Sergio Busquets, one and only
Once upon a time Barça were an unstoppable team that played some of the most aesthetically pleasing football ever seen. This was in large part thanks to their singular midfield composed of Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.
Up until now Busquets remained as the lone survivor of the three, gluing Barça’s midfield together in recent years, no matter who was at his side. Unfortunately all stories have an ending, even for Busquets. At the age of 34, despite having the possibility of renewing his contract at the club, he’s decided to move on and live another experience elsewhere before retiring from professional football. That destination is yet to be revealed.
Barça now have the task of finding a replacement, the “new Busi”. In fact, the club has been trying to anticipate this moment yet they’ve failed. So what makes anyone think they’ll succeed now the need is urgent?
If you ask me, there is no “new Busquets” like there was no “new Xavi” or “new Iniesta”. Comparisons are odious, especially when it comes to generational talents who were lucky enough to end up playing together in the same team.
Xavi’s departure, being the first of the three, had everyone trying to find the perfect replacement for him. Jean-Michaël Seri, Riqui Puig and Arthur Melo were just some of the footballers compared to him and we know how it worked out for them…
Names such as Martin Zubimendi, Sofyan Amrabat or Rúben Neves are among the options to take over in that holding-yet-creative midfield position, yet none will ever come close to fulfilling Busquets’ role in the same way. Maybe Zubimendi is the candidate with more potential and a brighter future out of those three, yet it’s hard to imagine him actually being anything like Busquets.
That’s why it’s so important to avoid thinking Barça will ever find the “new Busi”. He’s unique, as were Xavi or Iniesta.
None of them ever stood out physically, especially Busquets with his slender build. Unlike him, defensive midfielders were known for being strong as well as tall, so many were skeptical when he was brought up to the first team by Pep Guardiola to take over that challenging position.
But what happened after is about to be history. When he leaves at the end of the season we will miss the player that had the capacity to fulfill his role to perfection.
His handling of the ball has always been superb, allowing him to comfortably build up from the back or distributing in offensive situations with short and long passes. He’d even provide pinpoint through balls, usually over the defence, that could break opposition lines if required.
Given he’s so technically gifted there were moments you felt like he was about to lose the ball as a player approached him, but Busi had eyes in the back of his head. A millisecond before a challenge he would either find the perfect pass, dummy his opponent or come up with a classy dribble that would free him from any pressure. He even had the audacity to do these things in compromising areas of the pitch, yet he rarely failed in his attempts.
But he probably wouldn’t have earned so much recognition without his ability to defend. He lacked pace but he made up for it with those long legs that seemed to extend infinitely to reach out and nick the ball back. So we can say for a fact that during most of his career Busquets was an ace when it came to recovering the ball.
Always positioned in the right place, whether it was to stop a counterattack or to open up a passing lane for his teammates. The only thing Busquets seemed to do wrong, or more likely avoid, was when it came to shooting. Even when he had a good look at goal he would rather feed the ball to another player. For that reason he’s only scored 18 goals in more than 700 official matches he’s played for F.C. Barcelona.
15 incredible seasons playing at least 40 games in each (this campaign he’s about to reach that mark), which comes to show how important he’s been to this club, no matter which manager took charge. There will only ever be one Sergio Busquets so let’s not insist on finding a replacement or a “new Busi”, but rather focus on adapting to this new incoming era without him.