France 1998 or Spain 2010 ?

[alpal78]

WHAT? Have people gone mental? Honestly, im pretty young but the best player ive ever watched is Zidane, and then Ronaldo. Crazy how people would prefer Xavi (good player) to Zidane.

 

There no question about it who is hte better and who will be the best remembered. However, it is a hard question answer which one of France 98' or Spain 2010 is the better team.

 

I'd go for Spain 2010, purely based on the fact that they can still achieve more and the 98' France was pretty old tbh.

 

I'm with you on this, I mean Xavi is probably the best passer in the world right now. But there is no way he can be compared to Zidane, the man is just from a different planet and one of the few players that delivers at the highest level (finals of WC and CL). In Madrid, they use to say "silent the orchestra is playing" in reference to Zidane.

[Guest BooBoo]

Shearer. 

[Village Idiot]

Zidane only won two major titles in 5 years at Madrid.

 

Xavi has a bigger trophy cabinet actually.

[Keefaz]

Oh fuck off, man, he was lush.

[Guest firetotheworks]

I should learn my lesson tbh. It's not possible to mention 2 players in the same sentence without people think that you're directly comparing them as players.

 

 

It shouldn't need spelling out, but Xavi and Zidane are completely different types of players. My preference in a team would be Xavi because I think he's more useful. However, I can obviously see that Zidane is the better all-round player.

[madras]

Zidane only won two major titles in 5 years at Madrid.

 

Xavi has a bigger trophy cabinet actually.

david may has many more medals than alan shearer.

[M4]

If you had a 40 or so game campaign ahead you'd probably be better off picking Xavi. But for WC campaigns or one off matches Zidane, the guy had a knack to turn it on when it mattered most.

[Village Idiot]

Zidane only won two major titles in 5 years at Madrid.

 

Xavi has a bigger trophy cabinet actually.

david may has many more medals than alan shearer.

 

Xavi has been a cornerstone of the teams he's won those medals with.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Ah man, don't bring stats into it lads. Football is an art, not graphic fucking design.

[Village Idiot]

Then yes, Zidane was flashier and a more stylish footballer than Xavi. Again, different players. Although I have seen Xavi do 360º turns too

[alpal78]

Zidane only won two major titles in 5 years at Madrid.

 

Xavi has a bigger trophy cabinet actually.

david may has many more medals than alan shearer.

 

Xavi has been a cornerstone of the teams he's won those medals with.

 

First of all depends on your definition of what constitutes "major titles". But more importantly more medals simply mean that Barcelona has been a better team than Madrid, though we are comparing two different time period.

 

Regardless it is safe to say that the titles that Xavi won has been more of a team effort which is the ethos for both Barcelona and Spain. When Xavi single handedly wins Spain a World Cup Final, then he can be placed in the same bracket with the likes of Zidane. Till then he is the inferior player.

[Village Idiot]

Not his fault that he doesn't need to?

 

Plus for all the talk about Zidane growing in big games, Xavi was simply immense in the EC 2008 and CL 2009 finals. But I guess if you don't score it doesn't count.

[alpal78]

Not his fault that he doesn't need to?

 

Plus for all the talk about Zidane growing in big games, Xavi was simply immense in the EC 2008 and CL 2009 finals. But I guess if you don't score it doesn't count.

 

True not his fault but that means we can't say that he can individually win a game the way Zidane can. There is a difference between being immense and winning the world cup final for your team. Xavi has not done that.

 

Anyway if you want to believe that Xavi is as good as Zidane, please go ahead, but outside of blinkered fans of Barcelona and Spain, very few will agree with you.

[Andy]

Xavi is the best midfielder I have seen in my lifetime. Not just his passing accuracy, but his positioning, his vision, his time on the ball, and his ability to wiggle his way out of impossibly tight situations in the center of the park are literally second to none.

 

Completely different type of player to Zidane though. You might as well compare Baresi and Van Basten.

[Village Idiot]

Not saying he is better since they are completely different players as I said from the start. But certainly I consider them in the same bracket of greatness. Also think Zidane is overrated due to his performances in finals, incidentally. He wasn't that influential over a season.

 

Zidane was awesome, but most Madrid people consider him in the same bracket as Maradona, Cruyff et al which is absolutely daft.

