Champions League 11/12: Page 29 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Champions League 11/12

Claudius

let's see. he has often been played out wide in the 4 3 3, so he can be considered a wide forward. like most attacking mids he's versatile, but for a long time he was played to the left of Ibra / Villa.

Captain

Villa played left.

Klaus

Yeah, Iniesta is a central midfielder who sometimes get stuck on the wing when someone's missing and Guardiola figures there's more to gain from playing a really good footballer out of position than starting with a mediocre backup. van Gaal and Rijkaard experimented with him up front when he was younger but I don't think he's played wide more than on the odd occasion for several years.

Claudius

That's fair, Klaus. I feel like I've seen him upper left half the time I've played Barca. I guess it's also due to the proliferation of central midfielders in the team that leads to him going out there due to his versatility. In any case, I think he's a good, versatile player, but certainly not a great one. If he was on a team without Messi and Xavi, I don't think he'd be as lauded as he is right now. Certainly a top 20 - 30 player in the world, but not top 3 as he's been voted in recent years.

Rex

Iniesta has played wide left more when Fabregas has been playing. He is not great there. All in all he isn´t productive enough to warrant all the praise he gets IMO.

Barcelona were robbed by the Swedish refs btw. Stonewall penalty. What is the point of the extra ref if he can´t make that decision? It happened 4 meters away from him and he had nothing blocking his view. Shocking. This was that 1 time in 100 when that is not a peno. 🙂

Captain

Claudius wrote:
That's fair, Klaus. I feel like I've seen him upper left half the time I've played Barca.

How good are they in real life?

But seriously, on form, Iniesta is better than Xavi.

Rex

He looks better because he has better pace than Xavi, but he has throughout his career been outright disappointing when it comes to scoring and assisting. He is Barcelona´s Hleb. 🙂

Captain

He looks better because he is better.

Xavi hasn't been a machine either, his stats aren't much different.

Rex

In all competions:

2011-2012:
Xavi - 16 goals 11 assists
Iniesta - 6 goals 9 assists

2010-2011:
Xavi - 5 goals 14 assists
Iniesta - 12 goals 12 assists

2009-2010:
Xavi - 6+19
Iniesta - 1+7

2008-2009:
Xavi - 16+34
Iniesta - 9+16

Huge difference.

Rex

This season and last season Walcott has better stats than Iniesta. 🙂
In roughly 30 less games...

Claudius

Stats-wise, he's just not impressive. I've seen him pull some moves on the field that make you sit up, and he's got great movement, but he's really just a rich man's Hleb. 🙂

Timbob

2 of the greats of the modern era. They're both stupendously good players.

Rex

Walcott and Iniesta? 🙂

Timbob

How anyone can say that Andres Iniesta is anything short of top notch, world class, amazing and one of the very best footballers on the planet and keep a straight face is beyond me.

Captain

Humble Rex wrote:
In all competions:

Huge difference.

Xavi is four years older, they are comparatively the same.

Rex

Iniesta is great, don´t get me wrong. IMO he does NOT belong on a 5 man shortlist for world player of the year though, and never has. Playing for Barcelona and Spain I think he scores and assists too little in relation to where he plays on the pitch to warrant that.

We all know football isn´t just about goals and assists, but you can´t completely disregard it since they are ultimately what matter. I only added Walcott as a comparison since he is all about stats really. If he doesn´t score or assist he is usually pretty poor.

This and last season, all comps:
Walcott - 20 goals, 23 assists, 74 games
Iniesta - 18 goals, 21 assists, 101 games

No one would dream of branding Walcott as one of the top 10 or even top 20 players in the world in the last 2 seasons, and yet he outperforms Iniesta in both goals and assists. He does so playing only 3/4 of the games Iniesta does as well!

Iniesta is great, but IMO he is also held in a bit too high regard world wide in relation to his actual output.

Mirth

Iniesta's amazing, top 10 easily. He could score more but that doesn't detract from his performances. For instance, He didn't score in the 09 CL final but he was the best player on the pitch.

Timbob

Iniesta is generally employed as a central midfielder though. He spends 75% of the game in the middle or defensive thirds.

Captain

He is absolutely world class.

Top 3, top 5, top 10 or top 30 doesn't matter; he would grace every team in world football.

Rex

I agree he is world class, but he is not among the top 10 players in the world for me, and he should never really be in the discussion when talking about world player of the year IMO.

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