Sergio Busquets

[The Skipper 20,593]

Really? Well thats both of your opinions but I still think Busquets is the best in that position. Barca haven't been as good as they were 2 or 3 years ago but he is a brilliant footballer, Matic is a great player too but he isn't better than Busquets in my opinion.

In what aspects is he not better exactly?

[nyikolajevics 2,418]

Really? Well thats both of your opinions but I still think Busquets is the best in that position. Barca haven't been as good as they were 2 or 3 years ago but he is a brilliant footballer, Matic is a great player too but he isn't better than Busquets in my opinion.

Sergio is better at passing and is more techniqual but we need a tough motherfucker like Matic.

[Whiskey 173]

This cunt is the last player on earth I want to see wearing a Chelsea shirt.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Matic is ahead of Busquets in almost everything you want in a holding midfielder, it's not even that close. Busquets is a good player but has always been massively overrated. He's enjoyed playing for teams that average over 70% of the ball per game and playing alongside one of the greatest midfield pairings in history. Even my grandmother will look good playing next to Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

[Atlas Lion 1,223]

How the fuck is Busquets suddenly 'over rated', when hardly anyone rates him at all other than players and managers who understand and appreciate how difficult his role is, which in all reality, is completely different than what we have Matic do for us.

[Stats 6,980]

Short tika-tika passing, Busquets is better. Long-range passing, Matic is better by far but who possesses the better passing range? Matic of course. Matic long range passing is really underrated. Look at Salah's goal against Arsenal last season for instance. Excellent vision and passing range. Would have Matic over Busquets all day long. Not even a debate for me.

[Viper22 2,418]

Literally the last player on the planet i'd want at this club.

Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, Matuidi, De Rossi, Mascherano, Matic and (obviously) Schweinsteiger are all better pure anchor DMs. An argument could be made for Lars Bender (and maybe Sven) being better too.

On top of that he has the professionalism and temperament of a child.

Just... no.

[Victor Von Doom 258]

Short tika-tika passing, Busquets is better. Long-range passing, Matic is better by far but who possesses the better passing range? Matic of course. Matic long range passing is really underrated. Look at Salah's goal against Arsenal last season for instance. Excellent vision and passing range. Would have Matic over Busquets all day long. Not even a debate for me.

Yr srsly underrating Busquets' passing range. It's fantastic

[Victor Von Doom 258]

Literally the last player on the planet i'd want at this club.

Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, Matuidi, De Rossi, Mascherano, Matic and (obviously) Schweinsteiger are all better pure anchor DMs. An argument could be made for Lars Bender (and maybe Sven) being better too.

On top of that he has the professionalism and temperament of a child.

Just... no.

Matuidi, the Bender bros. Rly? Yr hate is clrly clouding yr judgement

[Viper22 2,418]

Matuidi, the Bender bros. Rly? Yr hate is clrly clouding yr judgement

I said an argument could be made for the bender brothers. Probably not Sven. Doesn't mean they're better, just that it could be debated. Matuidi is a really solid player, I rate him very much. Worse on the ball than Busquets admittedly but I rate solidity and defensive abilities higher in holding midfielders and Matuidi beats Busquets in those aspects for me.

[Spike 12,049]

Literally the last player on the planet i'd want at this club.

Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, Matuidi, De Rossi, Mascherano, Matic and (obviously) Schweinsteiger are all better pure anchor DMs. An argument could be made for Lars Bender (and maybe Sven) being better too.

On top of that he has the professionalism and temperament of a child.

Just... no.

Alonso, Pirlo, Schweinsteiger, Matuidi = anchor DMs.

First two are deep playmakers and the last two are Box-To-Box Midfielders. Just because they former two stay deep doesn't mean they are anchors.

[Victor Von Doom 258]

I said an argument could be made for the bender brothers. Probably not Sven. Doesn't mean they're better, just that it could be debated. Matuidi is a really solid player, I rate him very much. Worse on the ball than Busquets admittedly but I rate solidity and defensive abilities higher in holding midfielders and Matuidi beats Busquets in those aspects for me.

Can't agree w/ u on any of yr opinions above, but I respect them. So, I apologise if I come across as a bit blunt / arrogant.

Imo - Busquets is ten times the player Matuidi is defensively. (as well as in the atk, but that's not the point we're discussing). For me, his awareness & positioning is 2nd to none. He's always 2 steps ahead.

[Viper22 2,418]

Alonso, Pirlo, Schweinsteiger, Matuidi = anchor DMs.

First two are deep playmakers and the last two are Box-To-Box Midfielders. Just because they former two stay deep doesn't mean they are anchors.

I'll politely disagree. All 4 are anchormen. Firstly, if you don't count them as anchormen then there are very few in the world good or bad. Matuidi isn't a box2box midfielder. Ramires and Pogba are B2B players. Matuidi hangs back a lot of the time during PSG's attacks to provide stability and breaks up attacks very well. That's an anchorman all over - protecting the back 4. Schweinsteiger I can see how people would think he's a B2B but that's only because he's so damn good that he managed to shield and protect the back 4 as good as anyone else and get forward to get involved up the other end too. He's primarily an anchorman for me though.

