How many City players get into Pep Guardiola's Best XI?

Don't really understand the strong disagreement over picking Rodri instead of Busquets. Busquets was a brilliant player, no doubt, but so is Rodri. Rodri is more important to his side, he's arguably been the teams best player over the past two seasons (at the very least top 3) whereas Busquets was more like the 5th (or even lower) best of his side. He's got no real individual accolades to back his claim, Rodri has already eclipsed him there.

I'd fully understand such reactions if one were to pick KdB over Iniesta or Xavi (who, despite what some here say, both are the best of their position in the past 30 years). The strongest claim for Busquets over Rodri is not that he was 'on a different level', but that you wouldn't want to break up that midfield 3.
 
CoopersDream said:
Don't really understand the strong disagreement over picking Rodri instead of Busquets. Busquets was a brilliant player, no doubt, but so is Rodri. Rodri is more important to his side, he's arguably been the teams best player over the past two seasons (at the very least top 3) whereas Busquets was more like the 5th (or even lower) best of his side. He's got no real individual accolades to back his claim, Rodri has already eclipsed him there.

I'd fully understand such reactions if one were to pick KdB over Iniesta or Xavi (who, despite what some here say, both are the best of their position in the past 30 years). The strongest claim for Busquets over Rodri is not that he was 'on a different level', but that you wouldn't want to break up that midfield 3.
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Rodri is at least top 3 in his side because he didn't play with Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. If he did, he would be 4th at best.
 
The main drawback for Rodri is that City were already quite good without him, especially in the PL where they won those titles with enormous point tallies that they haven't replicated in the "Rodri era". The main change since he's there is improved performance in the CL, which is no small feat. But then people thought City were underperforming in the CL so he won't get as much credit for that.

Also that Spain just isn't very good anymore.
 
roonster09 said:
Rodri is at least top 3 in his side because he didn't play with Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. If he did, he would be 4th at best.
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The problem with stating that Busquets is 'on a different level' than Rodri is that he should be on the level of Xavi and Iniesta then. Which he clearly isn't.
 
CoopersDream said:
Don't really understand the strong disagreement over picking Rodri instead of Busquets. Busquets was a brilliant player, no doubt, but so is Rodri. Rodri is more important to his side, he's arguably been the teams best player over the past two seasons (at the very least top 3) whereas Busquets was more like the 5th (or even lower) best of his side. He's got no real individual accolades to back his claim, Rodri has already eclipsed him there.

I'd fully understand such reactions if one were to pick KdB over Iniesta or Xavi (who, despite what some here say, both are the best of their position in the past 30 years). The strongest claim for Busquets over Rodri is not that he was 'on a different level', but that you wouldn't want to break up that midfield 3.
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Trouble is, Busquets was fifth because three of those players in the squad are literally all time greats.

Messi is the best player of all time, Iniesta gets into any midfield, ever tbh and Xavi has a shout to do the same. Then you have Alves who was a monster at RB, again, all time RB conversation.

So Busquets being 5th is no mean feat tbh, he's just in a murderers row of all time greats.

Rodri is the best because there are only one perhaps all time great in the team (KDB) and even so, KDB is a PL all time great, not a world all time great.

The City squad is actually.quite bereft of major world superstars and all time greats, which makes it more galling that they're so good.
 
Murder on Zidanes Floor said:
The City squad is actually.quite bereft of major world superstars and all time greats, which makes it more galling that they're so good.
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Probably why they haven't won as many European titles. You sometimes need a very talented guy to solve the game on his own for those late rounds.
 
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Murder on Zidanes Floor said:
Trouble is, Busquets was fifth because three of those players in the squad are literally all time greats.

Messi is the best player of all time, Iniesta gets into any midfield, ever tbh and Xavi has a shout to do the same. Then you have Alves who was a monster at RB, again, all time RB conversation.

So Busquets being 5th is no mean feat tbh, he's just in a murderers row of all time greats.

Rodri is the best because there are only one perhaps all time great in the team (KDB) and even so, KDB is a PL all time great, not a world all time great.

The City squad is actually.quite bereft of major world superstars and all time greats, which makes it more galling that they're so good.
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Point being that if Busquets was 'on a completely different level' than Rodri he should not be comfortably behind any of them except Messi. I'd also argue, at any given point, there were one or two additional players that were as good as Busquets in that team.
 
CoopersDream said:
Point being that if Busquets was 'on a completely different level' than Rodri he should not be comfortably behind any of them except Messi. I'd also argue, at any given point, there were one or two additional players that were as good as Busquets in that team.
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No, you're then defacto claiming Rodri is better than Xavi or Busquets then?
 
CoopersDream said:
Point being that if Busquets was 'on a completely different level' than Rodri he should not be comfortably behind any of them except Messi. I'd also argue, at any given point, there were one or two additional players that were as good as Busquets in that team.
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Curious, what’s the “on a completely different level” bit for? Posted it a few times now.
 
