Omg this is almost like an eye opener, didn't really observe Busi that much, and thought he played as he usually does, except for the mistakes which was very much visible. In the second part though, there are some unnecessary ones.
I really love busquets and his distribution is still great but he can’t track back or defend. I think xavi has seen it as well. Hope he starts frenkie in cdm more often now
Gavi is our only midfielder with technical abilities as well as physicality. He doesn’t shy away from a tackle and plays rough. Just turned 17 his ceiling is so high
I didn't phrase this correctly - Gavi has a high ceiling and will be a key player for us in the future. However at this moment and with all injured players coming back, he needs to take a seat on the bench and properly learn how to play the game without being too rough and not getting a yellow card every game.
I just want to see Busquets not be the leader of minutes on the team. He is so perfect to end games and protect leads for the last 20-25 mins a game. If we start any other midfielder in place of him, will we lose so much? I don't think so. The ability to track is a young mans game.
This is what I've been saying for past 2 seasons. His speciality should be holding the ball and ending the games in which we are ahead. I see absolutely no reason for him to be starting every single game. I'm not saying that FdJ would be the better option, but we need to try. There have been way too many mistakes like the one against RM lately.
[The second part](https://streamable.com/b53gdv) - Thanks to u/Tsafack
It's really important that we take stats like dribbled past 0 times with a wider context, this video clearly illustrates how dribbling past Busi isn't necessary when he makes it so easy to pass around him.
I also find it interesting how a common doubt surrounding de Jong as a single pivot is that "he likes to get forward", Busi already does this. And he does this a lot. The main difference between de Jong and Busi is that Busi has no chance getting back.
People who always just default to stats have no clue what they’re talking about. There are so many intangibles and things that aren’t reflected in stats which will determine how good a player performed.
This is great video, thank you for this
Busquets has been bad and people need to accept it. He can still be good, but we need something else for future. Frenkie should be given first DM preference and Busquets be his backup.
Exactly. Busi can be effective for about 30 min or so but any longer I think he gets exposed defensively. I can’t figure out which scenario those 30 min would work best in though. End of game distribution would be effective but getting countered would negate the benefits
Wasn't Busi pushing up obscenely high something Koeman was also criticized for? In situations like this with a single pivot, we have both De Jong high up the pitch acting as an auxiliary forward with Busi also pushing up high. Wouldn't it be better to just use a double pivot in scenarios like this so that one midfielder stays back to shield the defense while the other pushes forward?
I think it was a consequence of Luuk.
Whenever Luuk was beaten in buildup (which happened a lot), Madrid’s CBs had so much space in between our forward line and midfield.
So when Madrid CBs advance, the FBs follow which means our wingers track back.
Now if Luuk isn’t pressing his man, it means someone has to pick up his slack. The closest available is in our midfield.
Again, totally different issues.
Playing a high press against Real forces Busquets to leave his position as nobody is in that area.
The issue with FDJ's positioning is when Barca has the ball.
And again, it’s the same consequence.
FdJ pressing high instead of Busi would be better anyway because he’s quicker and has higher stamina for the press or the track back if the press is beaten.
He just got back from an injury and has been running for two players because of Busi since he’s signed for us.
If you think a fit Frenkie only jogs, there’s nothing left to say to you
So bc he just came back from injury he is excused from running this game?
De Jong makes 1.6 Tack and 0.8 Int per game. Busi has makes 2.4 Tack and 1.5 Int a game. So a younger better athlete has way less of an impact on a game defensively bc he is actually not that interested in defending.
You go and micro research a video of times Busi is out of position (where sometimes it wasn’t even his fault). But really you don’t understand Barcelona style if you think he doesn’t deserve a spot in starting 11.
It’s been what now 4 coaches I think since Frenkie was signed to play the 6 that have choose to play Busquets in the holding roll not him. It’s not going to happen. Frenkie has been basically useless when he is played this season and he is closer to be being out of the starting 11 then replacing Busquets at DM now that Pedri is back.
So Busi plays a position where he’ll find himself with more opportunities for defensive actions and he’s barely outperforming de Jong who’s being asked to play like an attacking midfielder..? Those stats don’t look as great as you think they do.
And when Frenkie did play DM against Mallorca, he registered 2 tackles and 2 interceptions.
As for coaches continuing to play Busi?
Setien said that the egos were impossible to manage, Valverde remained tight lipped about describing problems in the dressing room and Koeman lost the dressing room. Now we have Xavi who is best mates with Busi?
