Kevin De Bruyne

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Temptation

Well-known member
Current players aren't generally rated very highly in these conversations. Nostalgia bias. We'll have to wait till KDB retires or declines to determine his legacy properly.

Anyways ranking the CMs(broadly classified, all types of CMs, players who'd fit in as an 8 in a 433).....not including proper CAM/10s like Kaka and DM/6s like Busquets/Casemiro:

Zidane

Xavi

Modric Iniesta
KDB(as it stands; can only conclude his real ranking when he's declined or retired)
Gerrard Pirlo
Lampard Kroos


Might have missed some names. Considered all factors in the context of their respective careers. For instance, Gerrard suffers due to the number of trophies and playing for a crap side for most of his career. But haven't blindly rated players only due to their trophy cabinets.
 
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Temptation

Well-known member
Pirlo is interesting. He started his career as an attacking midfielder but shifted back as he matured and ended up playing as a Deep Lying Playmaker.


I put Pirlo in this list because old Pirlo would still play alongside a proper DM. He never really played as the sole DM/number 6/destroyer. Think old Pirlo is the perfect example of a DLP.


So hypothetically, in a 433, Pirlo would play alongside the defensive mid which would enable his amazing playmaking abilities.
 
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Temptation

Well-known member
Xavi was absolutely amazing but ZZ is still at the top for me. Pretty easily.


ZZ just had more magic, a larger skill set, more leadership, main man energy, aggression, way better in the air, clutch gene, entertainment value, better dead ball specialist, etc....


It's baffling that a player with the silkiest first touch and ball control(alongside Bergkamp), smooth roulettes, ridiculous stepovers, immense technique was a tall, dominant physical powerhouse too.


Zizou had the dribbling, passing, shooting and physicality. Different gravy.
 
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JamDav1982

Senior Member
Xavi never lost a Intl final..won all three... Zidane lost a WC final and got sent off.

Xavi won all CL finals he played in.. Zidane won 1 of 3. Marked out of final by a scotsman who signed on a free transfer in one of them.

Not sure where this 'clutch gene' idea comes from bar the WC final when Zidane scored twice.
 
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Morten

Senior Member
Much like Xavi, Zidane is kinda overrated, though Xavi edges him on consistency.

That is not to say both weren't top class, just that "nobody" has a bad thing to say about either.

Well, Zidane could be inconsistent, while Iniesta often outperformed Xavi for Spain imo.

Both up there among the greatest, but hardly levels above the competition.
 
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soul24rage

soul24rage

Senior Member
Temptation said:
Current players aren't generally rated very highly in these conversations. Nostalgia bias. We'll have to wait till KDB retires or declines to determine his legacy properly.

Anyways ranking the CMs(broadly classified, all types of CMs, players who'd fit in as an 8 in a 433).....not including proper CAM/10s like Kaka and DM/6s like Busquets/Casemiro:

Zidane

Xavi

Modric Iniesta
KDB(as it stands; can only conclude his real ranking when he's declined or retired)
Gerrard Pirlo
Lampard Kroos


Might have missed some names. Considered all factors in the context of their respective careers. For instance, Gerrard suffers due to the number of trophies and playing for a crap side for most of his career. But haven't blindly rated players only due to their trophy cabinets.
Click to expand...
Xavi

Zidane
Modric Iniesta
Pirlo Kroos
Gerrard
Lampard KDB

Edit: Forgot to put KDB lol
 
KingLeo10

KingLeo10

Senior Member
It's actually crazy how Iniesta won 7 out of 7 CL/WC/Euro finals played and Xavi won 6 out of 6 :lol: And they weren't journeymen either. Trophy winning goals, assists, and MOTM awards in these finals.

Most players consider it a great career to even win 1 of those once (KDB for example or Chiellini with Euro)
 
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Temptation

Well-known member
While Xavi and Iniesta were great players and one of the best in their teams they were also lucky that their peak coincided with some of the greatest club and national sides in history.

That Spanish National Team had so many great players that even people like David Silva, Fabregas, Cazorla weren't definite starters throughout. They had Xavi Iniesta Busquets Alonso Torres Villa Puyol Ramos Pique Casillas. :lol: :lol:

Similarly, Barca in their golden era had one of the greatest managers of all time, arguably for some and definitely for some the greatest player of all time, Eto'o, Henry, Neymar, Suarez, Busquets, Puyol, Pique, Alves, Rakitic and many many others alongside Xavi and Iniesta.


Both these teams playing the exact and the only style of play Xavi and Iniesta excel in maximizing all of their best qualities.


It'll be unfair to not admit that it takes a lot of luck to have such support.


In these conversations, at the highest level, luck is definitely a factor.


Xavi and Iniesta played for better teams and more cohesive units than Zidane.


Comparing individuals should always have some balance between individual ability and team trophies. Taking everything into account, Zizou still comes out on top imo.
 
M

Morten

Senior Member
Temptation said:
While Xavi and Iniesta were great players and one of the best in their teams they were also lucky that their peak coincided with some of the greatest club and national sides in history.

That Spanish National Team had so many great players that even people like David Silva, Fabregas, Cazorla weren't definite starters throughout. They had Xavi Iniesta Busquets Alonso Torres Villa Puyol Ramos Pique Casillas. :lol: :lol:

Similarly, Barca in their golden era had one of the greatest managers of all time, arguably for some and definitely for some the greatest player of all time, Eto'o, Henry, Neymar, Suarez, Busquets, Puyol, Pique, Alves, Rakitic and many many others alongside Xavi and Iniesta.


Both these teams playing the exact and the only style of play Xavi and Iniesta excel in maximizing all of their best qualities.


It'll be unfair to not admit that it takes a lot of luck to have such support.


In these conversations, at the highest level, luck is definitely a factor.


Xavi and Iniesta played for better teams and more cohesive units than Zidane.


Comparing individuals should always have some balance between individual ability and team trophies. Taking everything into account, Zizou still comes out on top imo.
Click to expand...

I swear, the only Zidane people remembers is the one performing in big games for France and in UCL, not how many times he had "meh" performances in la liga, believe me, he had quite a few.

Fair enough he was gotten older by then, but still.
 
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JamDav1982

Senior Member
Spain with virtually all the same players still at their peak and minus Xavi have been fairly terrible in intl tournaments in the ones since he declined.

Barca never dominated in same way after he declined either.

Greatest midfielder ever.
 
J

JamDav1982

Senior Member
Morten said:
I swear, the only Zidane people remembers is the one performing in big games for France and in UCL, not how many times he had "meh" performances in la liga, believe me, he had quite a few.

Fair enough he was gotten older by then, but still.
Click to expand...

That what I said also.. La Liga he was nothing special bar fleeting moments which garnered a lot of attention.

Ability wise top and balleric at times... but overall impact no.

Fact folk say 'clutch gene' etc for him is mind boggling.
 
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