Sergio Busquets always a split player. That won’t change when Spain trying to evade the patent threat of their hostile group E competitors at World Cup In Catathough his style is more than just “divide and conquer”.
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What makes him first among the equals is that when he has the ball, he splits the opposing lines, sending the opposing defender in one lane and the opposing midfielder in the other. His very existence on the football field is predicated on breaking organized solidity into chaotic particles. However, when he first appeared at Barcelonadivision is of a different kind.
Those who assessed the students’ progress said he was slim, slow, and beyond the requirements; Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola considers Busquets to be the atomized version of football, a talent so explosive that he can prove to be a prodigy with all the other super teams. Guardiola’s point of view prevailed, but only once a lanky, languid man.”axis rotation” has been marked as “should be on loan.”
When his first World Cup arrived, Busquets’ presence and playing style divided the fans, the media, and to some extent the team that was voted the 2010 champions. as they were still on a tough bumpy road to a final win over the Netherlands in the final.
Vicente del Bosque wants to use a “double shaft” system in midfield (Busquets plus Xabi Alonso), which he believes has helped Spain defend more firmly. (You can tell Del Bosque was on something as Spain won all of the last four games of that tournament by a score of 1-0.) To be fair, Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets, argue that two central midfielders held, the key is one too many. . With Barcelona, they have just won the treble as a midfield trio – Xavi on the right, Busquets in the middle, Iniesta on the left.
Busquets, commonly known as “Busi”, played in a lone position alternating between being the last defender before the defense was breached, if Barcelona lost the ball, but also being the second to return. Turn your mind from poor ball control to deadly ball control. He is smart, witty and effective in defending the defence as well as being creative, visionary and has a sixth sense in attacking creativity. There is no place like it in football.
The Barcelona trio think that Alonso is redundant. Del Bosque disagreed, and media and public debate erupted, divisively, as the then 21-year-old Catalan was judged to have played only moderately in the opening match 1-0 before Switzerland. In fact, some claim that he contributed to Gelson Fernandes‘strange winning goal for the Swiss.
From that day until now, Busquets has divided the good from the bad. It even continued the other day when Luis Enrique, who absolutely adores the icon of the play that owns the position, gave a stark assessment of Busquets’ status quo.
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The Spaniard, who admits he has begun the difficult task of convincing Busquets to think about competing in the 2026 World Cup, says something that so many others, fans and opponents alike , thought.
The former coach of Barca said. “If we let the game become a long, fast pass and give up our style, it’s clear that Busquets is no longer ‘the best” axis rotation. But even in the big picture of world football, I don’t see anyone better at interpreting and applying the way we want to play. He’s the mainstay for us to build offensively and defensively. “
This is not the level of praise Busquets receives from his national team manager. When I interviewed Luis Enrique recently, he said to me, half jokingly, “I want him to play for me. four more World Cups!” It’s also not the first time a coach of la roja was out hitting the ball for “Busi.”
Back in 2010, in the wake of the storm following the defeat to Switzerland, when the debate at home was completely raging and Busquets felt unjustly disqualified, Del Bosque, himself a multi-title winner famous and infamous in Real Madridof the midfield, spoke up.
“Look, if somehow I could get back to being an active player right now, it would be the Busquets that I want to be like,” he said. “He literally does everything. He’s constantly in control of the team, he’s always helping the people closest to him, he’s giving everything in defense and he’s excellent at the start. play again when we get the ball back. Once he’s settled in form Spain’s football is much more flexible.”
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In the 2010 World Cup-winning squad, there are still 11 players playing professionally, but only Busquets is still playing for his country. And the haters would better restrain their cynicism from here, because if he’s fit, Busquets will definitely be the one to start the match against Costa Rica next Wednesday.
Matches with Germany and Japanregardless of his form, could be completely different stories – both offer tests that might be out of Spain’s control to “get” them to develop to the tempo and tempo. control that Luis Enrique desires.
It’s only been a few months since Busquets himself, on Catalan radio, gave a legal self-assessment of his strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. He admitted: “I’m not, and have never been, an agile sports player. I can make that clear. But with that, if our team doesn’t function the way we have to. and a lot of negative things are happening, or if the game is coming to an end and it’s very vertical, with gaps popping up everywhere, then I’m affected – but Usain Bolt and N’Golo Kante!
“My position, in the ‘Barca style’ style of play, is a rather complicated and difficult position. In general, recently, not many players of this type have emerged. Most teams use the scheme. ‘dual-spin’ in the heart of midfield or box-to-box runners who thrive on the relentless ups and downs.When my style of play works, style does. My way is the position where you can’t move across the field — you ‘have to think more than run, and you have to constantly have a huge amount of information stored in your brain.”
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Part of his “excess brain” attitude is personal choice, not natural physical conditioning. While smaller geniuses like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta all go to great lengths to maximize their core strength and upper body strength, the truth is that there is no such thing as an “exercise culture.” big at FC Barcelona. Frenkie De Jong is still as slim as he was when he arrived from Ajax in 2019; as above Ousmane Dembele. None of them resemble the archetype you get in the Premier League, Bundesliga or Serie A.
That summer of 2019, Busquets went on vacation with Sergi Roberto, Marc Bartra and Cristian Tellowho then chose to share a photo on social media of the four musketeers on their Mediterranean yacht. Iker CasillasThe Busquets captain, when he won the 2010 World Cup, and is not himself a fan of excessive air conditioning, chose to exploit openly (no doubt more of a “flap” teasing than a straight-forward. rope) by posting: “What a pity Busi’s body!”
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These factors – lack of speed, lack of fitness, dislike of having to turn and go back to track opposing athletes – are what competitors are trying to exploit with increasing success in the competition. recent seasons. All of that is the key point of Luis Enrique.
To put it bluntly: if Spain controls the ball, then Catalan is a big plus. If la roja can’t keep the ball and the opponent, whether Japan or Germany, is constantly rushing past him or the ball goes beyond the midfield, then not only does it feel like Spain is playing with 10 men , but Busquets’ error increases, especially if he struggles to grasp the flow of the game.
Spain’s table – not only specific opponents, but also the order of matches – looks horrible. They are in no way guaranteed eligibility from it; Reaching the knockout stages will depend (or pivot, you might say) when they beat Costa Rica, the team that can defend heroically, in the first game. Getting started in any other way greatly increases the likelihood la roja repeat their antics in Brazil eight years ago and early exit.
Unfortunately, Luis Enrique is unlikely to achieve his goal of keeping Busquets international for another four years, until he is 38, and there is even a small chance this will be the player’s last professional season. Catalan at the club level. The scale of his legacy – to wit, add to the semi-finals or final with Spain’s recent performances in “near but no cigar” tournaments at Euro 2020 or Nations League – will be decided by a host of non-zero factors that have yet to be played. But abandoning duty at the World Cup, on his fourth adventure, without fail would go a long way if, against Costa Rica, Busquets is the big leader of the battle in the midfield and Spain. Nha is dancing to the beat of his elegant orchestra, instead of the terrible music led by a conductor who has lost his baton.
