Great player. The ultimate version of Carrick.
How good is/was Sergio Busquets?
- Thread starter Paxi
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World class no doubt, but that's about it for me. No 'all-time great for his position' discussion to be had with him, imo.
Beneficiary of playing on a super stacked team. Good player but I always felt he was over-hyped.
I think he's been absolutely incredible and pivotal to their success.
They used to say the same about Victor Valdez, who I always thought was very error prone and not very good at all. But he won a lot with that team and ended up with most Zamora (or whatever it is called) trophies for a GK. Its easy to do that when they dominated possession the way they did.
Carrick could have hypothetically done a decent enough job in his peak years, yes. However, Busquets had a bit extra in his toolkit for the purposes of Barcelona and Spain — better reaction times, greater suitability to one-touch play, superior composure against the press, more deftness on the ball, and so on — folks can play the chicken-or-egg game all day long to chip away at his preeminence, but he remains the quintessential choice for certain schemes. Though on the flip side, Busquets probably would not have been as effective as prime Carrick for United as he often flinched in the face of physical challenges, and didn't relish open games that called for a more vertical approach (which were Michael's bread and butter on the domestic front). Horses for courses, I suppose.
He'll forever be remembered mostly for that cheeky little peak.
Good debate this!
Better than Carrick? What do people think?
Better than Carrick? What do people think?
He obviously could have. Don't be fooled by all this, Yaya was doing the job brilliantly himself. It's nothing special for a player with those qualities.
The way people talk about Carrick on here (and I largely agree) I'd have thought there'd be consensus on Busquets. Barca's period of dominance relies on a world class player like him. I'd be surprised if any of his ex teammates do not fully give credit to him.
A prime Busquets would immediately transform this United side too.
Scholes is not in the same class as Zidane and Xavi and certainly not ahead of Zidane
true but they were just fine with Senna and also Marquez back in the day.
agree with the first bit. he is different to Alonso
agreed
Is he better than Makelele
I would say he enabled Barca to play in a way so that they could maximise the performances of the geniuses Xavi and Iniesta.
No he would not do that. He lacks the creativity do transform a team. What he did was mostly creating a safety net for his teammates - give him the ball, and your team will not lose it. But he is not the one who can really take it forward much. He is great for a possession-focused style of play, but he never made the difference between useless possession and useful possession. In a way I think one could say, he would have transformed this United side into the van Gaal United side, having a lot of possession and no idea how to use it.
I won't deny that he was absolutely world class at doing this job, but Barcas domination was based on their great attacking players - he made their lives easier which helped Xavi, Iniesta or Messi a lot, but he alone could not have decided games in the same way those players did.
His assist to Messi in the 2011 CL semi final vs Real Madrid is for the best ever.
Anyway completely suited Barcalona's style of play. He was never quite on the same level as Xavi and Iniesta, but still one of the best holding midfielders of his generation.
Anyway completely suited Barcalona's style of play. He was never quite on the same level as Xavi and Iniesta, but still one of the best holding midfielders of his generation.
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Considerably better IMO.
It's not even close...
You think? I think that Carrick in that Barca team would have been otherworldly. But we will never find out so who knows.
Carrick was excellent but never world class like Busquets or Alonso who were a tier above IMO.
Scholes above Zidane? Clearly you are being biased.
He was top for almost ten years, but now he's a liability to Barcelona's team.
I don't agree I think he suffers a lot have been playing at Utd and England. Think he would have killed it in Spain and with Spain.
Better. I think Xabi Alonso is a more interesting debate — Carrick's true peak (when he was undoubtedly world-class and not just very good) was a tad short, I'd say a couple of seasons maximum.
I think he was around 2012/13, maybe for a season or two, but those two were on top for much longer.
Heh, I never knew people thought / it was quite universally accepted that Xavi was considered the best midfielder of all-time and a tier above Iniesta. I always considered it to be the other way around.
World class and probably one of those players that will be under rated as time goes on.
He was just ridiculously good.
I bet his team mates loved him. Everything he did was so effortless under pressure.
World-class player. In the tier just below Xavi and Iniesta. But I'll always remember him primarily as the play-acting/diving guy
If you watched United when Carrick was at his best, which was not a heavy possession side (of course, far superior team to the current United side) you'd understand how much a player of that quality improves everyone around them. In my view, Busquets is similar to Carrick, but better.
Agree with this. Busquets was overall a tier above, but Carrick was of course brilliant in his own right and they are/were the same archetype of player. Carrick might have been the better option against physical sides with pace as I felt he was a bit more secure defensively (and indeed tested in a more physical league), but for me Busquets offered quite a bit more on the ball and for Barcelona he's clearly the better option. Personally I'd struggle to think of many sides that prime Busquets wouldn't improve, but I also think it's a definite complement to Carrick that they're comparable in terms of their impact.
I thought he was very good but I thought carrick was better and ultimately I think pep thinks this too.
Why would Pep have any special insight into Carrick?
He had an easy job in that team. He often played badly but nobody noticed because of the players around him. He’s not particularly highly rated by Barça fans, which is pretty telling.
I would say he was effective with what he added to the team, but his job could have easily been done by someone else.
I would say he was effective with what he added to the team, but his job could have easily been done by someone else.
Oh my God. You must be an Englishman.
Carrick better than Busquets 
You would know this was a United forum. Carrick was class for us, incredibly underrated during his time here but Busquets is a league above he in his prime was mint
You would know this was a United forum. Carrick was class for us, incredibly underrated during his time here but Busquets is a league above he in his prime was mintPeople rating Carrick so high and was never an England regular, a great player for utd but not in
Busquets league, that's not a slight on Carrick, as I said great player but for me, that's where his level was at,
Busquets league, that's not a slight on Carrick, as I said great player but for me, that's where his level was at,
I didnt watch Barcelona all that often in la liga, so maybe thats why Xavi is rated higher than Iniesta, but i often found Iniesta equally, if not more impressive than Xavi in the champions league, or for the national team.
Its a bit weird for me, how they aren't rated in the same tier, but Xavi is supposedly on his own.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....he-best-holding-midfielders-20190728.amp.html
Everyone laughing at carrick being at the same level or better than Busquest.
I guess you know more than pep also.
Pep said over the last year that Phil Foden is the best young player he ever seen. Foden has incredible potential but he worked with a young Messi so take what managers say with a pinch of salt. Pep wouldn’t of swapped Busquets for Carrick
Yes busquets was very very good but people laughing at the suggestion that carrick is better than busquets is just stupidity.
I mean it’s debatable but it’s not laughable, we are not comparing Messi and Robbie Fowler.
Literally in that link he also praised Lingard. You think Pep is actually going to reveal what he genuinely thinks in a press conference? They're always pure hyperbole, and he was talking in the context of the England NT.
I understand that it's hard to be rational about your own players but you don't have to be so salty when people with broader perspectives disagree.