I have tried to describe Xavi in so many posts but still no one seems to really understand.
I have had in my head a comparison to composers, where Xavi would be compared to someone like Bach, while Messi and Iniesta were Mozart and Beethoven. Not perfect comparisons, why I never posted.
But then I saw this video of Bernstein discussing Beethoven, saying that he pretty much was a terrible melody maker, but that his strength was that he always put the correct note after the former - every note was the correct progression from the one before. Bingo! This is exactly how Xavi played, never forcing a great melody, just progressing the ball correctly every time. Iniesta on the other hand painted with a very loose hand, attempting things with the outside of his foot, searching for the big picture and often succeeding just because he had a feeling for the timing and direction needed, but often playing quite lazily technically, as a genius bored by mundane tasks. They really were in some ways polar opposites, Xavi and Iniesta.
Magnus Carlsen said that Bobby Fischer showed to him that you can win by playing simple chess, this is the same I feel about Xavi, you can be the best by playing simple football.
At the same time, so much is taken for granted in football - as we saw most clearly when Ronaldinho played, the options are unlimited...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuYY1gV8jhU