Xavi is the most overrated football player in the whole history of this sport. Yes, even more than Pele.
Let me explain. First of all his senior career in Barca lasted 17 years, between 1998 and 2015. Of those 17 he played really well for 4 years, between 2008 and 2012. 1998-2008 he was mediocre, nobody except Barca fans even noticed him, he was nothing special. 2012-2015 he was sabotaging Barca whenever he was on the pitch, he was too slow, took too long to make decisions, he was just slowing the game so much it was ridiculous.
Now, those 4 years when he played well. He played in arguably the best club team ever and arguably the best national team ever. Both teams had played in a system that was tailor-made for him.
Now his play style. He was just a guy who controlled the tempo. Most of his passes were to the nearest teammate, he rarely took any risks, compared to other generals of the midfield he got very few defence-splitting passes, spectacular assists, inhumanly accurate long balls etc. While truly great midfielders were always out there, always looking for the opening, he was safely on his own half exchanging passes with Pique, Busquets and often even Valdes.
Yes, he was good. Yes, he was important for his team. Yes, he worked perfectly in his role on the pitch.
But he's nowhere near the best midfielder of all times. He's massively overrated. If you took him out of his tiki-taka safe space and put him in a different team he would be completely exposed.
Paul scholes is the most overatted footballer of all time.
Parker Martin
>He's massively overrated. If you took him out of his tiki-taka safe space and put him in a different team he would be completely exposed.
just like putting gerrard or lampard in his role would have perform 10 times worse than xavi
Zachary Bailey
People only said they rate Xavi because they don't want to admit to liking Iniesta, because he's so creepy looking.
Carson Price
This.
Joseph Thompson
Xavi controlled the tempo of all the matches at his prime,something that someone like Pirlo could never acomplished. If you judge a player by flashy matches,you are doing it all wrong.
Adam Harris
No, Michael Bradley is.
Jackson James
delet
Cameron Nelson
>something that someone like Pirlo could never acomplished.
You're a fucking spastic, deformed, mentally ill shitskin manlet.
I literally hope you die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Evan Gutierrez
Pirlo >>>>>>> Xavi
Wyatt Lee
Pirlo was mediocre compared to Xavi in his prime.
Nolan Edwards
Pirlo can't even handle the MLS
Jace Myers
put Pirlo into Guardiola's Barca and he would still be brilliant, put Xavi into any team Pirlo played for and he would be exposed as not even half the player Pirlo was
Luke Morales
He'll always be the 2nd most overrated midfielder as long as Pirlo exists
That's my take on this subject
Nicholas Jackson
>2key passes in CL FINALS(2009.2011) >2 key passes in EURO FINALS(2008 to torres 2012 when pirlo did nothing) >key passes and goals in classicos >key pass in semi in WC 2010 to puyol
you are just an idiot. xavi is best playmaker ever.
Samuel Reed
The valuable comment of someone whose skin is the literal color of feces.
Ryder Brooks
>37 year old alcoholic He doesn't care anymore. See --> Xavi was a system babby with good ball control and short pass, nothing more.
Jordan Hughes
top fucking kek
Luke Cox
Xavi wasnt a system baby,he was the system. When you get this,you will understand everything
I think Xavi is overrated but I agree that he shits all over Pirlo
Pirlo without Dorf and Rino(or Vidal and Marchisio) is fucking nothing
Xavi is better than him at >Passing >Dribbling >Close Control >Controlling the tempo >Actually being mobile unlike that static fuck Pirlo >Making the occasional run into the box >Defense >Stamina >Speed >Doesn't play in front of the defense so he won't fuck up as much >Will play other positions in the midfield without complaining like a bitch(like Pirlo did back when Van Bommel rightly dethroned him and refused to play LCM so he left)
Pirlo is only better at him in >Free Kicks
That's about it
Aiden Sanders
What's with these retarded polack? Man I miss the based pole who always wrecked everyone in threads with good posts Glad brexit is fucking that country over
Jonathan Long
Nope See this And I will never forget Pirlo literally not giving a shit in for his last 5 years at Milan while collecting 6 million euro wages and fixing his hair in a middle of a game instead of focusing in the damn match
Alexander Foster
Is that why hardly exceptional player like Rakitic replaced him just fine? Fitting inside slow paced possesion system and 99% pass accuracy doesn't make player the player fantastic, much less the best of his generation.