That diamond/square of Busquets/Xavi/Iniesta/Messi surely remains intact. Had the midfield three not actually played together, Rodri or De Bruyne may have theoretically been more complimentary for Xavi/Iniesta or Busquets/Xavi respectively - but they did feature as a unit and were far too good to consider anything else.

Given just how well his Barcelona side operated, if I had to chose an alternative for Iniesta to line up with the other two from the Barcelona midfield in a hypothetical Guardiola eleven, it would be David Silva.

The attackers and fullbacks would then be selected largely based on how they compliment that quartet (well Messi, in particular, really). Use Messi centrally, and it's probably Robben on the right with Lahm behind him (or perhaps Muller ahead of Dani Alves) and one of Eto'o, Villa or Henry off the left, and an underwhelming Alaba at left back.

With Messi starting from the right instead, Dani Alves has to be right back and either Eto'o or Villa up top. Then I would use Robben and Lahm on the left. Not really anyone from his Man City sides worth particularly strong consideration in either scenario.

Kompany is in with the best shout at centre half, being of a similar quality to Puyol and Boateng. Pique the obvious partner since Pep missed out on coaching Hummels.

I would probably opt to have Messi on the right ultimately - it enables the selection of both all-time great full backs. Giving:

Dani Alves Puyol Pique Lahm
...................Busquets...............
................Xavi........Iniesta.......
Messi............Eto'o........Robben

And utilising the now-standard Man City in possession front-three-spread-across-the-pitch-with-dual-half-space-10s 3-2-5/3-2-4-1/3-2-2-3:

......Puyol....Pique......Lahm......
.............Xavi......Busquets........
.........Messi.........Iniesta...........
Dani Alves....Eto'o........Robben
 
BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
Curious, what’s the “on a completely different level” bit for? Posted it a few times now.
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Well, there was one poster who were like 'come on mate, Rodri is great but Busquets is in a different league'. Then there was the guy on the last page saying it was blsphemy or whatnot and also claiming they were on different levels. Then it's quite obvious a lot of people thinks that if you read between the lines.
 
CoopersDream said:
Well, there was one poster who were like 'come on mate, Rodri is great but Busquets is in a different league'. Then there was the guy on the last page saying it was blsphemy or whatnot and also claiming they were on different levels. Then it's quite obvious a lot of people thinks that if you read between the lines.
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Not seen that poster, but maybe just reply to them?

The blasphemy post was a joke about Giorno and his comments on the top Barca team.

I think Rodri is a fantastic player (and the only City player in with a shout in this hypothetical XI), I just think Busquets was better
 
CoopersDream said:
Don't really understand the strong disagreement over picking Rodri instead of Busquets. Busquets was a brilliant player, no doubt, but so is Rodri. Rodri is more important to his side, he's arguably been the teams best player over the past two seasons (at the very least top 3) whereas Busquets was more like the 5th (or even lower) best of his side. He's got no real individual accolades to back his claim, Rodri has already eclipsed him there.

I'd fully understand such reactions if one were to pick KdB over Iniesta or Xavi (who, despite what some here say, both are the best of their position in the past 30 years). The strongest claim for Busquets over Rodri is not that he was 'on a different level', but that you wouldn't want to break up that midfield 3.
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No. And this fundamental issue running throughout this thread why people think Busquets is some interchangeable piece with no knock on effect, is why people think you can disrupt one of, if not the best midfield unit of all-time like it’s nothing.

Rodri categorically is not more important to his team than Busquets to his.
 
BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
Not seen that poster, but maybe just reply to them?

The blasphemy post was a joke about Giorno and his comments on the top Barca team.

I think Rodri is a fantastic player (and the only City player in with a shout in this hypothetical XI), I just think Busquets was better
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I did. That person didn't really joke though.

It's fine thinking Busquets was better. It's the overblown reaction to suggesting Rodri would get in over Busquets.
 
Neuer - Alves, Puyol, Pique, Lahm - Rodri, Xavi, De Bruyne - Robben, Messi, Iniesta

- some cheating here, because it felt wrong not having Lahm and de Bruyne on this team
- Robben over Lewandowski and Muller is somewhat of a toss up to me
- not sure how good Puyol was for Guardiola. But alternatives are a bit underwhelming comparing with the rest of the team (Stones, Dias, Boateng, Mascherano?)
- Busquets over Rodri if we need to field an actual team to play in real life. But for that purpose, I would just chose 2011 Barca team with Neuer in goal tbh
 
Fortitude said:
No. And this fundamental issue running throughout this thread why people think Busquets is some interchangeable piece with no knock on effect, is why people think you can disrupt one of, if not the best midfield unit of all-time like it’s nothing.

Rodri categorically is not more important to his team than Busquets to his.
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I'm not claiming Busquets wasn't important (he was). I'm just saying I think Rodri is more important. If you don't agree, fine, but it is not an outrageuos claim.
 
