Guillem Balague debates that Andres Iniesta is better Zinedine Zidane

by Abramovich Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:57 pm

Spanish bias or the truth? Suspect

I personally prefer Zidane but thats just my opinion.

http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,,12087_8507801,00.html

by billy_gr Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:10 pm

let's wait till Andres retires, K?

by Mamad Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:11 pm

Iniesta better than Zizou? Guillem Balague debates that Andres Iniesta is better Zinedine Zidane 36929222961526032478

by iNFINITY9910 Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:15 pm

Zidane all the way. When he carries a team all by himself to a higher level I'll consider him better than Zidane.

Guillem Balague debates that Andres Iniesta is better Zinedine Zidane Zidane

Guillem Balague debates that Andres Iniesta is better Zinedine Zidane Zidane

by Arquitecto Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:20 pm

When people let go of their nostalgic nonsense and comprehensively scrutinize each player rather than glorifying Zidane to unrealistic proportions on this forum, they will realize the comparison is not to far off, if not correct.

by iNFINITY9910 Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:23 pm

its not too far off, definitely. but yeah, Iniesta has more time on his side. so better to wait.

by The Franchise Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:29 pm

If you actually read his article he makes sense...its not bias at all.

The fact Zidane only ever won one La Liga title and one Champions League is glossed over big time, especially when you realise the players he played with.

Anyway, I still think Zidane is better...but its much closer than I think people think.

I think its better to leave it all alone though, we are asking if Iniesta is better than a ghost...he cant prove it. This is the problem comparing players from different times.

by The Franchise Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:31 pm

Oh and asking Iniesta to "carry a team by himself" is stupidly unfair. The only reason its ever said it because they know its actually impossible.

Im telling you this right now, no player in history is carrying any team with Messi in it..Zidane, Pele, whoever you like, it aint happening.

by Mr Nick09 Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:04 pm

It's a fair debate to have and trophy wise iniesta is the clear winner. But with trophies it's always delicate because players dont always play with teams of equal strength. Regardless of the players Zidane played with, his teams were never as good as the one Iniesta is playing with. And that's a factor of a whole unit, not a single player.

Unfair or not Dani, it's a question to ask because Zidane has done things those things, things that the best do. it's just a reality.

To me, Zidane is slightly better, but the margins are so small it's hard to explain.

by The Franchise Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:12 pm

Mr Nick09 wrote:It's a fair debate to have and trophy wise iniesta is the clear winner. But with trophies it's always delicate because players dont always play with teams of equal strength. Regardless of the players Zidane played with, his teams were never as good as the one Iniesta is playing with. And that's a factor of a whole unit, not a single player.

Unfair or not Dani, it's a question to ask because Zidane has done things those things, things that the best do. it's just a reality.

To me, Zidane is slightly better, but the margins are so small it's hard to explain.

I think they are both unfair.

Its not fair to compare titles, those are team awards..and the best teams arent all the best players.

I was simply saying Balague's arguement is a fair one and people do gloss over those lack of titles from Zidane. That doesnt mean I think any less of Zidane, just that people do casually ignore it while other players do not get that sort of luxury.

I also think its unfair to ask that of Iniesta to an even greater level than the amount of titles thing.

The titles, Zidane at least as some measure of control in..Iniesta can do nothing about playing with one of the best players to play the game.

If you reserve Zidane and Iniesta, they might have had the exact same issues.

by sportsczy Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:14 pm

all you have to do is see what france nt became with and without zidane.... in 2006, zizou came back for last 2 wc qualifiers and got france into wc when they were all but out and then took the team to the wc finals. iniesta never had that kind of impact. Could iniesta completely dominate a brazil nt circa 2006 by himself? did the same to spain in that wc too. Similar impact in euro 2000.

as good as iniesta is, he's about 5 levels below zizou. just cannot control things like zidane.

by BarrileteCosmico Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:25 pm

What are you talking about Sports? Iniesta is a hell of an influential player. Goal to Chelsea and NL, MOTM of the euro final, assist to eto'o. And if you want to talk about absences it was Iniesta's injury that cost us the CL in 2009/10.

Anyways if you read the article I agree that his argument makes a lot of sense. I never watched Zidane at his prime so I don't really have strong feelings about this debate.

by free_cat Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:46 pm

It's a very good comparison. They play the same position, had almost the same role, had similar playing style and even impact. IMO Zidane is a very overated player that the powerful French and Madrid press/fans has tried to undeservedly place amongst the all time greats such as Pele, Maradona, Cruyff or Messi, while he rightfully belongs to a lower place, with several other players like Iniesta himself.
IMO, Iniesta is surely at Zidane's level by now. He always had Zidane's techique and class, but he has added more productivity and consistency to his game.

by The Franchise Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:50 pm

When people say 5 levels above Iniesta, thats where I draw the line and call bs. Thats not true at all.

