Sometimes I wonder whether there has ever been a time in entire football history when one country produced so many top class midfielders at the same time.


Xavi

Andres Iniesta

David Silva

Cesc Fabregas

Sergio Busquets

Xabi Alonso

Juan Mata

Santi Cazorla

Mikel Arteta

Thiago


Am I missing anyone?

Of these tremendous ten, half are at our very own Barcelona, Arsenal have two ( will Artezorla be used in common parlance this season like Xaviesta has been all these years ) and Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City have one each.

Ander and Isco might as well be there if Thiago's going to be there. You can say Thiago is better and I'm not interested in that debate , but they're in the vicinity.

You could insert Javi as well.

Benat is actually pretty impressive but under the radar.

Brazil at some point in time may be able to list a similar talent level in midfield, not completely sure though.

Also Camacho

Alonso >>> Busquets and Cesc

Kizu wrote:Alonso >>> Busquets and Cesc

Busquet alone >>>>> Alonso. Alonso always needs a Busquets type of player. Bussi needs no one!

eelir wrote:

Kizu wrote:Alonso >>> Busquets and Cesc

Busquet alone >>>>> Alonso. Alonso always needs a Busquets type of player. Bussi needs no one!

Well we can't say that, Busi has always played with the best midfield pair in the world ahead of him while Xabi's played with the likes of Khedira and lass.Not saying he isn't better but can't say he needs no one either.

Man i'm just trollin this other guy who said Xabi is better then Bussi + Cesc, and he says that in our section!

I wouldn't know who's better to be honest as they have different roles, Bussi is DM while Xabi to me is more of a deep lying playmaker (perhaps i am wrong on this one).

Are you dumb ? I didn't say that Xabi is better than 'Bussi' + Cesc. He is the reason why Liverpool are where they are now.

Kizu wrote:Are you dumb ? I didn't say that Xabi is better than 'Bussi' + Cesc. He is the reason why Liverpool are where they are now.

Yea he is the reason. LOL. The same Alonso Rafa wanted to trade for Barry. MAdrid got a liverpool wantaway.

eelir wrote:Man i'm just trollin this other guy who said Xabi is better then Bussi + Cesc, and he says that in our section!

I wouldn't know who's better to be honest as they have different roles, Bussi is DM while Xabi to me is more of a deep lying playmaker (perhaps i am wrong on this one).

Thing about Xabi that doesn't really ever get recognition is that he's actually very very good defensively. It's strange to say it because he's always labelled a defensive liability (which he is) but that's more about our system than anything.

Position ally and anticipation wise he's amazing, and when we play a controlled game with Granero , those aspects of his play shine through, however in our preffered expansive setup his physical deficiencies are exposed and he's left putting in mistimed challenges because there's so much space around him.

Not much space is left in the core areas at Barca, most of the space is out wide, so Busi's lack of speed isn't really exposed and even when they are his long legs help him accommodate.

But Xabi has a more two way role at Madrid than most people understand. He's very important defensively even though he doesn't exactly fit what we're trying to do all the time.

Anyway, I don't think this thread is about ranking players, otherwise Silva being 3rd would pose serious problems.....

jibers wrote:

Kizu wrote:Are you dumb ? I didn't say that Xabi is better than 'Bussi' + Cesc. He is the reason why Liverpool are where they are now.

Yea he is the reason. LOL. The same Alonso Rafa wanted to trade for Barry. MAdrid got a liverpool wantaway.

Rafa wanted Barry because Hicks and Gillete were ready to sell Xabi for whatever reason, stop trolling because you hate Kizu

Le Samourai wrote:

jibers wrote:

Kizu wrote:Are you dumb ? I didn't say that Xabi is better than 'Bussi' + Cesc. He is the reason why Liverpool are where they are now.

Yea he is the reason. LOL. The same Alonso Rafa wanted to trade for Barry. MAdrid got a liverpool wantaway.

Rafa wanted Barry because Hicks and Gillete were ready to sell Xabi for whatever reason, stop trolling because you hate Kizu

Nope he wanted to se Aloso in a deal. Hence why Alons was pissed off and requested a transfer.

Kizu wrote:Are you dumb ? I didn't say that Xabi is better than 'Bussi' + Cesc. He is the reason why Liverpool are where they are now.

Now i reported you for insults, because i can take this in GS and i can take your trolling, but not here in Barca section. For your information this symbol ">" means greater then, bigger, better. So here you go where you said that:

Kizu wrote:Alonso >>> Busquets and Cesc

How about alonso, busquets, and cesc are completely different players with different styles. Cesc is a false 9 ffs.

Stop the bullshit right now, the next person to compare any of these players -25%.

On the topic, its going to be hard to compare but Brazil had a collection of fantastic midfielders at some point in the 70's.

Clodoaldo (could play holding midfield or attacking midfield to equal levels), Gerson (man of the man in the 1970's final) are guys not often spoken about now, but indeed were fantastic players.

Rivelino you here far more about and of course for good reason, gem of a player. He didnt technically play midfield for Brazil, their unique formation the result of this. But in reality he was and acting somewhat like a midfielder.

Those 3 stack up, but they didnt have the sort of depth Spain has. Even on the Brazil bench, Spain had more sitting back at home.



A Brazil time of more depth might be the 80's.

Socrates, Zico, Oscar (defensive midfielder), Junior (defender who also played defensive midfield) and of course, Falcao.

Spain's depth is crazy right now when Chelsea's player of the year and one of the worlds leading assister's can't get a run in it.

The Franchise wrote:On the topic, its going to be hard to compare but Brazil had a collection of fantastic midfielders at some point in the 70's.

Clodoaldo (could play holding midfield or attacking midfield to equal levels), Gerson (man of the man in the 1970's final) are guys not often spoken about now, but indeed were fantastic players.

Rivelino you here far more about and of course for good reason, gem of a player. He didnt technically play midfield for Brazil, their unique formation the result of this. But in reality he was and acting somewhat like a midfielder.

Those 3 stack up, but they didnt have the sort of depth Spain has. Even on the Brazil bench, Spain had more sitting back at home.



A Brazil time of more depth might be the 80's.

Socrates, Zico, Oscar (defensive midfielder), Junior (defender who also played defensive midfield) and of course, Falcao.

Some excellent picks dani.
The Brazil 58 midfield with Didi as the leader was arguably just as good as the midfields you mentioned.
France's magic square also deserves a mention.Though as you rightly say none has had this depth.
Also one on one I dont think any midfield can match the Spanish midfield in a match.

The scary thing is if you look further into the youth teams of Spain, they have alot of players coming through who can carry on the torch, despite the fact alot of the aforementioned players still being very young.

Oliver Torres being one example, Deulofeu and Jese are others too.

Thanks for the replies guys. dani and alex, your comments were very informative. crimson, I don't disagree but the thought central in my mind is all that glitters is not gold. I liked this quote of dani's so much that I stored it - "I very much doubt there will be two players who are as good as Iniesta is and Xavi has been".

Kizu wrote:Are you dumb ? I didn't say that Xabi is better than 'Bussi' + Cesc. He is the reason why Liverpool are where they are now.

Good to know you have been reported...
Martinez, Herrera, Isco, Camacho, the list goes on and on... So much talent in midfield area...