Why World Cup transfers are problematic

Ozil was a succes for Madrid back in 2010. Keylor Navas in 2014 also was a good deal. Even James Rodriguez wasn't that bad when he first came to Madrid

I don't think James Rodriguez was that bad. He did well until Zidane came. Zidane didnt have a use for a #10. They're a dying breed. But James was pretty good

James had 17 goals and 17 assists and named la liga midfielder of the season his first season at Real Madrid

But on the other hand, its fair for players from Croatia, Morrocco, Japan, Senegal... to take advantage of great perfomances on the biggest stage to their leverage against millions of overhyped brazilians, english or portugal players. I agree that sample of 3-7 games is not enough to scouters and transfer policies, but World cup is a fair which "exposes" in good way your tunnel vision that great footballers can only come from the biggest football countries

Is no one going to mention this brilliant moment? The rainy cloud with a pin dropped at 3:23 is over Stoke-on-Trent. A reference to the classic "but could he do it on a cold, rainy night at Stoke?"

Özil was class at Madrid and he was signed after the world cup. Its always a hit and miss with regard to these transfers but it's better to rely on overall scouting as well.

James Rodriguez was the BEST midfielder the first season at Real Madrid and had a better G/A than Ozil and Di Maria from their first season. James fell apart mentally and emotionally in his relationships with Rafa Benitez and later Zidane. But as a player James was undoubtedly a great signing.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are player who were well known how good they were in the industry but not that popular to the public prior to World Cup. Morocco's Amrabat is one of the example. Spain's coach, Luis Enrique mentioned how Amrabat along with Ziyech and Hakimi is already known but only at the World Cup the general populace outside of Serie A realised his talent.

i had zero knowledge about Ounahi and Boufal (both from Morocco), but after watching their great perfomances in the WC i got curious to know where do they play and i got surprised about finding they both play for Angers (France) i was like "wow Angers have this quality of players, they must be doing a Leicester in Ligue 1"... the shock i got when i saw they were in 20th LAST PLACE

James was good... 100 goal involvements in 150 matches for real madrid is amazing, yeah he is not superstar, but he was great, the same when he played for Bayern. His peak was not that long, but he was a top 50~30 in the world during those 3 years

James G/A 2014: 17 Goals, 15 Assists in 47 Matches 2015: 8 Goals, 8 Assists in 33 Matches 2016: 12 Goals, 14 Assists in 39 Matches 2017 (First Bundesliga SZN): 9 Goals, 20 Assists in 47 matches I will never understand the narrative. In my opinion, Madrid got what they paid for those 3 seasons. Afterward, Bayern capitalized on what Madrid devalued with Zidane, it's a stellar few years from James post world cup. Keep an eye out for him at Olympiacos this season with 3 goals and 3 assists to his name in 9 games, some sick goals so far too.

The Tournament players might be one hit wonders. 3 to 7 games in one country compared to 30 plus games in a season outside their own home are completely different.

I would say the James Rodriguez is a bad example. His downfall didn't come at the moment of the transfer, and the reason for it's downfall have nothing to do with his abilities, but perhaps discipline, personal issues and chemistry with coaches.

As a Bolton Wanderers fan it luckily work well for us when we bought Jay-Jay Okocha

I will add that you usually don't get into a national team without some good club performances, I don't think any team really buys only based on the world cup performances. Also, if a player is performing well in his club even through they are just a few games for the World Cup is a good sample to see how they work in a different system and in a high pressure situation

I think James is a great talent and super elegant player, no doubt, I think under Zidane's system though he was expected to give more to the team defensively which he never really did consistently, and this was also something he faced criticism for in AS Monaco before the world cup, then later on bis injuries REALLY ended up making his value tank and make teams really think twice before acquiring a player that can only play 2 or 3 games back to back before having to sit out the next 5 because of injuries. I'd still have him in my team though, as a last 30-45 mins player, very classy style he has

Could you make a video on Didi? One of the greatest players of all time, he was also the best player in the 1958 World Cup, being nicknamed Mr. Football by the europeans press. Real Madrid bought him for the 1959/1960 season, but Didi didn't work at Real Madrid, only staying for one season before returning to Botafogo. It's still not fully understood why a player of Didi's level didn't shine at Real Madrid. This could be a whole video.

Remember,We also signed Toni Kroos after the world cup.He is one of the finest midfielder in the history of football.

James first 2 seasons with Madrid were brilliant, Zidane arriving was the reason for his falling off

It's definitely more of a gamble signing players following a good world cup. Prices inflated to the maximum and player playing over their usual level. I think the January window will be quiet in the premier league.