--------------------Neuer------------
Lahm--Pique---Abidal--Alaba
----------------Busquets----------
----------Xavi-------Iniesta-------
Robben-------Messi-----Ribery
 
HTG said:
--------------------Neuer------------
Lahm--Pique---Abidal--Alaba
----------------Busquets----------
----------Xavi-------Iniesta-------
Robben-------Messi-----Ribery
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Wasn't Ribery injured most of the time Pep was there?
 
CoopersDream said:
I'm not claiming Busquets wasn't important (he was). I'm just saying I think Rodri is more important. If you don't agree, fine, but it is not an outrageuos claim.
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He was an essential cog in the midfield, just as the other two, who get more plaudits because what they did is more obvious and eye-catching for the masses. It’s Busquets who provided the platform for that to happen. Via constant and instantaneous 1 and 2 touches passes straight through the lines, Xavi rarely even had to run back in support and could concentrate almost solely on a front-facing game totally dedicated to progressive passing as the next cog in the machine.

As machines go, Busquets was a quintessential cog for his job. So yes, it is an outrageous claim because Barcelona cannot play the way they did without Busquets.
 
Murder on Zidanes Floor said:
Appraise Rodri at City using the same context
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I'm not sure what you want me to do here. You want me to say 'if Rodri was a lot better than Rodri then Rodri would have been better than KdB'? I'm simply saying that Rodri and Busquets are roughly the same level, with different strengths, and they're both a level behind Xavi and Iniesta.
 
Fortitude said:
He was an essential cog in the midfield, just as the other two, who get more plaudits because what they did is more obvious and eye-catching for the masses. It’s Busquets who provided the platform for that to happen. Via constant and instantaneous 1 and 2 touches passes straight through the lines, Xavi rarely even had to run back in support and could concentrate almost solely on a front-facing game totally dedicated to progressive passing as the next cog in the machine.

As machines go, Busquets was a quintessential cog for his job. So yes, it is an outrageous claim because Barcelona cannot play the way they did without Busquets.
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You don't think Rodri is essential to Man City midfield? He basically is their midfield. Again, Busquets was very important, even incredibly important, but so is Rodri for this City side. I think Rodri even more so. Anyone who doesn't see the imprtance of Rodri currently does not watch Man City. If you think Busquets was more imprtant, that's fine, I don't agree.
 
CoopersDream said:
You don't think Rodri is essential to Man City midfield? He basically is their midfield. Again, Busquets was very important, even incredibly important, but so is Rodri for this City side. I think Rodri even more so. Anyone who doesn't see the imprtance of Rodri currently does not watch Man City. If you think Busquets was more imprtant, that's fine, I don't agree.
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You said more than, yet one is the first Jenga block the others are built on top of playing one-touch passes through the lines to a level not seen before or since. I don’t think it’s something being grasped in this thread as a whole. It’s not who is the better player, it’s who is the better cog at doing the optimal thing for the team.

I haven’t spoken about RodrI. He’s an essential cog in a different style of football, one that isn’t utilised in a team with Xavi, Iniesta and Messi in it, which literally dictates the football, and deference, that will be on display.
 
CoopersDream said:
I'm not sure what you want me to do here. You want me to say 'if Rodri was a lot better than Rodri then Rodri would have been better than KdB'? I'm simply saying that Rodri and Busquets are roughly the same level, with different strengths, and they're both a level behind Xavi and Iniesta.
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No, you're point is Busquets isn't as important or as good a player as Rodri because he is only the 5th best player in his team and Rodri is the 2nd best in his team.
 
Yeah it’s mostly Barca players bar Neuer. Only exceptions that are possible are Aguero for Lewandowski, Ribery for Villa, Kompany for Pique and Rodri for Busquets. But I’d personally only bring Ribery in.
 
Fortitude said:
You said more than, yet one is the first Jenga block the others are built on top of playing one-touch passes through the lines to a level not seen before or since. I don’t think it’s something being grasped in this thread as a whole. It’s not who is the better player, it’s who is the better cog at doing the optimal thing for the team.

I haven’t spoken about RodrI. He’s an essential cog in a different style of football, one that isn’t utilised in a team with Xavi, Iniesta and Messi in it, which literally dictates the football, and deference, that will be on display.
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And I think as such, Busquets would be the choice in this team to not break up the midfield trio and Messi.
 
Murder on Zidanes Floor said:
No, you're point is Busquets isn't as important or as good a player as Rodri because he is only the 5th best player in his team and Rodri is the 2nd best in his team.
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I have never said Busquets isn't as good as Rodri. I have said that I don't think he is as important to his team, but that's only because I think Rodri is currently the most important player in his team. Busquets was a brilliant player for Barca.
 
Busquets went on to replace Xavi once the latter aged out and kept the team going at an incredible level, to a point where he was actually their most important/irrepleacable player during the MSN years
 
CoopersDream said:
I have never said Busquets isn't as good as Rodri. I have said that I don't think he is as important to his team, but that's only because I think Rodri is currently the most important player in his team. Busquets was a brilliant player for Barca.
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OK, well I disagree.
 
David Villa is actually not that highly rated among Barcelona fans.
 
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