Iniesta or Zidane?

[Tee]

Magnificent. On another level to Iniesta, he regally is.

[Robbie-fowler999]

Magnificent. On another level to Iniesta, he regally is.

I think that even though Iniesta is a magnificent player.. Zidane brought something new to football.. like each generation has a player or two that do that.. Maradona then came Zidane and Ronaldo (Brazilian) and took the torch as they say from him now Messi and C.Ronaldo took it from them and so on

[fah-q]

Zidane only scored 128 goals in his career in 681 games.



David Platt scored more than he did (150 in 481 games)

[Darkon]

Against Sevilla last night:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NATLA8DraTs"]Iniesta keep the ball in ( Barcelona vs. Sevilla ) 23/02/2013 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame]http://youtu.be/NATLA8DraTs[/ame]

[Buzzo]

Both great players and difficult to chose because they are slightly different. Zidane edges it for me. Zidane has (had) more skills and flair than Iniesta has, not that that makes Iniesta less effective, but it is the only thing I can think off that separates them.

[Daniel 7]

My opinion is swayed by moments like the 98 world cup final (indeed that whole campaign - it was noticeable how much the best team in french history struggled without him after his sending off) and the 2002 European cup final with possibly the best goal ever scored at Hampden

The two goals in 98 and the way he bullied a deflated brazilian team and then did a Maradona by pulling a **** french team to the final in 06 sets him apart for me. They might have won if Materazzi hadn't succeeded in winding him up. He would have had a pen. He came out of international retirement to lift that team, they were niwhere without him.

Iniesta is amazing but I dont think he's the most important for club and country.

[Tee]

Against Sevilla last night:

Iniesta keep the ball in ( Barcelona vs. Sevilla ) 23/02/2013 - YouTube

http://youtu.be/NATLA8DraTs

Not having a go at Iniesta but they are both the same clip and I cannot see what is so impressive about the play in that segment tbh. Pretty standard stuff really and even our own Oussama showed he is capable of doing that.

[Red_Polo]

I think Zidane's highest level was better than anything Iniesta has offered, but he was much less consistent and more temperamental. I can't really separate them to say one was better than the other without finding reason to change my mind again and again.

[Neil Young]

Not having a go at Iniesta but they are both the same clip and I cannot see what is so impressive about the play in that segment tbh. Pretty standard stuff really and even our own Oussama showed he is capable of doing that.

They're not the same clip. He did it twice. That's what's so impressive.

[Daniel 7]

I can't remember Zidane being inconsistent I really can't. He was a breathtaking footballer, its only because time has passed since his retirement that it seems that Iniesta might be as good as him.

[Red_Polo]

I can't remember Zidane being inconsistent I really can't. He was a breathtaking footballer, its only because time has passed since his retirement that it seems that Iniesta might be as good as him.

LESS consistent. Than Iniesta, who is probably the most ridiculously dependable player I've ever seen.

Enough to be labelled inconsistent? Well, I'd say no but that's all just semantics anyway.

If we're going to talk about bias in rating the worth of players, I think current vs retired can be argued to work in either's favour. More significant though and something I alluded to is bias against players who relentlessly produce understated excellence vs those who provide moments of outrageous brilliance.

[saj]

I doubt many on here watched Zidane play on a regular basis. Most only seem to mention how he performed at Tournaments etc. He was not very consistent compared to Iniesta. I can name several players who were consistently better than him in that same generation.

[Daniel 7]

Anyone who had Sky Sports and watched Champions League football had access to watching Zidane regularly. Real Madrid aren't exactly underexposed are they? Same goes for a proportion of his time at Juventus as well.

Red_Polo - I hear you. Slightly misunderstood your post.

I'm always intrigued by the Zidane vs Platini debate. We all forget about him because he was a bit before our time and he definitely wasn't a player we saw a lot of.

[Neil Young]

Consistent? Zidane won so many games on his own. That's consistency where it matters. And that's not to say Iniesta's consistency isn't incredible too or any the less.

The thing is, I think it's really easy to forget how great the great players were except for the highlights reels we all carry in our heads. So while we can all see, game after game, just how brilliant Iniesta is, how he makes one opening after another, chance after chance, we forget all the little things Zidane used to do, how he used to draw so many defenders away from others, how he just kept things ticking over until the relatively occasional time when...BOOM...goal.

[saj]

Consistent? Zidane won so many games on his own. That's consistency where it matters. And that's not to say Iniesta's consistency isn't incredible too or any the less.

The thing is, I think it's really easy to forget how great the great players were except for the highlights reels we all carry in our heads. So while we can all see, game after game, just how brilliant Iniesta is, how he makes one opening after another, chance after chance, we forget all the little things Zidane used to do, how he used to draw so many defenders away from others, how he just kept things ticking over until the relatively occasional time when...BOOM...goal.

Was it really so many? Zidane was a big game player - I always judge a player on how consistent they are over the course of a season. And to be honest, IMO he was not as good as people make out. Most people just recall 3 things about: his great skill/control, his performance in the World Cup final '98 and that goal in Champions League final. Iniesta, Messi and even Ronaldo contribute a hell of a lot over a course of a season.