A blessing and a curse. The plight of a defensive midfielder in Barcelona

Sergio Busquets is still playing at the highest level. He is a key player for Barcelona, but he still doesn’t have a suitable successor. Time is flying by and he will soon celebrate his thirty-fourth birthday. In recent years, there have been many players that the media and fans have picked as his new successor. They were said to have the potential and ability to replace him. However, football can be cruel and unpredictable. The Spaniard’s successor remains elusive. According to many, next season will be Busquets’ last at Barcelona. It is therefore increasingly urgent to find a player who can replace him.

Being a defensive midfielder is the heart and lungs of the team. Finding someone to fill that role is really hard. Over the last few years, several players have been selected for this role, but none have lived up to expectations. The Spaniard is still a midfield difference maker for the Catalan big club and time is playing against the club’s management.

Still irreplaceable

Busquets’ detractors must admit that he is a unique player. One of a kind. He has had some poor games in the recent season and didn’t quite shine in the previous season either. In recent years Barcelona have often played football without ideas.

It’s no surprise then that Busquets has failed many times. The frequent changes at the coaching post – Quique Setien, Ernesto Valverde or Ronald Koeman – may have had a big influence on that.

It is clear that in a team where he had to defend first and foremost, he often suffered and did not have the opportunity to show his true strengths. Many may have noticed the change in Busquets’ game when he was playing in a Barcelona jersey and playing games for the Spanish national team.

Everything has changed in La Roja’s line-up. There, we can see how players abound with dynamism, technique and speed when crossing into the penalty area. Every footballer knows his role on the pitch.

Busquets hasn’t magically turned into another midfielder, but the change of system has helped. He is now benefiting from it at Barcelona, where everyone knows their roles and which zones to move in. Xavi’s team plays the football he is used to.

Without the 33-year-old, Barcelona’s midfield doesn’t work as it should. The problems are with advancing into the final third of the pitch and it is harder to dominate the opposition. The situation changes when Sergio arrives, with whom the pace immediately picks up and the game shifts into a higher gear.

My position in Barcelona is a bit complicated and difficult. There are very few players with this profile. In my position you have to control a little bit of everything, think and be a one-stop shop – Sergio Busquets

In the past league season, only five players recorded more interceptions than Busquets. The Spaniard is the leader when it comes to passes in the opponent’s half (1,053) and one of the best when it comes to long passes (149), successful passes in the final third of the pitch (443) and duels won (169).

He is also Barcelona’s best player when taking into account attempts to pressure opponents who receive or hold the ball (475) and balls won after a maximum of five seconds from the start of pressure on the opponent (165).

Oriol Busquets – from great talent to Clermont Foot

Not so long ago, he was considered one of the most talented defensive midfielders not only in Barcelona, but also in Europe. He was predicted to have a bright future and was expected to be the successor to Sergio. Oriol undoubtedly excelled in the youth teams, he managed to shine in midfield and many similarities could be found in his style of play with the player he was supposed to replace.

All of that evaporated when the young footballer injured his meniscus in 2018 and after almost eight months off, he was never the same player again. He was slower, played cautiously, made frequent defensive mistakes and was unpredictable to his teammates. He seemed to have regained his confidence, good form and became a more versatile player while on loan at Twente.

On his return to the Barcelona B team, he showed a decent level but was still plagued by injuries, which allowed him to hit only thirteen games. He saw no chance in the first team, so he left for Clermont Foot in Ligue 1, where he hoped to play regularly.

Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and Oriol played only 240 minutes at Clermont, appearing only once in the starting line-up. He was more likely to play for the reserve team in the fourth French national league, and watched matches mainly from the bench.

Sergi Samper – ravaged by injuries

Sergi lost almost two years in his short career to injuries. Torn ligaments, muscle problems and a twisted ankle are just some of the injuries he has dealt with in recent years.

From a young age, he was looked at as a player who could be the brains of the team in the future and have a chance to make it to the top level. After playing eleven games for the first team, he was loaned out to Granada but they played a defensive style of play which Samper definitely didn’t like.

He had another loan spell at Las Palmas, which ended in five games and he was injured again at the end of the season. Since 2019, the Spaniard has been playing with Andrés Iniesta at Vissel Kobe in Japan, but while Andrés is close to hanging up his cleats, Sergi should be reaching his highest level in a European team.

Injuries have done their part, however, and it’s possible Samper may never return to Europe. He recently tore his ligaments again and is not expected to return to the turf until the end of the year. He has played 103 games in Japan and has one goal and seven assists to his name.

Jandro Orellana – another defensive midfielder stopped by injuries?

