He can cut defences open with passes, so can Cesc, Xavi, Ozil and other midfielders and Messi, and they do it "more often" than Iniesta does. Thing with Iniesta is that while he occasionally tries this killer through balls or Chip balls, he rarely tries them because he doesn't have much of an eye for them as Xavi, Cesc, Messi or even Ozil. He's done it 2x, you can't tell me that Barca hasn't had many more important games since the CL semi finals in 2007 or that Spain hasn't had other important games since the worldcup finals. While scoring in the WC finals would be remembered more (goal which Cesc assisted by the way), Cesc was the one who equalized against Italy at their EC12 opening game, so you can't say he hasn't scored an important goal. This is just not through cause Cesc was often the player that stood out in the Arsenal team when they met other top teams (and atleast he has proved he can succeed outside the barca/spanish system). Iniesta is great at controlling the midfield with his dribbles (which he by no means does alone by the way, Xavi,Busquets and Messi participates a lot in this aspect, especially Xavi), but how does that make him more decisive if he rarely sends in killer passes to the players in front of him or rarely scores or assists and rarely gets himself in scoring situations??? Things that Cesc does better than him by the way. While Iniesta's dribbling his way out of tight situations, Xavi despite being positionned a bit lower is often the one racking up the assists because he has an eye for those passes (so does Cesc and even Alves) and Messi's the one scoring and changing the game for Barca, while Torres & Villa (before the EC12) were the ones scoring for Spain NT. Don't know what you're talking about since Cesc has been an automatic starter for Barca this season and was also for most part of last season (he started in all their big games when he wasn't having any injury issues). As for the Spanish NT midfield, it's not his fault that Del Bosque prefers to play with a double pivot, that's not his position though he's also good at defending and will play there if asked too because he's very VERSATILE. Well he was good enough for Del Bosque to trust that he could use him as a false 9 though they hadn't played that system with him before. And Del Bosque chose Cesc to start the final (the most important game), so what's your point??? The striker position was the position where non of the real strikers in the team stood out (and Del Bosque obviously didn't trust Llorente), so he often used Cesc in that role cause he's a VERSATILE player, and he did pretty well there. Because he performed very well at the WC10 and EC12 (while having average seasons leading up to this competions). I can honnestly say that Iniesta general play has been much better and more productive these past 2 months than it was the whole of last season and the 09/10 season which is ironoc cause those were the seasons he finished 3rd in the ballon d'or voting.
You're kidding right? I can show you plenty of footage of Iniesta delivering plenty of defense splitting passes. Just because he doesn't get the final assist doesn't mean he didn't have a huge role in many plays. Well just off the top of my head, he opened the scoring in the CL semis versus Chelsea last year in the crucial last leg. Speaking of important games for Spain (not necessarily scoring in them) Iniesta was MOTM in the Euro 2012 final. He didn't score or assist in the final, once again proving stats don't mean everything. This makes me think you don't watch much of Iniesta. Iniesta is arguably the best dribbler and most frequent dribbler around the 18 box to either get himself in line to score or assist. His end line dribbles are a thing of beauty. You love those statistics don't you? How many goals and assists did Zidane usually provide? Not many. Yet he is seen as one of the best players to play the game. I watch every Barca game, and I can tell you with certainty the only automatic starters for Barca are Messi and Valdes. In most important games though both Cesc and Iniesta usually start. And they wouldn't have gotten to the final if they lost to Portugal, the game where Cesc did not start. In a single elimination tournament every game is important. Either way, it was well known Cesc was not establishing himself as a big enough threat in attack during Euro 2012. Since you like assists and decisive passes. Iniesta happens to have more assists then Messi and Cesc this season with 12.
In League past four seasons 09-13 (OPTA) Player - Games - Goals - Assists - Throughballs - Key Passes Messi - 126 - 148 - 52 - 122 - 254 Fabregas - 99 - 33 - 41 - 97 - 234 Iniesta - 105 - 12 - 29 - 60 - 157
You're proving my point.... stats don't mean everything. I was just throwing this year's assist numbers as icing on the cake
Ok Confucius....Should I list the legends of the game who have piss poor stats? Point is Iniesta can control the game and change the game with his silky freakish talent. Cesc just does not have that "it" quality Iniesta has. The reason this thread is so funny is there is only a small minority that would even consider Cesc on Iniesta's level. Experts and football fans around the world know this, why don't you?
Look, Iniesta is better player for me, not so much as you make it sound, but he is. But it's definitely not because he's better passer, more effective, or more decisive. Because he isn't.
Zidane club career totals: 681 app. 128 goals 92 assists - http://www.footballdatabase.eu/football.joueurs.zinedine.zidane.12.en.html http://soccer-europe.com/Biographies/Zinedine_Zidane.html Maradona club career totals: 490 app. 259 goals https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/career-stats-diego-maradona.145586/ Xavi career totals: 693 app. 84 goals 165 assists http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/xavier-hernandez-creus/leistungsdaten/spieler_7607_gesamt.html Gerrard career totals: 669 app. 158 goals 98 assists http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/steven-gerrard/leistungsdaten/spieler_3109_gesamt.html I'm not the best stat finder...I'd like to find stats on Laudrup, Gullit, and Platini, but I couldn't find any solid data. Also, it's hard to find a player to directly to compare to Iniesta. In the list has a player from each of the roles he could play. Maradona (more attacking), Zidane (AttMid and playmaker), Gerrard (AttMid), and Xavi (deeper midfielder) Back to topic, the main thing that serparates Iniesta is his uncanny dribbling and ball control. Close to Messi in ball control and more frequent tricks. El Illusionista
In which universe are those 'piss-poor stats' for the role they play? Maradona has over 300 assists by the way.
Piss poor was probably an exaggeration. The point was that people are obsessed with stats. Which they really aren't mind blowing. For instance Cesc already has better total stats then Zidane and almost the same as Xavi. Are you saying Cesc is on their level?
Probably somewhere in between. Only recently has he been playing further up in the attack third. He spends a lot of time in the midfield, even nowadays.
Oh sorry are we talking about who the best creative passer is? I'm arguing Iniesta is a better all around footballer...more talent, better player. Best yes, Cesc makes some nifty passes.