25 Footballers Who Are More Than the Sum of Their Parts

When a player is performing superbly for club or country, people often state how poor the team would be without that particular individual.

It's one of those discussions that can never truly be analysed, because the circumstances of the match can never be recreated in exactly the same way.

We put those comments down to personal belief and opinion and there's certainly nothing wrong with having an opinion.

Here are some players that go that extra mile in making themselves the key component to a team's success.

Robin Van Persie

I'm quite sure that Arsenal fans may disagree with this, but if Robin Van Persie were to suddenly get injured, would Arsenal still be able to qualify for next season's Champions League?

I think the answer is firmly no, which makes Robin Van Persie the key component of the Gunners.

Without him, Arsene Wenger would probably be out of a job by now.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo almost single handedly won the Premier League for Manchester United in the '07-'08 season, and at Real Madrid his goalscoring has reached new highs.

Ronaldo has scored 96 goals in 88 league appearances for Los Blancos, an incredible feat.

Whilst Real Madrid boast an excellent squad, you have to concede that they would not be in the position they are without Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi

Barcelona—like Real Madrid—also have an excellent squad to choose from, but they are currently 10 points behind their rivals having played 25 games each.

The gulf in points is largely down to the fact that Messi had an indifferent start to the season by his standards, which resulted in some shock results for the club.

His teammates failed to pick up the slack, which highlighted Messi's clear importance even more.

Neymar Santos

Neymar is one of the hottest properties in Brazilian football right now, so much so that Barcelona have been strongly rumoured to be chasing the attacking midfielder.

Neymar is undoubtedly Santos' most prized possession and when they lose him—which they inevitably will—it will reap strong financial reward.

Edinson Cavani

Edinson Cavani has been a goal scoring machine since signing for Napoli and has managed 41-league goals in 57 appearances in Serie A.

Looking through the rest of Napoli's squad, you struggle to see how they could survive without the hitman's presence on the field.

Steven Gerrard

Despite spending big money in the summer on strengthening the midfield, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is still yet to find one half as good as Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool lose so much when the Englishman doesn't play for his club, and perhaps only Luis Suarez can carry his mantle.

Givanildo Souza

FC Porto have an £88 million buyout clause in Hulk's contract, so the club clearly value his services.

Unfortunately for the Portuguese club, they don't have a readymade replacement should he leave and his input to the team is vastly superior to any of the other players in the squad.

David Silva

This entry may be slightly more contentious than others because Manchester City have such excellent squad depth and ability throughout their team.

Ask yourself whether Manchester City would be top of the Premier League if they didn't have David Silva pulling the strings though.

I don't think they would.

Wayne Rooney

Manchester United broke the bank to get Wayne Rooney to sign a new contract with the club following his transfer request.

There is a clear and gaping hole in the centre of Manchester United's midfield, which shows that Alex Ferguson is yet to repair the loss of Darren Fletcher.

Without Rooney, Manchester United would have serious problems and wouldn't be fighting for a title right now.

Clint Dempsey

American International Clint Dempsey is single-handedly keeping Fulham away from the relegation dog fights below them this season.

Martin Jol has brought in Pavel Pogrebnyak to ease the burden and he has started his Fulham career well. Whether it will continue, of course, is another matter.

Without Dempsey, Fulham would have a survival scrap on their hands.

Demba Ba

If Newcastle United were to lose Demba Ba at the end of the season, it would be a terrible blow for the club who have come to rely on the Senegal striker's goals.

Ba has been a little dry since his return from the African Cup of Nations, but his feats in 2011 should not be underestimated.

Leandro Damiao

Leandro Damiao's performances for both Brazil and Internacional have caused plenty of clubs to sit up and take notice.

Damiao has become hot property and Inter cannot afford to lose him on the cheap.

Samuel Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o seems like he has been around for years but he is only 30 years old.

The Cameroon International's goals for new club Anzhi Makhachkala have made him critical to the Russian outfits attempted success.

Shinji Kagawa

Shinji Kagawa isn't an indispensable player for his club side Borussia Dortmund, but he certainly is for his country.

The Japanese midfielder has become a hot topic following his excellent displays for Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

Didier Drogba

Whilst Drogba is at the tail-end of his career, he maintains the record as the highest scoring foreigner to play for Chelsea FC.

His real value is to national team Cote d'Ivoire where the striker is the captain and all time leading goalscorer.

They will find it tough to replace him when he retires.

Cristiano Ronaldo...again

No you're not having déjà vue, it's Cristiano Ronaldo again.

The Real Madrid wingers ability is just as important to the Portuguese national team as it is his Spanish club.

Without Ronaldo's contribution to Portugal, the national team would probably not have made the Euro 2012 finals.

Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry's short-loan stint at Arsenal proved that the Frenchman still has va va voom.

His importance to the New York Redbulls is what makes him such a key figure, so much so that he is their captain and one of their two designated players under MLS rules.

Landon Donovan

LA Galaxy would probably do quite alright without David Beckham in their side, and Landon Donovan, too, for that matter.

Team USA would be a fish out of water though.

The American midfielder-cum-forward is the nation's all time leader in goals and assists making him extremely valuable.

Javier Hernandez

Chicharito barely gets any limelight at Manchester United, but the Mexican striker is a key component for the men's national team.

Javier Hernandez has 23 goals in 34 games for his country.

Miroslav Klose

Germany would be fine without Miroslav Klose—or so we'd all assume.

The fact is that Klose has been outstandingly prolific for Germany—particularly in World Cups—and is the joint top World Cup goalscorer of all-time alongside Brazil's Ronaldo.

That makes him pretty important I'd say.

Ronaldinho

When Ronaldinho moved from AC Milan to Flamengo it was somewhat of a shock.

The Brazilians performances for the club have been superb though, so much so that he earned a recall to the Brazilian national team.

Flamengo are in danger of becoming overly reliant on the tricky midfielder.

Falcao

Atletico Madrid have assembled a decent squad, but their signing of Falcao has been extremely astute.

The Colombian striker has been a revelation at the club and is currently nine goals clear of his nearest team-mate.

Losing him would be a tough pill to swallow for the Spanish side.

Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez hasn't quite got himself to the point where he is critical to Barcelona, but he is certainly close to that for the Chilean national team.

At the age of 23, Sanchez already has 45 caps to his name.

Christian Eriksen

Ajax are a team that are steeped in Dutch history but they currently lack many Dutch international players.

One star they do have is Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen.

The Danish footballer of the year 2011 is become a rising influence in the Ajax squad and is quickly becoming critical to the team's success.

Eden Hazard

The performances of Eden Hazard haven't gone unnoticed in European football circles.

The Belgium international is largely responsible for keeping French Ligue one side Lille in the Champions League places for next season.

They are almost certainly set to lose him in the summer, which will severely weaken the team.

Afterthoughts

Of course, some of these players performances can be put down to excellent spells of form, but the real star players do it consistently over a long period of time.

As I said on the opening page, it's always tough to measure the loss of a player because the variables change in every match.

One thing for sure is that teams would be a lot worse off without this gaggle of players to help them out.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out EPL transfer rumours: One position each side will look to improve in the summer.

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