Julian Clark
what an obscene oversimplification
they sort of added neymar and luis suarez in the process ....
Hunter White
That doesn't make their system of play radically different, it's similiar 433 shitty-caca. Xavi proved to be easily replaceable.
Evan Brooks
Xavi and iniesta GOAT duo. fuck off.
Camden Cooper
>thread about xavi >xavifags start shitting on pirlo top kek I didn't know about this obsession
Ryan Walker
You are insane Pirlo is better than Xavi in every aspect except mobility and the difference is not even that big. And he was the best at this position for most of his carreer.
And Xavi did play at the same position as Pirlo when he started being recognized on his late carreer.
Also Pirlo had only one and a half bad year at Milan. Don't let his bad behaviour when he left blind you. He was just bitter because Galliani din't respect him. Don't forget his tears at his last training.
Isaiah Murphy
>rakitic replaced Xavi just fine I hate this place, full of casual retards
Jack Stewart
The system changed quite a bit. And relies way more on the strikers than it did before
Jose Martinez
except messi is a deep lying playmaker now since they have other elite finishers
Easton Harris
You are getting all this wrong m8. Xavi was great before 2008, they just put him on a way more defensive rol. When Aragonés and Guardiola put him in a more offensive position,he crushed the opposition in every single match.
Juan Cooper
Barcelona's system didn't suffer after Xavi's departure like Milan's or Juve's play did after Pirlo left. If Xavi indeed was as legendary as Barca fanboys claim, the difference would be noticeable. >who is Eto'o >2008-2012 Barca didn't have Messi
Aaron Jenkins
Except he's not and he's an overrated fairy
Ethan Bell
>messi is a deep lying playmaker Do you know what deep lying playmaker is? It's what Pirlo played all his career, are you saying that's what Messi does now?
Josiah Brooks
>Xavi was great before 2008
No he wasn't. He wasn't bad or anything, but he was "only" good. Decent player, sure, but nothing more. He was injured for like half a year during 2005/06 season and Barca didn't even notice he was gone, that's how forgettable and replaceable he was.
Jordan Smith
>He was just bitter because Galliani din't respect him. Holy fucking bullshit kek you Pirlofags are delusional
Galliani respected him too much Should have sold him to Chelsea in 2008 Instead Uncle Fester decided to extend him and the rest of the oldies and in particular Pirlo had a very high wage while being shit for FOUR YEARS STRAIGHT
I wanted Pirlo out way before the Scudetto season I wanted Pirlo out way before he turned out to be a total cunt(which was not that surprising)
Kevin Baker
>Comparing Etoo,with Suarez and Neymar >Implying that Messi didnt play other rol at the time Barça with Xavi didnt rely on strikers as much as they currently do .There has been an obvious shift on the playstyle
Daniel Hughes
that's not ALL he does but he's the best ever and probably the best passer ever. do you even watch barca games? saying rakitic replaces xavi hurr is just fucking retarded. they added suarez, neymar, and shifted messi who is the goat.
Blake Harris
Don't want to throw more oil on fire but this particuliar year Pirlo was the playmaker and best player of the world champion.
