Nike

its not really that weird... For example, Hazard is like 23 and I bet everyone on this board would say he is a "better" player than Joe Cole. Joe Cole has more titles, etc, but you dont need to play x amount of games to know who is better.... Less than 10 years ago I thought Cesc was better than anything Arsenal had to offer in the midfield, regardless of his age and his background. Some players, you dont need x amount of games to show you that.

The future of Spain will rise once again....

its funny. Every u21 team thiago was on they won... the team he wasnt on..... 2015 u21 2012 olympics 2009 u17 maybe its just a coincidence...

+captains... I can bet sponsors pick the captains for the national teams these days...

Ake should take mikels spot in the rotation.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/784995/Live/International-Int-Friendly-2014-Spain-Italy http://www.whoscored.com/Players/74939/History/Thiago-Alcntara http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/523351/Live

portugal vs denmark... 1 step closer for the choker to miss out on euro 2016.

barring injury, he should beat it before the age of 25

I can see Jones being the future captain for England as well.. Its ashame he went to United..

Give him pk duties and dont let schurrle take fks, cesc should be able to surpass it with the amount of games chelsea/cesc will play this season.

Im really interested to see how Cesc plays against a good team... Against city, I think he failed or was invisible. Arsenal he played well, but arsenal really isnt a good measuring stick that game..

WOW... This board is so fickled.. When chelsea were playing barcelona in 2012, everyone said how much cesc sucked balls back than, but now that he plays for chelsea, hes god status.. However, last year when modric was rumored to chelsea, everyone was sucking his balls as the best cm in the world. I love how he is all potential when Cesc never started for barcelona on a consistent basis nor Spain (until he played false nine and even than ft9 was still starting) and captain a shit arsenal team, the same team that won nothing besides a fa cup in his tenure there...

For the kid that said silva wouldnt work under jose....

The thing is when you have superior athletic ability, the potential pass one can do is greater than one without.... watch the first few passes, cesc wouldnt be able to make those passes nor would kroos.. those are passes modric and thiago and others can make, because their nimble and agile and athletic. AS thiago is better than cesc, so is Modric.

One example..

Silva would be effective.. Jose at real madrid had a choice of either silva or ozil and chose ozil because he was cheaper than silva at the time. Silva most definitely could of succeeded in the current makeup of Chelsea and Jose....

and yet when Mata was on chelsea, the same people said it wasnt any question who was more superior Silva vs mata.... http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/-z7-jyvrhectam1edtdl1a/Show/Player-Focus-Thiago-Alcantara-The-Rightful-Heir-to-Xavis-Throne

must be, according to your logic...

Phil Jones... Not no John Stones..

Its too bad hes only 10 goals away from Cristiano.....

Cesc does do that, however, unlike Cesc, Thiago has athletic ability and superior technique which allows him the ability to create better and pass in different situations Cesc cannot... I dont know if you guys watch munich games last season, but when kroos got benched for thiago, thiago was munich's best player up until he got injured again. He could do everything kroos can do, but he can do it faster, press better and move better. Cesc, isnt a slug like kroos/mata, but he is not quick or fast and their was already a few times this season where our cm got completely outrun, especially cesc because of his physical deficiencies... Also, alonso is probably the best long ball passer ive ever seen and neither cesc/thiago are near him. There a reason why Pep wanted Thiago over Cesc, even though Cesc was more decorated and experienced. Think about it. Kroos and Cesc are pretty similar players. Both, when given time, are fantastic passers of the ball. Both can score goals and both are set piece maestros... However, both have the same physical limitations, being both are hella slow and neither sheild the ball well or dribble it particularly well. Thiago, on the other hand has those attributes that they lack, which is exactly why he was chosen ahead of kroos last season. If their is one thing thiago lacks, its size/height/strength. There was a huge difference in munich when thiago played vs when kroos played, if you go to the munich board, they mentioned it quite a bit. The team looked amazing when thiago was starting for them. It's actually pretty crazy because during thiago transfer time, a lot of people wonder why he went to munich, where the midfield was better than barcelona and everyone said he would rot the bench, when in reality he never did, unless he was unfit/injured...

Neymar: 40goals in 58 matches and will probably break the brazilian record held by Pele..... Neymar didnt need to go to barca for people to already figure out he was the world's best young player, but his stats are still...

Yeap. Your right on that. Cesc assists this season have been magnificient, however, this long debate with various people, I think I lost concentration on what my initial argument was. which was basically thiago is better for barca/spain than Cesc. As you said, everything else can be debateable.. This season would be a good measuring stick to see who is better.

If you can execute those passes, vision comes naturally to you since the game slows down for you. Similar to american football or basketball, when your technique is superb the pass comes natural, especially when you have superior footwork... It's always people that lack superior technique and positioing/physical attributes, that have trouble. Wait and See when Thiago comes back this year...You can see what Spainards all see in the heir to Xavi.

He played false nine at barca.... You know what messi stats are this season... 9 apearances, 7 goals, 7 assists in the false nine position...