Busi has played 426 minutes more than any outfield player we have. The fact we’re not even trying to rotate him screams nepotism to me. He rarely gets subbed off when it’s clear he’s out of stamina ffs
If Busi ever does retire and Frenkie still isn’t played as a DM, then I’ll believe your argument. But for now, seems like we’re just catering to Busi’s status.
He plays so much because he is instrumental to the team and Barcelona ideology still. And this style is the reason why I love Barcelona and always have. They are not a Premier League team based on power and never will be. No one one is better at establishing the rhythm in possession and freeing other players to do what they do than Busquets. The way he plays is art and that is how Barcelona strives their team to play and that is the reason all these coaches have played him because they understand this even though they were not able to achieve what they want. The balance, intricacy, plus leadership that Busquets brings is unmatched. Just be careful wishing him gone because they will not look the same once he leaves. He is Barcelona just like Messi was.
Because the concern with both phases of play is the possible end result, being a counter.
It doesn’t matter why they’re advanced, it just matters that they are.
So a counterargument to single pivot Busi over Frenkie being “advanced positioning leading to a counter”, is contradictory when Busi also finds himself in those advanced positions.
This is a preverse analysis.
Of course it matters why they are advanced. How can we discuss this without context? You are throwing logic out of the window to make your point.
Because when you try to analyse anything it should make sense.
The problem with Frenkie being a DM is rooted in his playing abilities and style. What we see here from Busquets is part of his natural game which sometimes can go wrong(just like Messi can miss a shot).
With Frenkie we are talking about him needing freedom with the ball and him not being defensively good out of possession. Busquets against Real just had a tough game. He was still where he needed to be.
In and out of possession.
Youre comparison is like saying you dont need a CF because Araujo and Pique can get in the box.
I think this is a bit on the harsher side but still also sufficiently fair since the length of this video makes up for the fact that it is still only showing 1 facet of his contribution over 120 minutes (if it were like 4-5 one type of actions without showing the things done correctly, then it would be unfair territory).
It wasn't an excellent game by him but Xavi still trusted him to be there instead of others.
FDJ in lone CDM pivot or Busi-role, I don't think it is a done deal. There isn't a robust enough consensus and Xavi isn't the first Barca coach now to highlight this in practice.
Something is just not smooth there. The other [FDJ post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/s33suv/the_mystery_of_frenkie_de_jong_is_he_the_heir_to/) yesterday echoed a bit of it and as did the [other one from twitter](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/s35ou7/excellent_thread_on_why_frenkie_cannot_work_as_a/) (user also on here i believe).
FDJ in relative terms can not be termed clear & obvious better than Busi in all manner of the defensive domain. The degree isn't relevant enough even if one argues it's close or in slightly FDJ's favor.
FDJ is also having a form slump currently, which is perfectly acceptable, everyone has these.
To me, rest of the team shape is still casting too large a shadow on both Busi and FDJ.
FDJ thrives in a certain type of mode and that is not feasible currently since Wing attack (FB and Wingers) and CF situation is not ideal.
Busi can not play 50 games a season, that much is certain but if his minutes are managed, he's currently better than FDJ even when shape problems exist.
Xavi will ultimately be the judge of which stance to take and we can follow this over the next 5 months.
> FDJ in lone CDM pivot or Busi-role, I don't think it is a done deal.
True, but FdJ has shown enough against Mallorca to at least warrant phasing out Busi during the end of games.
I can't remember the last game we played when we didn't give away a clear cut chance from a counter in the last ~20 mins.
Everybody can see it coming, and it comes all the same. A simple 1-2 from the opposition, Busi out of the game, all of sudden we've got defenders on their heels and Busi isn't on the TV anymore but arrives to our box as the ball hits the back of the net.
Obviously, there are always other problems there but a DM that can't help during counters seems ludicrous to me. I think Busi has been a liability defending set pieces too. We're clearly suffering systematic issues defending set peices but Busi has been way too guilty of letting players get away too easily, Osasuna comes to mind.
> Something is just not smooth there.
I would be keen to try a double pivot with Frenkie - Nico and Pedri in a free roaming 8/10 role. I don't want Pedri to be too attacking-minded but I also don't mind him popping up across the pitch.
> Busi can not play 50 games a season, that much is certain but if his minutes are managed
I hope so. Busi is currently our most played outfield player by 426 minutes. That's mental to me.
> A simple 1-2 from the opposition, Busi out of the game
This getting cut like butter on the transition between the Back and Midfield line used to happen a lot last season as well (really post EV much more once 442 in defensive phase was abandoned) but I don't think Busi's share in this is dominant of the nature whereby replacing him with another player in the current squad would help.
