Yes, I'd place Modric in the Pirlo zone.
Modric is not below Xavi nor Iniesta imo.
Modric definitely a notch below both Xavi and Iniesta.
I really like this topic because I find Modric to be very underrated at his peak and I think he doesn't get credit for some of the unique things about him.
It all boils down to one difference between Barca and RM in the 2010's. Barca were definitely more dominant, but one thing RM did better is that when they did lose they went down swinging. The offense didn't look slow or stale or out of ideas, they just looked bad. Many times they'd even create several chances even in bad losses and just brick them horribly. I'd say we did go down swinging against Chelsea but several other times over the years against Inter/Bayern/Atletico/Juve and others we just couldn't get the offense going at all.
In modern football, your team needs to be a perpetual motion machine. If the movement and pace of play slows down, then the offense gets bogged down and gridlocked. This is where Modric comes in.
If we were to compare Modric and Iniesta:
-Iniesta is a better passer
-Iniesta is a better dribbler
-Iniesta is a better pure chance creator
He is the more talented player on the ball, and 100% certainly the greater player if you compare their careers.
But Modric brings other things to the table.
-He has greater range in his play. Better long balls, cross field passes, crosses.
-He plays at a higher tempo/pace. Iniesta was very quick and agile but Modric looks like he's fucking zooming around out there and covers a crazy amount of ground in attacking moves sometimes. He looks like he's hitting full sprint in pockets of space at times and I can't think of other midfielders who are quicker except someone like Kaka on a straight line sprint.
Modric also is uniquely good at recognizing counters and quick transitions and pulling the trigger with quick/long passes to running players. What sets Modric apart from Xavi/Iniesta/Zidane/whoever is his tendency to catch defenses before they reset with aggressive and direct passes. Modric constantly generates counters before the defenses could set themselves, either from his own half with long balls after possession was won or in the opponent half with quick transitions in somewhat smaller spaces. 1 touch long balls with the outside of his foot and aggressive 1-2's allowed him to create counter after counter or transition opportunities even in heavy possession.
I personally believe he made his 2 main partners Kroos and Rakitic look way more mobile and higher paced in their actions than they would be without him. This is because of the aggressive/direct tempo he sets, so that the play is never slow and things keep flowing end to end. It was especially clear with Rakitic at Croatia compared to Barca.
Modric also has better cardio than Zidane or Iniesta, covering more ground over 90 minutes. His radius of action is also huge and he's constantly doing things on both the left and right sides in offense. He's really a special player, it was no coincidence RM won 4 CL's in 5 years with this guy orchestrating the style of their play.
I think he would've done some crazy things if partnered with Xavi or Iniesta in this team, playmaking for Messi. Sad part is we easily could've gotten him too.
