That Thiago is Bayern's best midfielder nowadays means pretty much nothing. He's been pretty dogshite in the league so far anyway.
I'm sort of getting annoyed, because I felt like saying 3 times already that this is bullshit. (no offense to you, I'm just annoying by the constant repetition of this claim in general)
He doesnt do much in the league, because,hey, what the fuck is he suposed to do in the 20-30 minute subs that he has gaem after game in the league against easier opponents? He is still not over his long term injury this year and Peps rotation saves him for bigger games, thats why he is good in CL (where he plays over 70-90 minutes) and "invisible" or "inconsistent" in the league.
The conclusion that should be drawn isnt "he has been invisible in the league and only good in CL". Correct would be "he has been invisible as a sub in already dead games, but good as a starter".
There's however one thing you got right, and that's him struggling with his knee-injury, which is forcing him to miss a lot of games. So the biggest argument against his quality is that he's missing a lot of games usually, I agree with this heavy flaw. But ON THE PITCH, he's absolutely fantastic and that is undebatable imo.
Bayern are having their usual 70% possession per match not because of DAT positional play from Pep, but because Bundeslol teams facing them give up before the match anyway and willingly surrender the ball.
That's not a thing that is exclusive to so-called "bundeslol" teams, thats what any team, including Barca to an extend did since Pep took over at Bayern.
Their possession numbers in CL are by no means different than their possession numbers in Bundesligam. Bayern plays Arsenal just like they play Köln, and the result is more or less the same.
Iniesta, Busquets and Arda Turan are all better than Thiago imo. Thiago is younger, and he could be better than them two years down the road. He's young and he has potential, but after two years at Bayern, can't say he's grown that much. Injuries and other problems have made him stagnate in his development.
Mildfield is not about having the best midfielders. Maybe not. But it surely helps a lot if you do. Such is the case with the attack.
Turan hasnt played a single match yet, we have absolutely no idea how he turns out for Barca. He wouldnt be the first good player to fail there, would he? Despite that, isnt he actually a winger rather than a midfielder?
I agree with Busquets, although Thiago and Busquets play different roles on the pitch.
About Rakitic vs Thiago, this was always a question of quantity vs quality for me, almost a matter of preference. Rakitic is better meaning that he is more often on the pitch than Thiago is. But if both are on the pitch then Thiago is a better player than Rakitic is. Neither of them is a Maldini defensively, but both are somewhat ok, their defensive work is rather supportive than essential, both teams have other players who cover more of that. Offensively Thiago is the better option for me, technique and vision is better, passing is both more accurate and penetrative, neither of them is a real stat-player but Thiago also has slight advantages here, despite playing with a worse (but still insanely good) attacking line.
But here's the thing where people who favour Rakitic have a point, he plays more minutes, and therefor he's simply more often the pitch. And that isnt an excuse for Thiago, thats actually an essential negative aspect and that matters a lot. Having an awesome player is cool, but it sucks when you cant use him every game. Rakitic has around 40-50% more minutes than Thiago, thats quite a lot and favour Rakitic heavily over him. I'm just saying that purely footballwise Thiago is better for me. If (and I havent given up hopes on that) he can finally overcome his knee issues, then he can fully fulfill his massive potential.
