When you think of Barcelona’s successes from 2008 onwards the three players who immediately come to mind are Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.
There’s another player though who is rarely spoken about that should receive equal praise in relation to how Barcelona perform. His name is Sergio Busquets.
Any manager who is lucky enough to have him in their squad must love being able to take a step back and have the privilege of marvelling at an incredibly gifted player who can absorb instructions and exquisitely carry them out on a football pitch.
Nonetheless, hindsight offers a ton reasons why he is very often called as the mind of catalan team and sometimes best central defensive midfielder of all time.
Busquets is extremely unique as a footballer in every aspects-
• Tactician ( or Positioning Ability ):
"You watch the game, you don't see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game." - Vincente Del Bosque
Busquets is an amazing tactician. He reads games like no one else. Whenever a Barca game is on, our Tiki-Taka causes a lot of viewers and players to ignore who is where and we tend to focus on the people who are passing to each other and not the people who are moving and getting into position. So, most of the time, people do not see Busquets's position unless he is also involved in passing. He rarely seems to move. But he simply reads the game and whenever an opponent move starts to build, he always manages to find the right place at the right time. In the image, the arrows represent the player's tendency to move to the positions. So it can be seen that Busquets was guarding all three in that match.
• Defensive Midfielding:
“Busquets is the best defensive central midfielder in the world. He's tactically very strong and will only become more important for Barcelona in the future. He can follow in the footsteps of Carles Puyol and Xavi. He's very humble and calm, but doesn't mind speaking up when he sees fit either. If I was reincarnated as a player, I'd like to be like him." - Pep Guardiola
Busquets plays in the outfield position that is the most important in an entire team. Yes, he is more important than a striker, because he does the no nonsense job of breaking up an attack and starting a new one. Its due to his positioning that Xavi and Iniesta fearlessly move forwards and attack. Barcelona and Spain both have attacking full backs and rely on their Centre Backs and Busquets ( and Xabi Alonso in case of Spain ) to cover the defence part.
• Passing:
“Without Busquets, Barcelona and Spain could never had achieved what we have achieved” - Xavi
The essence of a midfielder, passing is one of the most important traits for a midfielder. Whenever the word passing comes to mind, the first that pops up often is that of Xavi Hernandez. But Xavi himself considers Busquets passing ability to be "exceptional" and the fact that along with Xavi, Busquets also boasts a passing success of more than 85% most of the time.
• Press Resistance-
Simply put, press resistance is the ability to maintain possession of the ball despite coming under pressure from the opposition. Press resistant players have usually been the underrated geniuses behind the successes of their respective clubs and without them their teams wouldn’t function half as well. An awareness of their surroundings at all times that enables them to make the best possible decisions for their teams whether it be passing to a more open team mate or dribbling out of pressure. In this regard, press resistance is invaluable to an attacking team because without it, they would be unable to overcome the opposition defensive pressure and score. Sergio Busquets handles the pressing opponent handsomely. His control on the ball and the ability to change the direction quickly with the ball makes him to resist the opponent’s press.
Sergio Busquet’s gameplay is a perfect example for young players who want to learn to play in the central midfield position. The role he plays is of a complex nature as he has numerous tasks to be discharged. Sergio breaks up play and acts as a barrier in the final third screening the centerbacks of Barcelona, which is a task easier said than done.
Sergio Busquets is two players in one package, he is Makelele when it comes to intercepting plays and Xavi when it comes to distributing the ball, he is the reason why Barcelona midfield dominated the world. Xavi and Iniesta had been around for quite sometime but only with the arrival of Sergio Busquets, Barcelona started the unprecedented midfield domination.
Busquets is the unsung hero of the Barcelona offense – yes, OFFENSE – of FC Barcelona.
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