re: If Messi and C. Ronaldo are considered to be the two best...

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Lampard can't be in the discussion? He leads Iniesta last year in the two statistics I want my center mid to have high stats in. Both Gerrard and Lampard had more assists than Iniesta and Gerrard scored 4 times as many goals and Lampard scored 3 times as many goals. I would also add that Lampard's lone striker most of the year lead the the EPL in goals last season... but he can't distribute the ball... right, it's only illustrated in the fact that he created more goals than Iniesta did last year.

I'm not knocking him at all... I think he is an EXCELLENT player for the team he plays on and the style Barcelona plays. I can't however put him in the same category as Gerrard, Xavi, Pirlo, Lampard. He's not there yet. He needs some work on his defensive game as well... I put Ribery in that category as well.

Oh, and why can't I bring up goals? You win the game by scoring goals. Iniesta is 100% an offensive weapon and he neither creates nor scores more goals than anyone I have listed. He's not the best midfielder on his team, he's not the best midfielder for his country, and he surely is not the best center mid in the world. There will never be a team that can afford to have the best center mid in the world ride the bench in a Champions League Final until the second half.

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Okay....A couple of things. You do know there are normally 2 center midfielders on a team, each with an entirely different set of roles, don't you? Both Gerrard and Lampard are given the more attacking CM roles on their respective clubs (with Xabi Alonso for Liverpool, and Michael Essien for Chelsea being the more defensive/distributing midfielders). On Barcelona Iniesta fills this role. His role isn't to score goals and while assists should be there (and they are for Iniesta), this isn't the main role either...it's to link defense to offense - make exactly the best pass, and don't frick up. Iniesta does this better than anyone else in the game. I'd argue that this is probably one of the most important positions on a team... Lampard and Gerrard both play further up the pitch than Iniesta, hence why they score more goals and get more assists (Also, Lampard is so terribly inefficient, it's ridiculous...he's a pure volume shooter no question about it). To say Lampard's distributing is better than Iniesta's is dumb, and you lose all credibility if you even try and argue this.

Second, again, to mention goals as the standard that you use to judge a CM is plain dumb. Zidane never scored more than 12 goals in a single season. I never said you couldn't bring up goals....but to center your argument on who the better CM is through the comparison of goals doesn't work...especially when you compare a more attacking CM vs a distributing/defensive CM

ETA: In a stat that truly defines a great CM - passes completed/connect %, Iniesta is head and shoulders above Gerrard and Lampard

He doesn't need to be a good defender, his defense is keeping the ball away from the other team.

I'm always spot on slopes

Did anyone here, outside of their two Champion's League matches on ESPN, even watch a Juventus match last season?

So, do I have to pronounce Messi's first name Lee-a-nell, or can I say it like I say Lionel Ritchie?

i spit my mr. pibb when i heard max say "nicaragua" for the first time several years ago.

i got a semi when giggsy set up that tying goal for rooney

i think its the black in him that keeps him going

No doubt we will have to set up a soccer board for the world cup...