Keane x Vieira x Rodri aka The Main Midfield Men thread

Luffy said:
Scholes and Rodri might be different, but they both played in similar logistics, and both are technically sound, and a mere decade separates them.
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Both being technically sound doesn't mean they are similar.
 
Looking at the impact Rodri has on city it's dlfficult to find anyone from the past who has had such an influence on their teams. There's certainly nobody currently playing that can beat him. Gerrard, Toure, Souness, maybe.
 
simplyared said:
Looking at the impact Rodri has on city it's dlfficult to find anyone from the past who has had such an influence on their teams. There's certainly nobody currently playing that can beat him. Gerrard, Toure, Souness, maybe.
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Keane had a bigger impact, the entire league played in his shadow for years.
 
Remember the geese said:
Lord knows why he was trying his best not to name a United player.
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Not sure.

I think there is sometimes a belief that because Keane played with so many great players that he was just a cog in a unit. Those who were around knew that there were not many seasons when there was any question who our best and most important player was.
 
Some very misguided takes about Kante in here as if he was hopeless on the ball. He made leaps and bounds during his time at Chelsea; especially under Sarri he went up a level with his passing. By the end he was an elite ball progressor by any metric:



Keane is still the better player but acting like it's some sort of insult to compare him to one of the most effective and decorated modern midfielders is more than a bit precious.
 
I didn't think of this comparison (credit to @Fortitude @Šjor Bepo and @Fobal) but Rodri is much more like Redondo than Keane or Viera. Kante is imo closer to Keane and Viera types, though with a less offensive skill set. Rodri really mixes an anchor man type destroyer with a deep lying playmaker with a really smooth way of controlling the ball. At this rate, he'll end up as one of the greatest defensive/center mids of all time although its fair to say his peak is already at that level.
 
adexkola said:
Huh
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I mean there's an argument to be made that Kante is the best high-pressing midfielder ever. Keane and Vieira potentially could have done this but it's of course not crazy to suggest that Kante was better at specific things that were/are valued more highly in the modern game.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I didn't think of this comparison (credit to @Fortitude @Šjor Bepo and @Fobal) but Rodri is much more like Redondo than Keane or Viera. Kante is imo closer to Keane and Viera types, though with a less offensive skill set. Rodri really mixes an anchor man type destroyer with a deep lying playmaker with a really smooth way of controlling the ball. At this rate, he'll end up as one of the greatest defensive/center mids of all time although its fair to say his peak is already at that level.
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Kante was nothing like Keane or Veira
Keane in his pomp wasn't a defensive midfielder.
 
Spoony said:
Nowt like Keane in his pomp. Did you watch the PL back then?
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Of course I did mate - again I don't think Kante was better than Keane but in terms of an all-action CM who could take over a match by sheer will and presence I don't think it's ridiculous comparison. Keane and Kante obviously couldn't be more opposite in terms of personality but in terms of how they played and their effectiveness in providing a platform for the team to function around them I don't think it's outlandish.

More specifically though I just meant that it's factually incorrect to pigeonhole Kante as a defensive midfielder.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Of course I did mate - again I don't think Kante was better than Keane but in terms of an all-action CM who could take over a match by sheer will and presence I don't think it's ridiculous comparison. Keane and Kante obviously couldn't be more opposite in terms of personality but in terms of how they played and their effectiveness in providing a platform for the team to function around them I don't think it's outlandish.

More specifically though I just meant that it's factually incorrect to pigeonhole Kante as a defensive midfielder.
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Yes exactly. I don't think Kante is a clone of Keane (or Viera) at all, just that Kante is closer to that play style than Rodri is, but with a more limited offensive skill set. Ultimately comparisons always fall short because every player has a unique set of skills.
 
Fobal said:
It's incredible that time and again we still read that someone to give praise to a player has to in the meantime trash another one. Silly as fvck with the majority of names threw here. Suddenly Kante, Viera an such become trash.

BTW fellas like Rikjaard, Guardiola and Redondo, all different, were also increible versatile midfielders. Pep as a coach has created sadly a notion that he wasn't that much of a player and he was formidable.
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Yeah, Guardiola seems to get put down often as a player in recent years. He was excellent talent in his younger years, i watched the Barca vs United 4-0 game quite recently and he dominated Ince and Keane. Probably the injuries and later Serie A doping didn't help his reputation, just when he should have been hitting a peak, he was physically falling apart.

I think because they had such a great generation later, some of the 90s to mid 00s Spanish players get underrated/forgotten by now. Luis Enrique was not really my kind of player, but he was an elite iron-lung versatile box to box in the british mold. Ruben Baraja had a short prime with some big injuries, but first half of the '00s for Valencia he was comparable to any other CM around imo.
 
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