Is current league champions and CL finalists Real Madrid considered a good team? Former champions Atletico de Madrid? Are only the teams that happen to take points from Barcelona (Getafe, Rayo, Cadiz, Frankfurt, Espanyol in the last four months) considered to be good?
He has been consistently great, but if you think it is so important to do "dirty work, tracking back, following his marker" then he is not your guy today as he wasn't 10 or 14 years ago either. Follow another team if you think that's what a defensive midfielder should do?
It doesnt matter if Busquets is good at moving the ball around and blocking passing lanes, because he has never been good at anything else. He is slow and is caught out of position multiple times a game. Every big team we lose against targets and exposes him. Of course when we had a WC defense and Xavi and Iniesta we didnt see him get exposed as often, we also had 70-75% possession every game.
He goes unnoticed most games, until of course he gets caught out of position and we get countered through the center of the pitch...again. His weaknesses far outweigh his strengths, and it's been clear the moment Xaviesta starting declining, getting old and leaving.
The funny part is even Xavi knows it, because even Xavi knew he had to instruct De Jong to babysit Busquets all game so what I just mentioned didnt happen as often. It is also evident by how disorganized our midfield is when De Jong isnt there and the other players dont babysit Busi.
The DM is supposed to provide coverage, not require it. Look at every other top class DM out there.