Cesc was better than Scholes.....

http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/big-picture/2011-07-20/premier-league-all-time-top-20-assists-tally-whos-made-most-goals?p=9

http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/big-picture/2011-07-20/premier-league-all-time-top-20-assists-tally-whos-made-most-goals?p=13

He is a glorified Charlie Adam.

"Would you agree Cesc was/is better than him?"
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Easily.

Cesc is so underrated - even, believe it or not, by us Gooners. I definitely didn't appreciate what he was doing for us until it became completely undeniable. He carried so many poor sides during his time here and made so many players - Hleb (and you all know I love Hleb), Flamini, Nasri, Adebayor, Song - look so much better than they were as a result of being able to play with he it really defies belief.

I honestly think Fabregas, on pure ability alone - and I know I'll get jip for this one - is better than both Xavi and Iniesta, his traits, however, don't make him quite the fit for Barcelona as he would for any side in this country. There's not one midfielder who could have been the heart and soul of the Arsenal midfield and got out of the side what he did for so long and at such an age. Build a team round he, obviously with the talents to exploit his brilliance and I think he could quite comfortably be the best midfielder in the world. Closest thing to Platini there's been.

Better than Xavi an iniesta dream on!

Cesc is far inferior to those two.

Oh.

Oh dear me.

Wow.


Paul Scholes is the idol and hero of almost all the foreign midfielders listed in this thread. Xavi himself has said Scholes is/was the best, without having to be asked who he thinks is the best. The man is almost a deity to almost all of the worlds most talented players.

Yet still people believe these sort of things. What will it take for you to just look at what the man is/was able to do, and accept that there have only been 4 or 5 better midfield players ever? Xavi on his finest day is the closest we've had to Paul recently. Zidane is the only midfield player anyone's listed with a real claim to be better.

Paul Scholes in 15 years time will be talked about in the same vein as Maradona, Best and co.

you're out of your mind - they just said it because some english pundit brought it up to them, and maybe they want to get the favor of an english manager for a transfer - they'll say the same thing about every other MF - it's just political correctness

Good wum attempt Rob, but not good enough.

translation: u got owned by facts!

Cesc really screwed us and himself when he left us. He has never really fit in and I could go as far as saying he inhibits their play. He will never be appreciated there. He is the best midfielder I ever watched in the premier league.

You did see zidanne's comments about Steven Gerrard.

Zinedine Zidane believes Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is currently the best player in the world, eclipsing Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. The former France and Real Madrid midfielder saw Gerrard score twice against his old club in the Champions League during the week and said teams need players like Gerrard to be the "engine room" for the flair players to thrive, comparing the Liverpool captain to his former team-mate Claude Makelele.

"Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of [Lionel] Messi and Ronaldo but, yes, I think he just might be," Zidane said. "If you don't have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team.

"When we were winning league titles and European Cups at Real, I always said Claude Makelele was our most important player. There is no way myself, [Luis] Figo or Raúl would have been able to do what we did without Claude and the same goes for Liverpool and Gerrard.

"He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly he gives the players around him confidence and belief. You can't learn that – players like him are just born with that presence."

Maradona
No offence but you sound extremely deluded!

"Better than Xavi an iniesta dream on!"
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I probably am going overboard with the praise there, but I do believe that he has everything both of they posses and more in terms of incision and direct forward thrusting play.

Look, I expected the jip and I'm willing to accept the jip, but I do genuinely think he brings more as a single entity to the table than either of those do and I don't, for one second believe, that were you to put Xavi or Iniesta in the Arsenal sides of the mid decade as individuals, they'd have got nearly as much out of themselves or the sides that Fabregars was able to.

