Guest HTT II Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 That Madrid vs Chelsea game was very good, Chelsea were great for large spells, but fell apart when Werner come off. That Modric pass… one of the best pass-to-assist combination I’ve ever seen. What a player he has been and still is. Emery showing how good he is tactically on the European stage once again. I hope Villarreal win it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRaspberryJam Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 That assist from Modric was delicious. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Benzema should be in the running for the Ballon d'Or! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newcastle Fan Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 43 minutes ago, HTT II said: Benzema should be in the running for the Ballon d'Or! Unless one of the Liverpool/Man City players decide both the league and the champions league titles i don't see who else deserves it more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 10 hours ago, tgarve said: Will people stop saying the champions league/ these big games are boring or shit now Throws up classics every season Surely they are referring to the almost pointless group stages? The KO rounds have always been good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 9 hours ago, The College Dropout said: I found last years competition terribly boring. Real Madrid were the most interesting thing about last season. chelsea vs City - what a terrible final. Oil money final. The covid season almost didn’t count. CL finals with two teams from the same country is always boring imo, even if the quality of the game is good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54 Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Thoughts on this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjohnson Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Just now, joeyt said: Thoughts on this? Xavi was a great cog in a perfect machine and justifiably considered one of the best. Modric is a totally different sort of player...one who runs the team rather than just making them tick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leffe186 Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 2 minutes ago, gjohnson said: Xavi was a great cog in a perfect machine and justifiably considered one of the best. Modric is a totally different sort of player...one who runs the team rather than just making them tick. Don’t think Modric is totally different at all…as a player. Very similar role in a team. To JPB’s point, Xavi was essentially a one-club player who was groomed from an early age as part of a team and system. Modric’s achievements are extraordinary because he wasn’t in that position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafalove Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 12 hours ago, Disco said: Camavinga was boss when he came on against PSG too. Didn't watch he match last night but I think he’s great. Has it in him to be literally any type of midfielder. He could be a Kante dm type or a Pirlo/Alonso deep lying playmaker type or box to box type or Xabi/ Modric type. In fact the biggest threat to his career is not defining a role early enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 11 minutes ago, joeyt said: Thoughts on this? Don't think it's clear cut enough to be able to say definitively who's the greatest or whatever, it's very much pick your favourite and they're both amazing. All I know is that Xavi's my pick of the two and for me he's the best midfielder I've seen in my lifetime. The points he makes are a bit weird though. In terms of consistency, I think I saw Xavi misplace a pass once in a decade. A longer career at the top level doesn't really make any sense - Xavi just started earlier and he's 6 years older than Modric. You could probably say he has more of a range, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Think Iniesta has to be in the discussion too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 I'd find it hard to put anyone in ahead of Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets as the best 3 I've ever seen, collectively or individually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 17 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said: I'd find it hard to put anyone in ahead of Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets as the best 3 I've ever seen, collectively or individually. I'd tend to agree, but there is a discussion to have regarding Kroos-Casemiro-Modric. They won the same amount of CL in less years together and controlled games in their own little way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 It's a weird point and a weird premise but I semi get it. They are different in the sense Xavi mostly played in teams that played a particular style. Dominated games and possession. And that worked beautifully - better than we've ever seen and Xavi was the fulcrum of that. And sometimes it just didn't work. The system was the best and Xavi was the best in it. Modric has performed brilliantly in teams that often look second best. And Modric pulls them through in different ways. Sometimes it's holding on when the chips are down and under pressure, sometimes it's on the ball passing and controlling. Modric's also a far more physical player and a lot more of a factor off the ball and running which has been key to his team's success. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Flip said: I'd tend to agree, but there is a discussion to have regarding Kroos-Casemiro-Modric. They won the same amount of CL in less years together and controlled games in their own little way. Modric has legit won 4. Xavi was a bench player for his first and the others have 3. Very different teams. You end up taling about character, "clutch" with RM. They can't compete physically these days for 90 minutes but can still pull out a massive performance. Camavinga has it all. Looks a bit green off the ball, you can see Modric gesturing him to move to certain positions. And sometimes too hasty on the ball. Doesn't seem a natural in the tackle yet either. But he's got mobility and can win the ball. Quick and skilful feet and a lovely left foot. Short and long passing is great. He's got the tools to go to the top. Carvajal looks done. Marcelo has looked done for at least 2 years but showed he still has class yesterday. Kroos has also been done for at least 2 years. Edited April 13, 2022 by The College Dropout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Fine margins, but I suppose Xavi and Inesta have their success at international level that gives them the edge over Modric and co. Appreciate they had better players around them (including one another), mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 11 minutes ago, toon25 said: Fine margins, but I suppose Xavi and Inesta have their success at international level that gives them the edge over Modric and co. Appreciate they had better players around them (including one another), mind. Compared to Xavi - Modric is more of an individual. Xavi won 3 international tournaments back to back but was he as impressive in any single tournament as Modric was in 2018? Again, it's that drive, character and ability of pushing teams forward that are at best equally-matched to their opponents and getting them over the line. While also being the consumate team player. Spain were the best team at each of those tournaments and maintained control for 90% of those games. Modric would grasp control when it would seem lost Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgk_lfc Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 18 hours ago, The College Dropout said: I’m a massive fan but Kante was diabolical. I think over the last six or seven years, Chelsea's success can be directly linked to Kante. If the manager gets Kante going they challenge for the PL and go deep in the CL. One of the most important, if not the most important, PL player in the last 10 years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Just saw that inside-out Modric assist for RM. Fucking hell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 31 minutes ago, rgk_lfc said: I think over the last six or seven years, Chelsea's success can be directly linked to Kante. If the manager gets Kante going they challenge for the PL and go deep in the CL. One of the most important, if not the most important, PL player in the last 10 years. I don't think he's even been there 7 years. Yes he's an all-time great. Won the biggest trophies and a key man. But he was diabolical over the 2 legs. His performances was a major difference between last years Semi and this uears Quarter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpie Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 2 hours ago, toon25 said: Fine margins, but I suppose Xavi and Inesta have their success at international level that gives them the edge over Modric and co. Appreciate they had better players around them (including one another), mind. I know it's not a trophy but a country the size of Croatia finishing 2nd in a World Cup is a pretty good achievement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groundhog63 Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 5 minutes ago, joeyt said: I know it's not a trophy but a country the size of Croatia finishing 2nd in a World Cup is a pretty good achievement Half a million more people than Uruguay who've been in the World Cup 13 times, winning it twice. Free from Yugoslavia, Croatia's record is mint. Scotland's population is 1.5m more as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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