Casemiro - Kroos - Modric

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How do you rank it among the great midfields?

Obviously, during their 3 CL run they got a bit overshadowed by Ronaldo and at times Marcelo at key moments - but undoubtedly they were a crucial part of that team.
 

Daysleeper

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One of the all time greats. No surprise Ronaldo has struggled going far in CL without them. They are fantastic. Not quite xavi/Iniesta/Busquets but damn good
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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One of the all time great midfield trios. All world class in what they do and complement each other well.
 

kaiser1

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Casemiros contribution is underrated. I think those 3 CL were won after Zidane took James off and put in Casemiro for stability
 

DWelbz19

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Top top level. 3 peat CL is insane and history will remember them fondly for good reason.
 

Lay

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One of the all time best.
 

Caritas

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Incredible. They re so good with the ball. Probably the second best midfield trio ever after Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta.
 

FrankDrebin

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I feel like I've said for the past 2 seasons that I would still happily pay big for Modric.
 

MalcolmTucker

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Modric is better at 35 than Xavi and Iniesta were. I definitely rate him in the same category as those two.
 

Red Devil 26

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Modric at 35 pressing the ball and winning tackles in the last 5 mins of the game was quite a sight. That's without mentioning his continually immaculate distribution of the ball. Class player.
 

NoLogo

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Albeit Kroos and Modric are past their peak they are still great players. Absolute fantastic midfield pairing, combined with a top DM like Casemiro, yeah I think definitely one of the top 5 midfield trios of all time.
 

Bale Bale Bale

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Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Modric-Casemiro-Kroos
Modric-Alonso-di Maria
Hargreaves-Carrick-Scholes
Essien-Makelele-Lampard
De Bruyne-Fernandinho-D.Silva
Gerrard-Mascherano-Alonso
Seedorf-Pirlo-Gattuso

Not a ranking by the way, just randomly thinking up past midfield threes.
 

RoyH1

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Amazing midfield trio. Will go down in history as the triple CL winners. Modric at 35 is still one of the most complete midfielders in the world.
 

FrankDrebin

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Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Modric-Casemiro-Kroos
Modric-Alonso-di Maria
Hargreaves-Carrick-Scholes
Essien-Makelele-Lampard
De Bruyne-Fernandinho-D.Silva
Gerrard-Mascherano-Alonso
Seedorf-Pirlo-Gattuso

Not a ranking by the way, just randomly thinking up past midfield threes.
Ancelotti moving Di Maria into a midfield 3 was underrated genius.
 

Rozay

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Ability to pass and keep the ball in the middle of the park is central to top level football. Now we hear people saying ‘yea, but we’re not a possession team’, whatever the feck that means.

They can command and control the ball under pressure, which is a platform to build their play.
 

berbatrick

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Still put them under the Barca 3, but they've had a longer tenure as the best in the world. 6 years for them (2015-) vs 4 for Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta (2009-13).
 

WeePat

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Kroos and Modric are what I sometimes pretend Kovavic and Jorginho are.
 

cyberman

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Not a big enough goal threat imo. Really need world class strikers in front of them to excel. Apart from that they are elite
 

kaiser1

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Quite a list you have here... None from a Bayern team?
Martinez-Schweini-Kroos
Kimmich- Goretzka-Thiago

In both cases Muller replaces the midfielder to the right

Jeremies-Effenberg-Scholl
 

Red Devil 26

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Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Modric-Casemiro-Kroos
Modric-Alonso-di Maria
Hargreaves-Carrick-Scholes
Essien-Makelele-Lampard
De Bruyne-Fernandinho-D.Silva
Gerrard-Mascherano-Alonso
Seedorf-Pirlo-Gattuso

Not a ranking by the way, just randomly thinking up past midfield threes.
Hargreaves-Scholes-Carrick barely played together as a midfield 3. On the rare occasion he was fit, Hargreaves actually had his best games for us on the right.
 

Berbasbullet

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One of the all time greats. No surprise Ronaldo has struggled going far in CL without them. They are fantastic. Not quite xavi/Iniesta/Busquets but damn good
Of course it took one post to subtly move it to ronaldo v messi debate.
 

paraguayo

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really good, on par with gibson-cleverley-ando
 

FrankDrebin

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Not a big enough goal threat imo. Really need world class strikers in front of them to excel. Apart from that they are elite
I tend to agree with this, if there is a slight criticism. I have always felt Kroos had/has more goals in him, for example. Strikes the ball so well.
 

Acrobat7

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Not a big enough goal threat imo. Really need world class strikers in front of them to excel. Apart from that they are elite
But that is their job. You also didn’t look at Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta for goals.
 

FrankDrebin

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Hargreaves-Scholes-Carrick barely played together as a midfield 3. On the rare occasion he was fit, Hargreaves actually had his best games for us on the right.
Yep, I wouldn't put them in the category of great recent midfield 3's because we rarely played them together consistently, due to various reasons.
 

cyberman

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But that is their job. You also didn’t look at Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta for goals.
Their midfield had insane goal output though but maybe thats because of Messi. Xavi alone had 320 odd goal involvements over his career...Modric 170 odd (quick search)
 

DWelbz19

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Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Modric-Casemiro-Kroos
Modric-Alonso-di Maria
Hargreaves-Carrick-Scholes
Essien-Makelele-Lampard
De Bruyne-Fernandinho-D.Silva
Gerrard-Mascherano-Alonso
Seedorf-Pirlo-Gattuso

Not a ranking by the way, just randomly thinking up past midfield threes.
One of these is not like the rest.
 

Synco

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I tend to agree with this, if there is a slight criticism. I have always felt Kroos had/has more goals in him, for example. Strikes the ball so well.
All these years, one problem at Real has been that the forwards rarely do cutbacks. I don't know why. Kroos has great timing for arriving at the edge of the box, usually several times per game, but so often teammates went for a low % cross or shot instead.
 

thepolice123

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Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta
Modric-Casemiro-Kroos
Modric-Alonso-di Maria
Hargreaves-Carrick-Scholes
Essien-Makelele-Lampard
De Bruyne-Fernandinho-D.Silva
Gerrard-Mascherano-Alonso
Seedorf-Pirlo-Gattuso

Not a ranking by the way, just randomly thinking up past midfield threes.
Would love to see the stats because I really doubt all three played together for more than 25 games.
 

WeePat

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Thats interesting cause Kovačić is mentioned as a Modrić heir. I dont see it myself.
I was being facetious, but I don't really see Modric heir in Kovacic. This trio is up there with elite's in history though.
 

FrankDrebin

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Would love to see the stats because I really doubt all three played together for more than 25 games.
From what I remember Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Hargreaves and ,a season later , Giggs were all on rotation during 08 and 09.
 

MalcolmTucker

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Not a big enough goal threat imo. Really need world class strikers in front of them to excel. Apart from that they are elite
In the modern era midfielders aren't really expected to get goals unless you don't rate the Busquets/Xavi/Iniesta triumvirate either.

Busquets - Goal every 3,324 mins
Xavi - Goal every 610 mins
Iniesta - goal every 711 mins

Casemiro - Goal every 731 mins
Kroos - Goal every 703 mins
Modric - Goal every 737 mins

Worth noting Xavi and Iniesta scored goals at a much better rate in Asian leagues so their ratios are a little inflated.