Iniesta is Playing High Level Football and Deserves More Praise

There are those that the cameras focus on. Who get on the front pages of magazines, make the headlines and are the ones whose mugs we have to contend with for a year on the latest FIFA (crap) or Pro Evo (good). Then there are those who don't get the plaudits or the praise, but quietly they go about playing some of the best football you will see come from an individual.

Andres Iniesta is one of Barcelona's key players this season, but nobody realizes it. Of course, it's pretty hard to ignore the three headed South American dragon that was the catalyst of their treble last season. But if you were to take Iniesta out of this Barcelona team, I can confidently say that they wouldn't win that treble, because of just how important he is to making Barcelona work and click. To those who only just started following football yesterday, they would scream and wail at me. But to passionate fans who know and follow the game closely, they would know what I am talking about and would agree accordingly.








What makes Iniesta so amazing, is his incredible technique. That's where football starts. Forget how many goals you score, or your passes, tackles or giving someone an elbow to the face. The very foundation of what makes someone a proficient footballer is how good they are with the ball. After all, that's why they call it FOOT-BALL. For Iniesta, him and the ball have had a very fruitful marriage for the best part of seven years. The way in which he drifts past players and is able to thread through the most impossible of passes and combine with the front three is amazing. But it can be missed by some, even myself, I did not take much notice only until recently did I see what he'd been doing which forced me to go back and appreciate just exactly what this cat was doing.


As good as that front three is, they can't play all over the entire pitch. Yes, you see them drop back into

midfield to add more options and make the team dynamic, but their priority is in the danger area. The way in which they get their supply is through Iniesta and Rakitic, but it's Iniesta who is the attacking midfielder. He is the one that pushes forward and commits defenders, giving more space for the front three to exploit. It's his understanding with Messi especially that has been the thorn which has pierced so many teams over the years. A Barcelona without Messi is not winning the majority of their trophies which is an obvious fact. But a Barcelona without Iniesta, you would be surprised how much they would struggle based on how reliant Lionel has been on the chemistry he has with Andres.


I'm not a fan of the Ballon D'Or and I never will be. But something is surely wrong with the world where Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted as the best player in the world over Iniesta. There has never ever been a time where Cristiano has shown he is a better football player than Iniesta, and he never will be. The way in which this Spanish sorcerer plays the game is what should be promoted, so that kids coming up can play the sport the right way. Goals are important as they win games. But a player who can score, assists, dribble, control the ball beautifully, and can play off so well with his teammates is a far greater advert to the sport of football. If it was only about putting the ball inside the fishnet, there would be far less fans of the sport.


So Iniesta, you may never win that overrated garbage that FIFA fix each year, but you've got the medals that count and more importantly, history will be kind to you. The clips and footage that will be archived, shall be kind to you. Years down the line when people look back, as guys of this generation look back at Garrincha, Rivelino and others; they will come to appreciate what you did way before their time.


Promote Football.

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