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Was Alan Shearer world class?

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Reply 20

Hijikata

He was also ranked as the third best player in the world at one point

Yes.. yes he was.

Original post by difeo

You can't possibly think that's a good comparison

less than 10% of Giroud's international career compared to the entirety of Shearer's international tournament career
the opposition was Paraguay x3, Luxembourg x2 and Sweden
3 of them were in a friendly, 0 in a tournament

Lmao you're the one saying because he scored 9 international goals in 13 games he's world class?

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Reply 23

difeo

Original post by bhfn

Lmao you're the one saying because he scored 9 international goals in 13 games he's world class?

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I brought up his strong international tournament record in response to comments like "he hasn't done **** on the big stage."

Reply 24

bhfn

Original post by difeo

I brought up his strong international tournament record in response to comments like "he hasn't done **** on the big stage."

That comment was based on Harry Kane.

I said for Alan Shearer he didn't really have a good international career asides from the '96 euros. Before that he scored 5 in 21 games I believe...?

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Reply 25

difeo

Original post by bhfn

"It's pretty much like Kane, he's not world class he hasn't done **** on the big stage." Sounds like you're saying they both have done nothing on the big stage, but whatever.

Why would you say "aside from the 96 Euros" and then only list his stats from before the 96 euros... aside from the 96 euros, he still scored 25 in 58.

Reply 26

Diego Costa

Original post by bhfn

I've been having a debate with friends about whether he should be classed as a world class striker.

I wouldn't say he was world class, but no denying that he's a premier league great.

Anyone who was a PL great from 1996 - 2009 (when the Prem was a genuine top league) is world class

Reply 27

Melancholy

Alan Shearer has no hair on his head.

Reply 28

username917703

Original post by bhfn

He went on to score 25 in 42 after that, why are you ignoring this? Very good record for international football.

30 goals in 63 apps is not a bad record at all. He scored important goals in all the tournaments he played in. We went out in the groups in 2000 but that Germany win was massive at the time.

He was world class there is no doubt about it.

Reply 29

rockrunride

To me, "world class" means on balance probably deserving to win the CL, Euros or WC based on individual ability.

Though football is a team sport, so the above is muddy, but you get my drift.

On balance then, I would say yes. I think a good number of those Euro 96 players were world class. Gazza certainly was.

Reply 30

MagicNMedicine

Original post by rockrunride

On balance then, I would say yes. I think a good number of those Euro 96 players were world class. Gazza certainly was.

England's Euro 96 team probably had fewer world class players than Sven's team of ten years later, when Lampard, Gerrard and Beckham were amongst Europe's best midfielders, Rooney was in his prime, Ferdinand and Cole were also elite level defenders.

The big difference between the Euro 96 team and the teams that have come since was there were a lot of mentally strong players who would step up and not be intimidated in internationals. Since the end of the 1990s the England players have become a bit poncey, more and more celebrities off the field and comfortable in their club environment but seem like they don't fancy it with England. In Euro 96 there were players who maybe wouldn't be seen as elites but were strong characters and leaders. Tony Adams a classic example - a limited player on the ball, nobody would have put him as one of Europe's glamour centre backs like the Italians or Spaniards of the time but he was a phenomenal player - dominated everything in the air, he imposed himself physically over any forward and was a great leader and organiser of a defence. David Seaman in goal was far better than any keeper we have had since then, much more consistent.

David Platt was a bit past his best in Euro 96 but for the few years before that he was one English player who really thrived in the best European league in the world at the time (Serie A) and scored a lot from midfield for England - his international record was like Lampard's should have been.

The two real world class players we had then were Shearer and Gascoigne, but this was the last time Gazza played at that level. Honorary mention for Teddy Sheringham who really helped Shearer, if Teddy had played today he would have had so many fan boys, such a classy footballer who was Shearer's foil but a very good goal threat himself.

I will reply about Shearer separately as this is a Shearer thread - but a word on Gazza. He was not the player in 1996 that he had been in 1990 to 1991 which was the last time there was an English player who people around the world genuinely regarded as possibly the world's best player at the time. His injury had taken away his pace and he couldn't barnstorm through the centre any more but his passing was still awesome. There was a great video on youtube, not sure if it's still there, that showed extended highlights of Gazza in Euro 96, I think it was the Holland game. It's a classic video lesson in how to influence a game at international level - when you see so many England players today just faff about never offering any penetration, its instructive to see how Gazza was just 'in' the game all the time, every touch he had had some purpose, he would scuttle around, control the ball, hold it up and play a man through, or he would lay it off one touch, move in to space and receive it and play it through having opened up holes. He knew how to move the opposition around and take their players out of the game with his passing.

Later on Xavi would play like that but always with Iniesta, Messi around him, which Gazza didn't have but I would have put a 1996 Gazza on par with a prime Xavi.

Unfortunately after that tournament, Gazza's fitness really started to tail off and his problem was he could never play 90 minutes or have extended runs of fitness and he declined quite rapidly.

Reply 31

MagicNMedicine

Right, now to answer on Shearer...

IMO he was undoubtedly world class. He never played in a dominant team. Even when he won the league with Blackburn, he was playing in quite a limited team mainly of workhorses. His goal scoring consistency in the teams he played in was fantastic, and as has been already pointed out here he performed pretty well in competitive fixtures for England when pressure was on, again in a non-dominating team.

However, thinking about Shearer does highlight how the game has evolved. He was regarded at the time as the 'complete' player - he had strength, an incredible shot, and was great in the air. If you watch youtube highlights of him it's surprising how many goals he scored with his head, especially at Blackburn so many of them were from crosses from the byline from wingers, you don't see those very often any more. Jason Wilcox and Stuart Ripley used to bomb it down the wing and deliver balls in to the box and Shearer would time his run beautifully to head them in.

Today, Shearer would not be regarded as a complete player, he wasn't that quick, he worked hard for the team but always with a sense of him being the end product, he wasn't a great link up man and he wasn't in it for the assists. I think Shearer was regarded as the undisputed Premier League best striker until Henry came along and started bagging loads of assists as well. It would be interesting to see how he would be used in the modern game. You could use him in a one up front no problem as he was strong enough and could hold the ball, but I bet he wouldn't like all this business of laying it back to attacking midfielders or inside forwards, when Shearer got the ball usually he ended up having a shot.

I think the way he played probably suited Blackburn and Newcastle, he was the main man and it made sense to play through him and he would score a shed load of goals. When he had a manager who didn't want to use him the way he wanted to be used (Gullit) he fell out with him and undermined him. Everyone talks about what would have happened if he went to United, my guess is we know exactly what would have happened, the same as Van Nistelrooy. He would have scored a load of goals, but United wouldn't have quite been the same team with him, and in the end he would have been moved on and United benefited without him.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 32

Kallisto

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Original post by bhfn

I've been having a debate with friends about whether he should be classed as a world class striker.

I wouldn't say he was world class, but no denying that he's a premier league great.

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Alan Shearer was one of the best striker the English national team had. And in a premier league, he is a legend. World class status is overrated in this sense.