Best Central midfielders in the world

[phil80]

What post are you referring to? Thus far, they have all been garbage anyways

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Forget it.

[JumpinJackFlash]

Rino Gattuso.

[Bartio88]

Pirlo. His passing, creativity, decisiveness, vision are all out of this world. He reads the game like a book. He isn’t world class defender but the quality he brings for the midfield is the best in the world.

[TKORL]

Xavi > Pirlo. But Pirlo is good. But Pirlo is a woman.

[jpick]

Xavi > Pirlo.
personally, I disagree, but xavi is great, too. you can't go wrong with either one. pirlo certainly means more to milan (and today showed as the deep midfield for milan was pretty stale without pirlo) than xavi to barca, but that has more to do with lack of depth than direct comparison of the two players. xavi isn't exactly the most manly either, though :p.
these two are imho, the best two in their roles, as i don't think cesc is quite ready, yet, though he has looked good this season, too.

[Bartio88]

Xavi or those other exotic named extremely overrated and never winning Spanish La Liga players, will obviously all never have the qualities Pirlo can bring. Xavi is a very poor mans version of Pirlo.

[TKORL]

personally, I disagree, but xavi is great, too. you can't go wrong with either one. pirlo certainly means more to milan (and today showed as the deep midfield for milan was pretty stale without pirlo) than xavi to barca, but that has more to do with lack of depth than direct comparison of the two players. xavi isn't exactly the most manly either, though :p.
these two are imho, the best two in their roles, as i don't think cesc is quite ready, yet, though he has looked good this season, too.
I would rate Xavi over Pirlo because he has Pirlo's passing and distribution ability, and combines it with an excellent energy and workrate defensively.

Also, to play Pirlo, you need another midfielder surround him to give him a target to pass to, and make sure he doesn't get into trouble. Xavi is much more versatile in the formations he can play.

However, Pirlo is still a good player.

I would say that Pirlo falls into the category of players who can be overrated by his fans and clearly underrated by his detractors.

[jpick]

I would say that he doesn't quite have the full range of playmaking and distributing abilities, though i agree he is more complete. I guess it is the old debate, do you want someone who is more well-rounded, or someone who is less well-rounded but better at the things he does. i look at pirlo like i look at riquelme sort of. to get the best out of both, you can't just throw them into any tactical set-up, but when you give them the right set-up, the result is great, whereas xavi could fit in more tactical set-ups and not need the team constructed around him in a certain way as much, but he isn't quite as good as when pirlo does have the right components.
anyways, this would probably make a good player comparison, of xavi v. pirlo, as both are fine players.

[mattteo]

I would rate Xavi over Pirlo because he has Pirlo's passing and distribution ability


what??

to answer the original question.....Pirlo, hands down.

[phil80]

I would say that he doesn't quite have the full range of playmaking and distributing abilities, though i agree he is more complete. I guess it is the old debate, do you want someone who is more well-rounded, or someone who is less well-rounded but better at the things he does. i look at pirlo like i look at riquelme sort of. to get the best out of both, you can't just throw them into any tactical set-up, but when you give them the right set-up, the result is great, whereas xavi could fit in more tactical set-ups and not need the team constructed around him in a certain way as much, but he isn't quite as good as when pirlo does have the right components.
anyways, this would probably make a good player comparison, of xavi v. pirlo, as both are fine players.
agree, pirlo needs the hustle of gattuso to flourish. some of his passes are more crisp than xavi's (especially his lob pass) but he doesnt hustle as much as xavi. i personally would take iniesta over them both as he seems to adapt well to any lineup

[TKORL]

what??

to answer the original question.....Pirlo, hands down.
What? Well, it's clear that the posters on this thread with slightly more nuanced minds don't think its that "hands down".

[flash1316]

What? Well, it's clear that the posters on this thread with slightly more nuanced minds don't think its that "hands down".
I'm going to go on record and say that Pirlo is the closest I've seen to an infallible mid. He brings his A game every single time.

But. I don't think there is one clear best mid in the game.

Riquelme, Scholes, Pirlo, Gerrard, Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta, Deco, Kaka, Mikel, Totti, Sneijder, Essien, Seerdorf, Makelele, Gattuso, (although I think he's just below the level of the rest - He has gotten much better with the ball at his feet though, probably all the time spent with Pirlo), Juninho, and Nakamura (I can't believe nobody's said him yet - true quality he proves it every time Celtic play a big team in the CL)

Kaka has played CM for Brasil, he's very good at it too. And like others have said when he first came to Milan he didn't play nearly as far forward as he does now. And he can still be labelled an attacking midfielder now. Totti's on the list cause prior to two yrs ago he was a mid his whole career and is one of the best in the world in the midfield. I don't think people should be dropped off the list just because their coaches moved them up top.

I think Diego, Frings, and De Rossi are right below.

And it may be early but I think Fernandes, Diaby, Denilson, and Anderson are all going to be world class and in the conversation in about 3 yrs. Fernandes might be already.

BTW does anybody know how Rui Costa is doing these days? I know he's playing in a relatively obscure league playing for Benfica and isn't exactly on the map anymore, but in his prime he could ball with the best of them.

[TKORL]

I would put Deco as the best CM/CAM in the world.

1) Deco
2) Ballack (in terms of talent)
3) Seedorf
4) Xavi
5) Vieira
6) Kaka

In that order.

[jpick]

personally, I have some major qualms over that list, specifically how kaka is below seedorf, in addition to others, of course. ;)

[FNU]

Remember the name Hamsik.

[indestructible]

LOL @ rating Xavi over Pirlo

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

I would put Deco as the best CM/CAM in the world.

1) Deco
2) Ballack (in terms of talent)
3) Seedorf
4) Xavi
5) Vieira
6) Kaka

In that order.

You can't even count Ballack in a list anymore. He has done nothing the last year.

And this has something more to do with this whole general discussion. Best central midfielders in the world means a true central midfielder, at least to me. Deco is an attacking midfielder, and a lot of the other midfielders being mentioned cannot defend or are not multi-faceted players.

In current form you would have to say that Cesc Fabregas is the best central midfielder in the world right now.

[TKORL]

LOL @ rating Xavi over Pirlo
Yes that's correct, Xavi over Pirlo.

[TKORL]

personally, I have some major qualms over that list, specifically how kaka is below seedorf, in addition to others, of course. ;)
Seedorf has been excellent for a long period of time man. Kaka has had about 2 great seasons so far.