Extremely overrated by those who say he is a top 10 or top 20 of all time. I can name 10 Brazilian players who were better than him. Zizou was a fantastic player but he's already been overshadowed by much more prolific dribblers, passers, and goalscorers. As far as midfielders are concerned, both Ronaldinho and Iniesta in their prime are much better. Zidane was like a faster version of Riquelme when you really think about it (although not as good a passer).
Zinedine Zidane
- Thread starter footyfan
- Start date
Ursegor
World Champion
Madrid only became a circus after sacking del Bosque in 2003 but Zidane didn't play just for Madrid. For 5 years in his actual prime he joined a Champions League winning Juventus team. In his first season they lost the CL final 1-3 to Dortmund. In his last season they didn't even make it out of the group stages. The notion with Zidane is that he couldn't be bothered against the smaller sides on a consistent basis but there have also been shitloads of big games which he didn't "influence" at all, all forgotten because of his swansong in the 2006 WC (in which Pirlo was the better player btw.). Which is completely normal of course. I'm just telling you this because that "Iniesta stamping his authority" comment sounded like you expected Iniesta to win us the games against Bayern under the previously mentioned circumstances and because he didn't he has somewhat deceived you and become a lesser player in your eyes. When in fact Zidane wasn't any different, if not worse. Which, again, is normal because football remains a team sport after all. Yes, even for Messi, or he'd be World Cup and Copa America winner by now.
footyfan
Calma, calma
Yes, I did have unreasonable expectations for Iniesta, only because I thought he was capable of it. It's not his fault, it was mine. I can say though, that it wasn't just the Bayern game - it was the same in the PSG game, where besides a really cool turn, he didn't do too much. Against Real Madrid throughout the season, he was fairly ineffectual bar the Supercopa 1st leg. All the Barca players, including Messi (but not to the same extent), are system based. Barcelona play the ultimate team game, which is both good and bad, because everything needs to work for Barca to be at their best.
I still do think Iniesta is slightly better than Zidane, just not as clear cut as it seemed a few months ago.
Anyways, it seems like Barcelona's time as a dream team is nearing its end, while Iniesta's career is not. We'll probably be closer to a situation where things are a little more complicated. So we'll see how his career pans out until his retirement.
I can't attest to Zidane's performances during his spell with Juventus so I don't know what happened there. He reached 2 CL finals which is a pretty good achievement and at the time, there certainly wasnt a stranglehold over the CL like the big clubs do now.
I still do think Iniesta is slightly better than Zidane, just not as clear cut as it seemed a few months ago.
Anyways, it seems like Barcelona's time as a dream team is nearing its end, while Iniesta's career is not. We'll probably be closer to a situation where things are a little more complicated. So we'll see how his career pans out until his retirement.
I can't attest to Zidane's performances during his spell with Juventus so I don't know what happened there. He reached 2 CL finals which is a pretty good achievement and at the time, there certainly wasnt a stranglehold over the CL like the big clubs do now.
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CatalinR10
Senior Member
How many assists did Zidane have in his entire career ?
raskolnikov
Well-known member
About 100
CatalinR10
Senior Member
Scored a winning goal in a CL final which is the best goal scored in the CL so far , also scored in the WC final . France reached the final in 2006 mostly because of him , he was more gifted , etc.
raskolnikov
Well-known member
Do you feel Özil is a better player than Xavi? or Fabregas is better than Iniesta?
in his prime he was dictating the game and his team(s) the same way as Messi is doing now or Maradona or Beckenbauer, Cruyff,... during their reign.
Özil now is nowhere near the same dominating factor that Zidane was during his prime (97-02), Zidane belongs to the greatess players of all time, özil still has to prove a few things
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