Iniesta is much closer to Zidane, than Zidane is to Messi if we are being flat and honest about it.

by billy_gr Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:51 pm

by sportsczy Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:08 pm

Sorry but Iniesta has nowhere near the impact on a team, both his team and the opponent, as Zidane did. Iniesta is very good. Extremely good in fact. I'm a fan and i've said it. But Zidane controlled the entire flow of the midfield... all of it. He orchestrated. In his prime, the game was played at his speed and nobody could do anything about it. It's not even about assists and goals. It's about tempo. There aren't very many players in the history of the game that could dictate their tempo at the highest level.

Think Pirlo or Xavi but taken to an entirely different level.

Which brings me to the next point... Zidane had to be both Xavi and Iniesta for both club and country. Where he makes the different is his scope of responsibility.

by Luca Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:19 pm

sportsczy wrote:all you have to do is see what france nt became with and without zidane.... in 2006, zizou came back for last 2 wc qualifiers and got france into wc when they were all but out and then took the team to the wc finals. iniesta never had that kind of impact. Could iniesta completely dominate a brazil nt circa 2006 by himself? did the same to spain in that wc too. Similar impact in euro 2000.

as good as iniesta is, he's about 5 levels below zizou. just cannot control things like zidane.

It's quite an empty argument to make, Zidane is better because look at France without him? I mean, I would rather phrase it "Look what Zidane did with France.."- it's just stronger

Anyways, I rate Zidane higher than Iniesta

by LeBéninois Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:44 pm

'' Look at France without Zidane '' is not really an argument here. Spain has more talent than France right now so they can cope without many players. Either it's iniesta, Xavi, Villa, .... If Zidane was Spanish , they would have been able to cope without him too.

Zidane had elegance when he was playing and never flopped in big games
Iniesta is much more consistent.
It's really close but as Zidane is much more popular ( scoring 2 goals in WC 1998 really help ) if we make a poll Zidane would be chosen as the better player.

I'd say Zidane by a margin

by BarrileteCosmico Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:58 pm

sportsczy wrote:Sorry but Iniesta has nowhere near the impact on a team, both his team and the opponent, as Zidane did. Iniesta is very good. Extremely good in fact. I'm a fan and i've said it. But Zidane controlled the entire flow of the midfield... all of it. He orchestrated. In his prime, the game was played at his speed and nobody could do anything about it. It's not even about assists and goals. It's about tempo. There aren't very many players in the history of the game that could dictate their tempo at the highest level.

Think Pirlo or Xavi but taken to an entirely different level.

Which brings me to the next point... Zidane had to be both Xavi and Iniesta for both club and country. Where he makes the different is his scope of responsibility.

So because Iniesta shares this responsibility with Xavi that automatically makes him worse? scratch

Riquelme also had to dictate tempo solely for both club and country, does that also make him more influential and therefore better than Iniesta?

Again I don't really know or care who was better, but I find this line of reasoning flawed.

by gnrfan Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:16 pm

When you hear people saying things like "zidane never flopped in big games" r he is a different class from iniesta it makes me wonder how many actually saw the man regularly(especially when the oldtimers are in agreement it's a close comparison). He was an inconsistent player with a very high ceiling(similar to iniesta) but I'd take the spaniard for consistency. On that point, neither of these guys were as good as dinho during the 2003-06 period. He was really something else

by Kaladin Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:21 pm

Arquitecto wrote:When people let go of their nostalgic nonsense and comprehensively scrutinize each player rather than glorifying Zidane to unrealistic proportions on this forum, they will realize the comparison is not to far off, if not correct.

True Zidane was an amazing player, no doubt one of the best.

But sometimes i just feel people here romanticize the past way too much EDIT: Not saying Iniesta is miles better than Zidane, also not trying to start a flame war

by Casciavit Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:32 pm

Iniesta isn't better than Zidane. Zidane is better, but they're not miles apart, in fact I think its quite close.

sportsczy wrote:as good as iniesta is, he's about 5 levels below zizou. just cannot control things like zidane.

pls go

Arquitecto wrote:When people let go of their nostalgic nonsense and comprehensively scrutinize each player rather than glorifying Zidane to unrealistic proportions on this forum, they will realize the comparison is not to far off, if not correct.

+1

by Eivindo Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:15 pm

Arquitecto wrote:When people let go of their nostalgic nonsense and comprehensively scrutinize each player rather than glorifying Zidane to unrealistic proportions on this forum, they will realize the comparison is not to far off, if not correct.

by RealGunner Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:35 pm

There is no Nostalgia involved. I have seen Zidane in his prime and i am seeing Iniesta in his prime. Zidane is simply better but the gap is indeed not far off. It's not 5 levels but maybe 3ish.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:38 pm

There always nostalgia involved when discussing past players....

You can deny it if you wish, you can even believe it but fact is the past always has been and always will be overrated in any entertainment medium you can think of.

I'm not even going to get involved in the debate because its a waste of time with both sides being blinded by delusion to what ever side they wish to pick.

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