Angel Wilson
he was a borderline benchwarmer before 2008
Wyatt Robinson
He played really good matches,he was just put on a very defensive rol. If Pirlo was put on the same defensive rol as Xavi,he wouldn't have shine at all. When Aragonés realizes about this,Spain steamrolls the EC. Later on Guardiola did the same thing,and created one of the best squads in history
Aiden White
>Barcelona's system didn't suffer after Xavi's departure like Milan's or Juve's play did after Pirlo left. Confirmed for not watching Milan and talking shit Pirlo was irrelevant in 2010/11 season when we won the Scudetto
And Milan was even better in 2011/12 but suffered from >heavy injuries >galliani not strengthening the team buying players like aquameme and other fodders as usual >refballed by Juve
And other players like Vidal and Tevez also left Juve too and Juve still won the scudetto and made it to the Quarters of CL or whatever
Aiden Jackson
That' not what Messi does at all, is what you wanted to say. He dropped deeper from his original wing position or central finisher, so he's like trequartista now. DLP and Messi's current Barca role are absolutely different roles. >Rakitic The fact he plays in Xavi's position and he does well there while being inferior to Modric in every way says a lot about Xavi's "irreplaceable talent".
Juan Howard
Yeah, he should've sell him to Chelsea because he wanted to. That's where the direspect started. Kakà, ok? Sheva, ok? Not him?
Well for me i wanted him to come back from injury and help us it was exactly what we needed to be a LDC contender again. Just imagine if we had him and not a Zlatan only centred team.
But yeah he's kind of a cunt. But doesn't change the fact that he's a genius.
Jace White
>If Pirlo was put on the same defensive rol as Xavi,he wouldn't have shine at all. He was It's just Pirlo had Gattuso,Dorf and one of the best defenses of all time to cover for his shit
These idiots have no idea what they're talking about Pirlo was not even the best midfielder at Milan
Asher Lee
>The most overrated football player in the whole history of sport.
Damn, seems like you never heard about "the best central back" of 2012.
Kayden Ross
Who was better than him? Kakà the striker?
Nolan Fisher
>He was just a guy who controlled the tempo. >Most of his passes were to the nearest teammate, he rarely took any risks, compared to other generals of the midfield he got very few defence-splitting passes, spectacular assists, inhumanly accurate long balls etc 'I didn't watch him play most of his career'
Dylan Turner
>Pirlo was irrelevant in 2010/11 Can you elaborate? I don't remember the season clearly, it was a while. The way I perceived it Pirlo always was a key component in Milan's play, even more so during successful CL campaigns year before. >Vidal and Tevez Juve didn't miss these two players at all. Vidal had a horrible season when Allegri deployed him as AM behind strikers, just running around like a headless chicken and getting twenty someting mil for him from Bayern was a good deal. Dybala (10 years younger than Tevez) does Tevez's job and still has potential to improve and surpass him significantly. What they lacked was the composure in playmaking (Pirlo), with Marchisio being injured for a long time and Hernanes being shit.
Jackson Carter
>successful CL campaigns year before *years before
John Williams
I will elaborate for you. He was injured for half of the season and just came back for the end of it.
Kaka carried Milan on his back from 2004 to 2008, and was the best player in the world easily in 2007 destroying every team he seen. Milan hasn't been the same ever since he left.
Nicholas Cooper
>injured for half a season >Albania wonders why he didn't contribute much It's a mystery
Isaac Torres
What about Kaka and Sheva? They always performed well for Milan and always gave it their all
No that's not when "the disrespect" started We didn't find that out 'till he published it in his book I don't give a shit about that at all anyways it's a complete nonefactor
Pirlo underperformed and didn't give a shit for 4 years straight while collecting fat checks(and I blame baldie for enabling him to do that for all those years)
Zlatan won us the first trophy since the Champions League you should wash your mouth with soap before ever talking shit about him
Building around a 31 year old player like Pirlo is the stupidest idea ever(and before you bring up the Gobbi they would have done just as well with another midfielder similar to him)
We should have replaced most of the old players when we won CL in '07 with new blood but instead Baldie chose to give them all new fat contracts to celebrate instead
Pirlo was not a genius He was a specialist midfielder at best who did some things great but was a very flawed player overall and if it wasn't for Milan he would have still been playing for Brescia
Blake Russell
What is Gattuso,Seedorf and Rui Costa?
