₦airaland Forum

popizaino:
So Sergio Busquet did not lead Barca to league titles without Xavi and iniesta?

If Sergio Busquet succeeded because of la masia tax why didn't Thiago Alacantara,Bojan krikri,Romero,fabregas succeed with the same privilege abi na only SB the system favour?

What is system DM? Who ask him not to learn the system? I thought the system was such that any DM could play since they had Xavi and iniesta

Luiz Enrique also won the UCL with the same lazy Busquet playing every game while Xavi was coming from the bench.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoxvGw3ijN4?si=1Gwgcx3x4mYuROHI

Using Busquets and lead in the same sentence is crazy. That passenger never led a day in his life

If Pep signed Marcos Senna he would do what Busquets did easy like they did in Euro 2008

2015 Barca had Rakitic (Rakitic was arguably the best midfielder in Europe at the time) and Iniesta never mind the overwhelming power of MSN in attack

If you put a rubber ducky there at DM he would do the same thing Busquets did

He benefited greatly from Superteams. Unlike others that had to hustle for their treble. Rodri had to even score in the Final cos all his teammates couldn't find their scoring boots

Ibime:
From the hardest runner to "upper percentile'. We are getting there slowly.

This percentile is what should have been presented in the first place, not myth creating him as THE marathon man while being outrun by Pedri in same midfield and many others

The objective here is creating a case for best player of the tournament not some 25th percentile award. Lack of evidence is what's giving rise to these sleight of hands to place him at the very top of the totem pole in statistics where he is just in an "upper percentile". These are the issues, when a percentile ninja who was only considered the Player of the Match in one match is awarded a Golden Ball over people with 5 MOTM awards, you have to create myths with statistics based on total minutes played, not on per 90 basis which is the logical comparator for most of the stats applicable to midfield players. Evidence no dey, only Peller level evidence.

More salaye. No evidence

Even the image you posted there. What happened to the Olise, Messi and Mbappe when they faced Rodri and Spain? They didn't even create a shot on target in combined 3 and a half hours of football. That's all the informed eye needs to know to understand the monstrosity of Spain and why Rodri is deserved winner

Lmaoo. I have disproven all your myths. And I'm convinced now beyond reasonable doubt that you're arguing in bad faith

You're clutching to a Pedri that was benched the last 3 games and outran by 0.3km. That's how little ground you have left to stand on

A player not able to rack up enough playing time or go further enough in the competition for the veracity of your per 90 stats to be verified is not the fault of Rodri

Most passes
Most touches
Most distance covered
Most tackles.

All Rodri. FIFA and UEFA agree with me. That's all I care about

Ibime:
At least you done dey come down small small. I can categorically tell you these screenshots you posted are wrong but even from them, you use your own hand to show him being outrun by midfield partners. From "Rodri great impact is shown by being the marathon man" to showing his partners outrunning him, even though the data you posted is still false. This is the purpose of myth busting. Your running myth only works by total volume because he played more minutes than other midfielders who may have been rested in dead rubber games. When you lack evidence, you resort to sleight of hand to build myths. We don't expect someone driving to Kwara to use same petrol as someone driving to Kano so don't present data as if we are dumbos to create a myth. Running data should always be per 90 mins.

And I don't know why you keep repeatedly referring to him outrunning defenders, strikers and wingers when every Tom, Dick and Harry knows central midfielders outrun other positions by up to 2km as they run at lower intensity than other positions. At least try understand data before you present it.

Someone who understands the data they are presenting will never make the comparison between a central midfielder and defender or fullback in running. There is a reason I can run 11 km in 55 minutes in my early 40s that footballers cover in 90 mins - because I do so at low intensity and need no recovery time. Same reason you can't compare the kilometres of a fullback always running at high speed and needing recovery time to a central midfielder who mostly shows for pass at low speed. If you run at high speed for an hour and I jog for an hour, I will cover double your distance by making up ground while you are recovering your heart rate. This is why the tortoise defeated the rabbit and why Fabregas always covered more km per game than Kante when they played together at Chelsea, the type of running they do is different (High intensity vs low intensity).

Sofascore is wrong. Na you come dey right? Hehe oya nau. Gbemidebe

You have not showed anything substantial or comprehensive just some dodgy AI prompts BTW of Xhaka vs Bosnia as response

Who are his partners that outran him? Can you name one or two of them

There's no argument you have made that has been evidence backed or even credible.

