Isaac Cuenca

Barcelona

Winger/Attacking midfielder - Spain

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2010/2011 MID-SEASON RANKING: Not ranked

End of 2010/11 - Start of 2011/12: Not ranked

2011/2012 MID-SEASON RANKING:

283

Since it's still very early days there is some guessing involved here and Cuenca is still pretty new to me, but if any team deserves the benefit of  doubt these days when it comes to the quality of their young players brought up to the first team, it is of course Barcelona.

My impression so far is one of another very skillful player. One possibly even with some real trickery to his game posing plenty of difficulty for opposing players, basically meaning, Cuenca's ball control is looking very good then and I wouldn't be surprised if it's more that control, than any effective athleticism at this point (maybe a weakness there), making him both fast and agile with the ball at his feet.

Tactical play, football intelligence? Haven't seen anything bad at all which just helps remove further reservations and almost assume that's something also very competent. Again, from Barcelona at the moment, you almost can't expect different can you?

On top of that, I also think I'm seeing some creativity. That could just be his bag of tricks flattering things a little bit, not sure really, but I do think he is at least consistently constructive in his passing and movement, which is always a very good thing and simply a must for Barca.

All in all the most likely is that Cuenca quite simply already, possesses some very well developed Barca-DNA.

Javier Mascherano

Barcelona

Defensive midfielder - Argentina



Original 200 writeup:

Defensive master like few others. Mascherano has great work rate and tackling ability and during his time at Liverpool was a key player in some of the best defensive performances in recent years.

With his excellent defensive qualities but limitations in contributing going forward in almost any way, he in many ways embodied a Liverpool team that especially in the Champions League against good technical sides gained the reputation of maybe the toughest matchup around.

In the Premier League it was often similar, and at least (to some extent) until Xabi Alonso especially in his final year took his play to another level, it was a side you'd often see struggling to get enough going in attack to put away the same smaller sides the other top teams took care of mostly with ease, while against the very top teams you could see Benitez Liverpool compete at a very high level.

It's really no secret what Mascherano does well. He is an enforcer or spoiler if you will who knows every trick in the book (who won't hesitate to use them either) and whether his defensive job, and it is always a defensive job for Mascherano, is tight tactical defending holding together the midfield chains (straight lines Benitez style, notice his obsessive hand gestures signaling this to his players constantly throughout every game) and defending his zone or if it's more aggressive pressure, battling to win the midfield, winning tackles in the process, Mascherano will do as great a job as anyone out there.

What's most impressive about his work is his range of defending I think. Not meant like he gets out of position, that would be as bad for him as it would a centre-back, but in the concentrated area that is central midfield he really does seem to be able to do more defensively in more places more often than perhaps anyone else out there.

On this list in many ways (like on the pitch actually) Mascherano where he ended up (fitting I think right before the top 50) became sort of the ultimate defensive block for the attacking players. Or for that matter the best players with something to offer both defensively and going forward. The one defensive specialist that only the most special players would be able to go past up the list. The one excellent defensive player, providing us with one final defensive stand where even small chinks in the (attacking player's) armor, or a few questionmarks here and there, like with Arshavin and his consistency, would be enough to stop the rise up the list and instead get to be - ranked behind
Mascherano.

The 300 update:

Mascherano got out of Hodgson's Liverpool and joined Barcelona where perhaps not surprisingly he hasn't made that much of an impact, even if he hasn't done badly at all when given starts here and there.

Here are some thoughts of mine from the time of the transfer that I think cover both Mascherano and his direct competition Sergio Busquets pretty well:

Interestingly the physical area where I said Busquets was far behind someone like Mikel and had room to improve, he now looks very strong to me and can definitely win physical battles.

However Busquets is still a little too one dimensional for my taste, for me to call him one of the best in the world and I really wonder how he'd do taken out of his very specialized role of holding and passing well in small concentrated midfield area for teams, like Barca and Spain, that dominate possession in every single game.

Mascherano of course is another specialist but the defensive midfield specialist I think. So much so that like others have said, that maybe Busquet's one clear edge in passing, makes Masch almost redundant at Barca.

