Has the term "world class" lost near all its meaning in present times. The term is used to describe nearly every player who can demand a hefty transfer fee it seems. Has it become near nigh impossible to separate very good players from world class ones? Does it even matter if we describe certain players as world class, since nowadays we only use it to separate certain players from the herd of average to good players out there.

The problem i find with this usage of the term is that some these "world class" players lvl of play fluctuate significantly from one season to the next. My understanding of the term world class, is that it is the said player has reached the highest lvl of play within his position as well as highest lvl of esteem by his opposition. Not only has said player reached this level of play but most importantly he has proven that he can do so season after season. That the elevation of his game is not due to a rise in his form in certain abilities but an increase in the level of his overall game as well.

I find it quite ridiculous when players are given the tag of world class after their first breakout season, by breakout i mean where a player had an excellent season where his team found success in which he player a great part or he himself had great individual success ( Top scorer, Top assist , POY ect.). The only thing such a player has proved is that he is capable of having an excellent season, the term world class should not be used as an active measurement of performance i.e he's having such a world class season or rather he's playing at world class level. The term is an indication of excellence in said player's high level of play over a long period, the only way to separate high quality from the lesser is to see which stood the test of time ( which is to say that player must play at a level very close to the best players in his position not just to his own peak, unless said player is regarded as the best in his position).

This is just my opinion, i would like to hear other posters views on what conditions should be met before we can call a player world class.

Top 5 in his position for 2-3 years

World class is a player who preforms to a very high level in a highly rated competition.

I don't like the "Top 5" or any argument that only a set number of players can be considered world class. So if there are 6 great players do only 5 of them get to be world class? Even if they are all at a similar level?

Football is the most subjective sport imo. The amount of intangible qualities means there is really no way to rate players objectively without ending up with a list that doesn't look quite right.

If a player is preforming to a certain standard at the higher levels of the footballing world then he should be considered world class. What that standard is depends on the viewer and we all have different opinions.

A footballer that shows consistently fantastic quality for atleast two years is world-class for me. But if the said player can't keep the same consistency or even upgrade it after the two years the "world-class" tag gets removed.

Examples: If Koscielny can keep it up again this year he's world-class for me, Vermaelen isn't world-class - he had one great year but couldn't keep it in the second one, Pique WAS world-class but he's not anymore because he had a bad year and couldn't remain consistent, Özil is world-class as he completed two years of fantastic quality etc.

for me it is subjective, I don't believe it is a set number of a certain amount of time but players who constantly stand out. who are the best, even if they have 6 or 10 players who could be rated better.

Kick wrote:for me it is subjective, I don't believe it is a set number of a certain amount of time but players who constantly stand out. who are the best, even if they have 6 or 10 players who could be rated better.

Same for me.

Yeh I agree. You can just tell if someone's WC or not.

For me, players who can be called World Class are those who people may think will automatically start in most clubs in the world.

That's it.

as we can see from comments its pretty subjective