7 - Philippe Coutinho - V1

Joan

Well-known member
Why are you all comparing Coutinho to Iniesta?

Not saying he can't play like him, I don't know that, but in Liverpool, he never reminded me of Iniesta - not talking about moments like dribbling or a pass - but the way he playedl. He seems to be a player of a different profile.
 
No one/two EVER AGAIN will come close to Xavi&Iniesta.

We have seen such duo once in a Lifetime.

Peoole must realize that.

You can't replace their quality but you can replace their roles. Coutinho is very similar to Iniesta, just scores more and is nowhere near as good.

Xavi's tougher though. His profile is much rarer in a midfielder these days.
 
Last edited:

jamrock

Senior Member
Iniesta is probably the best CM AM hybrid big game clutch as fuck player to ever do it, he is a unqiue talent at his best, doesn't score enough to call him a attacking midfield outright.

While xavi the less said and compared to him the better because they all will be found wanting even some of the greats.
 

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
Yea, Xavi is probably top 3 midfielders ever to play the game, and Iniesta is an all time great attacking midfielder as well. Busi will be an all time great as well when he retires.

I'd say Xavi is the absolute GOAT midfielder and that it isn't a particularly close debate between him and the next best. Same for Busi being the GOAT pivot, head and shoulders above his peers. Iniesta is Zidane level minus the hype.
 

Neymessi

Active member
Imo iniesta is the best midfielder ever and even better than xavi.

Prime iniesta was orgasmic to watch. Nowdays we use it too often for way less orgasmic things but peak iniesta man, orgasmic af.

Second best player that I have witnessed personally after messi.
 
Last edited:

FCBfan22

Senior Member
Xavi is the player that shaped up a profile of a modern CM and is probably the greatest midfielder of all time. Verratti? Not half of a player Xavi was.
 
Going to throw in Messi there as being among the GOAT midfielders. Top 5 easily IMO.

GOAT forward and one of the GOAT midfielders :worthy:

There really is no debate as to who the GOAT is.
 

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
Imo iniesta is the best midfielder ever and even better than xavi.

Prime iniesta was orgasmic to watch. Nowdays we use it too often for way less orgasmic things but peak iniesta man, orgasmic af.

Second best player that I have witnessed personally after messi.

It's like choosing between your children, but IMO Xavi is just absurd. He's the Messi of orchestrating midfielders.

We're talking about a guy who literally averaged over 100 passes per game in his prime in La Liga and UCL, that's like a season or career best performance for even the best deep lying CM's today except he averaged it for a SEASON. Pulling all the strings and controlling the tempo of the game at a level never seen before or since. No one had his understanding of space and geometry on the football pitch.

And it wasn't just about the # of passes and impact in buildup, he was also a GOAT level creator. He's called Mr. Throughball for a reason and he's one of the few that could ever match Messi at the frequency of pulling out jaw-dropping long through balls on the ground or in the air.

To this day he still holds the record for most assists in a Liga season IIRC (20) with only Messi and Di Maria ever coming close. Also had a crazy amount of key passes per game in his prime, equal or greater to prime Ozil/Messi/De Bruyne. His 'all time great' performances are just mind-boggling. 4 (!!!) assists vs RM in that 2-6 game at the Bernabeu, assisting in both the 2009 and 2011 UCL finals, as well as both 2008 and 2012 Euro finals for Spain. That barely touches the surface of his GOAT level performances, but it gives you an idea. It's like he's De Bruyne and Thiago combined into one player but even better.

The top 5 mids of the past year are some truly magical players that I love to watch, some of whom are historically great. Yet they still don't even hold a candle to Xavi. It's just crazy putting his performances into perspective and seeing how much better he was.
 

Hamzah

High Definition Member
It's like choosing between your children, but IMO Xavi is just absurd. He's the Messi of orchestrating midfielders.

We're talking about a guy who literally averaged over 100 passes per game in his prime in La Liga and UCL, that's like a season or career best performance for even the best deep lying CM's today except he averaged it for a SEASON. Pulling all the strings and controlling the tempo of the game at a level never seen before or since. No one had his understanding of space and geometry on the football pitch.

And it wasn't just about the # of passes and impact in buildup, he was also a GOAT level creator. He's called Mr. Throughball for a reason and he's one of the few that could ever match Messi at the frequency of pulling out jaw-dropping long through balls on the ground or in the air.

To this day he still holds the record for most assists in a Liga season IIRC (20) with only Messi and Di Maria ever coming close. Also had a crazy amount of key passes per game in his prime, equal or greater to prime Ozil/Messi/De Bruyne. His 'all time great' performances are just mind-boggling. 4 (!!!) assists vs RM in that 2-6 game at the Bernabeu, assisting in both the 2009 and 2011 UCL finals, as well as both 2008 and 2012 Euro finals for Spain. That barely touches the surface of his GOAT level performances, but it gives you an idea. It's like he's De Bruyne and Thiago combined into one player but even better.

The top 5 mids of the past year are some truly magical players that I love to watch, some of whom are historically great. Yet they still don't even hold a candle to Xavi. It's just crazy putting his performances into perspective and seeing how much better he was.

Totally agree, Xavi is the best to ever play his position and defined the dominant era of Barca and Spain.

Even with Messi still in his prime Barca haven't been the same since and Spain's decline coincided with Xavi's decline
 

Maxim4

New member
Coutinho at the age of 20
33 match played for 5 goal scored

Dembélé at the age of 18: 12 goal scored in 26 match played and 5 decisive pass
 

Giginho75

New member
xavi best playmaker ever
iniesta best midfielder "all around" ever

coutinho is born number 10...
in my opinion he cannot play in the same position of iniesta because they are different...
don andres always played in the three of midfield because he's able to give his great contribute also in the middle, instead coutinho always played for attack (great assist-man)...

i think valverde will use him in the same position of neymar, despite now we play with 4-4-2.
 

Home of Barca Fans

Top