I was watching one of those "footballs greatest" things on Sky about George Weah and it ended by declaring he was the greatest African of all time and it got me thinking. Is there a case to be made that Yaya is now the greatest of all time?
I know George Weah won the Ballon D'Or at one point, but it was a very different award back then and football has changed a lot since then so it's hard to really take that as the be all and end all. I only remember glimpses of Weah as I was very young, but I remember him as the prototypical African striker, all pace and power, charging full length of the pitch and bouncing off challenges, scoring fantastic individual goals, but if I look back at it he really wasn't particularly prolific at all. Yaya scored more league goals in 13/14 than Weah ever did in a season, which is pretty surprising for a striker, even if it was in the very competitive 90's Serie A and early 90's Ligue 1.
What sets Yaya apart for me, is that despite his obvious physicality, Yaya was far from the usual African player. He developed into a technical, skilful, conductor of the game. Like a giant Xavi or Pirlo, who's passing and creativity was constantly overlooked due to his size and potential to every now and again rampage up the pitch. I think there have been other African players like Weah, though not as good, but I honestly can't think of any remotely like Yaya.
So what do you reckon? Better than Weah? Or is there even a case for others like Eto'o and Drogba?
I know George Weah won the Ballon D'Or at one point, but it was a very different award back then and football has changed a lot since then so it's hard to really take that as the be all and end all. I only remember glimpses of Weah as I was very young, but I remember him as the prototypical African striker, all pace and power, charging full length of the pitch and bouncing off challenges, scoring fantastic individual goals, but if I look back at it he really wasn't particularly prolific at all. Yaya scored more league goals in 13/14 than Weah ever did in a season, which is pretty surprising for a striker, even if it was in the very competitive 90's Serie A and early 90's Ligue 1.
What sets Yaya apart for me, is that despite his obvious physicality, Yaya was far from the usual African player. He developed into a technical, skilful, conductor of the game. Like a giant Xavi or Pirlo, who's passing and creativity was constantly overlooked due to his size and potential to every now and again rampage up the pitch. I think there have been other African players like Weah, though not as good, but I honestly can't think of any remotely like Yaya.
So what do you reckon? Better than Weah? Or is there even a case for others like Eto'o and Drogba?