Is Sergio Aguero our greatest foreign star?
SERGIO AGUERO has been my favourite Premier League striker for the last five years. I love everything about how he plays the game.
It all comes so naturally to him. He doesn’t score just one type of goal: right foot, left foot or in the air; smashing one in from long range, pouncing in the area, chipping the keeper, as he did against Huddersfield last week.
Even now, he’s the kind of forward I watch for pointers to see how he does things. In terms of what he does to defenders, Rio Ferdinand once told me it was the speed and sharpness of his movement that set Aguero apart. His feet are so quick, Rio said the ball would be gone in a flash.
When it came to end of season awards, I was always ppuzzled why he was missing from rom the PFA Player of the he Year shortlist. Aguero o arrived at Manchester City from Atletico Madrid in 2011 and made himself a legend within 12 months with his strike that secured the title. He’s been sensational.
But the best foreign ign player we have seen in the Premier League? No. That’s a step too far. I saw Alan Shearer hand that description to Aguero this week but, as much as I respect Alan, I can’t agree. My choice would be Thierry Henry.
It feels like we are living in an era where everyone wants to say what they are seeing now is the best of all time. I’m not being disrespectful to Aguero but he might not even be the best foreign player to represent Manchester City.
Think about the competition he has for that title: Yaya Toure, whose goal secured City their first major trophy for 35 years in the 2011 FA Cup. In those early years, every big achievement was accompanied by a big Toure performance.
And what about David Silva? He’s playing as well now as he did when he arrived from Spain as a World Cup winner in 2010. He’s a genius, the kind of footballer you could watch all day. I’ve come up against him plenty of times and it feels like he plays a different game.
In years to come, we might be speaking about Kevin De Bruyne in the same way. In the two games we played against City last season, he took my breath away with the speed he did things. In a normal year, he would have walked away with the PFA Player of the Year award.
The benchmark for these players, however, was set by Henry (below). He was incredible. The first time I came up against him was playing for Aston Villa in 2004 during Arsenal’s ‘ Invincibles’ season. Arsenal won 2-0 that night and he scored both.
Henry had arrogance, flair, but the thing that sticks in my mind is his speed. He’s the only footballer I have seen who set off like an Olympic sprinter. His finishing and close control weren’t bad either!
What an amazing player. We shouldn’t forget what he was doing 15 years ago and we shouldn’t forget what was happening 25 years ago, eeither. We only get to enjoenjoy men such as Aguero anand others now because oof the brilliance of those who arrived at the inception of the PPremier League.
Younger readers will pperhaps not appreciate atappreciate just what Eric Cantona tonCantona did during his five yearyears in England from 1992 to 1997. One story sticks in my mind. I was a ball boy at Stamford Bridge for a game between Chelsea and Manchester United in 1993. Chelsea won 1-0 but Cantona provided the moment with an improvised half-volley over his head from 40 yards that hit the bar. It was so good, all sides of the stadium applauded.
I also watched Gianfranco Zola in his pomp, and preferred his style over Cantona. Don’t forget, also, Dennis Bergkamp. How instrumental was he in making Henry a legend? What a player.
We are lucky to be watching some brilliant teams and fantastic footballers right now. Aguero is towards the front of that group and if he takes his Premier League tally of 146 goals past 200 — and wins the Champions League — he could be considered the best foreign player.
As it stands, Henry leads the way and it will take something very special for that to change.