I'm definitely not willing to write him off though and here is what I said during the transfer speculation:

"That will be interesting. Barcelona does of course have plenty of games so there should be games for both. The positive is that they now have two defensive specialists instead of Toure, and Keita for that matter, who are more allround players better in less specialized roles.

When it does come to pure defensive specialization I do think Masch definitely is the best player and in a needed stern defensive effort or in physical midfield battle, would take him any day.

His problem will be though, that at Barca those don't really take place or are called upon every day like they were for Liverpool, if ever at all, so Busquets with his edge in maybe just a few things, like when it comes to forward passing, could still be the superior fit in the Barca style.

I have however always quite liked Masch's passing game from his position, you would see it previously on the pre-Maradona well organized attacking Argentina teams, and it will be interesting to see how it holds up so to speak on what is the ultimate passing team, Barcelona.

Even Xavi's description here of Busquets is kind of like Mascherano:

he’s a right bastard. He gets a leg in, he goes for the crash, he’s puta, from the street. That kind of cunning, you either have it or you don’t.

So they're actually kind of similar there, but with Busquet's having an edge in Barca passing and generally in the technical ability department that's needed there. He is strong as well and has become a good enforcer in the unique Barca environment of possession domination, but he is also slow (quite stiff no?) and limited outside his comfort zone of defensive midfield.

So is Mascherano of course (which has dumped him quite a bit on my list) but he is quicker. Has a good passing game of his own with an amazing work rate and a range of quality defending that is quite unique I think.

I'm still unsure if Busquets could be a great defensive midfielder or perhaps rather a very good midfielder on many other good teams. How would he perform his defensive duties on normal teams that don't dominate possession. Put on pressure without the ball, defend his zone with either pressure or by having to back of for large periods of a game? How good would he be in a normal team defense. Likely not bad at all, but I'm not totally confident he is already as good as the best.

The other area where he could really (once again to his credit) surprise me and jump in my estimation would be if I saw just a little more quality from him further forward. Like both Keita and Toure have shown. I know that's not his role but just some evidence here and there would be enough.

So to conclude I do lean towards that for Barcelona at least Busquets is better than Mascherano.

Seydou Keita

Barcelona

Midfielder - Mali



Original 200 writeup:

For quite a few years known as very good defensive midfielder. That alone being something which would have earned him a decent ranking on my list.

But ignoring whether I was late to the Keita party or not, helped along by all that tika-taka Barca stuff, this season he has gone up quite a lot in my estimation with some excellent two-way midfield displays.

It makes sense that he is able to do it. He has great stamina, is strong with balance and has always been good on a technical level as well whether it's passing or control. He also has the intelligence to know where to be. That's mostly been when defending, but that he now makes well timed runs forward too makes sense then and if Barcelona didn't happen to spend all their time in the opponent's half you could even refer to him as box-to-box!

In a way this progress has been aided by other people's problems.

Henry completely collapsed meaning Iniesta (he himself often struggling or out with poor form) got games as left-forward rather than left-central midfielder (thankfully for Barca there was also the emergence of Pedro) so there were holes to fill right there left central in midfield, -rather than central itself where Busquets now was breaking through- and Keita proved to be just the right man for the job being a more dynamic player than for an example another (not so) potential contender, Yaya Toure, who off-ball can't move into open space out wide like the quicker Keita.

Basically here is a complete midfield two-way player. Those could very well be my favorites. I guess rest of the list must be (better be!) very special...

The 300 update:

Not much to add here other than despite Keita hardly putting a foot wrong lately for Barcelona, playing time still isn't automatic when Iniesta is back playing as one of the best in the world and one of the best strikers around David Villa has joined occupying the other position where Iniesta could be played.

Carlos Puyol

Barcelona

Central defender/Right-back - Spain



Original 200 writeup:

Inspirational warrior captain leader of the best club and country in the world, Puyol always defends with great intensity and possesses a knack for last ditch tackles preventing goals for the opposition.

In reality he probably gets a little too much credit for all things like the above and he probably hasn't been as good this season as previously.

In fact he probably isn't even the best central defender so far. But of course this isn't position by position rankings and like some other players previously on the list, Puyol also receives credit for being a very good right-back and with that mastering two positions.

