I just think you and a few others are going over the top somewhat on the criticism.. he plays at the same level throughout - he did not just have a good ten minutes at all .
You're right that he is on the same level all the time, which also means that he can't put himself into higher gear, when opponents force him to. Whenever opponent team has a momentum, they completely destroy him both in controlling the game and being the first line of defense. His nice flicks and occasional sharp pass is still there, but it can't mitigate his fatal shortcoming.
A lot of his play goes unnoticed ( clearly) as it is either a quick one touch or just being available and creating space that way ..
Believe me, nothing gets unnoticed. Everybody, including me, get his share of "wow" from some of his actions still, but we understand that we can win major trophies with veteran star, who does occasional wow effect, but is otherwise useless. He could be good for team like Milan that has low standards of success currently.
Everything revolves around him.. in saying all that I was pleasantly surprised with Pjanic in the same role ( second half) .
Everything revolves around him, because those are Xavis tactics. He forces everything to revolve around him. It's not Busi magic that makes it so. Other players have no choice. I don't see how that's rational given his current attributes. Pjanic actually looked better for me as he was way more aggressive and vertical and his passing was sharpish and precise consistently. He's slow, but not as lethargic as Busi.
Having said that, i will eat my hat and take a major L, if Xavi some how manages to turn the Bus around and make him play on world class level with the heavily upgraded squad.
