Busquets bashing

The Champions League is back this week and with it comes one of the games most divisive players; Sergio Busquets.

Ridiculed in the UK and vilified by Internazionale fans after exaggerating contact from Thiago Motta to get the midfielder sent off, the 23-year-olds ability is often lazily dismissed and his contribution to Barcelona and Spain's success are quickly overlooked.

Busquets was not developed in La Masia, and came to the Catalans relatively late in 2005 from Unio Jabac aged 16. He was a mainstay of Pep Guardiola’s B team in the 2007-2008 season and after helping the team win promotion he followed Guardiola in being promoted to the full squad for 2008.

Guardiola’s first season in charge was a revelation; the Catalans won the first ever treble in Spanish history, which included a stunning 2-0 win over Manchester United in the Champions League final. Prima-donna players like Deco and Ronaldinho were moved on and in came a midfield three of Xavi, Andreas Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, one of the first names on the team sheet at 19 years of age.

The tika-taka style which Rijkaard had implemented was refined by Guardiola and with the repositioning of Lionel Messi as a ‘false number 9’, rather than out wide, Barcelona soon became the most impressive club team in football. Busquets was an integral part of the side and his tactical intelligence and constant availability meant Xavi and Iniesta could impose their game higher up the pitch.

In winning the Champions League in his breakthrough season, Busquets also joined an exclusive club of father and son combinations to have both won the Champions League with the same team (the Maldini’s at Milan and Manuel Sanchez Hontiyuelo and Manuel Sanchez Martinez of Real Madrid are the other two). Carles Busquets kept goal for Barcelona in the 90s and was backup during the 1992 European Final at Wembley.

The younger Busquets has gone on to average 48.5 games a season since stepping up to the full squad, more appearances than Iniesta and Pique for instance, but yet he is rarely appreciated as a player outside of Barcelona. He might have exaggerated contact to get Thiago Motta a second yellow card, but in a game of professionals if the other team is reduced to ten men then your side have gained an advantage. It was not Busquets fault that Motta was already on a booking for instance.

As it turned out, the sending off did not swing the tie away from Inter, who defended brilliantly (and rode their luck, Bojan’s goal should have stood) to eliminate Barcelona. Busquets was caught on camera glancing up from his ‘injury’ to the bench and it was this knowing wink that enraged football fans. Didier Drogba has committed far more flagrant dives during his time at Chelsea, yet his reputation is as a bullish goal-scorer rather than a ‘diver’. His reaction in the quarter finals of the Champions League tie versus Napoli (see video below) was appalling, but were largely glossed over by an English media exultant to see an English side progress.

Drogba won the lot during his time at Chelsea and is clearly an excellent striker. By contrast Busquets aged 24 has won the following; thee La Liga’s, two Copa del Rey’s, two Champions League titles, a European Championship  and a World Cup, not bad for what has been a four year career. Busquets deserves at least equal the praise that Drogba earned during his time in England but it seems unlikely that the English media will budge from their lazy stereotype of the Spanish midfielder.

He wasn’t part of the EURO 2008 squad but since coming into the national set-up Spain have dominated the game and I would argue that his presence in midfield is second only to Lionel Messi’s new deployment as the false 9, as the fulcrum behind Barcelona’s form these past four years. It can be no coincidence that since Busquets has come into both sides, they should start to dominate at club and international level and hopefully the rangy midfielder will earn respect from outside of Catalonia. 

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Is Hamilton the new Alonso?

Lewis Hamilton refused to quash rumours of a switch from McLaren to Mercedes this weekend and after dominating the Monza Grand Prix his management team are in a strong negotiating position.

Martin Whitmarsh, team principle of McLaren, was far more committal after the race and when pressed confirmed that the team wanted Hamilton to remain with the Woking based outfit. The complications seem to be coming from the management company looking after Lewis Hamilton, XIX, a Martin Fuller vehicle. They are aggressively trying to market their young racer, one of the most exciting and temperamental in the sport, and feel that the British McLaren company is not a large enough brand to help transform Hamilton into a celebrity outside of F1.

Mercedes are a European heavyweight and would guarantee Hamilton more global recognition and further increase income via a basic salary and commercial aspects. Since their return to the sport three years ago, Mercedes have only picked up one race victory so in terms of race performance the switch would appear a negative one. The lure appears to be a wish to build Mercedes around Hamilton, as Ferrari did with Michael Schumacher in 1996, and re-establishing the sleeping giants as a dominant force in the Formula One world.

Hamilton would clearly be afforded the number one driver status if he moved to Mercedes to join his close friend Nico Rosberg and the 2008 World Champion must have watched Fernando Alonso race with envy as  he thrives when he is teams main driver. Alonso became the (then) youngest double World Champion in 2006 driving for Renault and as the number one driver at Ferrari has continued to impress, despite a under performing car. McLaren are famous for their reluctance to issue team orders and favour one driver over the other, so a switch to become lead driver could be Hamilton's motivation.

Despite their fleeting and acrimonious season together at McLaren in 2007, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have more in common than is at first obvious. The Spaniard, at 31, is four years older than Hamilton and for all the performance that Alonso is extracting from the Ferrari it is worth remembering that in previous years he courted several controversies.

The Spaniard has been accused of 'brake testing' his rivals on several occasions, a move which forces them off the track in order to avoid a collision of Alonso's making. His season at McLaren was controversial and issues came to a head when Alonso delayed his then team mate, Hamilton, meaning he did not have enough time to complete a 'flying' lap. Hamilton and his father appealed after the FIA and McLaren had initially taken no action and the team were docked all of their points from the weekend.

