Gonzalo Higuaín (66 Viewers)

[Post Ironic]

Dybala was far from great either, but thats an unfair comparison. Higuain was in his prime and with the team built around him. Dybala was/is still young, play what, less than 10 CL games (?) at that point, and was playing out of position to fit in with Higuain. he still deserves the benefit of the doubt, with Higuain we always knew what we are about to get

Please. Dybala was quite possibly our worst player in CL last season, in terms of performing up to his talent level. And that was his 3rd CL season, he was 24 years old, hardly a child. He'd played 18 CL matches including 8 CL knockout matches for us going into last season.

And of course he deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's insanely talented and when he finds his form is close to unstoppable. But let's not act like Higuain was rubbish for us, or some massive flop. I don't like the guy, but he performed to expectations. He didn't exceed them and light Europe on fire, but only a dimwit would have expected that. I expected him to help us maintain our stranglehold in domestic competitions (he clearly did), and help us be competitive at the highest level in Europe (he mostly did).

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When your main argument in favor of Higuain is 'look at these other guys who underperformed too' that should tell you everything. I've criticized Dybala the same way a while back and got a pushback on that but now his struggles are used to justify Higuain's failures. We should be happy our record signing, our best player by some only got outplayed by a little by Tevez who was in retirement basically a year later.

Honestly, it's only on here and some parts of Juve twitter that still defend the guy. Everyone else, fans of teams he played for and neutrals, are well aware of what he is. It wasn't that he was just bad, he singlehandedly knocked every one of his teams at least once out of a major competition.

 

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[zizinho]

You could quite easily go through almost every player who has played for us, and pick them apart for various little things.

Take Tevez mentioned above as a great example for what Higuain should have been, for while he was fantastic both seasons in Serie A (just like Higgy), and fantastic in CL in 14-15... I guess, unlike Higuain, he gets a pass for his appalling first European campaign for us with 1 goal in 12 games between CL and EL in 13-14, and us getting knocked out CL in group stage, and EL in Semifinal by Benfica when final was in our stadium.

Doesn't mean he wasn't overall amazing for us, and i am still super grateful for what he did here.

we wasnt a team on the level we were in 2016-18 when Tevez was here. we had a great CM department, aging Pirlo was still good, prime Marchisio and Vidal before the injury, Pogba was up and coming but not the player he was in 15-16. all other areas Higuains team was better, including having by far more depth. so yes, Tevez gets a pass for basically carrying us to the final in 14-15, while he got shit the previous year for never scoring in Europe for multiple (remember the arguments we had here?)

 

[Post Ironic]

I'm curious as to when Higuain singlehandedly knocked Juventus out of a major competition? We won Serie A and Coppa Italia both years. And CL?

Our entire team collapsed in Cardiff. He wasn't even close to our worst player on the pitch. Alves, Dybala, Bonucci, Khedira all were much worse in that match.

And against Madrid again last year? lol. Not even close. Dybala with his red card, the Buffon-Chiellini howler that led to Ronaldo's bicycle kick goal, Benatia's giving up a game-winning penalty in the last minute.... those lost us that tie.

So when did Higuain knock us out of CL? I'm waiting.

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we wasnt a team on the level we were in 2016-18 when Tevez was here. we had a great CM department, aging Pirlo was still good, prime Marchisio and Vidal before the injury, Pogba was up and coming but not the player he was in 15-16. all other areas Higuains team was better, including having by far more depth. so yes, Tevez gets a pass for basically carrying us to the final in 14-15, while he got shit the previous year for never scoring in Europe for multiple (remember the arguments we had here?)

I defended Tevez then for his first campaign iirc. He deserved it. Still does.

Higuain was nowhere near as bad as some of you are making him out to be. I don't care what we paid for him. That is entirely Beppe's fault if we overpaid. He did what I expected of him here. He even exceeded my expectations in CL, as before his time at Juve he had like 3 CL knockout goals in 20 matches. I expected more of that. Instead, he scored 5 knockout goals + 2 assists in 11 matches here.

 

[zizinho]

Please. Dybala was quite possibly our worst player in CL last season, in terms of performing up to his talent level. And that was his 3rd CL season, he was 24 years old, hardly a child. He'd played 18 CL matches including 8 CL knockout matches for us going into last season.

