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Sergio. Busquets. ℞ MMsports.com Sergio. Busquets. ℞ [2011-12 Barcelona home jersey] Before getting down to Business, I've got to get some things out of the way: 1. I really like Sergio Busquets game. He’s got a tireless work rate and his midfield play allows Iniesta, Xavi, Leo (Lio?) and the rest of the crowd to dazzle. 2. Sergio's reputation as a drama queen is well earned. 3. I don't love this year’s barca shirts (especially the home one, which is the basis of this narrative.) 4. And I really don't like UNICEF being relegated to the back of the shirt. When deciding what player I wanted to use as the basis for this review, I immediately thought of two of my favorites, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta. Both excellent, high impact players (as we all know) with marquee game skill (go no further than the 2010 WC semi and final to emphatically support my point). But to weave an engaging narrative around them would be a challenge. Once I dispensed with the lesser known tidbits about Puyol’s pet goat (or some barnyard animal) and the Iniesta winery (I haven’t read a review, but from the price points I saw advertised I’m skeptical of the quality – I hope I’m wrong, because I want to like everything about the guy, but I’m concerned that he’s looking to capture the European Boone’s Farm market, which is not a good thing unless you are a heavy drinking college student), I’d be rehashing stuff that everyone already knows; Iniesta is a magician and Puyol is, well, Puyol. Xavi, Messi and others are also natural choices, but the narrative would be equally predictable. Then I thought, Sergio Busquets, the guy you never see except when he lays faux writhing on the ground! ⑯℞ The review shirt was delivered with "BUSQUETS" spelled out on the back instead of the usual "SERGIO" (like his shirt a few years back), but with the current number "16". As a fan item worn on the street (and at the corner bar, of course) anyone that doesn't know who Sergio Busquets is (shockingly, there are many), "Sergio" is pretty generic. Don't get me wrong, it's a unique and pleasant name and provides a personal, informal on field persona, but for my purposes "Busquets" has a real nice visual and spoken texture to it. Graphically, it feels balanced and it is linguistically distinctive (at least in my section of NYC). Therefore, “BUSQUETS” + “16” is my preference for street wear. ⑯℞ Sergio Busquets role of holding midfielder is not very glamorous (although winning the World Cup, Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, etc is pretty glamorous). The role requires you to clog up the middle and disrupt the opponents attack, cover for and supplement your own center and full backs and stabilize the middle of the field on offense allowing the playmakers to do their thing. Sergio does this with remarkable effectiveness and when he is off the field or off his game, it shows in the entire teams’ performance. I’d say a great holding midfielder is like a referee; he’s doing a great job if you don’t notice him….well, kind of. Sergio has another talent, though. As much as I like him and despite his pedigree (his dad, Carles, also came up through the Barca academy, had a Barca playing career as a backup and starting goalkeeper and is currently the Barca keeper coach), Sergio excels at the annoying soccer thespianism of the exaggerated injury. We’ve all seen it. Two players come together in an innocuous encounter and one (or on those special double feature days, both) crumbles to the turf, dramatically rolling over and over, clutching a body part (often distant from wherever the minimal contact occurred) and then lays motionless, immobilized by the physical trauma of it all. After being helped (or carried) from the field, the miraculous recovery ensues and he comes bounding back moments later. In fact, generally, the less drama that is exhibited, the worse the injury. Gamesmanship is one thing, but this stuff truly denigrates the beautiful game. Unfortunately, Sergio has a well earned reputation for this, highlighted by the infamous “peek-a-boo” caught on camera. He’s the diving equivalent of Javier Mascherano’s rough play. Because Mascherano has a reputation for physical play, calls sometimes go against him for incidental contact with an opponent. Likewise, at times Busquets does not get a call in his favor because he’s “made a meal of it” on too many occasions. Reputation well earned, although he seems to have toned it down a bit of late. In fairness, this drama is not exclusive to Sergio nor is he any worse than dozens of other world class players (Angel di Maria, Didier Drogba, etc.). ⑯℞ Carles and Sergio Busquets ⑯℞ Sergio’s shirt. The high water mark of recent Barcelona jerseys is the 2007 anniversary edition. Simple blaugrana with a well styled collar. The 2011-12, by comparison, is a train wreck – too busy with too many stripes aggravated by the faux “fold”. If there was a chance to save this design, Nike threw it away by using a bland, wide crew neck collar (to those who have read any of my other reviews, you know I am not fond of the crew collar). And if this wasn’t bad enough, “Unicef” has been unceremoniously relegated to the ass end of the shirt below the numbers on back. Fortunately, the “Qatar Foundation” logo is not vulgar like “bwin” or “12bet”. Unfortunately, the high water mark for this shirt is the logo that displaced the dignity of “Unicef”. Having said that, a Busquets shirt is pretty unique and has a certain cachet of the “serious, knowledgeable” fan. Hopefully Nike will step up the design for the 2012-13 shirts…but I’ll take another ugly shirt if Barcelona can play injury free next year….and I’ll be sure to keep my 2007 jersey nearby. April 2012 Peter L., NYC .
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