Cule For Life
Member
Yeah, could be skewed because Modric has been better post 34 years old. Xavi on the other hand was more of an early bloomer than Modric. I remember Modric at 26 being considered flop of the season at Madrid in his first year.
Overall Xavi is clearly a better and way more rare player, and with Xavi in midfield at PSG, Modric & Madrid never get even as much of a sniff back in the game. Like when those PSG players panicked and got rid of the ball straight to the Madrid players. That's the trump card Xavi. With him in midfield, you never panic under press because he's always there to make sure you have superiority in every zone around him.
Xavi is probably the best player of all time at popping up to help a teammate get out of trouble. Never seen a player with such a gift of anticipating problems before they arrive and popping up to save the situation. Xavi would basically be a gold mine for someone like Araujo.
Xavi is the main reason why teams parked the Bus against Barca. He was unpressable. He moved more than everyone else, was smarter than everyone else, and could last 90 mins doing it. Man managed to make news when he missplaced a pass.
What goes against Modric is that even at its peak, we kind of smashed Madrid with older Iniesta, Busi, and Rakitic. Players who at CM are no match for Xavi. Like 4-0, 3-0, 5-1 beatdowns. More than once. It was a consistent template in the Clasicos that we would control the game, and Madrid would try to hit us on the break with likes of Ronaldo, Marcelo, Di Maria etc. Modric was a secondary factor and we never really feared his ability to influence the game. Because that's not really his strong suit.
The inability of Madrid to dominate even a lesser Barca midfield than the one with Xavi in it shows that Modric, while elite, was never really a player to impact a game in its entirety. He pops here and there with a superb shot, a superb pass, or a nice run. But Xavi was on all the time, must have been an insufferable player to play against.
The only way Modric would be superior is if they would play for some really average manager that does not really understand much about controlling the game. Someone like a David Moyes, or EPL managers that aren't of Klopp, Pep class. That manager would probably pick Modric ahead of Xavi simply because he could do more varied work. Xavi was in essence, an elite controller-passer. The highest caliber of passer in midfield you can have. In any team that is planning to control the game and dominate the opponent Xavi would get ahead of Modric every single time.
Now if you tell me which of Xavi or Modric would be better not as a CM, but as an 8, or a 10, then it might be close. But then as an AM it's Iniesta that is a level above Modric.
I like Luka a lot, he's one of the Madrid players I have a lot of admiration for, but its these hot takes recently that's killing me.
As you mentioned he got dominated by a Raki, Iniesta and Busi midfield, a few years a go he got dominated by a young Ajax midfield with de Jong, the following year it was by City midfield and last year by Kante, he has a good 45 mins he's some how the greatest CM ever.
I think he's among the best CM, but still a tier below Xavi. Well written and agree with everything you said there.
