Top 10 passers of the football today – Part 2
We have completed 5 of our top ten and it is getting really interesting now. Some of the players you would be expecting might just not make this list.
So far the list looks like this:
10. Wesley Sneijder
9. Cesc Fabregas
8. Steven Gerrard
7. David Beckham
6. Guti
In this second part we will look at our top 5 best passers in the game today. Here we go again.
5. Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
He looks sluggish, lazy and tired but can he set up a goal scoring opportunity sitting in his own half? h**l yes. Pirlo is in some ways similar to Beckham and is known for his delightful chipped through balls. He has been the architect of the football,
Milan has played over the years and is a key component and the playmaker for the Azzurri. Pirlo is a deep lying play maker and has more assists from his own half than any other footballer. His team mates have given him the nickname of L'architetto’ (the architect).
Without an architect a house cannot be constructed just like without Pirlo there is no direction to Milan’s play.
4. Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
According to Zidane, Paul Scholes is the most under rated footballer of his generation. The reason behind it is quite simple, ‘Scholesy’ goes around quietly doing his job and does not want media attention. It’s a fact that he is one of the worst tacklers
of the ball but when the ball is at his feet then there aren’t many better than him at dictating play. His passing and technique is flawless and the calmness and composure he shows on the edge of the box, to slide through a neat ball is at worst, unbelievable.
A one club man, Paul Scholes is easily the ideal play maker of his generation and the best in Premier League’s history.
3. Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors)
A player who failed to reach the heights he should and could have reached, Riquelme can see a pass which even viewers can fail to spot on their screens. The reason why he is at no.3 is because he has everything. He can spray long balls or do neat one
two or slide through balls when no one expects them. His vision is remarkable and only if he had moved to a big club, Riquelme would have become one of the best players in the world. He can dictate the pace of the game and can up the tempo at will. At Boca
he runs the show for them and is badly missed by his fans in Europe.
2. Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
He is probably the sweetest passer of the ball. Xabi Alonso is the master of his trade and there isn’t a better deep lying play maker than him in world football today. If you ask Liverpool fans the reason behind their 2nd place
finish in 2008/09 season, most would point at Xabi Alonso and not Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres. It came as no surprise when Liverpool finished 7th in the league after his departure. Steven Gerrard said he was devastated after ‘World
class’ Alonso left and he cited his departure as the reason for their failure next season. Xabi is now pulling the strings from the midfield at the Bernabeu and no one is getting anywhere near him with his range of passing; a truly classy midfielder.
1. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)
As a footballer, Xavi is probably on par with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He does not score as many goals as the other two but they don’t create as many he does. Xavi is the most complete midfield player in the game today. It has been really
difficult to come up with this list apart from no.1 spot. It was always going to be him. He can spray passes like Xabi and can slide balls like Scholes and play killer balls from anywhere on the pitch like Steven Gerrard. Xavi has got it all and God knows
when we will be able to witness another Xavi, until then enjoy watching this little magician. Xavi is our no.1 passer of the ball in the world today.
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