Spanish Debate: Will Villa Be Spain's All-Time Best Scorer?

It was "only Armenia," sure, but David Villa struck another two goals last night, moving him up to joint-seventh top Spain goalscorer of all time.

Now he rests alongside former España midfielder Míchel, and he's just two strikes off equalling the joint-fifth record of Alfredo di Stéfano and Julio Salinas. Seven more after that and he'll overtake Emilio Butragueño, Fernando Morientes and Fernando Hierro as he strikes 30.

But that still leaves a huge gap to top spot. Raúl remains there, sitting pretty on 44 goals in 102 appearances.

Yet although he's not even halfway there, Villa is tipped by many to be a Spanish record-breaker-in-waiting.

Based on his record this year, at least, it's not hard to see why. But does he really have what it takes to beat the famous Madrid captain to be the best?

Best Of The Best?

Let's remember one key point: whether he'll top the scoring charts and whether he'll be the literal best are two very different things. That, of course, is an accolade much harder to measure, and one that - accounting for the differences in the modern and older game - can be rendered virtually meaningless.

Consider one Isidro Lángara. His international goal tally was seventeen at a time when Spain were a considerable force. That's hardly earth-shattering... at least until one finds out that he played just twelve international games. (He fled the country for Mexico at the start of the civil war - being based abroad, he was ineligible for the nationa team.)

Then there's Telmo Zarra. Selected for only twenty matches, he managed a ratio of a goal a game, while also lifting the Pichichi trophy no fewer than six times for Athletic Bilbao (or Atlético, as they were then, thanks to General Franco's suppression of non-Castilian languages.)

Short of building a time machine, then, probably the best ways of comparing strikers are by goal:game ratios and by overall goal tallies. With regards to the latter, at least, Villa is on his way to breaking the record.

Long Way To Go

Still, he has some way left to go, and it may yet be that his purple patch is at its apex. With his age ticking on, he will be more aware than anyone that time is running out. Nonetheless it's simply untrue that strikers' careers end at 30 these days, and for somebody whose talents lie not just with their pace but also their positional sense and ability on the ball, his are not attributes that will uniformly fade with age.

Furthermore he enjoys not only the confidence of the Spanish footballing establishment, but also of the fans. Few have anything negative to say about him: he is not the polarising figure that other forwards (and defenders, midfielders...) have been in the past.

What does need to improve somewhat is his scoring record against the big teams, if not so much for statistical reasons (for there will be sufficient Armenias and Bosnias for him to keep on scoring) but to cement his status as a legend-in-the-making.

Any Other Challengers?

What may also help him is that in many games he essentially leads the line himself. Fernando Torres missed the Armenia game last night due to injury, but even if he hadn't done so there is every chance that he'd have played for only a portion of the encounter as Vicente del Bosque looks to try out new midfield options.

Torres, too, does not seem to have the best of luck at international level, be that down to Spain not meeting his style or just plain poor fortune. Although he's just four goals behind Villa, his own tally increases at a slower rate than that of El Guaje, and his ratio is inferior, too. Dani Güiza, meanwhile, has yet to 100% convince for the national side, despite some usual input.

What about Raúl himself, though? Having no 'beef' with his former protégé at the Bernabéu, del Bosque may call himn up in a way that Luis Aragonés would not. The coach has made it clear that this is predicate on form, though, and with Raúl starting to dip down to 2006 levels of performance it's unlikely that he'll be first on the list.

Instead a challenge may not so much be contemporary, but in the future. I speak of Bojan Krkic, who made his full international debut last night and did not look out of place. Even allowing for the quality of the opposition, and his clearly evident nerves, it was an auspicious start for the Barcelona youth, and one that may have Villa looking over his shoulder, at least in a couple of years.

Then again, Villa, being just 26, has plenty of time yet. Give him another four seasons or so to perform at top form and that record is there to be broken. Bojan will just have to wait.

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com