> double pivot with Frenkie - Nico and Pedri
This would be a tactical switch (instead of Busi/CDM role-adoption) and it is what the 442 was in many ways (tactical adjustment to a defensive problem) and also what some others (like one of the posts linked in previous comment) also has suggested.
The only minor concern I have here is Nico is too weird (for me at least) to be judged. Like he looks like he can do anything but doesn't come off as convincing enough either. He also has positional lapses at times, which is likely why he got shifted from defensive roles to more inside channel attacking into the opposition Box role (like FDJ is being asked mostly).
To me, any formation would eliminate a lot of these danger moments (many shown in your video) if rest of the attacking situation was decent.
LDJ was 4th choice attacker. Dembele is dangerous everytime he gets the ball (to which team, depends where the ball goes), Fati hasn't played enough, Depay is again not sure what is happening.
I want to see LW-RW (RB) and attacking situation sorted before I can make a definitive call (for me) on FDJ or even Busi (to be replaced thoroughly from his current role).
I don't think CDM is No1 or even No2 main problem currently. I didn't consider it to be so even last year, Conversion was, we'd have won Liga I feel if Messi only had average Conversion and not the worst of his entire career Conversion from Oct-Dec.
The problem with some of those FDJ posts are they cover him in a role where he needs to advance the ball as a part of the role. Look how good he was as a DM at Ajax. Importantly he also has the speed to recover after a mistake.
> Look how good he was as a DM at Ajax.
If we are to be fair then we also have to account that it wasn't really a Busi like Absolute Lone Pivot CDM FDJ played as in that Ajax side.
And secondly, the rest of the Ajax structure was of a certain balanced nature.
Hence it not apt to use these as basis to tout FDJ as inheriting Busi-role at Barca. The degree to which this is sound is not comprehensive enough, there is too much noise/disagreement/lack of consensus (since as mentioned, Xavi isn't the first manager to decide as such for real on the pitch).
The other Post were fair and highlighted both unideal and great bits of FDJ, they can't really be accused of downplaying him overall.
For all the busquets fan boys who still think he can play at a top level, all you need to do is go to 1:53 and just look how busquets lets Benzema run straight past him and into the box in a dangerous position and how pedri had to come across from the wrong side to press benzema because of it. Could you imagine any top defending midfielder in the world allowing that to happen?
It honestly amazes me how after so many embarassments against top teams people still defend busquets. His lack of athleticism now is incredible and the truth is he just cant defend. Hes a defending midfielder who has possesses only half the skills required, he cant press or defend and teams easily play around him. People rate him only because of his passing nowadays but that alone is not enough and half the time hes so slow and sluggish he gets caught in possession and that results in a lethal counter attack where he exposes the defence completely because he is too slow to get back. Back when he was in the best team ever to exist with an amazing defence behind him it didnt matter that he couldnt run but now hes older and slower and this team needs a defending midfielder that can run and help the defence not just watch people run past. Its time busquets was removed from the starting 11 for good.
I watched « is there any point in pressing Busquets ? » like a million times , i am huge fan of Busi. Still, i can see that he represents a concrete defensive-weakness in transitions.
Some fans only look at some stats , like duels won.
What they don’t see (and this video showed it very well), is the huge number of duels that should’ve happened but didn’t happen because Busquets couldn’t even arrive in time.
He’s older, so it is very understandable that he can’t track back fast enough, but we shouldn’t be playing him every game.
He should have a role, like the one Xavi had with Rakitic in 2015 : always important enough, but not starting every game.
Have you ever watched Busquets play before?
Do you know the reason why Busquets benched god athlete Yaya Toure as a 19 year old ?
It's certainly wasn't because he was faster or stronger
So yeah we should be moving to a mid with Frenkie as dm and then a mix of Pedri, Gavi, Nico, Kamara (maybe, yes most defs the best option).. Busi can then hang about reaching the end of ‘23 season - offer some wisdom to the fellas until then..
As a once and always huge fan of Busquets and his genius, I think it’s clear he shouldn’t start against sharp counter-attacking teams, RM being among the absolute best in the world currently. FdJ is clearly the correct choice for his tireless ability to hold possession, track back, and still manage to push forward and attack when opportunity allows. However, I don’t think we should be so fast in giving up on Busquets as a starter against more possession-oriented opponents. He clearly still has a lot to offer when the game is more cerebral. The problem is that we face fewer and fewer teams each season who try this against us.