The player who had the best chance of breaking into the team. Undoubtedly very similar in profile to Busquets. Much more agile, with better first steps on the ball and also an excellent executor of standard situations.

The problem is of course the constant injuries. In the 2017/2018 season, Orellana was sidelined for almost three hundred days due to an achilles injury. The midfielder had to undergo surgery and upon his return, a large group of people hoped that the Spaniard would stay healthy for longer.

He played the next two seasons at a high level and only took a month off, which was a good sign. That changed with the 2020/2021 season when the muscle injuries returned. Orellana played a total of 19 games in two seasons in the reserves for this very reason.

With so many injuries, it’s hard to build a prolific career and count on playing in the first team. In last summer’s transfer window, Jandro was close to leaving the club but ended up extending his contract by one year.

The midfielder played 1176 minutes last season and has four assists to his credit. He trained alongside Xavi and was even on the list of players who can jump into the Europa League. The question still remains whether he will receive an invitation from Xavi for pre-season training. The 21-year-old is out of contract at the end of June but has an option to extend his contract for another two seasons.

A future without Busquets

Finding a copy of Busquets to replace him is virtually impossible. The solution seems to be finding a successor in La Masia and Marc Casado (2003, Juvenil A) and Pau Prim (2006, Cadet A) seem to be promising players. Marc has had a good season for the U19 youth team and many clubs are interested in his services. Barcelona will try to extend his contract this summer and it is likely that Casado will be promoted to the B team.

Pau is still a very young player and it is impossible to predict his future. It doesn’t change the fact that he is currently the most complete defensive midfielder in Barcelona’s academy. In the coming years, Barcelona will surely have high hopes for him. The key issue remains the health of these players.

In the maze of names, Rodri seems to be a player with a similar style to Sergio. However, his contract with Manchester City runs until 2024 and the transfer fee would likely be high. It might not even stop at €80 million.

We can ask if it would be a better solution to look for a player with a completely different profile, qualities, tasks on the pitch and understanding of the game. Football is changing every day, it is more dynamic and more demanding. Therefore, a more and more common solution is to rely on two defensive box to box midfielders.

First team options

We cannot forget the options that Barcelona have in the squad. Both Frenkie de Jong and Nico González can play as defensive midfielders. The question is whether there will be space and opportunity for them to fully show their quality. Nico spent the whole of the season before last at Barcelona B as a defensive midfielder, where he did extremely well. Even though it’s his natural position.

Former coach García Pimienta himself said that Nico felt great there, it seems that the Spaniard can show even more in a more offensive role. With his dribbling, his drive to goal, his agility and his ability to create action. He’s still a young footballer. At 20 years old, he struggles to read the game and has shown repeatedly that he doesn’t yet have the physicality to play ninety minutes in every game on a regular basis.

Despite his experience in this position (99 games) Frenkie hasn’t played too often at Barcelona. It is worth mentioning that at Ajax he was most often played as one of the two defensive midfielders alongside Lasse Schöne. The Dutchman has never been the only pivot in the Dutch national team. In addition, he had a free role alongside Lasse. He is a player who, like Nico, feels better in an offensive role when he has freedom, more space and the ability to attack from open areas.

This is now showing at Barcelona, where he has shown a much better game near the sixteen, being able to work with the strikers and charge into open zones. In the Catalan capital, he is accused of deficiencies in his defensive play, slow returns and leaving his space, which is crucial for a defensive midfielder in Barcelona.

However, we can still doubt whether Nico and Frenkie can make it in this position. Of course, we are constantly dealing with intelligent and young players. They have time to go up in quality and adapt to this very demanding position at Barcelona. But it won’t be easy and the problem of finding a successor to Busquets will soon be pressing for the coach and the sporting management.

A blessing and a curse

For Barcelona, the passage of years and the mere presence of Sergio on the pitch is a real blessing. He can accelerate the game and properly secure the centre of midfield. Such a midfielder is literally a gift for any coach and has become a key piece of the puzzle for each of them.

However, every beautiful story has to come to an end at some point, and in this context, the real curse is the injuries to the reserve players who have been identified as his successors, as well as the incredible difficulty in finding players with a similar style of play. All of this could result in a change in Barcelona’s perception of the role of the defensive midfielder. It may be necessary to depart from the entrenched model of the position. It will certainly be a huge challenge, but one that is coming and must be faced.

Sergio’s simplicity is one of the most beautiful things in football and few players can push others to the next level just by being on the pitch. The talent to deceive opponents with sheer body play. Everything he does seems simple. Probably only in time will Barcelona realise how much they will miss Busquets. But they can still enjoy the play of one of football’s greatest players at defensive midfielder.

Source: FC Barca