DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
Really hope he stays fit for the remainder of the season. The win against RM was nice and competitive, but the lack of control was obvious. I feel much more confident going into the quarterfinals against PSG and continuing to fight for titles with Busi controlling our midfield.
Whether he's in form or not, the net-benefits he provides are really important the more I think about it. If we have Busquets, it's almost axiomatic that we'll play with more control. He moves the ball better, finds his teammates more easily, and gives us a strong central presence on the ball deep in midfield. The result is us playing higher up the pitch and pressing more in the opposition half. Iniesta and Rakitic thrive more in support when things are less chaotic and end to end as they would be with Masch. Messi would also be more active as well and would have more touches. It also means we'd spend less time covering ground in vertical plays and therefore have less physical exertion (it does take a lot of energy to counter). We're also better defensively when we can contain opponents in their half and press them rather than struggling to control the ball and therefore spend a lot of time retreating. Less exertion, more facilitated performances from everyone, more natural defensive structure, and a lot more control of the ball. All of these will be crucial for the difficult fixture list we have against opponents that will push us and test our midfield the way RM did (to a lesser extent though, of course).