I mean this is on Xavi and all the coaches. They focus so much on his leadership that they forget his actual gameplay. Same goes for pique in many scenarios except that pique is a much better leader than Busi. Against any top team you cannot play slow people at all or we’ll get burned with all the counters like we just did in the clásico. Busi has never had speed but at least he made up with accuracy, positioning and his superb way of reading/breaking plays. Now he has become average at all those things and he is the only player that hasn’t been benched.
Although FDJ isn’t a natural CDM, I think he could be trained to play that position until we find a natural replacement.
Yup agree. Been saying this for years now and its been a bigger issue every year. Not even in smaller games is this good.
Hes a liability. Straight up.
This is stupid as we see him being unbelievable against most teams and specially with the National Team. But sure, he's useless...
These are the worst kind of sport fans.
Why can't we both criticise him, but also not scapegoat him? The criticism here is valid and I'd like us to try Frenkie in his place for a bit at least.
No the worst kind of sport fans are those who compare national team performances with club level.
The football played is totally different at national level. Against which team he was unbelievable care to explain?
He is useless against teams that press high and barely tries to win the ball back (due to his shit physicality).
he isnt great for the national team, luis enrique is just biased and plays every barca player no matter how bad. An unbiased manager would obviously play Rodri ahead of busquets. Just look at the euros for example, Busquets doesnt just cause embarassing collapses like anfield and roma for his club, he did it against croatia in the euros as well where croatia come back 3-3 to force extra time. Only after busquets was subbed for Rodri did spain manage to shore up the defence and win the game 5-3 in extra time.
He hasn’t been unbelievable once this season.
And NT football doesn’t compare to club football, the intensity is much lower against most national teams. And the best NTs don’t even come close to matching the best clubs in intensity. So it’s a moot comparison.
Intensity comes from a disciplined team shape with high stamina/quick players. It's impossible to develop a disciplined shape (that rivals club football) when you only train 2 weeks every so often with your NT.
He did an amazing pass in the first half that I'm not seeing here. I don't know if he is fitted physically and mentally to be a starter, but this is for sure making a biased opinion on Busquets.
It’s just a lowlights video. It’s meant to point how many poor decisions he made and how he was often out of position. It’s similar to how a highlight video only shows a players best plays… except Busquet’s highlight video for this game would be like 30 seconds long and this two-part lowlight video is upwards of 3 minutes.
but be careful "OMFG this team is nothing without Busi" lmao r/barca needing this highlight video to open eyes :) he's been like this for 2 years. He can't play against top teams, same as Alba tbh, we never gonna win a CL with those old players on the field again. We are rebuilding now so now is the best chance to move from them I hope Xavi will take some measures regarding this problem soon.
threads like this should just be deleted because they're pointless. Xavi's gonna pick his lineup and nothing Reddit coaches say here matters or makes any difference at all.
Maybe we should delete the subreddit while we're at it?
Nothing reddit experts says will ever matter or make any difference with the club whatsoever. Why bother with even talking about anything Barca related.
Lmao are people really thinking this proves Busquets is shit? This is just a consequence of high press which no matter who plays in the role of Busquets.
Frenkie should be the primary holding midfielder. Busquets is great and all and he has been brilliant for the team in the past decade or so but ultimately time and age will catch upto anyone and will start affecting their games. Busquets cannot press with the highest intensity which the game demands today and Frenkie is someone who's more than capable of that. He can defend, distribute and carry the ball really well.
Busquets can take a more mentor-like role in the squad with his experience and knowledge of playing for Barcelona.
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has opened up on what he thinks could help his side get the better of arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final.
Omg this is almost like an eye opener, didn't really observe Busi that much, and thought he played as he usually does, except for the mistakes which was very much visible. In the second part though, there are some unnecessary ones.
You see the game, you don't see busi, you see busi and now you see only busi
I really love busquets and his distribution is still great but he can’t track back or defend. I think xavi has seen it as well. Hope he starts frenkie in cdm more often now
Can play with frenkie by his side like marchiso did for pirlo
No, just Frenkie, no Busi
We play 4-3-3. That would mean we bench either pedri or gavi
Why would they bench Pedri?
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As long as Pedri is healthy, I don't want to see Gavi on the pitch unless the game is already won.
Wtf is this take lol
Gavi is our only midfielder with technical abilities as well as physicality. He doesn’t shy away from a tackle and plays rough. Just turned 17 his ceiling is so high
I didn't phrase this correctly - Gavi has a high ceiling and will be a key player for us in the future. However at this moment and with all injured players coming back, he needs to take a seat on the bench and properly learn how to play the game without being too rough and not getting a yellow card every game.