They'll go down as better players in the grand scheme of things and rightly so, but doesn't change my belief that on ability alone, I think Fabregas gives you more.

so true Herbie....I knew that Arsenal would struggle regardless of who we signed after Cesc left Arsenal. He would easily get 20 assists and 10-15 goals for Arsenal and made top class players look world class. I'm just imagining if Fabregas had played yesterday, i have no doubt we would be through to quarter finals of the CL. It is also frightening to know how much he can improve in the next few years. He has improved with Barcelona but he is played out of position and they are starting to dislike him. Come back to Arsenal where you are loved

Herbie
They fit more into the the Barca style of play than Cesc and vice verca. In comparison, they are way better than him.

Gervinho quotes:

Sir Alex Ferguson

"Very few players can do that, but Gervinho is one of them - and I knew he was one of them. That's why, without question, I think Gervinho is the best player in England. He's got the best skills, the best brain. No one can match him."There isn't a player of his mould anywhere in the world."

Sir Bobby Charlton

"I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Gervinho. Players like Denis Law and George Best who I enjoyed as much as team-mates and now, finally, players I have watched closely in the Alex Ferguson era. And in so many ways Gervinho is my favourite. I love his nous and conviction that he will find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce the decisive volley"

George Best

"To be honest I think England have lost their best player. Certainly he's the most consistent and naturally gifted player we've had for a long, long time."

Pele

"If he was playing with me, I would have scored so many more."

Zinedine Zidane

"My toughest opponent? Gervinho of Arsenal. He is the complete midfielder."

Xavi

"In the last 15 to 20 years the best player that I have seen - the most complete - is Gervinho. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Gervinho is a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn't give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more."

Pep Guardiola:

"Out of everyone at Arsenal, I would pick out Gervinho - he is the best midfielder of his generation. I would have loved to have played alongside him."

LuisFigo

"I'm star-struck when I see Gervinho because you never see him. On the pitch you can't catch him. Off the pitch he disappears."

Cristaino Ronaldo

"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once i was showing my skills to Gervinho. After i finished it, Gervinho took the ball and pointed to a tree which was about 50m from where we were standing. He said, I'm going to hit it in one shot. He kicked and hit the tree. He asked me to do the same; I kicked about 10 times, but still couldn't hit it, with that Accuracy. He smiled and left."

Lionel Messi

"At La Masia his name was mentioned a lot. He's a teacher."

Iniesta is an absolute genius, he is twice the player scholes was and far superior to any other midfielder out there.

Zidane is a big Gerrard fan. I am too. Wonderful player. Scholes prime was much earlier than Messi's, Ronaldo's or even Gerrards for that matter. Zidane has a real appreciation for engine players an I respect that. But a few years earlier he, along with many others praised Scholes in a way no one has been ever before. Never by so many of there piers, and at the same point in time until the recent Messi/Ronaldo era.

I think I'm safe to say I'm not deluded. I have been lucky to watch a true genius every week almost. It's a shame that petty wummery is more important to people than just acknowledging one of the games true greats in the twilight months of a career only 3 or 4 players ever can match.

Iniesta is a top player, among the best in the world. But he also extremely overrated.

Cesc is definitely on par with him.

"They fit more into the the Barca style of play than Cesc and vice verca. In comparison, they are way better than him."
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They aren't though. Fabregas has mroe to his game, can play make like both of them and has a direct and incision that neither of them even come close to. They have the benefit of playing with each other which helps massively, but as single entities with which to build round, I think Fabregas brings so much more to the table.

Were I starting a team and I had them all at the same age, I'd take Fabregas as you're getting a far more complete midfield spectrum with he than you are with the other two.

Look, were I ranking I'd have both Iniesta and Xavi ahead of Fabregas, just like I'd have Vieira ahead of he, but on pure ability alone and in their own right as a player and a footballer I'm taking Fabregas over any of them.

Not better than bench monkey cesc?

Behave.

Yeah. Cause Scholes in his prime would do so much better?
He'd start right?

Yep

All the above mentioned greats played a vital role in their team, cesc makes the occasional cameo from the bench, please don't compare him with the names already mentioned.

Of course Scholes would start. If you we're the manager, you'd pick him too. And you know it. Everyone on this thread does, which is why the whole affair's so disappointing and sad.