And of course he deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's insanely talented and when he finds his form is close to unstoppable. But let's not act like Higuain was rubbish for us, or some massive flop. I don't like the guy, but he performed to expectations. He didn't exceed them and light Europe on fire, but only a dimwit would have expected that. I expected him to help us maintain our stranglehold in domestic competitions (he clearly did), and help us be competitive at the highest level in Europe (he mostly did).

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24 years old and 18 games is hardly being in his prime either, while playing out of position for an inferior player, because that inferior player cant be used in any other way. no one is saying he was rubbish for us he whole time, but when it mattered most, he was. in 2/6 KO ties he played, he was a non factor. lets not even go into goals scored, but his overall play, he was plain bad. our domestic success without him indicates we maintained it despite his presence, not because of it. to me, he didnt elevate the team to a higher level than before he arrived, which is what was thought about him when he was signing. so in that sense, he failed here

 

[IlCapitano]

I'm curious as to when Higuain singlehandedly knocked Juventus out of a major competition? We won Serie A and Coppa Italia both years. And CL?

Our entire team collapsed in Cardiff. He wasn't even close to our worst player on the pitch. Alves, Dybala, Bonucci, Khedira all were much worse in that match.

And against Madrid again last year? lol. Not even close. Dybala with his red card, the Buffon-Chiellini howler that led to Ronaldo's bicycle kick goal, Benatia's giving up a game-winning penalty in the last minute.... those lost us that tie.

So when did Higuain knock us out of CL? I'm waiting.

I already explained the Juve part - it wasn't just the lack of goals, it was everything else we needed from a supposedly complete player like him.

Ofc he wasn't the only one who underperformed, no one said that. But there's also no one up in arms when someone criticizes those other guys. Khedira is pummeled daily almost. Benatia was insulted day and night for that penalty. Bonucci? Are you joking? Dude is enemy no.2 behind Allegri. But again, none of those guys have the same expectations as Higuain, none of them were record signings. You're facepalming me before, now you start deflecting blame again. You're putting WBs and CBs on the same level as the most expensive striker of all time. A bar so low it's cute.

Back for Real missed a wide open goal vs Lyon - Pjanić knocks them out.
For Argentina that miss in the WC, a missed penalty in one Copa America final, missed open goal in another.
For Napoli that year they finished 3rd in CL group stage with 12 points (record for not going through) in a decisive game vs Dortmund misses 1-1 with the keeper, Dortmund go the other way, score and go through. For Napoli vs Lazio, decisive penalty for CL qualification - skies it.
For Milan that penalty against us after he was so horny to score, almost felt bad lol

And I didn't follow any of them as closely as Juve and I'm sure there's many more as there were for us.

 

[Cerval]

I literally singled out those games as his only great ones. What was your reaction when he went missing against all others?

He never overcame the mental block and he never will. You see how he's throwing tantrums in two games vs Milan this year. You see how he reacts to justified criticism in the media.

That's cool, all his 5 goals came against 2 teams. You're basically excusing him because our other 6 players which didn't cost us combined as much as Higuain did and 4 of them are not strikers didn't score more lol.

He's not being singled out. Dybala has been criticized plenty. Pjanić too. Matuidi got dumped on often for not being Pogba. Cuadrado, Morata, Pjanić, etc etc. But even if he was - there are different expectations for different players. I don't expect same things from Mario and Higuain. One has infinitely more talent than the other yet the other has contributed so much more.

Again, it's not JUST goals or lack thereof. It's also lack of everything else the team needs from him. No one nowadays is expected to contribute to just one thing on the pitch.

 

[Post Ironic]

Giving examples of Higuain's failures at other teams to prove he was a massive flop here.

 

[IlCapitano]

I'm curious as to when Higuain singlehandedly knocked Juventus out of a major competition? We won Serie A and Coppa Italia both years. And CL?

Our entire team collapsed in Cardiff. He wasn't even close to our worst player on the pitch. Alves, Dybala, Bonucci, Khedira all were much worse in that match.

And against Madrid again last year? lol. Not even close. Dybala with his red card, the Buffon-Chiellini howler that led to Ronaldo's bicycle kick goal, Benatia's giving up a game-winning penalty in the last minute.... those lost us that tie.

So when did Higuain knock us out of CL? I'm waiting.

