By Efosa Taiwo
The defensive midfield position in Barcelona goes beyond being just a position; it is an institution, if tradition is anything to go by.
This much explains the long-wished-away gloom that descended on the club when Sergio Busquets finally decided to put paid to his 18-year stint dating to his formative days at the famed La Masia.
His ascension over the years might not have come as a shock to all given under whose watch he got a pass into the team — Pep Guardiola, who himself straddled the pivot position having been a devoted disciple of the legendary Johan Cruyff.
Johan Cruyff
Though he might not have been a pivot during his playing days, the Dutchman is pivotal to the Barcelona Tiki-Taka system hinged around an intelligent, technical and ball-playing defensive midfielder.
From being an attacking-minded youngster, Cruyff saw the potentials of Pep holding down the pivot role and fashioned him into what would come to be known as the modern-day pivot that is quick on the feet, adept with the ball, skilled in linking up with the defense and attack, and above all, gifted with a high intuition to read the game.
Pep Guardiola
Pep can be regarded as the gold standard for a modern day defensive midfielder. He was a linchpin to the epic Barcelona ‘Dream Team’ of Cruyff. His evolution in the team right off the La Masia at a very young age transformed him into a model graduate of the famous football academy.
Being under the tutelage of Cruyff meant that he got to learn directly from the pioneer of the Tiki-Taka positional play style himself and, more importantly, have his football philosophy shaped to reflect his mentorship.
Upon his exit from the club in 2001, he left a big shoe at the base of the Barcelona midfield that never got the right fit until he returned as a coach seven years later to reciprocate the very gesture paid to him a decade earlier.
Sergio Busquets
It was predicted to be daunting if not impossible for a lanky, young Sergio Busquets to displace a burly, imposing Yaya Toure from the heart of the Barcelona midfield when he made his debut against Racing Santander in September 2008.
Only a few would have seen him never looking back after that debut as he went on to become an important player for Barcelona in his 14 years senior team career.
While it is barely arguable whether he is the best defensive midfielder ever, Busquets has set a new ‘world order’ for the number 4 role, proving you don’t need to be dirty to do the dirty works.
Defensive excellence, insightful distribution, timely positioning, and simplicity; doing all these distinguish Busquets and make him almost irreplaceable at Barcelona.
His exit was long-seen coming, especially given his slight dip in form during his last days at the club. The management had attempted to find a worthy successor for the midfielder with the likes of Nico, Sergio Roberto, Frenkie De Jong and even Eric Garcia tried in the position but failed loudly to meet the Busquets-bar. Will Xavi, however, be able to eventually find rhythm with the same set of players or is Ilkay Gundogan that missing jigsaw piece?
Enters Ilkay Gundogan
There would be no club, presently, that would turn down the opportunity to sign an Ilkay Gundogan, Barcelona inclusive.
However, the question that lingers is how he fits into the current Barcelona set-up that boast of two bright stars in Pedri and Gavi who play similar position with Gundogan, not to mention the presence of a Frenkie De Jong and Frank Kessie somewhere struggling to land a starting berth.
Gundogan has never been a defensive midfielder and should not be mistaken for one because of his ability to play in a double-pivot role that Barcelona are alien to. At Manchester City, he is more of the advanced player in a double pivot with Rodri who does more of the dirty job to allow Gundogan roam and add his creative and goal-scoring juice to the attacking front.
It is instructive to note that for every time Pep has tried to deploy him as a stand-alone pivot, he has flopped, playing below his capacity — the 2021 UEFA Champions League final against Chelsea, a classic example.
Quick, intelligent, creative, combative, with a touch of goal scoring and a spice of experience, Gundogan has everything to succeed in a Barcelona midfield. But in what position remains a question for Xavi to answer.