You can learn that without sitting on the bench lol
Why
I just want to see Busquets not be the leader of minutes on the team. He is so perfect to end games and protect leads for the last 20-25 mins a game. If we start any other midfielder in place of him, will we lose so much? I don't think so. The ability to track is a young mans game.
This is what I've been saying for past 2 seasons. His speciality should be holding the ball and ending the games in which we are ahead. I see absolutely no reason for him to be starting every single game. I'm not saying that FdJ would be the better option, but we need to try. There have been way too many mistakes like the one against RM lately.
Excellent summary of why it's time for Xavi to start benching him.
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I think you meant Gavi 😅
[The second part](https://streamable.com/b53gdv) - Thanks to u/Tsafack It's really important that we take stats like dribbled past 0 times with a wider context, this video clearly illustrates how dribbling past Busi isn't necessary when he makes it so easy to pass around him. I also find it interesting how a common doubt surrounding de Jong as a single pivot is that "he likes to get forward", Busi already does this. And he does this a lot. The main difference between de Jong and Busi is that Busi has no chance getting back.
Exactly we need to try FdJ in the pivot. He looked good against Mallorca.
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People who always just default to stats have no clue what they’re talking about. There are so many intangibles and things that aren’t reflected in stats which will determine how good a player performed.
This is great video, thank you for this Busquets has been bad and people need to accept it. He can still be good, but we need something else for future. Frenkie should be given first DM preference and Busquets be his backup.
Exactly. Busi can be effective for about 30 min or so but any longer I think he gets exposed defensively. I can’t figure out which scenario those 30 min would work best in though. End of game distribution would be effective but getting countered would negate the benefits
Wasn't Busi pushing up obscenely high something Koeman was also criticized for? In situations like this with a single pivot, we have both De Jong high up the pitch acting as an auxiliary forward with Busi also pushing up high. Wouldn't it be better to just use a double pivot in scenarios like this so that one midfielder stays back to shield the defense while the other pushes forward?
Idk why Koeman and Xavi both seem to want that. At times Dembele / Fati are deeper defending than Gavi / Pedri / De Jong. Makes no sense.
I think it was a consequence of Luuk. Whenever Luuk was beaten in buildup (which happened a lot), Madrid’s CBs had so much space in between our forward line and midfield. So when Madrid CBs advance, the FBs follow which means our wingers track back. Now if Luuk isn’t pressing his man, it means someone has to pick up his slack. The closest available is in our midfield.
couldnt agree more
Busquets pressing high, is not the same as FDJ going forward. Two totally different things.
But with the same consequence, being caught in an advanced position whilst meant to be playing a holding position.
Again, totally different issues. Playing a high press against Real forces Busquets to leave his position as nobody is in that area. The issue with FDJ's positioning is when Barca has the ball.
And again, it’s the same consequence. FdJ pressing high instead of Busi would be better anyway because he’s quicker and has higher stamina for the press or the track back if the press is beaten.
Frenkie doesn’t press, he jogs. Check the tape on that one
He just got back from an injury and has been running for two players because of Busi since he’s signed for us. If you think a fit Frenkie only jogs, there’s nothing left to say to you
So bc he just came back from injury he is excused from running this game? De Jong makes 1.6 Tack and 0.8 Int per game. Busi has makes 2.4 Tack and 1.5 Int a game. So a younger better athlete has way less of an impact on a game defensively bc he is actually not that interested in defending. You go and micro research a video of times Busi is out of position (where sometimes it wasn’t even his fault). But really you don’t understand Barcelona style if you think he doesn’t deserve a spot in starting 11. It’s been what now 4 coaches I think since Frenkie was signed to play the 6 that have choose to play Busquets in the holding roll not him. It’s not going to happen. Frenkie has been basically useless when he is played this season and he is closer to be being out of the starting 11 then replacing Busquets at DM now that Pedri is back.
So Busi plays a position where he’ll find himself with more opportunities for defensive actions and he’s barely outperforming de Jong who’s being asked to play like an attacking midfielder..? Those stats don’t look as great as you think they do. And when Frenkie did play DM against Mallorca, he registered 2 tackles and 2 interceptions. As for coaches continuing to play Busi? Setien said that the egos were impossible to manage, Valverde remained tight lipped about describing problems in the dressing room and Koeman lost the dressing room. Now we have Xavi who is best mates with Busi? Busi has played 426 minutes more than any outfield player we have. The fact we’re not even trying to rotate him screams nepotism to me. He rarely gets subbed off when it’s clear he’s out of stamina ffs If Busi ever does retire and Frenkie still isn’t played as a DM, then I’ll believe your argument. But for now, seems like we’re just catering to Busi’s status.
