Xavi vs Pirlo

Depends on who my team is

If I wanted to play a more direct style I'd pick Pirlo

If I wanted to be more patient in the build up I'd pick Xavi

Xavi for me although Pirlo is also a proper BOSS

And there is no way I can take both?!

I'd take Pirlo for my team but that's just me

I'm a Pirlo fanboy

I also firmly believe that Pirlo could do the job that Xavi is doing right now for Barcelona if he was in Xavi's position.

Pirlo has shown through different systems, managers and teams he can still play at an elite level.

This rendition of Xavi has only come about with Pep and the insane team that is Barcelona.

I think they have similar skillsets but with xavi being far more mobile, this is only from me watching them tho so I'd be really interested in stats on how much ground they cover each game.

Other differences would be long shots where i think pirlo edges it but it's honestly hard to tell because barcelona try to avoid shooting from range.

I mean overall I just think xavi edges it in all areas especially mobility.

Scholes

Xavi might be a little more mobile, but Pirlo can pass the ball anywhere when Xavi might need to dribble more then pass it to get it there. Pirlo just looks and BAM its there

I must see Xavi out of Barca to decide.For now i will go with Pirlo coz he addapted very quickly in Juve team and also played good with Milan,Inter ..While Xavi is only proven in barca but that doesnt mean that he doesnt have quality to handle a team without his Barca players .But i must see that

Honestly, I would say in terms of dictating CMs, Scholes, Pirlo and Xavi are on the same level. The luxury Xavi has is that there are always short passing options available because the Barcelona players are much more intelligent. I still think Xavi is a better game controler, but not by the distance some are saying. Xavi IS more mobile and always covers the most ground in Barcelona games. The reason Pirlo became one of the first modern regista is because Italian cmf where getting to packed from the late days of zidane. Xavis is better under pressure and rarely loses the ball. For me Xavi is better, but depends on what system you are trying to build.

I would argue that both players would play for any kind of system and arent bound by the styles they are currently playing.

7amood11 wrote:I'll just copy what I wrote in the other thread:

alexjanosik wrote:

The_ItalianFool wrote:

zece wrote:Better than Xavi ever was and ever will be IMO.

Was never a question. Pirlo has a bigger arsenal of moves and more swagger on the ball.

This was his original quote

zece wrote:Better than Xavi ever was and ever will be IMO.

Kindly enlighten me as to how Pirlo has a bigger arsenal.
Xavi is a better technician,better passer,better goal scorer,better defender.
You name it,he is better.
There isnt one single thing Pirlo is better at.Not one.

What you are saying is laughable. You can make an argument for Xavi being a bit better, but saying that he's better than Pirlo in every single aspect of the game is plain ridiculous.

Xavi is not a better defender than Pirlo, not by a long shot. Pirlo makes more successful tackles, interceptions, and clearances per game than Xavi.

Also, Pirlo makes more key passes/game and has more assists than Xavi. And should I mention that Pirlo has more accurate crosses/game, long balls/game, and through balls/game than Xavi.

Now, I watch Juve matches and I often watch Barca matches, so I'm not relying on stats alone, but what I'm saying is also based on what I see on the pitch. Xavi is not much better than Pirlo and neither is Pirlo much better than Xavi. It's not easy to decide who's better.

They're close, but I believe Pirlo is the better player.


Edit: And who brought Xavi into a Pirlo appreciation thread anyway?

This guy..

zece wrote:Better than Xavi ever was and ever will be IMO.

zece wrote:IMO Xavi wouldn't be the same player outside of Barca. Anyway Pirlo is better.

I don't understand why people only say this about barca player but not to other legendary one team players like Casillas Baresi Maldini Giggs and Scholes.

And I also love the double standard of people who says that Messi either must move to another league/club or play godlike for his NT to be a legend yet they never say that to Scholes(for ex.) who also played for a "world power" NT in world football and played worse than messi does for his NT. And then they are also the same that say that Scholes is better than Xavi even though Xavi has proven his class at both his club and NT.

