Davids is widely recognized as one of the best defensive midfielders of his time.. Desailly is widely recognized as a massive force for France and Milan. Thuram is widely recognized as one of the best defenders for France in their golden years.
Henry's 20 assists was in the league alone, it was more in all comps. The only other players in Europe who have done 20 assists in a league season are Messi and Xavi, that's a pretty exclusive group. CR7 hasn't done 20 assists in a season
Weah won the Balon D'Or in 95 and placed second in fifa world player the year after. Many people praise him for his world cup efforts too, so I don't know if he's underrated...
Why do you compare assist numbers - Benzema's job was to work the defenders in a way so that CR7 could shine - and that he did greatly. You compare different players and different tasks. Benzema's role today has changed - he is not the sidekick anymore but the one that runs the show. But he really was a great sidekick...
Weah was recognised as one of, if not the best striker in the world. He was brilliant for Milan.
Benzema is the 5th top scorer in the history of Real Madrid, with a better goal ratio than Raul,Gentro, and Butragueño.Only Cristiano, Di Estefano, Puskas, and Hugo Sánchez have a better goal ratio than him.
I didn’t say he was bad. I just don’t think he’s underrated. You make some good points though and I totally agree about the nostalgia thing.
You said Benzema was litterary bad as a goalscorer....
Benzema is only getting rated these days he was certainly underrated when Ronaldo was there. He was like Firmino with goals but he sacrificed himself for others. I think he has underrated
Proof that only playing for the deportivo, Valencia, Napoli, Florentino, spurs and evertons only take you so far memory wise. At the end of the day, its the big clubs and national teams the attract fan attention not just a players skill.
Please can you point out where I “literally said he was a bad goal scorer”? He was a bit of a donkey in front of goal, but that doesn’t mean he was a bad scorer. Lukaku is as big a donkey as they come, but one of the most prolific at the same time.
I think he is a bit overrated, or at least overrated by Florentino and the board by making the team completely reliant on him. He's very good but it has hurt us to depend solely in him to score most of our goals and he has also benefited of not having much competition in his position as a starter.
You said Benzema always scored few goals despite he has multiple 20+ goals seasons...
Real Madrid have won LaLiga last year thanks to Benzema single-handedly carrying the offense and he's the main reason why Real Madrid still have the chance winning UCL + LaLiga this season.
Benzema has always been like a slower less talented R9 even in his build and gait, so good comparison actually.
I would say that their skillsets overlap and Henry has been better in every aspects. Henry is the best assist maker and scorer for France and it's important to remember that he has spent a fair amount of time on the left which is a place where Benzema thrived early in his career. I don't know if it's counter intuitive but Henry is a faster more dynamic version of Benzema both are very complete footballers, also Henry was a better finisher.
RM bought Luka Jović, but we all saw that he wasn't good enough to bench Benzema
Harry Kane is 27 Mbappe is 22.
To be fair I don't think Mbappé would bench Benzema. They would make a deadly partnership.
So he's a lesser version of R9 in the sense that he lacks everything that made R9 stand out among his peers but looks like him?
Yeah I get what you’re saying about his antics! He’s definitely not as good as when he was at Barca though. Tends to try too much on his own at PSG.
He wasn't a classic winger though...
You know he did play in England for both Chelsea and Everton?
Cheers. Those would be my overall thoughts too but I can't really say for 'sure' as I've not seen as much of Benzema as I have Henry. The latter was one of few players, who I really thought 'he's out of this world'. He had attributes and consistent productivity that you just don't see bar Messi/Ronaldo.
Benzema : R9 in slow motion, I also like this comparison
Etoo - not better than Henry but underrated for different reasons
The Youtube video Henry vs Italy (Euro 2000) has been removed
He played in England when he was past it.
Yep, unfortunately this.
One player I wish we would have signed. Very much a United-style winger who loved to cut inside and shoot. Reminded me of John Connelly and Steve Coppell.
the issue is that you didn’t recognise he played in ENGLAND at all. I noted it was when he became a journeyman.
Yeah, Irwin was really underrated. I think if we are talking about players who are genuinely underrated it is likely to be a FB of some sort. When people mention players like Weah, Desailly, Gullit, Benzema and Henry I scratch my head a little as they were always star players for there teams or key cogs at least. Benzema has a bit of a case as during most of his time at Real it has been about CR7/Ramos etc.