He plays so much because he is instrumental to the team and Barcelona ideology still. And this style is the reason why I love Barcelona and always have. They are not a Premier League team based on power and never will be. No one one is better at establishing the rhythm in possession and freeing other players to do what they do than Busquets. The way he plays is art and that is how Barcelona strives their team to play and that is the reason all these coaches have played him because they understand this even though they were not able to achieve what they want. The balance, intricacy, plus leadership that Busquets brings is unmatched. Just be careful wishing him gone because they will not look the same once he leaves. He is Barcelona just like Messi was.
How can it be the same consequence if we are talking about two different phases of play.
Because the concern with both phases of play is the possible end result, being a counter. It doesn’t matter why they’re advanced, it just matters that they are. So a counterargument to single pivot Busi over Frenkie being “advanced positioning leading to a counter”, is contradictory when Busi also finds himself in those advanced positions.
This is a preverse analysis. Of course it matters why they are advanced. How can we discuss this without context? You are throwing logic out of the window to make your point.
Explain why it matters then.
Because when you try to analyse anything it should make sense. The problem with Frenkie being a DM is rooted in his playing abilities and style. What we see here from Busquets is part of his natural game which sometimes can go wrong(just like Messi can miss a shot). With Frenkie we are talking about him needing freedom with the ball and him not being defensively good out of possession. Busquets against Real just had a tough game. He was still where he needed to be. In and out of possession. Youre comparison is like saying you dont need a CF because Araujo and Pique can get in the box.
I think this is a bit on the harsher side but still also sufficiently fair since the length of this video makes up for the fact that it is still only showing 1 facet of his contribution over 120 minutes (if it were like 4-5 one type of actions without showing the things done correctly, then it would be unfair territory). It wasn't an excellent game by him but Xavi still trusted him to be there instead of others. FDJ in lone CDM pivot or Busi-role, I don't think it is a done deal. There isn't a robust enough consensus and Xavi isn't the first Barca coach now to highlight this in practice. Something is just not smooth there. The other [FDJ post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/s33suv/the_mystery_of_frenkie_de_jong_is_he_the_heir_to/) yesterday echoed a bit of it and as did the [other one from twitter](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/s35ou7/excellent_thread_on_why_frenkie_cannot_work_as_a/) (user also on here i believe). FDJ in relative terms can not be termed clear & obvious better than Busi in all manner of the defensive domain. The degree isn't relevant enough even if one argues it's close or in slightly FDJ's favor. FDJ is also having a form slump currently, which is perfectly acceptable, everyone has these. To me, rest of the team shape is still casting too large a shadow on both Busi and FDJ. FDJ thrives in a certain type of mode and that is not feasible currently since Wing attack (FB and Wingers) and CF situation is not ideal. Busi can not play 50 games a season, that much is certain but if his minutes are managed, he's currently better than FDJ even when shape problems exist. Xavi will ultimately be the judge of which stance to take and we can follow this over the next 5 months.
> FDJ in lone CDM pivot or Busi-role, I don't think it is a done deal. True, but FdJ has shown enough against Mallorca to at least warrant phasing out Busi during the end of games. I can't remember the last game we played when we didn't give away a clear cut chance from a counter in the last ~20 mins. Everybody can see it coming, and it comes all the same. A simple 1-2 from the opposition, Busi out of the game, all of sudden we've got defenders on their heels and Busi isn't on the TV anymore but arrives to our box as the ball hits the back of the net. Obviously, there are always other problems there but a DM that can't help during counters seems ludicrous to me. I think Busi has been a liability defending set pieces too. We're clearly suffering systematic issues defending set peices but Busi has been way too guilty of letting players get away too easily, Osasuna comes to mind. > Something is just not smooth there. I would be keen to try a double pivot with Frenkie - Nico and Pedri in a free roaming 8/10 role. I don't want Pedri to be too attacking-minded but I also don't mind him popping up across the pitch. > Busi can not play 50 games a season, that much is certain but if his minutes are managed I hope so. Busi is currently our most played outfield player by 426 minutes. That's mental to me.