And please dont say that Scholes didnt play at his position to justify his underperformance because thats the truth for Messi as well and yet brings up that logic..

zece wrote:

El Pipita wrote:

zece wrote:IMO Xavi wouldn't be the same player outside of Barca. Anyway Pirlo is better.

How you prove that ? how Xavi wouldn't be the same player in a different team.

Any Barca player depends on the other 10 players. They aren't the same team when one of them is missing. Even though Xavi is the most important, he isn't as good when Iniesta isn't there for example. (and viceversa)

You do know that football is a team sport and because of that you generally tend to get better if you are surrounded by better player. For example take a loot at CR7(a player from your team) at Man Utd and Real Madrid he had/has WC teammates at almost every position and he scores goals for fun, now remove his WC teammates and he struggles to score goals and thats proven by the fact that he struggles for Portugal..

Sushi Master wrote:In a counter attacking team, Pirlo.

In a possession based team, Xavi.

Not that they'd do bad if we switch them around, mind you. They're both legends.

What this guy said.

The_ItalianFool wrote:

Sushi Master wrote:In a counter attacking team, Pirlo.

In a possession based team, Xavi.

Not that they'd do bad if we switch them around, mind you. They're both legends.

Juventus is a possession team and Pirlo is playing the best he has played in years.

As I said, they're both legends and they could play anywhere. It's just I see them as most effective in those sort of systems.

The myth that Xavi would do bad in, say, Inter or something is BS. These guys are so smart they can adapt to any tactical approach. You don't become brain dead in another system unless you're a 1 trick pony sort of player.

Lol...people here saying one is clearly better than the other.You guys are funny.

For me personally...Pirlo since i love his range, but it could easily be Xavi.I actually think Xavi for the most part of his career has played a bit more advanced role,and many times has been given a free role while Pirlo simply put has always had to be functional.

Pirlo is not a defensive midfielder. He is a deep laying playmaker

Crimson wrote:I'd take Pirlo for my team but that's just me

I'm a Pirlo fanboy

I also firmly believe that Pirlo could do the job that Xavi is doing right now for Barcelona if he was in Xavi's position.

Pirlo has shown through different systems, managers and teams he can still play at an elite level.

This rendition of Xavi has only come about with Pep and the insane team that is Barcelona.

No Pirlo simply cant do the job for Barca like Xavi can.Not even half as well.
He doesnt have the technique,vision,passing,intelligence and most importantly the cerebral awareness to do what Xavi does for us.

alexjanosik wrote:

Crimson wrote:I'd take Pirlo for my team but that's just me

I'm a Pirlo fanboy

I also firmly believe that Pirlo could do the job that Xavi is doing right now for Barcelona if he was in Xavi's position.

Pirlo has shown through different systems, managers and teams he can still play at an elite level.

This rendition of Xavi has only come about with Pep and the insane team that is Barcelona.

No Pirlo simply cant do the job for Barca like Xavi can.Not even half as well.
He doesnt have the technique,vision,passing,intelligence and most importantly the cerebral awareness to do what Xavi does for us.

i respect your opinion most of the time although you watch football only through barcelona goggles, but to say that Pirlo doesnt have the same level of intelligence, technique, passing and vision as xavi is just shameful.

That's not true at all, Xavi is a better technician but they on par for the rest. What Crimson said about Pirlo thriving under systems is also very true, it speaks of how versatile and intelligent he is at adapting and performing at a world class level.

alexjanosik wrote:

Crimson wrote:I'd take Pirlo for my team but that's just me

I'm a Pirlo fanboy

I also firmly believe that Pirlo could do the job that Xavi is doing right now for Barcelona if he was in Xavi's position.

Pirlo has shown through different systems, managers and teams he can still play at an elite level.