You downplayed Rodri's ground covering I showed you that even among his peers he is in the upper percentile. Anyhow you slice it. Whether Central, Northern or Southern Midfielder. Rodri ground coverage per 90 is elite. For his role. Averaging 25km per game is not what makes you an elite midfielder or determines ability so you have no argument there

I don't care to be bogged down by your long stories. I was expecting to see some tangible evidence to your anti Rodri campaign. You didn't provide that

Now let's go to this myth topic. You erroneously claimed City and Spain possession went down on Rodri arrival. Why you would attribute dominance in possession to one player is beyond me. I showed you that whatever might be the issue it was not on Rodri, I showed you he was very much a possession King, I also showed you you greatly exaggerated the numbers of the past Spanish players, Rodri covered the most distance, completed the most passes and had the most touches. These are not myths

You claimed Rodri has poor numbers for his position. I went to a data driven site that compiles these stats and showed that Rodri is very much competitive and among the elite at this World Cup

Your response to that was to bore me with endless salaye and myth talk when you are the one that had been spreading myths that I keep busting

Look it's better to put your hands up and say Rodri is not your cup of tea than this pseudo analysis you're doing.

There is not a single verifiable metric you can provide to prove that Rodri is not the best of the best.

Sportsweb:
Rodri no be Busi mate
.busi is way way beneath him

Let's hear what the Busisexuals have to say about this interesting piece of information

swiz123:
So na olmo and Feran make Rodri win golden ball and Balon d’or?? SB only got one Balon d’or nomination and he finished 20th.

Some might call him the greatest passenger of all time. I guess it’s because he never stood out having played with generational talents unlike Rodri.

The greatest passenger of all time. The Derek Fisher of football.

popizaino:
Eye test cannot tell you Rodri is better than this lailai.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umYwNBp65WY?si=OlC55pK7-L33yHZ2

No dey show me yeye compilation. Just explain why he was getting flogged all over Europe and the World as soon as Xavi, Xabi and Iniesta got old

Rodri without Xaviesta and Xabi.

Show me that of Passenger Fraudsquets

Ibime:
Rodri must have been the worst running midfielder in the World Cup. I have never seen only 10km per game from any central midfielder in modern football. What's the purpose of stating that the midfielder with the most minutes covered the most ground and lauding it as evidence of impact as you did below when his running stats are actually piss poor for a central midfielder?

Rest with the mythology.

I said it since that you have abandoned logic and you're now making purely feelings based arguments.

You showed per 90 stats as proof of what? Since when did they start doing that one

When we are calculating Messi's stats are we doing it per 90?

When we say Mbappe won the golden boot are we calculating it per minute? Cos if that was the case we should be handing the award to Haaland who averaged more when you factor minutes played

You're bending over backwards to discredit Rodri and for what? Cos you don't want to put your hands up and agree you evaluated him wrongly

Show me the Midfielder that has the workload of Rodri and covered more distance in this graphic

All things being equal you're the Mythology merchant in this debate and you're merely projecting. This claim that midfielders are just randomly covering 12-15km per game is a bold faced lie. Not at this World Cup at least

You can even see that the guys with the abnormally high KM played by far the least minutes. Make of that what you will

If you like go and bring one midfielder from DR Congo and tell us he covered 25km per 90. Na you sabi. I have proven beyond reasonable doubt that you simply are not objective and you're being powered purely by bad belle

popizaino:
What happened to Zidane after Makalele left real madrid?

Xavi was about to be sold to Bayern Munich without Sergio Busquet.

Sergio Busquet displaced Yaya Toure, Javier Mascherano, Alexander song,made Rodri sat on the bench till he retired.

Makalele una. What did Makalele achieve on his own?

Zidane was World and European Champion before we discovered what was a Makelele

He had played CL Finals and lost with Juventus with no Makelele

Person wey no fit enter National team till age 29

Even then he was still chesting bench at that advanced age for Vieira and Petit

Xavi on his own had led Barca to La Liga title, won a Euros with Marcos Senna in Midfield. He did not need no goddamn Busquets

Busquets enjoyed La Masia tax same way Victor Valdez enjoyed La Masia tax. Federal character merchant.

All the other guys you mentioned were not system DMs like Busquets. Yaya Toure na CAM, Song na mediocrity

Enrique coaching laziness at Spain is why he achieved nothing but luckily for him he learned from his mistake and did better at PSG.

De La Fuente handed the keys to Rodri and they have not stopped winning since

andrewbaba44:
Back to the Rodri and serio Busquets matter

You feel rodri is better than busquets ,I am sure it’s due to individual achievements which is also very fair

If you will agree dembele is better than mbappe because of that ,i might agree with you

A40

No. It's not due to individual achievements alone. The eye test and what they've been able to do with the players they are surrounded by also tells me Rodri is better.

