 | Henrik Larsson - World Class |
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Henrik Larsson was a world class player and even during his time with Celtic he was recognised as such outwith the narrow confines of the SPL. Henke scored a record 158 goals in 188 league games for Celtic but there was so much more to his game than those vital goals. Such was the status of the man that even the manager of bitter city rivals Rangers at the time, Dick Advocaat, sang his praises.
"Larsson is one of the best strikers in Europe, maybe the world." said Advocaat before an upcoming derby match in 2001. "If you watch Batistuta, he is sometimes not seen for 90 minutes but he scores two goals. Larsson has even more, because, besides being a good player and goalscorer, he has a tremendous workrate." Frank McAvennie would certainly agree with wee Dick's opinion on Larsson's class and he told the Evening Times that there is no way that Boyd merits comparison with the legendary number 7.
"Kris Boyd is an out-and-out goalscorer," said Macca. "He is a predator and will always get goals. But when it comes to a comparison with Henrik Larsson, let's be honest, there is none. I have an awful lot of respect for Kris because he does the hardest thing in the game, which is putting the ball in the back of the net, but he couldn't lace the boots of Henrik, so far as I am concerned. I grew up worshipping Kenny Dalglish, but Henrik was as good a striker as him."
"He is a legend for what he done in the game." continued McAvennie. "Not only with Celtic, but for the mark he left on his national side as well as with Barcelona and then Manchester United. He is a striker who is revered throughout Europe, whereas Kris' record will really only be recognised in Scottish circles. To be fair, Henrik did not get the acclaim he deserved for much of his career because he was in the SPL with Celtic, but he showed what he could do on the national stage and then when he went to Spain."
Given the Scottish national side's dearth of options up front ex-Scotland striker McAvennie would like to see Boyd's poaching ability put to use by the new, as yet unknown, Scotland boss. "I do think he should sort out the argument with the national side," said Frank. "For all that he might not be the best in the world, he knows where the goal is and Scotland could do with that. He also has a decent partnership with Kenny Miller and Scotland can't really afford to have good players walking away from the national side. If he feels hard done by when people criticise the teams he scores against, then banging them in at international level would soon make people sit up and take note."
It's been well publicised that the Lloyd's Bank controlled Ibrox club really need to sell players to stave off liquidation but despite their efforts to off-load Boyd during the last two transfer windows the stout striker could not be persuaded to budge. Boyd's refusal to move to a tougher league leads McAvennie to question his ambition and self-belief. "I do question whether or not Boyd has the ambition to go down to England and challenge himself in one of the top leagues," he said. "I know that he is a big Rangers man, but if you want to get to the top then you need to be playing against the best and he would get that if he would to the Premiership."
Even if he does move on to a Premiership club though he'll still never rank alongside Henrik Larsson. "Henrik was the type of guy who could work both channels, he could bring people into play and he was one of the hardest workers on a football pitch." said Frank. "He oozed quality with clever touches and unselfish passes and he also scored against some of the top names in European football when he was with Celtic. His two goals in the UEFA Cup final in Seville were absolute quality."
"Kris has been criticised for the fact that he only really turns it on against the smaller sides and you can see where people are coming from on that." concluded Macca. "He has been left out of big games by Walter Smith and there is a reason for that. You wouldn't bet on him starting in an Old Firm game or a big Champions League game away from home. There is no doubt that Kris will catch the record sooner rather than later and he deserves a lot of credit for that. I just don't think equalling the milestone puts him in the same bracket as Henrik Larsson."
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