[VOTE] Team of the 21st Century - CDM - Final

[RandoEFC 3,507]

Choose your winner.

[Stan 6,672]

Makelele, easy.

The guy defined the defensive midfield position and pretty much had the position named after him for the best part of a generation so far. 

[Inti Brian 75]

Never seen Makelele and Xabi Alonso was good enough for me not to need to go by legacy, so he got my vote.

[Stan 6,672]

8 minutes ago, Vader said:

Never seen Makelele and Xabi Alonso was good enough for me not to need to go by legacy, so he got my vote.

Makelele and Xabi Alonso played at very similar times though, especially at the peak of their careers...?

[Pyfish 551]

Alonso's name sticks out a lot more for me so I voted for him. But Claude was a massively good player too so it was a tough call.

[Inti Brian 75]

12 minutes ago, Stan said:

Makelele and Xabi Alonso played at very similar times though, especially at the peak of their careers...?

Xabi still played and was good when I really got into football. Before it was just casual interest as I've said before.

This was at Real Madrid, who I religiously followed until 2014 (Liverpool were the others, funnily enough)

[Inti Brian 75]

One thing I can say about Makelele though, Riquelme played him silly in the Intercontinental Cup with the last top South American side in history  

Riquelme was my childhood hero. In my casual days I admired him. I still have photos of 4 years old with my Boca kit. I miss being a kid.

 

[RandoEFC 3,507]

I narrowly voted Makelele but you could easily argue that Xabi Alonso had more to his game even if Makelele made the number six position his own.

[DeadLinesman 2,106]

Has to be Makele. It’s basically known as the Makelele role.

[Cicero 3,207]

You want a player to sit and defend the back line, virtually no one better than the Mak 

[Mel81x 1,336]

Systems dictate the way a CDM operates really. If you look at Makele vs Busquets its not like they aren't doing the same thing at the core but they operate in very different ways based on the way their team plays. I still think Makele is better than Xabi but I also find it weird how Xabi got this far in the first place.

[Dr. Gonzo 3,313]

8 hours ago, DeadLinesman said:

Has to be Makele. It’s basically known as the Makelele role.

Yeah when you've got so many people while Makelele was still playing commonly referring to the position as "the Makelele role" it shows something about how good you are.

Best defensive midfielder I've ever seen. Real Madrid got worse when they abandoned him for the Galactico project, Steve McManaman isn't popular as a pundit... but while he was at Real Madrid he felt Makalele was their most important midfielder while also the least appreciated. And Madrid's loss was Chelsea's gain. And he won almost everything he could have won in his career, for the people who think trophies are extra important to judging players.

[RandoEFC 3,507]

Makelele it is then, welcome to the party Claude.