The 300 update:

As talked about in the Pique update already, Puyol has kind of been growing on me. I just don't see the mistakes that Pique is sometimes guilty of and in the one on one duels he is stronger I think.

Gerard Pique

Barcelona

Defender - Spain



Original 200 writeup:

Ranking the Barcelona defenders is pretty hard. The team concedes fewer goals than anyone but most of that of course is through the (ball!) control they have of almost every single match they play.

Their defenders don't even have that much defending to do, or at least less than everyone else, and when you finally do see them actually defend it can easily be them struggling to defend with most of the team caught forward. Or themselves since they push up so high.
As much as that can make them look worse than they actually are, the superb defensive record on paper on the other hand can make them look better.

Pique is big and strong with superb technique. which is all important since a good passing game of course is a must for a Barcelona defender.

I think he is strong man to man but with still a little way to go positionally, however good health and lack of blunders (+ in some ways starting for both the best club and national team in the world) is what seals the deal in making him the top ranked central defender so far!

The 300 update:

Well it's still tricky to rank the Barcelona defenders.

I think for a lot of people Pique almost automatically enters a best defender in the world discussion but while both his club and national team have continued their conquering I've somehow become more and more skeptic.

For starters I've become increasingly convinced that over the last year, not least in La Liga and Champions League including right now, that his partner Puyol has been the better defender of the two. No he is not as elegant looking but by some way I think stronger one-on-one and he makes less marking blunders too. Whether it's on set pieces or the rare times Barcelona, or Spain for that matter, are under any pressure.

Actually I can't rule out much of my increasingly clear impression has been from seeing so much of Spain where I didn't think Pique looked very elite when under pressure.

Since we're comparing him with the best, I also have serious doubts, if we were to theoretically switch that he could do the kind of elite defensive job that you see the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand do for his former team Manchester United.

That's being very negative of course but I just don't think, that for the time being, remember he may not even be at his best yet and can still improve, that he should be considered one of the very best defenders in the world.

On the other hand things like his football intelligence, the timing and the skill that makes him so comfortable playing very high up the pitch without and not least with the ball, making him a contributor even, on the best team in the World, all that shouldn't be ignored and it virtually guarantees him a pretty good ranking. It just shouldn't overshadow that when it comes to what happens to be actual defending for all other teams in the world, that there are better defenders out there than Pique.

Pedro

Barcelona

Winger/Forward



Original 200 writeup:

Pedro is a skilled attacking player who can make effective runs so that the Barca playmakers can find him and then when he gets the ball he has excellent control.

He is comfortable on either wing and he seems superior to Bojan when it comes to such things as general effectiveness in the area, especially centrally and not least in Guardiola's all important systematic immediate pressure on the opposition ball-holder whenever possession's been lost.

Spain manager del Bosque has declared him a serious candidate for the World Cup and considering the absurd amount of talent he is up against at his position that's a serious endorsement of the kind of talent that he has been displaying this season.
The kind of talent that in just a few months could make this list look rather silly by not having been included!

Yesterday when he scored one of the goals in Barcelona's World Club Championship win over Estudiantes he even set the curious record of being the first player to score in six different competitions in a single season following strikes in the European Super Cup, La Liga, Copa del Rey, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup...

The 300 update:

The rise of Pedro continued throughout 2009/10 and he makes a giant leap up the list.

The only bad thing I can say about Pedro really isn't bad at all, but he is like the ultimate Barca modern day Spain specialist.

Everyone around him complements him superbly and he returns the favor and complements them almost to perfection.

His runs, work-rate, movement, finishing and ballcontrol are made for the Barca fluid short passing game with high degrees of team work.

Was he to spent considerable time not in the opponent half or be a more typical winger expected to get to the line trying to get crosses in, how good would he look? Does it even matter?

Pedro makes some of the best runs without the ball in the final third.

Over few meters in the final third he has the skill and acceleration also to be effective with the ball.

The finishing skills to be dangerous and defensively he is very good at applying the trademark Barcelona high pressure on the ball-holder.

Overall probably still an underrated player.

I think he is excellent though and the only danger sign for his ranking would be if the Iniesta-Villa-Messa trio suddenly were to get all the starts up front.

