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Is Son Heung-Min the Best Asian Player Ever?


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7 hours ago, Blue said:

To be fair though mate, and I'm not discrediting any of the players around him, but without Maradona you could make the debate that the team was much worse. Its like if you take Messi out of this Barcelona team. Everyone around him is excellent, but the team is still going to be worse without him. Whole different mentality.

Of course players like Maradona or Messi make a difference.  That goes without saying because not only are we talking world class players with those two, but between the two probably one of them is the greatest of all time!  That makes a difference to any team!  But there are also the coaching factors as to why teams with great players don't achieve more.

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On the question it's actually a two part one.

Firstly - in terms of being the best Asian player ever, it's clearly a no at this point because he doesn't have longevity to back it up.

However, if the question was phrased as is he the most talented Asian player ever, I think you could make a very strong argument for it being the case. I've said before he's one of the most underrated players around right now, I think that's changing, but he's got it all and becoming so much more consistent. He's quick, strong, equally good on either foot, scores goals, creates. He's so important to us now and people don't really realise it. He was always talented in Germany but never quite did it consistently, and there are still games when nothing comes off for him, but these are getting rarer. He's added that consistency to his game and if he continues on this path he will be in the conversation for sure.

Nice one Sonny, nice one Son

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On 3/7/2018 at 20:29, Blue said:

Is he?

up against Tim Cahill, Shinji Kagawa and Ji Sung Park. I'd say only Cahill can give him a run though.

I'd say the opposite. Ahead of Tim Cahill (who isn't even Asian) but behind Kagawa & Ji Sung Park.

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8 hours ago, Spike said:

Who was that bloke that goaltended for Wigan for years? He was pretty good. Al-Habsi?

Correct.

 

I refuse to count Aussie players in this, but I will briefly discuss it. Tim Cahill has been the most influential and effective Aussie player of my era. Hands down. However,  if the question is technical ability, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka are light years ahead of anyone we've produced since arguably Zelic or Okon but I didn't see them in their prime.
 

Son, is quality. I love watching him play. It's too early to say as Iran and Japan have had some quality players. Of course, Korea have had Park Ji Sung. Tecnically I would rate Son better but Park's energy and physical ability was immense.

Japan have had Nakata, Nakamura(cunty divey wanky), Kazu, Honda and Kagawa, to name a few.

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14 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah he's probably Iran's best player ever... although Ali Daei might have something to say about that.

oh, forgot about him completely... I think he did better in the Bundesliga than Karimi who probably was a better football player overall, but extremely lazy and seemed to lack professionalism.

Thinking about it, there have been quite a few Iranians playing football in Germany in the past. Karim Bagheri played in Bielefeld together with Ali Daei before the latter went to Bayern and then to Hertha, Karimi played for Bayern and later for Schalke, Vahid Hashemian spent a decade in various German clubs, same with Mehdi Mahdavikia who now coaches youth in Hamburg.

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I think this is the most interesting debate out of all the continents. All of them have a clear choice. Maradona, Messi or Pele in South America, Hugo Sanchez in North America, Cruyff in Europe, Weah in Africa, Viduka in Oceania. This is the only one that's genuinely up for grabs with anyone.

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I mean I always rated Keisuke Honda and Hasebe personally. Hasebe also has a Bundesliga title under his belt from his time at Wolfsburg. Park Ji Sung always comes to mind for me first when I think of talented asian players because his time at Man United, but then again was he that amazing or was he slotted into an amazing squad that always brought he best out of players? 

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2 hours ago, nudge said:

oh, forgot about him completely... I think he did better in the Bundesliga than Karimi who probably was a better football player overall, but extremely lazy and seemed to lack professionalism.

Thinking about it, there have been quite a few Iranians playing football in Germany in the past. Karim Bagheri played in Bielefeld together with Ali Daei before the latter went to Bayern and then to Hertha, Karimi played for Bayern and later for Schalke, Vahid Hashemian spent a decade in various German clubs, same with Mehdi Mahdavikia who now coaches youth in Hamburg.

Mahdavikia was a really good player as well. I'd put him behind Karimi and Daei (I agree with you on Karimi probably being a better player overall, but was lazy and lacked professionalism... whereas I think Daei's work ethic and professionalism was a hell of a lot better - probably why he ended up playing from 1988 til 2007, albeit many of those years were in Iran) Daei was never as prolific in Germany as he was in Iran/Saudi Arabia (or whatever Arab league he played in... UAE maybe) though.

Mahdavikia had the best career in Europe out of the 3 though, I'd say. That might make him the actual best of the 3 if you're going off league performances in strong leagues.

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I think people forget how good Shinji Kagawa was in his first spell at Dortmund. An absolutely outrageous playmaker who also scored at a rate of a top striker. 

Son is amazing but I don't think just because he's playing well right now means he's magically any better than peak Kagawa. And Kagawa did it in huge games like the 2012 cup final vs Bayern. 

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Park was an absolute gem for us. I think sometimes people focus too much on technical ability, which the lad obviously had, but he had an absolute rolls Royce engine that didn’t stop for 90 minutes. His tenacity was second to none, he wasn’t a nasty bastard either and always stayed on his feet. He also played in some of the most mediocre United teams in terms of talent that I’ve witnessed under Ferguson.

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