• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Why Stewart Downing is a better signing than Juan Mata

Status
Not open for further replies.

Modo

A contentious scando
Member
Posted by John Weatherall in The Team,Transfer Talk (Last summer)​

I have studied a lot of comments from Liverpool fans on forums, websites, Twitter and Facebook since the end of the season, and the overwhelming conclusion is that most want Juan Mata to sign for our beloved reds. I have to ask the question: WHY?

At 23 years old and with 129 appearances and 33 goals (goals to game ratio 0.25) for Valencia under his belt, Mata has already proven to the world his ability to compete at the highest level. After back-to-back summers in which Mata picked up the 2010 World Cup and the European Under-21 Championship titles, the forward is viewed as one of the hottest prospects in world football.

Beginning his youth career with Oviedo, he moved to Real Madrid’s academy at the age of 15 and spent three years there and was promoted to the Castilla team in 2006-07, relegation followed and he was allowed to leave for Los Che. Oozing with pace and a direct style that sends a shiver down the spines of defenders, Los Che got themselves a bargain and it was not long before he was making his mark on La Liga.

His attacking role on the flank helped Valencia to the Copa del Rey trophy in 2007-08. Mata is technically gifted, his close control and vision are excellent and he has the ability to beat his man and set up chances within the blink of an eye. He is however Lightweight and lacks power, he can be shrugged off the ball too which is why i have doubts on his ability to perform in the premier league.

Stewart Downing is 26, has 244 appearances (all in the premiership) 26 goals (goals to game ratio 0.10). Although his goals ratio is 50% less to that of Mata, we must ask the question of which league Downing is playing. The premiership is the greatest league in the world, faster, stronger and more exciting than any of its rivals. Downing is a proven premiership player who has proven year in year out that he can perform at the highest level.

A versatile player who is happy on either wing, Downing’s crossing is excellent and he uses his pace and skill well down the flanks. He is Quick, incisive, accurate, a tricky winger to play against. While he may not have the Razamatz of Mata and in my opinion the over rated status because he is foreign, I for one was delighted to reading twitter on the evening of the 12/07/11 to see that LFC had agreed a fee for Downing, £20 million ? only £3 million more than Utd paid for Young, Downing had a longer contract and was voted AVFC player of the year, inflated yes but then all English players are, we would not get Mata for less than £15 million and I will gladly accept the £5million difference for the premiership experience and the fact that Downing is English.

I will leave you with one final thought:

Since August 2004 only 4 players have created more goal scoring opportunity than Downing: Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas and Giggs.

Source: http://www.ourkop.com/2011/07/14/why-stewart-downing-is-a-better-signing-than-juan-mata/

--------------------------------------------


I love this part:

A versatile player who is happy on either wing, Downing’s crossing is excellent and he uses his pace and skill well down the flanks. He is Quick, incisive, accurate, a tricky winger to play against.

LOL
 
Modo

I don't agree with your post 100% mainly because I don't look at Downing in the same way you have. However, I think he has been one of our best signings regardless of some of the dumb comments on this site. Sometimes I don't know what people want from our left and right sided midfielders it seems like none of them are ever going to be good enough for LFC. The guy is one for the big occasion too - he did well in both cup finals, and if you remember he took a fantastic penaly in the league cup final at Wembley.

Stan Collymore the other night was saying before the England game that everytime he has played for England he has not put a fut wrong, and the last occasion he played under Capello - he was one of Englands best players. I for one would have dropped Young and played him - I know for certain that he would have scored his penalty too. I saw a lot of LFC games this season just gone - and I am completely lost as to why so many people on here just don't rate him.

Regards,
MORON
 
You've got some big cojones, mate.
Hey it's your opinion, though.
But zero goals, zero assists is pretty telling for a premiership proven winger.
 
You've got some big cojones, mate.
Hey it's your opinion, though.
But zero goals, zero assists is pretty telling for a premiership proven winger.
Except it wasn't zero goals or zero assists. Not the expected high number but, nevertheless, not zero.
 
You've got some big cojones, mate.
Hey it's your opinion, though.
But zero goals, zero assists is pretty telling for a premiership proven winger.

I would like to know how many crosses of his were sitters for duff strikers to miss or hit bar. He maybe could have had 5 assists and a couple of goal of the season contenders from 30 yards on the volley if it was not for that pesky cross bar

I think he is treated harshly on here, mainly because he is english and not called Downingho

He may just come good/better
 
Downing had a very bad season with us ,i hope he pulls his socks up and get back to the form he had playing for Villa where he was player of the season for them.
 
You've got some big cojones, mate.
Hey it's your opinion, though.
But zero goals, zero assists is pretty telling for a premiership proven winger.

What did he get the season before? I don't think he's great and he's certainly worth nowhere near the money we paid for him. He had a bad season, but his stats from last season are neither here nor there, he was poor, we knew that watching him. Just like the stats the other way can dress up players overall contributions and not tell the true story, pointing to the stats last season for him as 'pretty telling' when he was up there the season before is pointless.We watched him last year, he was shit. We watched him the year before, he had a good season.

He's a half decent squad player who when settled might chip in with the odd goal and the odd assist, he can only be better than what was a lackluster and perhaps overawed season last year. Or he might just leave, no one's that arsed either way, but last season wasn't a reasonable picture of how good he is, the team itself was disjointed, dysfunctional, bereft of confidence and poorly compiled most of the time. Everyone deserves a clean slate, but 'if' he's one of the ones who gets the axe, so be it. I don't think we need you reminding us and exaggerating through every thread about just how shit him and Charlie Adam are, in the Modo Book of Footballing Excellence.

Let's just leave it as a bad experience all round and hope we either make some money back or he pays some of it back.
 
Everyone deserves a clean slate.

1181801_o.gif
 
I don't need stats to tell me what i see with my eyes. The guy is poor and very one dimensional. The sooner he goes the better.
 
Tied with Aquilani as the worst signing we've made this decade. Robbie Keane did more for us, and we got a sizeable portion of his transfer fee back. This chump wouldn't fetch 6 million today.
 
A stroll down memory lane...

Oh and this thread will be locked in 10...9....8...7...6....
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom