Jonathan28 wrote:Stili can't believe people think Pirlo was better then Xavi. I know people try to talk down Barca on this forum but that statement was just a joke.

No it's not, Pirlo played very well. He was one of the best performers on the pitch. Your statement is the joke.

I'll keep it on topic. Iniesta was great.
Is it me though or the guy has either great games or bad ones?
Anyway, when he's on his night he's simply amazing

P.S. Xavi having a worse game than Pirlo is a joke really

Isn't Xavi the guy who needed a system to perform ? Pirlo is the system.

Farca fans ( except billy)

alexjanosik wrote:

Cotes wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

Immortal Babun wrote:

kiranr wrote:

Immortal Babun wrote:He is the best attacking midfielder in the world by far. Also, don't ever mention Xavi in the same breathe with Pirlo.

Why not? Xavi is a goat and as good, if not better, as Pirlo. So he didn't play that well this match, does it take away all that he has done before this for the past 4 years? No.

Pirlo was everything Xavi wasn't. I'll tell you in details because I like you ( maths thread, there's a new question).

- Xavi operated in the middle and AM area only while Pirlo was comfrotable all over the pitch. He made his assist from AM position.

- Pirlo passed more forward passes than sideways. His passing accuracy and range were incredible for an offensive minded player. Notice, I mean offensive minded, not racking up % on side way passing. Finding those lines isn't easy at all. I thought I was watching Zidane without his physicality or technique.

- Xavi didn't offer anything defensively. Biscuit was overloaded with defensive work. Xabi helped them out so he was invisible until Italy got tired. At that point, Xabi played better than Xavi!

- Xavi's corners or set pieces were useless. It was like inviting to foul in front of the box because Spain wouldn't be able to convert anything anyway. Watch what Pirlo did.

- Compare their ages and the players Xavi had at his disposal compared to Pirlo to make the game an even fight. Motta, Marchisio etc. vs. Iniesta, Silva, Xabi, Busquets and co.

I watched football for very long. No way, Xavi is as good as Pirlo. He may have been the best pure regista at some point in his career but Pirlo always was the better player.

The most technical out of this world player today was Iniesta. No one came close to him on the field.

The game was epic, I'm going to save the footage. Buffon, Casillas etc. there were many great, memorable moments.

And yet here I thought Pirlo was chasing Xavi's shadow all game long.
Pilro had one assist.Did nothing else the entire game.Xavi controlled the game and set up many chances.
Not his fault that others cant finish and Alonso is so clueless that he makes even Busquets look lost.
Bench the flop Alonso and Spain win the Euro.

what match did you watch???
Pirlo controlled the game...

The man was as comfortable on the ball as if he were playing vs Cesena (team came last in Serie A)...

The man never looked under pressure & his ability to take the team & put on his back when no one else had the solution is why he's the best...
Easily running pass Busquest to give a beautiful assist...

Pirlo chasing Xavi?????
man are you mad?
The man won the World Cup when he was 26, Xavi at 30...
Champions League at 23, Xavi at 26...

Controlled the game.
You are right.Thats why Italy had 66% possession,more possession in the final third,more shots etc.
Oh wait they didnt.Spain had all those.
Xavi had 107 passes with a passing accuracy of 90% and played 8 key passes.
The mighty Pirlo,the one who controlled the game( ) had a grand total of 39 passes with 82% accuracy.
Controlled the game indeed.

Man read back what you just said...
Xavi made 107 passes?
Those are short passes in the midfield to each other...
That is "tiki-taka"

Out of that 107, which one was so 'KEY' as in troubling the Italian defense?

Matter of fact, you proved my point even more...
What Pirlo can do in 39 Passes, Xavi can't do in 107 & that's create a goal...
THANK YOU!!!!
Now I'm certain Pirlo has no equal!!!!

More possession =/= domination it matters what you do with that possession and fact is whether you want to accept it or not Pirlo affected the game a LOT more than Xavi did.....

I dont care about who is better doesnt concern me but Pirlo was much better than Xavi in this game.

Passing sideways and backwards and affecting the game in no fashion at all isnt impressive.

In any case..... Iniesta >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

CBarca wrote:Xavi wasn't even bad or anything lol

Xavi was as good if not better than Pirlo IMO. You're 'Pirlo is better' argument wouldn't exist right now if Torres was Di Natale. Xavi created a bunch of chances and was pretty decent.

Can be better, but he's still top 3 if not the best CM in the world and better than Pirlo IMO

And Iniesta is just

Oh and Alonso was very average.

out of all you said...
That is all that matters...
IN YOUR OPINION!!!

Yeah lets blame Xavi for Torres being awful at finishing when he is not playing against Barca or for not playing with a real goalscorer/great finisher for 70 minutes of the game

@ mole, if all that xavi did was play sideways passes than how come xavi created the most goal scoring opportunity than everyone else on the pitch?

@cotes, Xavi made 8 key passes, 5 more than anyone else on the pitch... so yeah...

Both played great, and you could make an arguement that either were the better player but to say that Xavi doesnt deserve to be named along side Pirlo?

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:More possession =/= domination it matters what you do with that possession and fact is whether you want to accept it or not Pirlo affected the game a LOT more than Xavi did.....

I dont care about who is better doesnt concern me but Pirlo was much better than Xavi in this game.

Passing sideways and backwards and affecting the game in no fashion at all isnt impressive.

In any case..... Iniesta >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

How the hell did Pirlo affect the game a lot more.
He had one assist.Besides that all he did was attempt useless Hollywood balls and stupidly give the ball away.
If you think he affected the game a hellof a lot more,name other plays he created besides the goal.I cant thinkof any.
Off the top of my head Xavi was involved in atleast 5 excellent moves for Spain which resulted in goal scoring chances.He was also involved in tyhe build up to the Spain goal.
NTM his usual complete domination of the midfield.
But yeah lets all pretend Pirlo had a great game because of one assist and useless Hollywood balls and Xavi had a poor game because his teammates cant finish.
Xavi>Pirlo yesterday.

Xavi created 8 scoring chances. More than any player in this Euro so far. And yes, he wasn't even up to his best. Great effort. Could easily have been responsible for 2 goals.

Pirlo makes a good assist and all of a sudden he is far and away better than Xavi...

This forum

Even Mole wtf...

Busquets being crap has nothing to do with Alonso.

he played crap because he was crap in this match. Pirlo out paced him for the assist lol.Tottaly non existent with the ball and atrocious defending.
He was simply clue less. Alonso actually improved in the second half.

You are now blaming it on alonso for Busquets playing bad ? isnt that reverse of ' xavi makes busquets look good' ?

inbefore how Alonso closed down busquets space and pulled him back while defending crap in 3..

I have to agree on that Alonso doesnt affect much on Busquets. The ones that get affected the most by Alonso is Xavi and the one that gets affected the most by playing the double pivot is the Spanish NT but usually those 2(xabi and busquets),individually speaking, generally plays well together but its the team that suffers..

BarcaKizz wrote:Xavi created 8 scoring chances. More than any player in this Euro so far. And yes, he wasn't even up to his best. Great effort. Could easily have been responsible for 2 goals.

Pirlo makes a good assist and all of a sudden he is far and away better than Xavi...

This forum

Even Mole wtf...

This for God’s shake. The guy had a good game actually and I was to give more credit Pirlo would be only because Xavi had arguably better players around him. But overall it is insane to say Pirlo’s performance outclassed Xavi’s by far.
PS: I love Pirlo, class personified
PS: To the next poster: please say something about Iniesta

Iniesta was marvellous, truly one of my favourite players to watch.

As far as iam concerned Xavi was on the edge of the game, was'nt really that important he did'nt stamp his authority on the game i never saw these fantastic chances he created you all claim.

Silva and Iniesta were both much more impressive than Xavi IMO.

Xavi's influence was extremely limited mainly due to the work Marchisio and Motta did on him.

Pirlo did'nt dominate either but i feel when he was in possession he was much more effective than Xavi was and it was'nt just the assist either he created many chances that lead to saves from Casillas.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:As far as iam concerned Xavi was on the edge of the game, was'nt really that important he did'nt stamp his authority on the game i never saw these fantastic chances he created you all claim.

Silva and Iniesta were both much more impressive than Xavi IMO.

Xavi's influence was extremely limited mainly due to the work Marchisio and Motta did on him.

Pirlo did'nt dominate either but i feel when he was in possession he was much more effective than Xavi was and it was'nt just the assist either he created many chances that lead to saves from Casillas.

Tell that to Farca fans

Busi clearly just had a bad game. I mean Alonso can't make you lose cheap balls.

Anyway, Xavi >>>> Pirlo. Are we comparing Pirlo who doesn't even play in Europa to Xavi who has been dominating every midfield he has played against the last 4 years including Pirlo yesterday.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:As far as iam concerned Xavi was on the edge of the game, was'nt really that important he did'nt stamp his authority on the game i never saw these fantastic chances he created you all claim.

Silva and Iniesta were both much more impressive than Xavi IMO.

Xavi's influence was extremely limited mainly due to the work Marchisio and Motta did on him.

Pirlo did'nt dominate either but i feel when he was in possession he was much more effective than Xavi was and it was'nt just the assist either he created many chances that lead to saves from Casillas.

Mole your wasting your time. EVen if Xavi played 5 minutes yesterday Barca fans would never admit Pirlo had a better game.

Not surprised to see the Barcelona horde in full here. Xavi was rubbish yesterday but as usual Franchise the football expert and Alex, the man that can't see the light because he is so far up Xavis ass. Pirlo outclassed Xavi, it's embarrassing how short sighted the Barcelona fans are here.

Madrid win the league, Barcelona are superior, Chelsea beat you oiver two legs, you were superior. Ifd your team is so good why is the copa theonly big trophy you have?

Inter humilated you in 2010, you were still superior. Pirlo is two leagues avbove Xavi. Where were the GS chances he created? Pirlo made your criminal busquets look like an amateur.

Iniesta was awesome, Busquets had a poor game and Xavi couldn't dictate the midfield to his liking. I won't rate either Pirlo or Xavi higher than one another but in terms of who stamped their authority more, that would be Pirlo.

Probably by a hair...

alexjanosik wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:More possession =/= domination it matters what you do with that possession and fact is whether you want to accept it or not Pirlo affected the game a LOT more than Xavi did.....

I dont care about who is better doesnt concern me but Pirlo was much better than Xavi in this game.

Passing sideways and backwards and affecting the game in no fashion at all isnt impressive.

In any case..... Iniesta >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

How the hell did Pirlo affect the game a lot more.
He had one assist.Besides that all he did was attempt useless Hollywood balls and stupidly give the ball away.
If you think he affected the game a hellof a lot more,name other plays he created besides the goal.I cant thinkof any.
Off the top of my head Xavi was involved in atleast 5 excellent moves for Spain which resulted in goal scoring chances.He was also involved in tyhe build up to the Spain goal.
NTM his usual complete domination of the midfield.
But yeah lets all pretend Pirlo had a great game because of one assist and useless Hollywood balls and Xavi had a poor game because his teammates cant finish.
Xavi>Pirlo yesterday.

NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE ATTEMPTS!
I have never heard a player got an award for making the most attempt to create an assist in my life...
If I am wrong then please tell the name of such a trophy...

If you argue that about players can't finish, those are the same players who are hyped up every day...
The ones getting the enormous pay checks each week...

Di Natalie who isn't recognize across the world as any of the Spanish players hardly made 5 touches & had 2 attempts on goal managed to score with his first touch...
This just goes to show that there is more to football than the over-hyped & overpaid players...

Watch this compilation video Iniesta's touches against Italy

http://www.viddler.com/v/af919c29?secret=94175557

Divine Intervention wrote:Not surprised to see the Barcelona horde in full here. Xavi was rubbish yesterday but as usual Franchise the football expert and Alex, the man that can't see the light because he is so far up Xavis ass. Pirlo outclassed Xavi, it's embarrassing how short sighted the Barcelona fans are here.

Madrid win the league, Barcelona are superior, Chelsea beat you oiver two legs, you were superior. Ifd your team is so good why is the copa theonly big trophy you have?

Inter humilated you in 2010, you were still superior. Pirlo is two leagues avbove Xavi. Where were the GS chances he created? Pirlo made your criminal busquets look like an amateur.

If Pirlo is two league above Xavi because of the game last night, then Iniesta is 5 league aboves Pirlos*1. Because not only did Iniesta outclass Pirlo, he did it without his teammates because, apparently, he was the only one from Spain that did anything and that makes it even more impressive.

Atleast Pirlo had his teammates helping him out but Iniesta had to do everything by himself*2

*1 - Is not why I really think

*2 - Is the idea that I get reading this forum



Real Madrid were more consistent than us in the league, hence why they deserved it, but then we played 6 games against them this season and they only won once while we won 3 times. Hard to say that a team is better than one when head to head you defeat them more than you lose.

But chelsea? c'mon! They fluked the entire CL, not just against us but against napoli, benfica and bayern munich. All those team created enough chances to win by a landslide.

Divine Intervention wrote:Not surprised to see the Barcelona horde in full here. Xavi was rubbish yesterday but as usual Franchise the football expert and Alex, the man that can't see the light because he is so far up Xavis ass. Pirlo outclassed Xavi, it's embarrassing how short sighted the Barcelona fans are here.

Madrid win the league, Barcelona are superior, Chelsea beat you oiver two legs, you were superior. Ifd your team is so good why is the copa theonly big trophy you have?

Inter humilated you in 2010, you were still superior. Pirlo is two leagues avbove Xavi. Where were the GS chances he created? Pirlo made your criminal busquets look like an amateur.

This post just tells me that The Franchise has won the mentality game. It's his opinion, never has he ever said that he is right when it comes down to opinions. Just because he said Xavi was great or whatever, doesn't mean he was. At the same time, just because you said Pirlo was better than Xavi, doesn't mean he was. Learn to respect another member's opinion...

The thing Barcelona fans care about is not whether Xavi had a good game or not (well, he did, and I don't agree with you guys saying he hadn't but whatever), it's the statement "don't mention Xavi in the same breath as Pirlo".

Which...

Well, I think we all see how ridiculous that statement is.

OH, and then using one game as an example as that is really really amateur stuff. "oh you know, guy x was average this game so therefore he must always be average". Kind of like...five year old logic :/

@Harhar, great video. Iniesta needs to play in the midfield. I whenever he's on the wing in Barca...it's really a waste of talent. I mean he's not bad there or anything, he is just so much more effective when he plays a bit more centrally.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:As far as iam concerned Xavi was on the edge of the game, was'nt really that important he did'nt stamp his authority on the game i never saw these fantastic chances he created you all claim.

Silva and Iniesta were both much more impressive than Xavi IMO.

Xavi's influence was extremely limited mainly due to the work Marchisio and Motta did on him.

Pirlo did'nt dominate either but i feel when he was in possession he was much more effective than Xavi was and it was'nt just the assist either he created many chances that lead to saves from Casillas.

The pass to Iniesta which led to a shot.The pass to Fabregas which led to a shot.The set up for Alonso.The pass to Torres.Thats four that I can think of.
I am sure there are more.
Please name all these chances that Pirlo created and Casillas saved.
All he did was attempt useless Hollywood balls that went straight to Pique and chasing Xavi's shadow all game long.