the decline of Seria A

Darling wrote:Ballack is the most complete midfielder in the world

bar none

If he had pace (which enabled him to go past defenders) then he would undoubtedly be the most complete imo, but the fact that he doesn't leaves this debate open.

S4P wrote:

Darling wrote:Ballack is the most complete midfielder in the world

bar none

If he had pace (which enabled him to go past defenders) then he would undoubtedly be the most complete imo, but the fact that he doesn't leaves this debate open.

who has the edge then ?

Essien is a pace merchant who cannot score or assist

neither can he read a game and influence it AT KEY MOMENTS like BAllack

if you want to argue that Frings is now nearly as good as Ballack we have a discussion

wahre G

I do think it's a bit lazy and ill-informed to just sweepingly say "not the player he was" though; he no longer plays as the straightforward attacking midfielder who fills in the space behind the striker and constantly arrives in the box for headers etc, because his quintessential role, for the national team in particular, where he plays in the 4-4-2 that suits him, is now as a genuine central midfielder, an attacking and defensive midfielder in one. You maybe sacrifice some of his attacking value in this setup but there are few who can fill this role so effectively (even if Chrissi for instance still thinks "he's wasted in the defence").

Central midfielders aren't usually characterized or defined by their pace, so it's a difficult one.

P.S. we do play with a double pivot indeed

Darling wrote:Ballack is the most complete midfielder in the world

bar none

end of story

His passing isn't that great.