10 Footballer's Who Are WAY BETTER At International Level
In this week's video, we take a look 10 10 players who seem to perform much better on the international stage than they do at club level. Can you think of any other players we should've included? Let us know in the comments below. For regular football content, make sure to subscribe to the Planet Football YouTube channel! Football
Transcript
Some footballers shrink under the pressure of representing their country, particularly at a major tournament when the pressure is at an all-time high. However, others seem to take those moments and thrive even more so than they have done at club level. In today's video, we're going to be taking a look at 10 players who seem to play better for their countries than they do their clubs and try to explore the potential reasons why this happened. The first player who perfectly fits this description at the moment is Liverpool attacking midfielder Florian Vertz. Since joining the Reds last summer, he's only been able to produce 18 goal contributions across 55 matches in all competitions, meaning that he's averaged a goal or assist every 222 minutes. Whereas his record for Germany has been considerably more productive. In just 45 international appearances for Germany, Vertz has produced 25 goal contributions, averaging a goal or assist every 116 minutes for the national team, making him considerably more prolific at international level. Now, of course, this hasn't always been the case for Vertz. He was just as prolific for Germany at club level during his time with Bayuz, and there's still plenty of Liverpool fans holding out hope that they'll eventually see that version of Florian Verts in a Liverpool share. However, for the time being, it's indisputable that Florian Vertz is a considerably better footballer at international level. And now working under Jurgen Klopp, we wouldn't be surprised if he goes up another level for the national team. Even at the most recent World Cup, while Germany certainly weren't at their best, V still produced three assists, which isn't bad going for him. The next player who undoubtedly saves their best performances for the international stage is Argentina goalkeeper Emmy Martinez. Now, we're not disputing the fact that Martinez has recently had some very good years with Aston Villa in the Premier League. However, compared to the levels he's shown he's capable of at Argentina, there's no real debate here. We'll speak about this season in isolation. Since joining Chelsea, Martinez boasts a save percentage of just 64.3%, ranking him 14th in that metric for all Premier League goalkeepers this season. Whereas in the most recent World Cup with Argentina, he was considerably better at keeping the ball out of the back of the net, boasting a safe percentage in that tournament of 71.4%. That included an absolutely outrageous performance in the final against Spain where he made 10 saves to keep the score line down and keep Argentina alive for so much of that match. Had Martinez not been on top form during the final, Argentina could have been on the end of one of the biggest batterings we've ever seen in World Cup history. But there's just something about wearing that national team jersey that brings out the best in Martinez. Now, someone who wasn't present at the World Cup this summer, but has definitely saved their best performances for the international stage in recent years is Harry Maguire. At several points of his career at club level with Manchester United, the guys turned into an internet meme with several blunders in the backline. However, that's never been the case with England. And during his stint at international level, Maguire has looked every bit worth that 80 million price tag that Manchester United paid for him back in 2019. He's made it into both a Euros and World Cup team of the tournament for his performances for the Three Lions and was one of the fundamental key components as to why England was so good defensively under Gareth Southgate with Meguire in particular really benefiting from playing in that back three. So while his career at club level, especially at Manchester United, has been full of plenty of peaks and troughs, at international level, he's always kept to a really high standard, albeit has now lost his place in the side since Thomas Tuchall has come in. And sticking with the theme of Manchester United defenders, Landro Martinez is another player who definitely falls into this category. Now, don't get me wrong, on the whole, Martinez has turned out to be a decent pickup for the Red Devils, but compared to his performances with the Argentinian national team, it's absolutely night and day. His club career at Old Trafford in particular has been plagued with injuries in all four of his full seasons with Manchester United. He's had a sizable time out of the side due to injuries in each of those campaigns, but he always seems to make himself available for international duty with the national side. and in the recent World Cup just gone by was as solid as ever once again before he picked up another injury in the final. And you know what? There just seems to be something about that Argentina national team in particular which gets the best out of their players, particularly the defensive ones, because Christian Romero is another player who falls into this category. His last few years at Spurs were anything but impressive, especially considering the levels we know that he can reach. Often described as a rash and overly aggressive center half in the Premier League. But those characteristics are perfectly suited to international football and he's been able to form a formidable partnership with Landre Martinez or Nicholas Otendi. Who knows? In the case of Romero, maybe it was just a Spurs thing and now he's playing for Atletico