The metronome passer Sergio Busquets - Under the microscope

Sergio Busquests - The cunning serpent; silent killer aptly justifies the metaphorical phrase.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

You shouldn’t judge the value of something by its outward appearance alone. Sergio fits into this billing and it’s insane how underrated this guy is. Playing in a team which produces an abundance of talent, brought up from the ranks, it is obvious for a smart player to be forgotten as the team wins riches and whose command of the ball is overshadowed by the presence of more established creative forces like Xavi and Iniesta. Imagine – Busquets is just 23 and having won the World Cup, Euros, Champions League titles, domestic successes with both Spain and Barcelona, he’s going to have a great, being already one of the best in his position. But all that diving and whining and theatrics and the imaginary-card-flashing; it’s bound to take the sheen off his achievements and hit his credibility. According to me, he’s one of the most comfortable and relaxed guys to grace a football pitch.

He is the perfect defensive midfielder for Barca – not your standard midfield destroyer but rather one who graces the play with his excellent touch and control. I think there is a lot more to see from this player, even if his impact on a match is often overlooked. The role of Sergio Busquets is quite different from a regular holding or a box-to-box midfielder. The fact that he is barely involved in creating goals with the killer passes, scoring goals or providing assists dismisses this unique player’s importance. Goals are not even his forte, but when all the other Barca players playing the tiki-taka style around the opposition, Sergio plays a huge part being responsible for sustaining the tempo with his possession control. Busquet’s reading of the game is truly amazing for a young man. His movement around the middle of pitch, looking for spaces all the time, helps in controlling the game and other teams cannot stop him due to his natural defensive instincts and composure on the ball.

The young calm Catalan not only relies on his tackling abilities, but also keeps his man covered with his great positioning sense. His intelligence on the pitch and smooth passing is the closest to Xavi the Catalans have. Only Thiago has some similar traits, but he is still too young, raw and inexperienced to be anywhere close to succeed Xavi. Busquets is perfectly at ease as a Central Midfielder. Barcelona can have Romeu employed as a defensive midfielder with Busquests further up the pitch, after Xavi retires. He is becoming much better than today’s aging and slower Xavi as he masters Xavi’s distribution, short, simple passes and awareness to be available for others. Also responsible for providing cover for the players who have left the defensive lines and positions(like the full backs do while Barca play), and with his great ball-winning techniques, he is often successful while tackling. While the likes of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta will be the first names on the team sheet, the command that Busquest’s possesses and the rock solidity he provides will be vividly palpable the times he is off the field.

However, some footballing minds call him overrated by citing reasons like he is made to look good by the players around him. But he is certainly an important cogwheel of the sailing Spanish armada. Though his theatrics appeal more to the eye than his tenacious defensive shield that he bestows. But diving has become a skill and such things need strong penalties. Nowadays, players dive all the time and get practically no rough treatment but Busquets gets hated on continuously in a normal game. One sight I would want to see is him bombing forward a bit more, adding a bit of Yaya Toure to his game! That could be a phenomenal lethal combination of attack minded play along with defensive solidity.

Sergio Busquets is an industrious example of what a modern-day sweeper is. He acts as a controller of the game when Puyol/ Pique/ Mascherano move forward in attack when Barcelona have possession, while he plays in front of the defense providing solidity trying to win back the ball when they defend. According to me, Sergio Busquests is surely the Unsung hero and exhibits a huge chance of becoming better than greats such as Gattuso, Makelele, De Rossi, Xabi Alonso or becoming the best of the lot amongst the pool comprising of Lassa Diarra, Cambiasso, De jong, Mascherano, Essien, Khedira.