[Wullie]

Zidane was a genius but not because of what he did in the world cup final, comparing him and xavi using that single event is ridiculous. He headed in two corners ffs.

[tmonkey]

Spain would dominate possession no doubt. Whether they'd break a strong French defense down or not is a bit more troubling. Lizarazu, Thuram, Desailly, Petit, Deschamps, Lebouf, all in top form that night - difficult for anyone to get past.

 

But I think they'd win (the Spanish). Don't think France were good at all in that competition, and the final was more a case of the Brazilians throwing their toys out of the pram than the French being exceptional overall (only really in defense). I.e. irrespective of what happened to Ronaldo that night, the Brazilians turned up expecting to steamroller what looked like a very ordinary French side, found every gate shut because of an organised and resolute French defense, then either gave up or were too frustrated to do anything else. The Spanish on the other hand are a different animal in terms of mentality - they're not perturbed by a side pulling a defensive job on them. They'll just keep on playing the way they do, keep on dominating possession, keep on pressing at an insane tempo, entirely confident in their ability to eventually work an opening, and bar the one-off result against Switzerland that served as a mini wake-up call of sorts, they'll usually dispatch a side looking to primarily defend.

[Fugazi]

Zidane in '98 vs Xavi in '10?

 

Zidane wasn't quite at his peak in '98.

[Adam]

Can we rename the thread Xavi vs Zidane ?

 

p.s Xavi wins

[Incognito]

Xavi is a world class player.

Zidane is one of the greatest players ever.

Different type of player,but Zidane was a fucking genius man.

[Guest n4e]

Spain definitely.

 

And from a personal view, I never understood the hype about Zidane.

 

Can't understand that at all. Best player I've ever seen, done it in the biggest ganes of the biggest stages aswell.

[Kaizero]

Spain definitely.

 

And from a personal view, I never understood the hype about Zidane.

 

Can't understand that at all. Best player I've ever seen, done it in the biggest ganes of the biggest stages aswell.

 

Pretty much this, greatest player I've seen out of those active since I was born.

[alpal78]

Zidane was a genius but not because of what he did in the world cup final, comparing him and xavi using that single event is ridiculous. He headed in two corners ffs.

 

Wullie I can see your point and indeed there is more to Zidane than the 2 headers he scored in the final. But equally I don't think it is fair to refer to them as just "headers from corners". Are you suggesting that headers from corners are easy to score from? I would disagree because during corners, players are usually tightly marked and it takes movement, excellent timing and perfect execution to score the way he did....twice.

 

Moreover, many brilliant players freeze when it comes to playing in the WC (English players are testament of this) let alone the WC final, to score two goals in the finals requires loads of confidence, nerves of steel and incredible match temperament at the highest level. Whilst the two goals do not adequately describe Zidane, it is a good representation of the type of player that he is, one of the legends of world football. Xavi needs to do more to enter this bracket. Xavi is a vital/indispensable piece of the Spanish/Barcelona masterpiece which includes the likes of Iniesta and Messi. France and Madrid (admittedly to a lesser extent) were synonymous with Zidane.

 

 

 

[Guest firetotheworks]

Xavi is a world class player.

Zidane is one of the greatest players ever.

Different type of player,but Zidane was a f***ing genius man.

 

Can we not just agree that they're both geniuses, but in different ways?

[mrmojorisin75]

Xavi is a world class player.

Zidane is one of the greatest players ever.

Different type of player,but Zidane was a f***ing genius man.

 

Can we not just agree that they're both geniuses, but in different ways?

 

no, that'd make sense

 

my perspective:

 

xavi controls every game he plays in but he does it from much deeper on the pitch and thus can appear ordinary to the untrained eye

 

zidane didn't control as much (%) of the game or i'd say as many game as xavi does but he also played higher up the pitch so when he did turn it on he lit the games up and that's what we remember about him so fondly

 

you're right Kid Icarus, very different types of player so a pointless comparison really

 

xavi will always be underestimated 'cause of where he plays on the park and how often he puts in performances though - his consistency marks him as one of the all time great midfielders for me...he'd be the first name on my team sheet 'cause you'd know he'd make it hard for the other team to get the ball