Henry Evans
>Kaka carried Milan on his back from 2004 to 2008 More like 2006 to 2009 In 2004/5 we still had Sheva
Blake Sanders
World class player and some of my all time favorite. But behind Pirlo for me. And your 4 years straight is a lie. I agree we should've recruited after 2007 and not only rage buy Robinho and Zlatan after 3 years.
Selling Pirlo to Chelsea for over 50m was and recruiting was fine. Giving him some years later to Juve when he was the key member we needed to destroy everything in 2011-2012 was one of the biggest mistake ever.
Landon Murphy
>Can you elaborate? I don't remember the season clearly Of course you fucking don't because you didn't watch it and you're just shitposting
Pirlo was injured and missed most of the season
Allegri wanted to use him as LCM(which he had experimented with previously and worked pretty well) while having Van Bommel play as Anchor
Galliani introduced a rule of "over 30+ years old" players get only 1 year of contract extension(about fucking time) and Pirlo wanted 3 years(despite shitting the bed for 4 years previously) Goldentie rightly told him to get the fuck out and he went and joined the Gobbi
Pirlo was never that important in Champions League for Milan It's a meme
Chase Ward
>and before you bring up the Gobbi they would have done just as well with another midfielder similar to him Except there was no other midfielder like Pirlo during his Juve years. I guess you can question Pirlo's importance in Milan side ten years ago, but not his influence on Juve's recent dominance. >b-but they won the league without him Hardly a challenge these days. Milan clubs are dead, Roma is a meme and Napoli only have quality attacking players.
Ayden Diaz
All of them are better than Pirlo that's what
Gattuso was far more important for Milan
Dorf was the same shit as Pirlo actually(inconsistent and only played when he wanted) but he was far more talented and far more of a big game player than him
Pirlo is not even in the same stratosphere as Rui(and he never had a season as good as Rui's in 2002/03 and the latter was past his prime)
The midfield is the most overrated aspect of that Milan team anyways The defense,Cafu's and Serginho's crosses and the attack(Sheva,Inzaghi,Crespo,Kaka) was where it was at
Ayden Evans
Ronaldo was better than Kaka in 2007.
Jaxson Martin
>not remembering Pirlo being injured 6 years ago means I didn't watch it Ok
Selective memory i guess. And one of the reason of the last less good year of Pirlo was because we were lacking dominant wings.
Christopher Roberts
>Except there was no other midfielder like Pirlo during his Juve years Fucking lol What is Xabi Alonso?
>Hardly a challenge these days Guess what nigger? Ever since 2012/13 Milan has been a disaster Got rid of all the senatores(while replacing them with shite players) Inter has been a meme since 2011 too
And before you go look up 2012/13 and go "oh but Milan reached top 3 that season" it was literally fucking El Shaarawy which carried us for the first half of the season and then Allegri managed to solidify the team somehow,got Balotelli(who performed well) and meme magic'd our way to 3rd place
Reminder that our starting midfield that season consisted of guys like Montolivo,Muntari and Nocerino Reminder that Mexes was the new leader of defense
Jose Lopez
Pirlo started to be relevant precisely thanks to Xavi and tiki-taka style.
Lincoln Gomez
except he had all his major successess whe xavi and spain where still literalwhos
Zachary Green
Umm Seedorf was better than him that season(won CL best midfielder of the season) and had great performances vs Bayern and Manchester United
And that season was pretty much 90% Kaka anyways
Asher Lee
he wasn't "relevant" during 2006 World Cup, huh?
Jace Mitchell
> Who was the best playmaker of the world champion team. Voted 3th best player of tourney after Buffon and Zidane.
Daniel Turner
Guys like Pirlo and Scholes were irrelevant before Xavi made their meme role mainstream.
Joseph Perez
That doesn't make even remote sense. Pirlo never played in shitty-caca system, nor would his long passes suit it.
Austin Rogers
Pirlo was never relevant
Owen Morgan
Can't deny that, but ppl started to recognize his play style when Spain and Barcelona started to win everything, that is a fact.