I just watched CI final vs Lazio HLs 10 minutes ago. Higuain missed like 3 or 4 clear-cut, just tap it in chances. He did everything to lose us that final. He was benched last year. He scored vs Inter the decisive goal and I've said kudos on that. But I also can't ignore how bad he was before that. (2 goals in 14 games lmao)

His first year in Serie A he was close to perfect, great job there, no problems.

 

[Fr3sh]

Just no more Argies please. Except for Bobby P, Vidal adopted him so he's a chileno now

 

[zizinho]

I'm curious as to when Higuain singlehandedly knocked Juventus out of a major competition? We won Serie A and Coppa Italia both years. And CL?

Our entire team collapsed in Cardiff. He wasn't even close to our worst player on the pitch. Alves, Dybala, Bonucci, Khedira all were much worse in that match.

And against Madrid again last year? lol. Not even close. Dybala with his red card, the Buffon-Chiellini howler that led to Ronaldo's bicycle kick goal, Benatia's giving up a game-winning penalty in the last minute.... those lost us that tie.

So when did Higuain knock us out of CL? I'm waiting.

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I defended Tevez then for his first campaign iirc. He deserved it. Still does.

Higuain was nowhere near as bad as some of you are making him out to be. I don't care what we paid for him. That is entirely Beppe's fault if we overpaid. He did what I expected of him here. He even exceeded my expectations in CL, as before his time at Juve he had like 3 CL knockout goals in 20 matches. I expected more of that. Instead, he scored 5 knockout goals + 2 assists in 11 matches here.

much worse? hardly. Higuain and Dybala couldnt control a single ball upfront in that final, it was like watching Quag-Matri vs Bayern in 2013. our build up play suffered enormously because of that. Alves and Bonucci were among our best players to reach that final, Alves in particular was probably our best player in the CL, his off the field antics aside. but yes, majority of the team was bad, but so was Higuain. last season vs Real he was again a non factor in overall play, and the few good chances he got he wasted.

again, simply counting goals and assists wont do it for me. how many of those games was he good in? 6 ties, 11 games, how many? 3-4 games? maybe thats what you expected, based on how bad he was prior to his stint here, but then you dont even rate him that highly. for me, thats not enough from your star striker we built the team around, but i always said we shouldnt have bought him in the 1st place

 

[IlCapitano]

Giving examples of Higuain's failures at other teams to prove he was a massive flop here.

Nah, that was in relation to my previous post where I said everyone knows what he is by now, just copied the part of it again.

Meanwhile, you and some others have managed to provide ironclad arguments in his favor by citing other players' failures and posting some super funny gifs and smileys.

 

[X Æ A-12]

Just no more Argies please

That might be the dumbest nationality to exclude in world football.

Lolzillian tier talent without having to deal with lolzillians

 

[DAiDEViL]

That might be the dumbest nationality to exclude in world football.

Based on the countless World Cups they've won recently?

 

[Post Ironic]

I just watched CI final vs Lazio HLs 10 minutes ago. Higuain missed like 3 or 4 clear-cut, just tap it in chances. He did everything to lose us that final. He was benched last year. He scored vs Inter the decisive goal and I've said kudos on that. But I also can't ignore how bad he was before that. (2 goals in 14 games lmao)

His first year in Serie A he was close to perfect, great job there, no problems.

Last year. Higuain scored against Spurs (home x2 and away x1), Sporting (away x1), Atalanta (away x1 and home x1), Inter (away x1), Viola (away x1), Napoli (away x1), AC Milan (away x2)... Hardly only a decisive goal against Inter lol. His goals were a decisive part of us holding off a 91 point Napoli and getting to CL quarters.

 

[zizinho]

Just no more Argies please. Except for Bobby P, Vidal adopted him so he's a chileno now

wish we had one Argie though, Mascherano in 2016 and bought James instead of Higgy. then we straight swapped Dybala for Cavani Mascherano-Pjanic in our 4231, with James AM and Cavani upfront, Mandzo-Cuads on the wings would have won us the CL final vs Real

 

[Cerval]

Nah, that was in relation to my previous post where I said everyone knows what he is by now, just copied the part of it again.

Meanwhile, you and some others have managed to provide ironclad arguments in his favor by citing other players' failures and posting some super funny gifs and smileys.