Madrid. We may see some more consistency from him at club level, but it's safe to say that Atletico would have a top quality defender on their hands if he's consistently able to reach the same levels that he does with the Argentina national squad. Heading back to the Premier League for a second, I think it would be fair to say that Cody Gakpo is another player who falls into this category of being an elite player at international level, but never quite reaching those levels as consistently at club level. Now, in fairness to gakpo, he has made a good start to this season under new boss and donate Areola, but in previous years for Liverpool has always been a bit of a point of frustration for many of their fans. And this phenomenon for Gakpo is backed up by the stats. At club level for Liverpool, he's averaged a goal every 223 minutes since joining the Reds. Whereas at international level for the Netherlands, he has been considerably more prolific, averaging a goal every 170 minutes. Now, that may be because he's being platformed differently in the national team. He's more of a key cog in their attack, whereas during his time at Liverpool, he's often played second fiddle to other forwards. But if you are forced to choose between the Netherlands version of Kodi Yakpo or the Liverpool version, I think everyone's picking the Netherlands version, right? Another player who saves his best performances for the international stage is James Rodriguez. Now, that's certainly not to suggest that James hasn't performed at an elite level at club level before. He definitely has. You know, he had some brilliant moments with Porto, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich in particular. However, it's only right to say that his overall club career has been littered by inconsistency. He's played for 14 clubs in total and certainly in recent times has struggled to find a permanent home, which has ultimately impacted the output of his career in recent times. But when playing for the national side, James is always there to be relied upon. He's Colombia's most capped player of all time, their second highest scorer, only behind Radl Falcao. So despite the dip in performances that he's seen in club So despite the dip in performances that he's seen at club level So despite the dip in performances that he's seen at club level in recent times that hasn't affected his international status. Another player who falls into that James Rodriguez category of having a somewhat littered and inconsistent club career whilst maintaining an excellent record on the international stage is Romelo Lukaku. Again, just like how we've described Rodriguez, this isn't to say that Lukaku hasn't had his elite seasons at club level, particularly early on during his career. But when you compare his scoring rate over the past five or so seasons at club level compared to the international stage, the difference is absolutely night and day. Lukaku is Belgium's third most capped player of all time and by far the nation's highest scorer, now closing in on a 100 goals at international level. At club level, things haven't been great for Lukaku over the past couple of years, but on the international stage, he's continued to bag year on year for Belgia. And continuing on the theme of forwards, Kai Havt is another player who falls into a similar sort of category. At club level, he's never been the most prolific of players, over the past seven Premier League seasons, he's only got into double figures once. But despite his lack of output at times for both Chelsea and Arsenal, he always seems to be someone who pops up on the big stages in the biggest occasions. And that means he's perfectly suited to international football. Of course, a very intelligent player and goal scoring shouldn't be the only metric that you judge a player like Kai Havtz by. But his strike rate for the national team has been more prolific than his stints with both Arsenal and Chelsea. and whichever international coach he's worked under over the past six or so years, they've all favored him as their main guy going forward. But we'll finish this video off with the guy who made this conversation so prevalent and mainstream about 10 years ago. And of course, that was Paul Pogba. Fresh after making his world record move back to Manchester United in the summer of 2016, the hype levels around Pogba immediately went into overdrive. And when he wasn't immediately able to replicate his best form for the Red Devils, those questions started being asked of him. And the questions only got more prevalent when he was continuing to put up elite performances for France whenever there was an international break. Ultimately, by the end of Pogba's time with Manchester United, I think people finally cracked the code that it was France who were perfectly platforming the player that Pogba was and that Manchester United's system often held him back or the midfield partners he had to play with during his time at Old Trafford not being suited to get the best out of him. Regardless of what you thought of Pogba in a Manchester United shirt, you cannot question the fact that at most major international tournaments, that guy was an absolute star for France, and he looked every bit worth the money that Manchester United initially paid for him in 2016. A key component of France's World Cup winning squad in 2018. He was brilliant in the Euros a few years after that as well. Paul Pogba feels like the ultimate international player who maybe never quite reached those same levels at club level. But what do you guys make of our list and who else would you add to it? We'd be interested to get your thoughts in the comments down below. As always, if you have gotten to enjoy, please do leave a like and consider subscribing to the Planet Football YouTube channel for more weekly videos to