This astonishing inter-team rivalry reared its head in the Spygate scandal, with Alonso testifying against his own team in exchange for immunity from any sanctions. Allegedly, Alonso also went to Ron Dennis, the acting principle at McLaren at the time and threatened to hand over his indicting emails to the FIA unless he was given number one driver status. The request was refused and with relations at breaking point at the end of the season Alonso and McLaren mutually agreed to part company.

Alsonso was also driving for Renault at the time of the Crashgate scandal that rocked Formula One in 2008, whereby Nelson Piquet was ordered to crash by Renault boss, Flavio Briatore, in order to trigger a safety car which helped Alonso win the race. Although no collusion was ever found between Briatore and Alonso the incident is a reminder of how far rules are pushed and pale in significance compared to some of the mistakes perpetrated by Lewis Hamilton in his career.

Hamilton and Alonso are on speaking terms now and both found time last season to suggest that the other driver was the best in Formula One. Hamilton endured a torrid 2011 season, beaten by a team mate for the first time since 2007, and made several mistakes whilst trying to force the issue and overtake. Alonso was a similar driver aged 27, and with another four years hindsight and maturity Hamilton could find himself emulating Alonso, widely regarded as the finest driver in the field.

It was clear that neither driver could coexist during their season together in 2007. Both are incredibly competitive drivers and this conflict may have been cause because the two drivers are actually a lot more similar than we would imagine.

French Connection

The much vaunted Clairefontaine academy in France saw two of its recent graduates, Abou Diaby and Hatem Ben Arfa, star this weekend in the English Premier League and makes the recent opening of St George's Park in Burton seem about 20 years too late. 

Diaby was rightly named man-of-the-match after his role in the 2-0 dismissal of Liverpool and after two seasons virtually lost through injury the rangy midfielder is filling an Alex Song size hole with ease. It’s easy to forget that the Frenchman has been at Arsenal for six years, joining just two after Robin Van Persie came in from an exile at Feyenoord. His recent career has been stunted by injuries, which have affected his game since early on during his time at Auxerre, and if he had been available to Arsene Wenger more than 115 times we could be looking at an entirely different Arsenal team.

Quickly dubbed the ‘new Viera’ after joining in 2006, Diaby became an integral part of the Arsenal side and full international recognition came in 2007. His athleticism and presence in midfield was an integral part of Arsenal’s game with Diaby operating alongside Fabregas and Alex Song in a central midfield three; performances which led to a place at the 2010 World Cup. Diaby started all three of France’s disastrous campaign in South Africa and spent the next two seasons rehabilitating from injuries.

His seeming return to full fitness for 2012/2013 has been a substantial boost for Arsene Wenger who is still without Jack Wilshire and sold the influential Alex Song to Barcelona for £15 million. Arsenal are three games into the season and are yet to concede many chances, yet alone a goal. Much has been said about Steve Bould marshalling the Arsenal back four, but a midfield of Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta and Diaby hasn’t allowed other teams to settle and has masked what remain misfiring strikers.

Oliver Giroud missed another sitter (on his favoured foot this time) and despite scoring Podolski doesn’t look like a 20 goal a season finisher. Arsenal will always create chances because of their open and attacking principles and once the strikers start taking their chances, should have a good season.

Meanwhile in Newcastle the enigmatic Hatem Ben Arfa added another stunning goal to his repertoire, adding to strikes against Everton, Blackburn and Bolton. His rumoured fee of £5 million was somewhat of a gamble as the 25-year-old was recuperating from a Nigel De Jong-ed ankle and his given reputation for aggravating trouble and testing managers.

This temperament was captured on camera in the French documentary, A la Clairefontaine, which followed the French academy players, of which Ben Arfa was the youngest trainee. In a famous clip he is seen arguing and almost coming to blows with a 16-year-old Abou Diaby, providing a fascinating insight into what it must be like to leave home so young and dedicate your life to becoming a professional footballer (Take note Adrian Bevington).

Ben Arfa was part of a generation soon dubbed L’enfant terrible by the French press, that also included Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez. This team won the European Under-17 Football Championship, defeating a Spain side that included Gerrard Pique and Cesc Fabregas but Ben Arfa was the star of the tournament. Feted as the new Zinedine Zidane, helped by his North African heritage, from the age of 17 Ben Arfa became a figure of disruption and managed to alienate Lyon and Marseille, then the two biggest clubs in France. A move to Newcastle was in all respect a come-down for a player who interested the likes of Real and Arsenal early in his career.

That Alan Pardew has been able to tame Ben Arfa is one of his greatest accomplishments at Newcastle and now he has devised a system that allows Ben Arfa to commit defenders the Frenchman has thrived. With a tally of nine goals for Newcastle he has beaten his goal record at Lyon and at Marseille in roughly half the number of games. Even more impressive is that at least five of his goals in England have been screamers, created from nothing.

Despite both Diaby and Ben Arfa enjoying a career renaissance, their fortunes on the international stage have contrasted visibly. Ben Arfa made Laurent Blanc’s 23 for Poland and Ukraine but fell-out with then France coach, Laurent Blanc, as did three other players. He was fined and dropped for the upcoming set of World Cup qualifiers and having finally broken back into the national set up, may have blown his second chance. Meanwhile, Diaby is included in Didier Deschamp’s squad for games versus Finland and Belarus, a first call-up since last June. Both players are products of the successful Clairefontaine academy, which you hope the FA have seriously looked at, and are enjoying second winds in the English game.