As for Pirlo and Xabi Alonso, they're classic examples of anchormen. They protect the back 4 but have great passing visions on top of that. Pirlo is probably the best long passer in the world still, doesn't change the fact that they're still anchormen and their primary job is protection of the back 4. Busquets is very good at a short, quick passing game in and around the oppositions box and Matic has a great long through ball on him. They're both very good passers of the ball too but likewise they're both still anchormen primarily.

It's all about the primary role. In today's game the top players (like the ones I mentioned) have to be very good at their primary role and also offer elsewhere around the park whether it's incisive/intelligent passing or goal scoring.

[Viper22 2,418]

Can't agree w/ u on any of yr opinions above, but I respect them. So, I apologise if I come across as a bit blunt / arrogant.

Imo - Busquets is ten times the player Matuidi is defensively. (as well as in the atk, but that's not the point we're discussing). For me, his awareness & positioning is 2nd to none. He's always 2 steps ahead.

No problem. We come to these forums to debate with people who's opinions differ from our own.

I don't see how you can say that Busquets is 10x the player that Matuidi is defensively.

A quick search on whoscored.com had some stats for them.

Since the start of the 2009/10 season (includes all competitive matches):

Busquets makes 2.7 tackles, 2.2 interceptions, 1.1 clearances and 0.3 blocks per game.

Matuidi makes 2.8 tackles, 2.3 interceptions, 0.9 clearances and 0.3 blocks per game.

Seems pretty similar to me. If anything Matuidi's stats are better. Now I know they're just stats but it proves that Matuidi is just as effective if not more in defence than Busquets. And 2 of those 6 seasons were at St Etienne too.

[Victor Von Doom 258]

Hm. Maybe I'm just v biased ha

[Spike 12,049]

I'll politely disagree. All 4 are anchormen. Firstly, if you don't count them as anchormen then there are very few in the world good or bad. Matuidi isn't a box2box midfielder. Ramires and Pogba are B2B players. Matuidi hangs back a lot of the time during PSG's attacks to provide stability and breaks up attacks very well. That's an anchorman all over - protecting the back 4. Schweinsteiger I can see how people would think he's a B2B but that's only because he's so damn good that he managed to shield and protect the back 4 as good as anyone else and get forward to get involved up the other end too. He's primarily an anchorman for me though.

As for Pirlo and Xabi Alonso, they're classic examples of anchormen. They protect the back 4 but have great passing visions on top of that. Pirlo is probably the best long passer in the world still, doesn't change the fact that they're still anchormen and their primary job is protection of the back 4. Busquets is very good at a short, quick passing game in and around the oppositions box and Matic has a great long through ball on him. They're both very good passers of the ball too but likewise they're both still anchormen primarily.

It's all about the primary role. In today's game the top players (like the ones I mentioned) have to be very good at their primary role and also offer elsewhere around the park whether it's incisive/intelligent passing or goal scoring.

I'll disagree also. My definition of an Anchor man is different. I see an anchorman is a player that not only stays back but whose first job it agressively defend and win the ball back, their second job is to give the ball quickly to more creative players and retain posession. But that is just arguing semantics. Mascherano, Mikel, Javi Martinez, Makelele, Deschamps: the water carrier. That is a anchorman. I'm not saying the anchoramn can't be creative but having creativity is a very low priority.

Alonso and Pirlo's job isn't to protect the back four at all. It's to start attacks from deep. Pirlo in particular plays like Xavi, he even said so himself in his bio. He said he likes to look for space move, receive the ball, find space, pass and continue this pattern. This is what I see Pirlo doing, very average as a defender. Amazing technical and creative ability. I wouldn't rely on either Xabi or Pirlo to protect a defensive line. Xabi had Khedira at Real (they still leaked goals regardless) and Pirlo has Pogba, Vidal and Marchisio doing a lot of the dirty work for him. Pirlo had Gattuso and Ambrosini at Milan, Alonso had Steevee and Mascherano at Liverpool.

What you explained Bastian to be is the exact definition of a B2B midfielder, thanks for proving that point for me.

[OneMoSalah 8,607]

In what aspects is he not better exactly?

Busquets positioning is definitely better, his use of the ball is better, his general football understanding is probably better (if you get what I mean, he can see what's going to happen a few passes before others and read the game very well - although that sounds like a load of crazy bullshit the way its worded haha), offensively Matic edges Busquets but I've seen Sergio play excellent passes from a deeper position, in front of the center backs, taking out maybe 3 or 4 players out at a time (he did it against Man United a lot of times in the CL final and also numerous occasions against Real Madrid IIRC, just one ball took out numerous players and turned their midfield around) that Matic hasn't really done.

I don't see how everyone thinks Busquets is shit now a days (not aimed at you in particular mate just a lot of people seem to have changed their tune towards him lol), hes still one of the finest midfield players in European football. Don't get me wrong I am a big big fan of Matic but I don't think hes better than Sergio Busquets.

[iseah100 5,612]

Still don't like him. He's overrated, made for a system, take him out of it and he'd be shit.