It’s kind of fun having a reason to closely follow the bottom of Serie A. Today I was delighted to learn that Franck Ribery (age 38) is playing for Salernitana of all teams.
"Deadly error of youth". You gotta love how seriously Italians take their football.... And also a pretty big exaggeration. He was on the edge of the opponents box and 2 guys closing on him. He didn't take the cleanest touch but his teammates didn't give him good outlet angles either. Team had time to get back in defensive position. That play happens many times a day with forwards in most games. I thought his poor pass in the 2nd half in center of field was much, much worse. That one almost let to a counter-goal and caught out his defense much more. But overall, he had some really quality touches and if he can just clean up his 1-2 bad balls a game in (potentially) dangerous positions- he will continue to shine brightly. He's young- this is his challenge to solve over time. Man, if Busio only had more speed. He does great with what he has, but it will be really intriguing to see how he manages that deficiency as he rises through the ranks. I think Italy is probably the perfect league for him- maybe for his entire career. Plays to his strengths (slower, more technical)
Report: Cagliari 1-1 VeneziaBusio’s stoppage-time equalizer rescues a point in Sardinia.https://t.co/gXcoPMYlX6#ArancioNeroVerde 🟠⚫️🟢 pic.twitter.com/PBjEAKAK6l— Venezia FC (@VeneziaFC_EN) October 2, 2021
Venezya look so much better when they are flowing through Busio. In the first half, he was peripheral to their effort and they were dominated. In the second half, a tactical adjustment to make him their centerpiece and they controlled the match. I would suggest this is why he gets stick for his mistakes. His game is thrillingly smart. When the stupid player makes a stupid mistake, that's part of the package. but when the brilliant player fails to see the potential downsides of what he was doing, it isn't expected and is therefore magnified. FWIW I thought the gravity of his mistake was obvious as soon as the ball came into him, they looked really ragged with him in that spot. Hence, I think, the horrors of youth comment. A player as crazy in control as he is won't be making those mistakes WHEN HE IS NO LONGER A TEEN! I mean, FFS, the guy is a teenager. Most of the balls he plays are very simple, but the thing is they seem to just about always put someone into a better spot than they were in, they seem to almost always redefine the shape of the game, even if just a bit.Occassionally, his passes are complex and perfect, but his brilliance is in setting the tone. he's just far and away the most important player for Venice, IMO. Every week, his ceiling looks to be a bit higher. If Venice goes down and sells him, they're going to triple the money they paid to SKC, and the final rumors are that with performace incentives that he must be matching, SKC probably got $11m (plus 20 percent sell on).
Yeah, I thought that Brek running up the sideline a few times during some of the bad quality streams I've seen.
Johnsen, not Busio. and there was a moment, when he was a straight up force for Dallas, when a lot of people wanted a piece of Brek Shea. Sadly, turned out to have a nasty aftertaste.
Watched every game Busio had played do far. Played the 6 in his first game and was great first half but when the pressure ramped up the 2nd half he struggled and was directly responsible for a goal. Since then he has played more in a double pivot and has been much more comfortable and IMO had been a top 3 player for Venezia this season. Biggest issue for Venezia is again, they legit have double digit new players (8 believe 14) and most of them are being integrated into the first team... plus most arrived just before the window closed. I fully expect Venezia to get better as the season goes on and I personally would be mildly surprised if they didn't stay up
I've also watched them, and I'm not as positive. But, I do think that if by the day of the dead (which i think is Nov 1, but if it's not, then by Nov 1) they're looking down the relegation places with a bit of a cushion, I think they could hang in. They got a point off a team last night that, if it starts clicking, could destroy them. they've just got a massive talent deficit, and that's with the roster healthy. I totally agree that Buiso has been top 3, in that he's been their best player. I mean, he was even when he got his pocket picked and it led to a goal.
It's Busio's turn for an article from Defector - interestingly, they posted it on Friday about 2 hours before his goal: How Does He Play? Busio plays in the center of the park, as something approximating a canonical No. 8-type center midfielder. If you watch him play, his omnipresence jumps out at you. Busio is everywhere, all the time, winning balls back in the defensive third, then helping pressure the opposite box seconds later. The other thing that leaps out about Busio is his physicality. He’s very small! At 5-foot-7 and 140-or-so pounds, he doesn’t have the bulk of your typical destroyer, and while he’s shown himself to be a fairly adept positional defender, he does get bullied by bigger, older players. But this is all an intro to what Busio truly excels as: kicking the ball into tight spots, with his right foot. Teenage MLS players do not often draw reasonably serious Sergio Busquets or Thiago comparisons, and while Busio is obviously not in that tier and probably never will be, his control is really something. He’s good at every sort of pass, with 80-plus percent accuracy stats in most categories and truly impressive long-ball numbers. When given time on the ball, he can make plays from way back, and he has that rare metronomic quality you see in midfielders who always seem to make the right play even if it’s not the spectacular one. The only criticism you can make is that he doesn’t always push it forward, even if he’s good at it. The USMNT midfield corps has a decent variety of players, though nobody else really plays like Busio. Nobody is as committed or prolific as a facilitator. Weston McKennie runs around and does stuff, Tyler Adams controls the game with tackling and pressure, and Yunus Musah can shrink the field by running with the ball through pressure. Busio is the lone deep-lying playmaker, and his potential as a possession ace makes him valuable to a team that needs help in that particular area. https://defector.com/what-is-this-usmnt-guys-deal-gianluca-busio/
I have only seen a few of this years matches, but he looked very good, consistent with this review, in the ones I saw.
i think a manager needs a clear eyed view of busios skills to utilize him properly and that’s what scares me about him
The midfield is where our offensive flow goes to die. That’s why you hear so many calls for Reyna and Musah (yes, I know their skill sets are different, but both look toward the attack), and why so many are happy to see Busio in camp.
I have been impressed from what I have seen from Busio so far in Serie A. As the article someone posted on here said if Busio develops he would give the NT a type of player they have been missing. But, since I have followed Soccer midfielders of this type have been the hardest to predict how their careers will turn out since they need to be on the right team to really excel while box to box midfielders or ball winning midfielders can shine even on terrible teams. I remember when everyone was excited by Gedion Zelalem. I can not really compare how they looked as teenagers since I was not watching Scottish Second Division or Dutch Second Division matches but, I assume Busio has been much better. And he is in the right major European League to develop. Since even the teams at the bottom like Venezia will trust technical players in midfield. In England the middle table and bottom sides prefer steel in midfield but, that might be changing. And in Germany with the frenetic tempo midfielders like this do not really exist with Thiago out of the league. My hope is that Busio does well enough this season that a better side in Serie A signs him. Even a Genoa/Sassuolo type if he is not ready for one of the elite sides.
That’s why Italy is potentially a good league for him. Even random mid table managers there have a good grasp of tactics.
Is it that they have a better grasp of tactics than mid table managers in other leagues or that they have a good grasp of tactics in Serie A, which happens to fit Busio?
As in for the Italian national team? No. Not yet anyways. Italy has decent depth at mid that are between 20 and 26 right now. And while he has adapted well to Italy so far he has not made enough of a difference yet for Italian fans to care... and honestly as much as I like the improvement Busio has made the next step in his career is to mid level side