Was Merlin as good as Xavi and Iniesta?

Yes. And to put my bias to one side both Iniesta was more ambifooted and Xavi the better finisher.
 
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David Silva was my favourite player ever when he was with Valencia, I thought he was mesmerising to watch without being flashy and when we signed him it was one of my best days as a City fan of 45+ years.
I think he was at least the equal of both Xavi and Iniesta and personally would say that he was better than both.
Xavi and Iniesta were arguably surrounded by better players in their prime in a much weaker league. David could do what they did while having lumps kicked out of him and then would dish it back out to the cloggers in spades. If Silva had played in Spain he would have been much better utilised by their national team I suspect and his greatness would be better recognised.
For me David Silva is the greatest attacking midfielder this country has ever seen bar none.
In reality, this is a bit of an unwinnable argument as all three players were some of the best in the world but all had varying skill sets with different pros and cons to their game, meaning they would work differently in each team.
Attempting to definitively decide 'the best' is a fools errand but there's only 1 I'd sell every single thing I own to see play on the Eastlands pitch one more time.
 
Xavi around 2009-2011 is probably as good as it gets and I hold him as the best midfielder of my lifetime. With that said, wouldn’t have traded anyone with Merlin who I would say definitely was on par with Iniesta.
 
daztrueblue91 said:
All three were unbelievable players. I think if you replaced Xavi or Iniesta with Silva then the Barca team would have been brilliant but not as good as it was.

However, I don’t think Iniesta or Xavi would have had the same influence Silva did in the PL.

I think Rodri is above them all though.
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I don't think rodri is anywhere near any of them. Opinions are funny things aren't they?

Silva is my favourite ever player. I don't know if he's better than the other two though. It's a tricky one but he's probably third out of them, but he's definitely the hardest
 
jimharri said:
I'm amazed a certain poster hasn't been on here yet to say how Dave wasn't fit to lace Kinkladze's boots.
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Kinkladze is the most overrated player in the clubs history.

couldnt even get in the team all the time when we were getting relegated and in division 1

went to ajax couldnt get in their team
went derby also couldnt get in their team
 
David, Ferna and Kev was our equivalent of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. However all three were different than the Barca three so comparing them is futile.
 
jamesha said:
As someone else said if Dave had been at Barcelona as a lad then I am sure that he would have been just as celebrated and successful as the Xavi and Iniesta.
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Fair assessment, I saw him described as one of the most Barcelona players to never play for Barcelona. He'd have been immortalised there.
 
Guess the question would be… if you took Xavi or Iniesta out of those Barca sides and replaced them with David, would they have been any worse off?
 
blueparrot said:
Not quite,but close. Not sure he got in the Spain midfield 3 when Busquets,Iniesta and Xavi were at their peak, think more often he played wider, if I remember right.
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Tended to play further up on the right for Spain or as a 9 occasionally
 
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