Luke Hill
>Xabi Alonso Quality player and similiar to Pirlo, but not quite his level. About 90% of him, the 10% difference being the deadly precision of long passes which often decided the matches. Xabi was a long passer as well but not as effective as Juve Pirlo.
Brayden Smith
It's not hard being the best playmaker of Italy when he was the only playmaker on that team
Matthew Baker
It's only true for casual football fan or american i guess.
Cameron Brooks
And he was also the winner of the Ballon D'Or of that year... Oh wait, it was Cannavaro, Pirlo was 9th that year. Check where were Iniesta or Xavi the year Spain won the WC. There you have my point.
Samuel Garcia
no, he simply became more famous, his popularity wasn't about his playstyle but his persona he became more famous around 11/12 and it was because he had more international visibility with juve and italy where he was the main star (along with buffon) while previously he always played in teams with more marketable and famous players
Daniel Wood
Alonso is a better player He can defend too and doesn't need bodyguards watching his back like Pirlo
You put Pirlo in the mess that was Mourinho Madrid and you would see Pirlo underperform just like Xabi
Alonso would have killed it on the Milan team of 2002-2006 He would also be even better for Juve than Pirlo was
Blake White
Xabi is a way more valurable player than Pirlo. Mainly because he did a hell of a job defending.
Noah Hall
Meme "italy is a defensive team" too strong. He was the ballon d'or for me. Also big lobbying that year for a defensive player to get it for once.
Alexander Barnes
What is better?
Managing to stand out in midst of great marketable players(like Xavi)?
Or only managing to stand out when 90% of Italian Superstars retired(like Pirlo)?
Carson Carter
Meme D'or is irrelevant but Gattuso was better than him at the World Cup
Daniel Reyes
>Alonso is better because he can defend >Alonso is better because he performed in another team, in another system, under another manager Irrelevant arguments. Pirlo wasn't supposed to fulfill defensive roles like Xabi in Madrid where he played a holding midfielder in 4231. Juve needed a creative long passer with freedom of movement between midfield and defence and had other players to close down and tackle. The entire Juve formation was built around him and I seriously doubt Xabi could peform there as well as Pirlo did.
Robert Price
What is better?
Managing to stand out for most of your carreer and in different systems(like Pirlo)?
Or only managing to stand out when someone builts a system around your only single ability and only for 4 years of your carreer(like Xavi)?
Blake Kelly
Precisely because people started to valorate that kind of players that had a great vision of the game and made (or tried) their team to play a style that was dominant in the world. Also Pirlo already had won WC and CL in the 2011.
Levi Parker
Defensive skills are valueable in any player.
Hunter Miller
>people started to valorate that kind of players that had a great vision of the game that's been the case since Krol and Beckenbauer m8
Logan Williams
>Pirlo wasn't supposed to fulfill defensive roles Umm yes he fucking was you shitter He played in front of the defense end of discussion
James Martin
They all Messi babies IMO. Only Busquets is truly world class and will be remembered the way Makelele were. Yeah sure Iniesta, Xavi have more trophies than my country has clean towels but they played in a stacked system. Individually they would crash and burn like Thiago, Fabregas, Pedro, Valdes lol and many more from that golden generation.
Owen Roberts
Perhaps for you, but not for the world. As I said, he started to be relevant when Spain and Barça showed their style to the world winning everything.
Ethan Scott
The fuck are you on about mate?
Xabi >>>>>> Pirlo = Xavi
Thomas Rogers
What is better?
Only managing to be good when you have bodyguards covering your ass(like Pirlo)?
Or actually being able to play several Midfield positions very well(like Xavi)?
Camden Garcia
> Not understanding why being that influent being a 10 in front of the defense make him the genius he is
Easton Thomas
except he didn't replace him at all. barcelona are playing differently nowadays compared to xavi's barcelona.
if you weren't 16 years old you might have known that
Hunter Bailey
Busquets will be remembered as the biggest diving bitch ever Yaya Toure was much better than him desu