This rendition of Xavi has only come about with Pep and the insane team that is Barcelona.

No Pirlo simply cant do the job for Barca like Xavi can.Not even half as well.
He doesnt have the technique,vision,passing,intelligence and most importantly the cerebral awareness to do what Xavi does for us.

r u serious?

Pirlo. I'm not sure Xavi would be the same outside of Barcelona either. Pirlo has exuded class through-out his career unlike Xavi who wasn't THAT effective until Iniesta became a 1st team regular.

Pirlo is also a more classy individual, unlike Xavi who badmouths other teams (Inter, Arsenal, Madrid, everyone)and morphs into the 5th assistant during Clasicos, constantly man-marking the referee to make sure his advice is well-heard.

alexjanosik wrote:

Crimson wrote:I'd take Pirlo for my team but that's just me

I'm a Pirlo fanboy

I also firmly believe that Pirlo could do the job that Xavi is doing right now for Barcelona if he was in Xavi's position.

Pirlo has shown through different systems, managers and teams he can still play at an elite level.

This rendition of Xavi has only come about with Pep and the insane team that is Barcelona.

No Pirlo simply cant do the job for Barca like Xavi can.Not even half as well.
He doesnt have the technique,vision,passing,intelligence and most importantly the cerebral awareness to do what Xavi does for us.

Oh my

alexjanosik wrote:

Crimson wrote:I'd take Pirlo for my team but that's just me

I'm a Pirlo fanboy

I also firmly believe that Pirlo could do the job that Xavi is doing right now for Barcelona if he was in Xavi's position.

Pirlo has shown through different systems, managers and teams he can still play at an elite level.

This rendition of Xavi has only come about with Pep and the insane team that is Barcelona.

No Pirlo simply cant do the job for Barca like Xavi can.Not even half as well.
He doesnt have the technique,vision,passing,intelligence and most importantly the cerebral awareness to do what Xavi does for us.

There's no escaping these Barca fanboys.

Pirlo's vision, awareness and technique is among the best of his generation and any football fan of solid knowledge would surely know this!

both of them can pass the ball with pinpoint accuracy but pirlo is a better defender and far superior dead ball specialist than xavi. not many players can be great at free kicks, corner kicks and penalty kicks. xavi also has the luxury of playing with iniesta and messi juts like pirlo did with kaka and seedorf early in his career. they are both world class player and any team would be lucky to have them but if i had to choose i would pick Andrea Pirlo.

I find it very hard to believe, a player as static as Pirlo can do what Xavi does. And as good as Pirlo is at passing, he still isnt on Xavi's level by any measure. Through balls, consistency, passing under pressure...Pirlo is great, but Xavi is another step up.

Its sort of like how people insisted Cesc was just as good, maybe some still believe it IDK, but if it wasnt clear before, its clear now he really isnt on that level.

I find it very funny people say Pirlo is better defensively, he cant defend a traffic cone.

Pirlo has done well under different systems? Which?

Juve and old Milan really dont play that much of a different style at all.

The Franchise wrote:I find it very hard to believe, a player as static as Pirlo can do what Xavi does. And as good as Pirlo is at passing, he still isnt on Xavi's level by any measure. Through balls, consistency, passing under pressure...Pirlo is great, but Xavi is another step up.

Its sort of like how people insisted Cesc was just as good, maybe some still believe it IDK, but if it wasnt clear before, its clear now he really isnt on that level.

I find it very funny people say Pirlo is better defensively, he cant defend a traffic cone.

Pirlo has done well under different systems? Which?

Juve and old Milan really dont play that much of a different style at all.

Hard to take this seriously from a Barca fanboy, specially when most the ones I encountered place Pique up there with Nesta and the like lol. Pirlo's defending is excellent, and he was at Milan for many years and they didn't always play the same system. Juventus is a far more defensive team than any Milan side in my opinion, very different to the open set-up Milan had typically employed over the last 2 or 3 years.