It's just about what is more important to each of us. If you value more longevity, trophies, constant quality every 3 days for 15 years than Modrić, Xavi and Iniesta are in front of Zizou.
If you value peak, big game moments, elegance...than only Iniesta can compare with ZZ.
I think we can all agree those are the big 4 of midfielders in the last 30 years.
I agree, and that was essentially what I was saying in my post (and the same sort of point I have made about Cristiano Ronaldo relative to past peers).
I am more of an ability man than career or stats or trophies or longevity, but I know that not everyone is like that. What I love about Xavi is in that in my 30-40 years watching football, I had never seen a player like him before - by that I mean I had never seen a midfielder whose sheer presence guaranteed control of the game and ball regardless of quality of opposition, and whose name on the team sheet forced the opponent to play defensively in a low block and accept they'd very very likely have less possession.
Now of course that wasn't only down to Xavi in the great Barca side, but he was the heartbeat of that midfield, and this ability to relentlessly control games is why I consider him the greatest central midfielder I have ever seen next to Lothar Matthaus.
He didn't have the big moments, invention, sheer wtf of Zidane, but he was supremely intelligent, had an acute spatial awareness and - crucially - made the right decision 99.9 percent of the time. He and Barca showed that a new way of playing could be possible in this millennium, as in the decade or two before it had been mostly you attack we attack counter-style.
I've gone off on a tangent but I am just explaining why I loved Xavi so much as a player. I'd also agree he, Iniesta, Modric and Zidane are the big four of the last 30 years. I'd be tempted to add Kroos and Pirlo in too and make a big 6. Other guys like Davids, Busquets, Seedorf, Scholes, Redondo, Makelele etc were brilliant but not quite at that level for me.
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