Higgy has like what? 18 goals in 65 apps? Difference is just marginal...
To be clear: if people call him a choker on the big stage, then not because they are biased and/or don't like Higgy, but because it's a lable he brought up on himself over the years for being just that, a choker on the big stage.
Has nothing to do with our lost final in which the entire team collapsed in the 2nd half.
There is too much black/white thinking. Like he's either a choker, or a great striker, which is bulshit.
Is Higgy a worldclass striker? Absolutely.
Would we have won the league without him? Probable not.
Does he tend to choke on the big stage? He sure does. How can one still deny that is beyond me.
I don't know how you came up with the probably. It all depends on who we would have bought instead of him, but this is all pure speculation. Two things that should be considered are:
1. We won the league 5 times without him, 1 of those seasons our top scorer was Marchisio... We can win games without a 20+ goal a season player.
2. Higuain scored 36 league goals for Napoli in 2015/16, 45% of their goals. Most people would say that he was carrying them by himself. Yet, after they sold him and didn't replace with him anybody (Milik was injured almost the entire season) they scored even more goals and won even more points the next season.
But Messi did that too. 11 shots in the last 4 finals from 2014 to 2016. All missed. Zero assists, zero created chances. Missed a penalty in the 2016 Copa America final. Why do we emphasize Higuain? Messi is the man from whom you expect to score goals and create goals. He failed in 4 straight finals. The man who scores 50-60 goals a season.
It's not from "like forever". It's from 2014 when Argentina fans were in our shoes and they needed a scapegoat for the defeat in the final. They chose the guy who missed the best chance. After that all eyes were on him, not on Messi or Aguero, who did just as bad as he did. And the Argie fans, from what I hear, can really put pressure on you. Messi was protected, Higuain was sacrificed, while both were just as guilty.
I mean, what do we, Juve fans, blame Higuain for? He should get more credit for our serie A and Coppa Italia wins than anyone else, and he shouldn't get less credit for our CL final road than anyone else. What is he guilty of to be singled out? Isn't the price tag the problem? If it isn't, what is Higuain guilty of that Dybala isn't?
Singling Higuain out is the same as singling Buffon out. Makes no sense in both cases.
Anyway, are we talking about finals or important matches? Up there you said he chokes on the big stage and I agreed that he failed in the 4 finals. Just like Buffon in the last three, where he didn't save shit and conceded 11 goals.
The bold part is obviously wrong. Messi created the 2nd goal for Barcelona against us that Suarez tapped in.
Overall, there is a some truth that Messi has disappointed in the World Cup games for Argentina but he has performed very well in other "big games."
I don't understand why you think people are calling Higuain a choker because of the last final or because of his 4 finals in general. He had this label way before he even played in a final and he has done everything to confirm it ever since.
4 games, finals or not, are a very small sample. We are talking about probably close to 50 games - finals, CL KO games, World Cup KO games, the Classicos, games vs Juve with Napoli and games vs Napoli with Juve. His record in those games is awful.
There are 3 possible explanations for his choking.
1. Bad luck? - Given that the sample size I'm talking about is not so small, bad luck is unlikely to be the main explanation.
2. His style is better suited against weak opponents? - It's a possibility, but I don't think that's a major factor. He has had a lot of good chances to score in these games and he's missed them. Besides, it's true of all players that it's easier to play against Pescara than against Real Madrid.
3. Psychological issues? - This is the most plausible explanation. The guy doesn't handle pressure well. Whenever the pressure is high for whatever reason (final, key league game, key penalty) he underperforms. I've also noticed several times that he performs much better after he scores his first goal. For example, he made 2 awful misses against Monaco, but added a 2nd goal soon after the first one.
If I'm right that his problem is psychological, the real question is can he overcome it? At his age and that stage of his career it's very unlikely. He will probably continue to be a small game player, which in my book makes him "kinda irrelevant" @Rollie.
All that being said, why are some people so shocked that I think Higuain was a bad transfer? There is nothing "disrespectful to our best player" to say that he was too expensive and that he's unlikely to make the difference in the key games. Just stating facts.
Fact 1: He hasn't delivered on the big stage.
Fact 2: He's fat and has gotten slower and not very useful on the counter. This is unrelated to him missing those sitters when it matters, but still a fact.
Fact 3: He's the most expensive player in our history. It's normal to expect him to be judged by a high standard.
Fact 4: He was almost 29 when we bought him, so he is unlikely to have a high resale value.
This doesn't mean he's a bad player or that he doesn't score a lot of goals in the routine games. It's not hard to understand, but I expect it will still go over the head of somebody who quotes this:
Cuadrado is mediocre, so is Khedira. Mandzukic is a shit winger and Dybala is invisible as AM. Higuain is useless in the CL and Bonucci is a good passer but an average defender. Half of our starting 11 was crap last season, no wonder we sucked so much.
and thinks I wasn't sarcastic.
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