Rodri simply does more. Without the individual Accolades Rodri is still better

I don't care if you agree with me or not. UEFA and FIFA agree with me

This is small sample of what Rodri was doing on his own before tearing ACL. No Xavi, Iniesta or Alonso to hold his hands

Nothing consign me if you think Dembele is better than Mbappe. Busquets is not equivalent to Mbappe though so I don't even understand your argument

Sportsweb:
So Maradonna follow chop Zero shot on target for his own time

Typical Argentina any year them use wuruwuru reach final

AirBere:
If it's agenda then good

But if no be agenda, whoever doesn't rate Rodri as a DM doesn't know ball like that lol.

I can't take opinion of anyone that doesn't rate Rodri or compares him to frauds like Busquets seriously tbh

Sportsweb:
A40, ibime


A40 remember Rodri and Busquet played 2022 together

I don't see passenger Fraudsquets on the list. Carried player through and through.

If I didn't go and check now that's how they would have kept claiming Fraudsquets was doing yenyenyen.

And that Rodri was not passing at an elite level at par with all the other Spanish midfield greats not named Fraudsquets

Ibime:
Why are you switching the subject and obfuscating?

We have dealt with yesterdays argument from the same source and I relented

The Koko is that you are trying to paint him as the hardest running midfielder but he is actually way below par in running. Stick to that topic.

You have to build a myth around him in the absence of individual evidence so you went to bring overall running stats that will appeal to the gullible to further the myth, and I'm here to pushback against myths cos I hate MYTHOLOGY

How are you below par in running and yet you covered the most distance in the competition while completing the most passes?

Nothing consign me with your per 90. I said he covered the most distance I didn't say he covered the most distance per 90. You're the one that brought up that argument. Which is quite frankly irrelevant.

You might as well say Deniz Undav was the most clinical and best striker at this World Cup cos he had the most goals per minute ratio

Why won't I bring overall running stats? Why do they calculate overall goals and assists and not goals per 90 or per second?

You are tying yourself in tortuous knots all to not give credit where it's due.

Rodri has performed so excellently you call it myth cos you refuse to admit no defender has ever covered as much ground and still led the competition in touches, passes and overall elite midfield play

FIFA, UEFA all of us can't be wrong

popizaino:
He has joined the all timer conversations but still trailing behind Sergio Busquet in ratings.

There is no an iota of doubt that SB was simply better. You can conjoined your with xavi and iniiesta theory but that doesn't change the fact that he was simply their heartbeat.

Displaced everyone they said was better than him from Yaya Toure to Javier Mascherano to Alexander song.

He was the heartbeat of the most successful club team ever and the heartbeat of the greatest Spanish national team ever.

Which rubbish rating? Nobody rates that passenger. The numbers, the individual awards point to Fraudsquets as an average at best midfielder

All you're yarnin is grammar. No evidence

Heartbeat for team wey get Alonso, Xavi and Iniesta be like you don high on ogogoro. So what happened when they left? He became heart attack.

Personal achievement or even stats there's nothing that puts Fraudsquets on the level of Rodri. Fraudsquets was a career passenger. The Victor Valdez of DMs

No dey hype that fraud where I dey.

Sportsweb:
Oboy Rodri is dusting Spain golden Midfield all by Himself


Football funny o.

If Rodri Balon dor' wins another Balon dor', he will be the Greatest of all time in Midfield

Rodri slander can only be based on hate and stubborn refusal to admit wrong assessment or Barca fanboyism.

There is no objective metric to downplay the greatness of Rodri. It's really that simple

He's showed it at City and Spain. Since his absence City have not been the same in the league

Sportsweb:
Back-to-back world final thuggery

They were even worse Italia 90. Why so many Nigerians are so infatuated with them is insane to me. Argentina have always been anti football and ready to cheat and do whatever to win

Ibime:
A40, covering the most ground is expected for the midfielder with the most minutes

No dey bring primary school stats for us

Rodri covered 10.35km per 90 mins which is beyond poor compared to 11km to 12km standard for central midfielders

This is what I mean about MYTHOLOGIES. Using journalists pen and paper to turn man to a myth including a nigga running paltry 10km per game

You're arguing out of pure bad belle atp.

You started out with saying he's not possession King I showed you he's standing and looking the possession kings eye to eye.

You're saying it's expected I'm showing you he has covered more ground than anyone else on his team and the other teams at this tournament.

See. You're free not to like Rodri but the truth is he's Undeniable. And it's better to just say you don't like him because you have not made any objective argument.