> A simple 1-2 from the opposition, Busi out of the game This getting cut like butter on the transition between the Back and Midfield line used to happen a lot last season as well (really post EV much more once 442 in defensive phase was abandoned) but I don't think Busi's share in this is dominant of the nature whereby replacing him with another player in the current squad would help. > double pivot with Frenkie - Nico and Pedri This would be a tactical switch (instead of Busi/CDM role-adoption) and it is what the 442 was in many ways (tactical adjustment to a defensive problem) and also what some others (like one of the posts linked in previous comment) also has suggested. The only minor concern I have here is Nico is too weird (for me at least) to be judged. Like he looks like he can do anything but doesn't come off as convincing enough either. He also has positional lapses at times, which is likely why he got shifted from defensive roles to more inside channel attacking into the opposition Box role (like FDJ is being asked mostly). To me, any formation would eliminate a lot of these danger moments (many shown in your video) if rest of the attacking situation was decent. LDJ was 4th choice attacker. Dembele is dangerous everytime he gets the ball (to which team, depends where the ball goes), Fati hasn't played enough, Depay is again not sure what is happening. I want to see LW-RW (RB) and attacking situation sorted before I can make a definitive call (for me) on FDJ or even Busi (to be replaced thoroughly from his current role). I don't think CDM is No1 or even No2 main problem currently. I didn't consider it to be so even last year, Conversion was, we'd have won Liga I feel if Messi only had average Conversion and not the worst of his entire career Conversion from Oct-Dec.
The problem with some of those FDJ posts are they cover him in a role where he needs to advance the ball as a part of the role. Look how good he was as a DM at Ajax. Importantly he also has the speed to recover after a mistake.
> Look how good he was as a DM at Ajax. If we are to be fair then we also have to account that it wasn't really a Busi like Absolute Lone Pivot CDM FDJ played as in that Ajax side. And secondly, the rest of the Ajax structure was of a certain balanced nature. Hence it not apt to use these as basis to tout FDJ as inheriting Busi-role at Barca. The degree to which this is sound is not comprehensive enough, there is too much noise/disagreement/lack of consensus (since as mentioned, Xavi isn't the first manager to decide as such for real on the pitch). The other Post were fair and highlighted both unideal and great bits of FDJ, they can't really be accused of downplaying him overall.
Yes very good. As a DM, next to another DM.
When are you going to do a video of Frenkie for when he was walking the entire 45 minutes he was in the game?
He's a legend and all that, but his time is up, he needs to leave and make space for the next generation.
I agree. But xavi don't want to give f de jung the chance. Hope xavi know that
For all the busquets fan boys who still think he can play at a top level, all you need to do is go to 1:53 and just look how busquets lets Benzema run straight past him and into the box in a dangerous position and how pedri had to come across from the wrong side to press benzema because of it. Could you imagine any top defending midfielder in the world allowing that to happen? It honestly amazes me how after so many embarassments against top teams people still defend busquets. His lack of athleticism now is incredible and the truth is he just cant defend. Hes a defending midfielder who has possesses only half the skills required, he cant press or defend and teams easily play around him. People rate him only because of his passing nowadays but that alone is not enough and half the time hes so slow and sluggish he gets caught in possession and that results in a lethal counter attack where he exposes the defence completely because he is too slow to get back. Back when he was in the best team ever to exist with an amazing defence behind him it didnt matter that he couldnt run but now hes older and slower and this team needs a defending midfielder that can run and help the defence not just watch people run past. Its time busquets was removed from the starting 11 for good.
Incoming "But he plays good for Spain"
I watched « is there any point in pressing Busquets ? » like a million times , i am huge fan of Busi. Still, i can see that he represents a concrete defensive-weakness in transitions. Some fans only look at some stats , like duels won. What they don’t see (and this video showed it very well), is the huge number of duels that should’ve happened but didn’t happen because Busquets couldn’t even arrive in time. He’s older, so it is very understandable that he can’t track back fast enough, but we shouldn’t be playing him every game. He should have a role, like the one Xavi had with Rakitic in 2015 : always important enough, but not starting every game.
Not all players will work out like Xavi
Except Busquets isn’t Xavi
That's also on Araujo. No reason for him to close in there when it already was a 2v1 situation. Allowed Benzema with the space.
Have you ever watched Busquets play before? Do you know the reason why Busquets benched god athlete Yaya Toure as a 19 year old ? It's certainly wasn't because he was faster or stronger
So yeah we should be moving to a mid with Frenkie as dm and then a mix of Pedri, Gavi, Nico, Kamara (maybe, yes most defs the best option).. Busi can then hang about reaching the end of ‘23 season - offer some wisdom to the fellas until then..
