El Senior - Xabi Alonso

Easily the best Nick.

We will agree to disagree. Alonso is excellent, specially his long passes, they are inch perfect. But his passing on the ground isnt as good.

Fair enough his long passing is the best in the world. I agree his ground passing is second to players like Xavi but that is because he lacks agility.

His long passing is probably on par with Pirlo's, who in his prime was just unbelievable.

As for the ground passing, i dont think it has anything to do with his agility, you either can pass or you cant.

Disagree if you can play 50 yard passes inch perfect playing 4 yard passes like Xavi does 500 times a game shouldn't be so hard.

Ground passes don't require as much accuracy imo it requires movement and great ball control under pressure something Alonso is not good at like we saw against Barca.

Xavi who has good accuracy and amazing control under pressure with quick moment is a better ground passer.

Of course he can pass 4 yards out, anyone can do that. What I believe Nick is saying is that he doesn't have the ground passing vision as the likes of Xavi, Valeron, Laudrup, etc. His long passing is as good as Pirlo in his prime, then again, that was always his forte...

EarlyPrototype wrote:Disagree if you can play 50 yard passes inch perfect playing 4 yard passes like Xavi does 500 times a game shouldn't be so hard.

Ground passes don't require as much accuracy imo it requires movement and great ball control under pressure something Alonso is not good at like we saw against Barca.

Xavi who has good accuracy and amazing control under pressure with quick moment is a better ground passer.

Ground passing isnt about playing 4 yard passes though. You have to take into account the range, the accuracy -how well timed they are in function of the player the ball is going to, how difficult they are -playing through balls in between a maze of players for ex, how many players you beat with your short passing..etc. It's all tie up with vision ofc, but the most important thing, is the consistency of the whole package. Xavi is that good at it because he consistently and effortlessly pulls out difficult and accurate passes.

Xabi has very good accuracy and power, but i dont rate him the same. He can certainly pull up great passes to open up the game, but i dont see him creating opportunities and space with through balls alone, as consistently.

Also, differentiate movements and passing, they arent the same thing. Releasing the ball with your feet doesnt depend of how well you can turn and twist. you can argue that xavi puts himself in better conditions to play the way he does, but even after turning, he still has to kick the ball, which is a very different action.

It's not that simple, otherwise shat for brain Lass would be a terrific passer. Just look at Di Maria, same thing, great imagination to play hard passes, but lack the efficiency to pull them off.

The range and accuracy can easily be executed by Alonso.

We have seen multiple times this season Alonso execute ground passes through multiple players. It is not the vision he lacks it the movement and yes like you mentioned my point about the movement is that it puts him in better positions by being able to turn like Xavi.

Xavi does not even create many opportunities by providing the final defense splitting ball even that comes down to Messi in the end.

Lass can't pass in the first place though lol.

A mate of mine has amazing passing accuracy and vision, but when it comes down to a real match he struggles to display his passing and show off his vision because of his lack of creating space for himself and control on the ball and lack of speed at the same time.

EarlyPrototype wrote:The range and accuracy can easily be executed by Alonso.

We have seen multiple times this season Alonso execute ground passes through multiple players. It is not the vision he lacks it the movement and yes like you mentioned my point about the movement is that it puts him in better positions by being able to turn like Xavi.

Xavi does not even create many opportunities by providing the final defense splitting ball even that comes down to Messi in the end.

Lass can't pass in the first place though lol.

A mate of mine has amazing passing accuracy and vision, but when it comes down to a real match he struggles to display his passing and show off his vision because of his lack of creating space for himself and control on the ball and lack of speed at the same time.

What i highlighted in red is simply true because Xavi isnt playing as consistently well as he used to. Xavi has been playing killer passes for barcelona for a very long time now. Sure, Alonso has the vision and accuracy to do it once in a while, but not as consistently as Xavi. He is simply better and more gifted passer.

Still feel like you have a wrong conception of how much mobility impact the passing. Both are very different actions, you can turn ans twist, but then you have to pass the ball. Xavi uses his agility to evade markers, face the opposition side, but then he has to release the ball. His agility does not make his passers better, it simply helps him evade pressure more easily. It's an argument for him being an more interesting DLP. but that's as far as it goes.

Again, we are talking about pure accuracy, not how good they are as players. It's not as if Xabi has someone on his back all the time, but even when he has room to play the way he wants, he still doesnt pull out the kind of passes xavi does consistently.

For some reason, i have in mind a pass that Xavi played in finals of the last CL, completely destroyed the whole united backline, and it's a play he make consistently. I dont think it's true for Alonso.

A guy like Guti wasnt exactly a ballerina, but his ground passing was still fantastic, just like Valeron or Riquelme for example.

When it comes to releasing the ball Alonso is second to none, but he is not in the best position to release the ball all the time because he is bad under pressure there is a reason why he always plays his best passes from the half way line because he is under little if any pressure and he has all the time he needs to execute the pass.

Xavi is only a better passer when it comes to possesion football though and I dont rate him as midfielder known to provide the final pass and he does not split backlines consistently, but obviously a world class passer like Xavi will be able to split a defense once in a while.

Is Ozil a better passer than Alonso? no, but Ozil will still be able to play killer passes because of mobility combine Ozil moment, Speed, Dribbling and control with Alonso's vision and passing and you have a God.

I am a great ground passer my self and I simply believe that because of my movement and personal experience but if you ask me to play a 50 yard pass I will struggle LOL. Like Xavi I can turn create space and play the simple pass.

The difference between Alonso and Xavi is Xavi has agility and can go from box to box playmaking.

Which means Xavi can make Alonso type DLP passes and he can make Ozil AM type passes.

Xabi can "play make" from his side of the pitch.

Watch Xabi play without Xavi for Spain he can do ground passes well.

Just watch any Madrid game where he does exactly that.

Not too often you see Alonso comps

bossed the valencia game. motm

I agree. Easily motm.

Player of the season so far as well.

Diarra(AKA Makelele 2.0) > Alonso imo

Immaculate_Mole wrote:Diarra(AKA Makelele 2.0) > Alonso imo

bahahahaha! Immaculate_Troll strikes again!

GQ Spanish sportsman of the year.

Zealous wrote:GQ Spanish sportsman of the year.

He's married to Morticia Adams? How ... Kinky. And brave. He's a true man.

Now that you mention it they do kind of give off the Gomez and Morticia vibe xD

Xab's lady is milftastic though.

Zealous wrote:Now that you mention it they do kind of give off the Gomez and Morticia vibe xD

And, occasionally, he hangs out with Lurch and cousin it:

Xab's lady is milftastic though.

True that.

Zealous wrote:GQ Spanish sportsman of the year.

BOSS!