Iniesta is better in midfield though, Messi as superb central as he is on the right and yeah Pedro in his own right, expert enough in my opinion, to help make Barcelona better when it's instead: Villa-Messi-Pedro.

Bojan Krkic

Barcelona

Striker - Spain



Original 200 writeup:

Bojan is someone who has been surrounded by a lot of hype since pretty much day one of his adulthood but this season so far has been slow for him and he finds himself fighting for playing time.

It could be argued that even last season was a personal disappointment. But then again expectations of course were very high. Bojan just has those glimpses of great pace and extraordinary dribbling skills that make people expect the world of him.
And that he in stature and style (even if falsely) reminds people of his teammate Messi doesn't help lowering expectations either.

Physically is where the obvious improvements can be made. Bojan is a very skilled finisher (over the years he has nettet 500 goals for various Barca youth teams) but needs better off the ball work so he can find himself in better positions more often (when playing with the big boys). Especially when we're talking centrally in the final third.
He is much better coming from the wing where he can use his acceleration into actual space but then another physical problem presents itself in that he can't defend very well and that rivals like Henry, Iniesta, Messi and now Pedro are more able to put effective pressure on the opponent ballholder whenever the possession is lost. Vital for Guardiola's Barcelona.

The 300 update:

One year later and Bojan finds himself in danger of becoming the Barcelona version of Javier Portillo.

Okay that's a little harsh perhaps since he has been seeing many more games than Portillo ever did at Real Madrid. But there is at least a danger I think.

As touched upon in the orginal writeup Bojan still hasn't mastered those off the ball aspects of the Barca wide-forward role and looks to be only the fourth choice on the left.

Central where he can be a natural goalscorer is yet another place on the pitch now fully conquered by Messi and just like on the left, there is also star signing David Villa to compete with.

So far this season Bojan has only started a couple of Copa Del Rey games and his one start in the league was a disappointing draw at home to Mallorca.

My feeling still is that he is a good striker (still very young too!), better than Portillo was who after Madrid flopped everywhere he went, but just how good, we won't know until he starts regularly somewhere.

The latest I've heard is that his agent has ruled out a winter move but that they're unsure what will happen beyond that.

Personally I would really like to see what he could do somewhere else.

Sergio Busquets

Barcelona

Central midfielder - Spain



200 writeup:

The first one of those (midfielders that Mikel finds himself behind ) is young Barcelona player Sergio Busquets.

His father was a not very good goalkeeper and just a few months ago I would have been inclined to put a similar not very good stamp on Busquets.

Not that he wasn't talented but he did look out of place and too many levels below what was surrounding him on the Barca midfield. Quite simply he looked like he still had a long way to go.

Enter this season and I see he has improved exactly what I see someone like Mikel is lacking.
That very good passing ability. One touch passing too. Long AND short. Some actual deep lying playmaker ability.

And with that already blending in much better than he did last season. It's a really quick, really drastic improvement I think.
Now it's of course very possible that the technical ability was already in place. Last season too. And it's just the added experience we're now seeing the results of. That coming up from the youth team he is now more comfortable at the highest level where you have less time on the ball.
Either way, whether it's technical or mental, we are seeing it now in full flow, and how far he will eventually go will now depend on how good he becomes physically and defensively where of course right now he is nowhere near someone like Mikel.
He has good size though so really you would think everything is in place for him to become one of the best midfielders in the world.

The 300 update:

Well the above seems like almost a lifetime ago now.

Busquets passing ability alone, the one touch delightful one up the middle being the most impressive, that alone almost should have secured him a better ranking.

Physically he has also become very strong very quickly and then there are his almost Mascherano like defensive/spoiler instincts that especially for a team as attacking and high standing as Barcelona can be very valuable.

Would he have what it takes as a defensive midfielder on a more ordinary team under all the pressure Barca is never under? I have my doubts, but then again, in a situation like that he might just become the best ball distributor on that team.

Naturally he makes a huge jump up the list and the only thing in my mind still holding him back somewhat are, relatively speaking, limitations in the opponent final third.

For much more on Busquets (not least vs Mascherano) go here.