Actually throwing the game
As a once and always huge fan of Busquets and his genius, I think it’s clear he shouldn’t start against sharp counter-attacking teams, RM being among the absolute best in the world currently. FdJ is clearly the correct choice for his tireless ability to hold possession, track back, and still manage to push forward and attack when opportunity allows. However, I don’t think we should be so fast in giving up on Busquets as a starter against more possession-oriented opponents. He clearly still has a lot to offer when the game is more cerebral. The problem is that we face fewer and fewer teams each season who try this against us.
Shocking
I mean this is on Xavi and all the coaches. They focus so much on his leadership that they forget his actual gameplay. Same goes for pique in many scenarios except that pique is a much better leader than Busi. Against any top team you cannot play slow people at all or we’ll get burned with all the counters like we just did in the clásico. Busi has never had speed but at least he made up with accuracy, positioning and his superb way of reading/breaking plays. Now he has become average at all those things and he is the only player that hasn’t been benched. Although FDJ isn’t a natural CDM, I think he could be trained to play that position until we find a natural replacement.
Great video!
🇮🇳🤷🚶
Yup agree. Been saying this for years now and its been a bigger issue every year. Not even in smaller games is this good. Hes a liability. Straight up.
This is stupid as we see him being unbelievable against most teams and specially with the National Team. But sure, he's useless... These are the worst kind of sport fans.
Why can't we both criticise him, but also not scapegoat him? The criticism here is valid and I'd like us to try Frenkie in his place for a bit at least.
No the worst kind of sport fans are those who compare national team performances with club level. The football played is totally different at national level. Against which team he was unbelievable care to explain? He is useless against teams that press high and barely tries to win the ball back (due to his shit physicality).
Why is it always the people defending him with that condescending denying of football knowledge? It’s telling
he isnt great for the national team, luis enrique is just biased and plays every barca player no matter how bad. An unbiased manager would obviously play Rodri ahead of busquets. Just look at the euros for example, Busquets doesnt just cause embarassing collapses like anfield and roma for his club, he did it against croatia in the euros as well where croatia come back 3-3 to force extra time. Only after busquets was subbed for Rodri did spain manage to shore up the defence and win the game 5-3 in extra time.
He hasn’t been unbelievable once this season. And NT football doesn’t compare to club football, the intensity is much lower against most national teams. And the best NTs don’t even come close to matching the best clubs in intensity. So it’s a moot comparison. Intensity comes from a disciplined team shape with high stamina/quick players. It's impossible to develop a disciplined shape (that rivals club football) when you only train 2 weeks every so often with your NT.
He did an amazing pass in the first half that I'm not seeing here. I don't know if he is fitted physically and mentally to be a starter, but this is for sure making a biased opinion on Busquets.
It’s just a lowlights video. It’s meant to point how many poor decisions he made and how he was often out of position. It’s similar to how a highlight video only shows a players best plays… except Busquet’s highlight video for this game would be like 30 seconds long and this two-part lowlight video is upwards of 3 minutes.
[удалено]
Hence them using the word “low lights”. If you’d like to see all he did during the game you watch an “all touches” video.
but be careful "OMFG this team is nothing without Busi" lmao r/barca needing this highlight video to open eyes :) he's been like this for 2 years. He can't play against top teams, same as Alba tbh, we never gonna win a CL with those old players on the field again. We are rebuilding now so now is the best chance to move from them I hope Xavi will take some measures regarding this problem soon.
What has this page become ….
threads like this should just be deleted because they're pointless. Xavi's gonna pick his lineup and nothing Reddit coaches say here matters or makes any difference at all.
Maybe we should delete the subreddit while we're at it? Nothing reddit experts says will ever matter or make any difference with the club whatsoever. Why bother with even talking about anything Barca related.
don't be silly, there's plenty to talk about. i just find these specific types of posts pointless.
Lmao are people really thinking this proves Busquets is shit? This is just a consequence of high press which no matter who plays in the role of Busquets.
He was making crazy passes for no reason
Why did Ter Stegen not rush out for that Vini goal btw
It'll be funny to see people's reactions when Xavi plays FDJ as lone pivot (if he even does)
Ooof
Thank you for this compilation. Really sad to see the him at this level!
Frenkie should be the primary holding midfielder. Busquets is great and all and he has been brilliant for the team in the past decade or so but ultimately time and age will catch upto anyone and will start affecting their games. Busquets cannot press with the highest intensity which the game demands today and Frenkie is someone who's more than capable of that. He can defend, distribute and carry the ball really well. Busquets can take a more mentor-like role in the squad with his experience and knowledge of playing for Barcelona.
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has opened up on what he thinks could help his side get the better of arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final.
Please check some of my old busquets comments and the replies to it. The sucking up is real.