Yesterday, Carlo Garganese wrote an article claiming that Xavi is the best central midfielder of all time. With all due respect to my friend and colleague, I can only disagree. I mean to take nothing away from Xavi; he was sensational in Monday's Clasico, and is truly an all-time great. But the best ever? Such a superlative lacks contextual consistency and thus can never be determined with any amount of objectivity.
If not the best, very close.
well the author made few good points in this
he is right football is changing all the time Barca philosophy depends on all 11 players on the field if Messi did not make the run Xavi would not find him therefore he could not pass the ball as well plus Messi would have been marked even tighter now that there is Iniesta Xavi Messi Villa and Perdo its very diffcult for teams to defend against 5 or 6 great players all players need each other at Barca everyone has a role to do
I'd say Lothar Mattheus (not spelled correctly) is the best of all time in his position and Xavi second best and may beat him if he still plays at the highest level for a few years
Edit:and Zidane was and still is one of the all time best
He's not the best of all time, he's the best in our times.
Great control over the ball, great understanding with players' movements, and a set of two radar eyes that sees everyone on the field lol
For Me ZIDANE on his prime he is a master.