Career - 0.42
United - 0.45
Best season (11/12 - 34 in 43) - 0.79

Raul gpg

Career - 0.43
Real - 0.43
Best season (00/01 - 32 in 50) - 0.64