Rodri covered the most distance
Completed the most passes
Had the most touches
2nd most chances created

These are the stats on ground. You keep repeating Mythology but it doesn't make your arguments right or substantial

Sportsweb:
LMAO 🤣😂

Baba see tiki taka collapse for pitch. Eye blur am

E confuse. 5km per game is not going to hack it against Spain

https://x.com/i/status/2078987441302553030

Never ever compare Fraudsquets to the Don.

popizaino:
Why won't he win awards in an era where feran Torres,oryzarbal are the leading strikers for Spain who used to boast of exceptional attacking talents like David villa,Fernando Torres,Daniel Guiza.

The day he ever ranks above Sergio Busquet in midfield ratings is the day you can come for conversation.

For now,all the talks of balon d'or nonsense is dead on arrival.

You're on your own man

https://x.com/i/status/2078987441302553030

https://x.com/i/status/2079149849820201240

Rodri has joined all timer conversations. Your passenger Fraudsquets will never be on his level. He was an attache, an escort that leeched off superior talent

Rodri has won as the Don and the engine. A feat your Fraudsquets never managed.

FIFA and UEFA have ended all conversations so me and you no get nothing to discuss

[b]Rodri: The Midfield Engine

The primary reason Rodri secured the World Cup 2026 Golden Ball lies in his absolute control over the tempo and flow of every match he entered. Acting as the central pillar of La Roja, the Manchester City star served as the top distribution hub of the tournament, completing an astonishing 747 out of 799 passes to register a tournament-high 93% passing accuracy. This unparalleled ball-holding capacity meant that Spain rarely surrendered possession in dangerous areas, successfully starving opponents of momentum and forcing them to chase the game endlessly.

Rather than generating standard highlight reels of step-overs or long-range strikes, Rodri operated as a defensive shield and transitional progressor, consistently breaking up opposing counter-attacks through perfect positional awareness and timely physical interventions. The Spaniard registered more total player involvements and covered more distance than any other player in the competition, proving that his value was built on sustained structural dominance rather than isolated moments in the final third.

By winning an elite 80% of his individual duels in the final match against Argentina, he ensured that his defensive unit remained entirely unburdened, allowing Spain national football team to set an all-time tournament record by conceding only one single goal across their entire eight-match campaign. The Rodri World Cup Golden Ball honor proves that controlling the rhythm of a match is just as devastatingly effective as scoring the goals themselves.[/b]

If I hear pim about Busquets again

Unlimited22:
He played as a centre back so it usually comes easy to him to know who makes his work harder and easier

He was the first person to clock Bakayoko and I remember him constantly arguing Matic matter with Nihilistjnr in the latter half of 2017

Even pointed out the limitations of Fabregas in a double pivot


But once agenda enter the matter that is the road we must ply 😂


BTW on Sergio Biscuits matter e get where he reach when Iniesta begin play LW but he was still entering middle
Surrounded by him Alonso Xavi and even Fabregas, opposition midfielders were breathing out their asses by minute 55 😂

Yeah his midfielder assessment is usually spot on. Shows nobody is perfect

I just wouldn't expect him to miss a perfect midfielder like Rodri

I didn't even know that Rodri covered the most ground at this tournament. Eye test beasting is one thing but looking at all the stats and metrics and it becomes even more evident just how much impact Rodri has had.

Messi scored a lot of goals and what not but easier to do when you're only moving 5km on the pitch

Rodri was completing the most passes and covering the most ground. Do you know how crazy that is?

People think Spain conceding 1 goal in 8 matches facing the likes of Uruguay, Portugal, Belgium, France and Argentina is by accident. It's because these guys give the opponents very little room for error

Looool. Don't get me started on Busquets and how he was carried on a Spanish Superteam. Na small expose I don expose am for here, if I expose am pass this one as the passenger he was e go be like say na beef. He's no different from Victor Valdez. If Spain didn't have Casillas na him for dey play for Spain and we would be putting him in conversations he doesn't belong

Jamiuokolaa:
Wait fess - make we conclude for this Argentina matter.

They said the 2 WC finals wey Argentina lose in 2014 and 2026 - na because Di Maria nor dey.

I bin check come see say Di Maria was the deciding factor in the 3 trophies Argentina won during Messi's career.

Does it mean Messi has been a tag along all these while and is nothing without Di Maria ?

Them even include Olympics sef

If true, Shey we no go remove NT achievements laidis and focus on CL exploits?

E be like Say VAR don overturn Messi G.O.AT status o

So he's really a Di Maria merchant

Agenda no dey finish

popizaino:
No these are evidences. The link below still rates him far below SB.

Nobody that watches both chooses Rodri.

