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Since Johan Cruyff, going through Louis Van Gaal to Pep Guardiola, to Luis Enrique, Barcelona has always taken pride in having a legendary midfielder playing on the team. Each of them had the same DNA: a guy who could create anything and boss the midfield, feeding the strikers ahead of them with fantastic assists.
We would like to know your opinion on which of the following midfielders is the greatest of Barça's recent history. You have four options: Pep Guardiola, Deco, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. It's kind of a good lineup.
Pep Guardiola made history as the guy who coached his team into tearing the world of football apart with the tiki-taka, a ridiculous number of goals and many, many titles. But a lot of people tend to forget how spectacular of a player Guardiola was. He was the original. Pep was the first guy to embody what the tiki-taka is. His passing ability and accuracy was off the charts. He was able to see things that nobody else beside him could on a football pitch. He consistently assisted Rivaldo and Kluivert in one the most prolific attacks ever. Guardiola brought all that talent into coaching, and now he's widely regared as the best manager in the sport.
Xavi Hernández is considered, not only just by Barcelona fans, the greatest human being to ever play the center-midfield position. He learned a lot from Guardiola, and his own talent made him something else entirely. For over a decade, he has been the brains of Barça. Everything good associated with the Blaugrana's style of play has a lot to do with Xavi. His ability to make long passes to find wingers and strikers in position to score, along with his ability to control the tempo of the game with simple lateral passes, distinguished him as the best at what he did. During Guardiola's incredible run as the coach, Xavi was the coach on the pitch, and he couldn't be a Golden Ball winner because a guy named Lionel Messi played alongside him. It's sort of difficult to do better than Messi.
Deco is, without a doubt, one of the most underrated Barça players to ever wear a Blaugrana shirt. He was the less-appreciated part of a team that had Ronaldinho, Xavi and Eto'o. He had good company, but he was also spectacular in his own way. The Brazilian-born Portugal star was a machine of assists, and a good chunk of Eto'o's goals had the contribution of Deco. I personally miss him.
And then, last but no least, there's Iniesta. The God of Mids had the privilege of playing alongside Xavi when Hernández was at his best form, but don't think for one second that Andrés was just a supporting actor while Xavi and Messi ran the show. Not even close. Iniesta grew under Guardiola into the second-best midfielder on the planet. He was special in his own way. Much more direct than Xavi, Iniesta was often seen in the box, finding others in position to score with a sensational accuracy and pitch vision. He would also score some goals of his own, and we'll never forget this one, and also this one.
Now, it's time for you to decide. Who is the greatest midfielder in Barça's recent history, if not ever? Vote and talk away!
