Iniesta names his favorite players on the current Barcelona and doesn't hold back on Lamine Yamal

Some players retire and drift away from the game that made them shine. Then there's Andrés Iniesta, who's still so plugged into the sport that he's happy to pick out an "alter ego" among today's footballers. The 2010 World Cup winner spoke with Mundo Deportivo and didn't hold back on what he thinks of the current Barcelona squad and the Spanish national team.

Iniesta, who now manages Gulf United in the second tier of the United Arab Emirates, explained why he'd rather watch those two teams over anyone else when he sits down in front of the screen. And the reason has a name: the midfield.

If we're talking about midfielders, I really like the ones we have at Barça. I like Pedri a lot, I love him, but I also really like Fermín, I really like Dani Olmo, and Gavi too.Andrés Iniesta

He didn't stop at just listing names. Iniesta went further and explained exactly what he looks for in a player, almost as if he were describing himself from another era.

I think beyond naming one player or another, it's like saying they have the best qualities. Or at least that's my opinion. How do you like a footballer to be? Well, these three guys, for example, that's what I love.Andrés Iniesta

Why does he choose Barcelona and Spain over any other team today? For Iniesta, the answer lies in the style, the same one he defended for years wearing the Barça jersey and the Spain shirt.

Obviously I love watching Barça and I love watching Spain. Like before, like when I played. They're teams with that kind of play and those kinds of players that I obviously like. How they play and above all the talent, the chemistry they have, the understanding of the game. You're talking about the best.Andrés Iniesta

What Lamine Yamal is doing "isn't normal"

Among so many names, one earned a paragraph of its own: Lamine Yamal. Iniesta dwelled on what the young winger shows match after match despite his young age, and he was clear that this isn't something you see every day.

It's not normal, because if it were, there would be more players capable of doing it. It's not normal, and the beautiful and important thing about it is that ambition he has, that naturalness, and if you stop to think about it, what he has ahead of him at that age is wonderful.Andrés Iniesta

But the former midfielder also left a warning, the same one he lived through his entire career: winning once isn't enough, you have to sustain it. He spoke about the challenge facing both young players and the club itself every season that begins.

The only thing is that the challenge for a footballer and the challenge for clubs like Barça is year after year. In other words, it's not what you've won, it's what you have to keep winning every year. That's the key, and that's the challenge all these kinds of players have right now, players who at their age have already won some very important things, some of the most important things, but who every year have that challenge of continuing to do it.Andrés Iniesta

Between Pedri, Fermín, Dani Olmo, Gavi and the emergence of Yamal, Iniesta's message ends up sounding like more than simple praise: it's the recognition of someone who lived through that same demand for excellence and who, from a distance now, still identifies with the style of play that made him a world champion.