Scholes Vs Xavi (Not a direct comparison thread)

[Carefree]

As title suggests, i'm not here to make any real comparison between the two, but I do find the general mindset here quite intriguing..

This was posted on redcafe today:
http://www.redcafe.net/f7/xavi-vs-scholes-323548/

Now, the lot of them say Paul Scholes, which is fair enough as he was an excellent player in his pomp, and I imagine those on this forum will say Xavi... but the majority of people still say Maradona was miles ahead of Messi as he did it on the International stage and Messi hasn't (yet).

Is that not a massive contradiction? Scholes played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups as well as the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, without any success whatsoever. Xavi was the mastermind behind Spains Euro 2008 triumph and 2010 World Cup wins.

So, my question, why is there this ridiculous view that you have to be successful at International level to be considered better than everyone else? George Best and Alfredo di Stefano didn't exactly set the world alight either on the International scene yet both widely regarded as two of the finest players of all time.

Weird.

[Ode to Django]

If Barca drew Man U in the champions league Scholes would be chasing Xavi around like a lost puppy

[Footiefan]

I think we need to consider the Nationality of the player too. No way Best could have won anything on his own playing for Minnows. Anyways this whole Best of all time is trash. You just can't compare players of two different generations. The playing style was much harder then, i mean thuggery, hard high flying tackles, Pitch was terrible, and not enough technology to keep you in top physical conditions.

If Barca drew Man U in the champions league Scholes would be chasing Xavi around like a lost puppy

And that implies? Scholes is 36 years old. And Chasing around doesn't even mean one is superior, it means his team is superior in retaining the possession.

[silky_soccer]

If Barca drew Man U in the champions league Scholes would be chasing Xavi around like a lost puppy

Scholes is 36 and past his peak. Xavi is right in the middle of his. So that doesnt make much difference.

Both Outstanding midfielders, Think they would of been a great CM partnership. 2 of my favourite players. Scholes just edges Xavi in that Department though.. No point comparing though, Just Enjoy Both.

[Metaphysical]

If Barca drew Man U in the champions league Scholes would be chasing Xavi around like a lost puppy

way to miss the point of the thread.

[Ode to Django]

3 United fans ^

[Metaphysical]

3 United fans ^

hardly.

Scholes would be chasing Xavi's shadow, or hacking Xavi's ankles, everyone knows this... but that's not the point of this thread.

As title suggests, i'm not here to make any real comparison between the two, but I do find the general mindset here quite intriguing..

or can't you read?

[AnfieldEd]

To answer your question about Scholes, Xavi and the international stage, Scholes is english failure for the england team is a given, no matter how talented you are

Seriously success at international level seems to elevate players to to an elite group of player present and past considered to be of legendary status.

There are exceptions for players like Best and Dalglish who found legendary status for their clubs through european club success. As they were unlucky enough to be born in Belfast and Glasgow.

[gingerless]

not sure about the world cup thing, what would you guys say about the difficulties of WC vs CL? consider each club being able to add star players from anywhere not just their country etc

[Carefree]

Anyways this whole Best of all time is trash. You just can't compare players of two different generations. The playing style was much harder then, i mean thuggery, hard high flying tackles, Pitch was terrible, and not enough technology to keep you in top physical conditions.

Perhaps, but would those players excel with the better conditions and better technology we have today? There seems to be a lot of contradiction re. previous generations though. The attackers were all brilliant, never made mistakes, scored as many goals as they played and skipped past the hackers of the game with ease etc yadda yadda yadda - YET at the same time defenders 20-30 years ago were all super players who could attack as well as they could defend, always timed their challenges to perfection, had great positional sense etc.

So which was it? Were the attacking players just that good they could make a mockery of world class defenders, or were the defenders actually overrated and the Stoke equivalent of modern day thuggery? They did 'hack and kick' the best players to bits after all, apparently something modern day players wouldn't have been able to cope with...

Part of the legend behind these players 30+ years ago is a massive majority of todays fans never saw them play on a regular basis (even the older fans TV wasn't anywhere near as popular as it is today, and Sky wasn't around to broadcast European games). In 20 years time, someone like Messi will recieve the same treatment, god like status in that he never did any wrong, and we'll be arguing he was miles better than the next big thing in football. Vicious cycle in some ways.

[Peerd]

Just looking at him behaving like a beast all the time makes me wonder how you can put Xavi and Scholes in the same sentence.

[Jonathan28]

Agreed, how he wasent sent off i will never know.

[silky_soccer]

Just looking at him behaving like a beast all the time makes me wonder how you can put Xavi and Scholes in the same sentence.

Look at the passes. Thats Why.

[DucdeOrléans]

Why is it always other fans than Culés who compare players with each other. Everyone here knows very well that Xavi is above Scholes.

BTW: They can only be compared to each other if you only look at Scholes seasons from 2006-2011 where he started to play Xavis role. Before that he played a similar role as Messis does now (apart from the goals and obviously the enormous class Messi has compared to Scholes) right behind the two attackers. That is why he scored more goals. After he changed position he scores LESS goals than Xavi.

Xavi has won all he can win. Scholes no where near that level despite him being 5,5 years older. Based on 2006-2011 it really is a no contest. Period.

That said Scholes is a wonderful player but Xavi tops it all and is above everyone else (in the midfield) and has been for a long time now. Scholes was no where near that reputation. He has not been near the Ballon d'Or as well (and don't use that crap = because he is English) Bullshit IMO.

[Guardian]

so what's the point of this thread? Another overrated Brit compared to a talanted player?.
Yeah, yeah we had this before, certainly Scholes is better than Xavi, Beckham better than Iniesta, Nicky Butt better than Xabi Alonso, Lampard better than Iniesta, and Shearer better than Villa. That's why England from Scholes generation looked so amazing that can't beat any decent opponent. Giants!!