Say who die? O wrong now?

Busquet was not been subbed in a world cup finals to tell you how indispensable he was to one of the greatest national side of all time. but your myth was easily sub to create a chance for winner.

If these doesn't tell you anything then i don't know what to say again .

https://www.givemesport.com/greatest-defensive-midfielders-in-football-history-ranked/

We are posting FIFA, UEFA certified and you're posting me some links by some Philistines hosting a website. Are you cool bro?

I watched both and I'm choosing Rodri, FIFA and UEFA watched both and choose Rodri

Oyarzabal was subbed and is their leading scorer. You have no argument.

Before the Final. This is total distance covered as you can see Rodri leads the entire competition.

This is how you dominate and comptroller general midfield. Even after a ACL tear

Rodri at 30 vs Fraudsquets at 30

Passenger Fraudsquets getting dumped out at 30 to Russia when he had no Superteam with Xaviesta and Alonso to hold his hands

popizaino:
Call me when Rodri ranks higher than the heartbeat of pep guardiola himself

Put your Balon D'or, Golden Ball and Tournament MVP Accolades on the table. Nothing consign me with your akpuruka lists

Na wa. Una no go even fit celebrate bayi. No Madrid player (Cucurella don't count)

Unlimited22:
He prefers Fernandinho and you know say it is a sin to change your mind on Nairaland

Hahahaha Fernandinho to Rodri? Haba nauuu. Shoe get size and specie get levels

Ibime is usually spot on with midfield analysis. Lampard vs Gerrard, Mikel Obi slander, Bakanonsense aka Bakayoko, Oscar

So how he can miss a surefire comptroller general like Rodri is a mystery to me

I was one of those that overrated Busquets till I did deep dive on him post Xavi and the maths wasn't mathing. I had to start asking myself uncomfortable questions like how would he look if he didn't have not one but 3 generational teammates

https://x.com/i/status/2078966347241787833

Thank God they lost. What World Cup Final do you remember ever ending like this. Italia 90 the same thing. Sore losers every time

If only Kolo Muani did the needful

Unlimited22:
Omo see agenda

Especially given that Di Maria did not play the final of 2014

Food don done for Ororo lovers. All cooking is allowed

Ibime:
Thank God for AI. Some of your arguments stack up. I must have reviewed singular games from Busquet but his averages are not matching Rodris.

You are right my boss.

But Rodri still ain't competing with Xavi the don especially if you remove Saudi and Cape Verde tax.

Here are some comparisons

I don't compare anybody to Xavi. He's the 🐐 midfielder and I chastised Barca fans that tried to slander him to prop up Busquets

I'm not even saying he's as good as Alonso, he still has to stack up more seasons

I'm one of those that believe the players today are not necessarily better than the past but frauds like Fraudsquets is where I draw the line

Rodri is also the best for this era. That had always been the argument. If he didn't tear his ACL he would be far better than today

You be person wey get eye for midfielder so you not ID'ing Rodri is very surprising to me up till now especially since he plays in England

Let me see anybody compare Fraudsquets to Rodri again for this place. I go knack am something

Thank you Sofascore for helping me expose these frauds that are being compared to the Don

Since we are talking mythology let's talk about.

This is Fraudsquets against Italy. Euro 2016. Ibime just dey give us fermented zobo since.

Shey na the people wey dey complete 1million passes per match be this

Ibime:
Rodri completed 58 passes Vs France, stop lying.

This is why I said you are free to turn this into a picture and post it to twitter to increase more MYTHOLOGY

You claim he broke the record 7.5 games into the World Cup. Is the 0.5 games not enough to break the record being a full half more than anyone else and who never played the ultra bus parkers of Cape Verde who ceded 76% of possession to Spain as is their style

That's why I asked you to convert it to per 90 stats which take into account substitutions and resting of players which his previous Spanish counterparts all had before we enjoy the picture mythologies in overall terms.

Per 90, he is nowhere close to them, simple despite his Cape Verde bonanza. The 95 passes he needed extra time to achieve against Argentina would have easily been achieved by Busquet/Alonso/Xavi within 90 minutes. He really isn't competing with those niggas when it comes to this.

Belgium. Was what I meant to type

Again I have completely destroyed your argument by posting Busquets and Alonso numbers in 120 minutes vs the Netherlands in argument

You're arguing out of pure bad belle for Rodri and nothing more.

This is Busquets against Italy Euro 2012. Alonso completed just 78 passes

All your talk of completing 90 passes, 100 passes. All a bold faced lie. Like India vs Nigeria.

You go explain tire. No EVIDENCE