Was Merlin as good as Xavi and Iniesta?

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Dave.

 

[Dax777]

In the 2010 World Cup, he barely featured: played the first hour of the opening game against Switzerland but then only played 4 more minutes in the whole tournament.

Played much more of the 2012 Euros, but only out wide, never in his best central attacking midfield position.

Around that time, he was quite a way short of being as good as them.

But 2016-2020 David Silva was almost as good as they were at their best.

This is the right answer. They had slightly different peaks. Xavi an Iniesta's were a bit earlier than Merlin's.

I personally rate Xavi the highest of all the Spanish midfielder in that era. Then Merlin and Iniesta are a tier below Xavi. I personally wont take Iniesta over Merlin. In that sense, i think Iniesta was slightly overrated. Was the most talented, sure, But Xavi was a far superior footballer and Merlin was significantly more productive.


The others from that era were in a 3rd tier below those 2. Its possible, Fabregas may be n that 2nd tier. But Xavi stood alone for me at the top. Then Merlin

 

[blue_danube]

I would put them slightly above

 

[Danny Tiatto]

Three top world class players but I would still take Declan Rice before any of them in my team though

 

[alexmcity]

Xavi made the top 3 of Ballon d'Or 3 times, Iniesta too. Xavi won player of the Euro's in 2008, Iniesta in 2012. These two are amongst the greatest midfielders.

A better comparison would be KdB. KdB was great in the CL, scored/assisted many goals in CL quarters and semis, and won it as part of the Treble while breaking multiple records in England, especially the 4 in a row. Made the top 10 of Ballon d'Or 5 times vs 0 for David or Yaya. Also, KdB led Belgium to 3rd place in the WC back in 2018 as one of the outstanding players of the tournament.

Of course, one can invent a conspiracy against David (or Yaya) to explain why neither of them was voted top 10 in the world at least once. The truth is they didn't impress in the CL or weren't *the* best in record-breaking domestic seasons. The greatest players lead their teams to historical achievements, including the CL, like KdB or Rodri (who is criminally underrated by some on here).

 

[ali benarbia's studs]

Love David Silva....he was close.

Xavi like Pirlo was a baller and dead ball master.
Iniesta was a different position,on top of being a baller he drew fouls in key places for a Xavi free kick. They were a proper duo. All 3 ( x,i & ds) played their part during the Spanish dominance of World football.

We just had the joy of seeing David week in week our in Sky Blue.

 

[PabZabb]

Yes.

 

[stonerblue]

Think we could add Vitinha to the list in a couple of seasons.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Yes. And he would have been even better had he played for lfc or utd or bayern etc. Thats the way it works. /see vinicious junior - One of the best in the world apparently

 

[01cravend]

Xavi an entirely different type of player, the heartbeat of two of the best teams of all time and imo the best straight up CM in the modern era.

Dave clears iniesta in the final 3rd(almost triple the goals and more assists for Spain in less games for a start).. The latter output actually pretty poor considering he also played LW a lot(Fabregas ect CM). In close spaces, dribbling and linking play I'd have Iniesta above. Defensive work Dave superior. Iniesta was a brillaint dribbler/ball carrier which always raises the eye test reputation but his output pretty poor for the reputation he has.

1. Xavi
2. Dave
3. Iniesta

 

[Stoned Rose]

Not much in it.

The bigger question is were Xavi and Iniesta a better combination than peak Dave and Kev?

 

[Stoned Rose]

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.

Mate you were fucking smashing that until that last sentence.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Yes. In a way I'm kind of sad for him that he spent his career here because had he gone to Barca and played with them, he would be central in every single conversation about them.

 

[alexmcity]

had he gone to Barca and played with them, he would be central in every single conversation about them.

"Had Fabregas/Yaya played for Barcelona, he would be central in every single conversation about them."

It's a fallacious argument that conflates hypothesis and reality. It sounds plausible, but it is still quite hypothetical. There are many examples of great players who weren't great at Barca or Real.

David played next to Xavi and Iniesta for Spain, scored more than them, but I doubt you can find many Spain fans who think he was as good as them. David Villa scored 59 goals for Spain, he is their all-time top scorer, but few think he was anywhere near as good as Xavi and Iniesta.