Dude no one argues with you because you're the archetype and textbook definition of a hater. You're just PMSing all over the thread and seeing everything negatively in regards to him. No objectivity, can't take you seriously.

 

[Post Ironic]

much worse? hardly. Higuain and Dybala couldnt control a single ball upfront in that final, it was like watching Quag-Matri vs Bayern in 2013. our build up play suffered enormously because of that. Alves and Bonucci were among our best players to reach that final, Alves in particular was probably our best player in the CL, his off the field antics aside. but yes, majority of the team was bad, but so was Higuain. last season vs Real he was again a non factor in overall play, and the few good chances he got he wasted.

again, simply counting goals and assists wont do it for me. how many of those games was he good in? 6 ties, 11 games, how many? 3-4 games? maybe thats what you expected, based on how bad he was prior to his stint here, but then you dont even rate him that highly. for me, thats not enough from your star striker we built the team around, but i always said we shouldnt have bought him in the 1st place

Aside from Higuain assisting Mandzukic's goal in the final...

And while Alves and Bonucci were amazing through the knockouts, they were two of the worst players on the pitch in the final. Only Pjanic and Mandzukic really performed well in Cardiff.

Anyways, enough of this. Arguing about a striker who has rightfully been moved on now, is silly.

My one point remains, that regardless if he failed at times (he did), a little gratitude for what he did do here is a good thing.

 

[zizinho]

Aside from Higuain assisting Mandzukic's goal in the final...

And while Alves and Bonucci were amazing through the knockouts, they were two of the worst players on the pitch in the final. Only Pjanic and Mandzukic really performed well in Cardiff.

Anyways, enough of this. Arguing about a striker who has rightfully been moved on now, is silly.

My one point remains, that regardless if he failed at times (he did), a little gratitude for what he did do here is a good thing.

and if that was an assist, then im as creative as a prime Pirlo

 

[X Æ A-12]

Based on the countless World Cups they've won recently?

Gabigol tier post

No, based on the countless world class players and top prospects they produce. That Senor Messi picks the team for his vanity is not an indictment of the talent pool available.

 

[IlCapitano]

Last year. Higuain scored against Spurs (home x2 and away x1), Sporting (away x1), Atalanta (away x1 and home x1), Inter (away x1), Viola (away x1), Napoli (away x1), AC Milan (away x2)... Hardly only a decisive goal against Inter lol. His goals were a decisive part of us holding off a 91 point Napoli and getting to CL quarters.

2 goals in 14 games to close the season. That's half a season almost. He's not that bad in the end - we don't need the Inter goal. But cool, let's say he was super decisive last year too. How can you be happy with just that? Is it somehow unclear how big of an investment he was at the time, how much he was counted on? As for the rest, here's this if you missed it, I'm repeating myself already.

What I want the most from best and most paid players is consistency. You can't be the highest earner, one of top 5 players in the team and be great every 10 games (not literally). What I wanted from him is what Tevez did, what Ronaldo is doing now (obv not at the same level). You're supposedly that good, you're paid that much, you have to be the driving force of your team every single game. He had 10 super hot games, then 10 games where he barely moves. He scored 2 goals vs Tottenham then missed a sitter and a penalty to finish the tie right there. Then he wins us the second leg, then becomes a ghost vs RM 1st and misses an open goal in 2nd leg.

Dude no one argues with you because you're the archetype and textbook definition of a hater. You're just PMSing all over the thread and seeing everything negatively in regards to him. No objectivity, can't take you seriously.

Weird, I see 3 pages written of people replying to me. What's the point if I'm making no sense? We have this new agree/disagree gadget, it's very simple. If you had something of substance to write you would've.

Also, please pass me by with labels like 'hater' etc. I support Juve and only Juve. There's been players I loved who disappointed me, players I hated before and love now. Once they wear the shirt it's all the same to me. But I'm not going to intentionally close my eyes because hey he played for Juve, it can't possibly be we made such a blunder so he must've been a success.

I LOVED Higuain when he just signed for RM. Didn't have many opportunities to watch Juve regularly back then and had a free RM TV channel so I watched a lot of their highlights. He was one of my favorite players back then. But it was all the way down from there. I never wanted him here, especially for that money because I knew he would crumble even more. He came, I gave him a clean slate and supported him like everyone else. He's had some good moments and a lot of not so good ones. Couldn't be happier he's gone and that's it.