It seems like Gianluca Busio has been around forever. If you’re a college sports fan it’s like one of those guys that never seems to graduate. (It felt like Devin Gardner was Michigan’s QB for a decade😂) He signed as a homegrown in 2017 at 15 years old. There were transfer rumors about him going to European clubs in 2018. If you follow the American soccer prospect scene at all, you’ve been hearing his name for a while now.
But, to be honest with you, I’d never really seen “it” with Busio. The best I’d seen him look was during the U17 WC qualifying tournament when he and Reyna looked like the most dangerous players on the field for the US. When he played in MLS it was usually kind of meh.
That brings us to 2020, and specifically, the last four games of 2020. Ilie Sanchez has missed games for some personal/family issues and Busio has stepped into the #6 spot for SKC. It hasn’t been perfect, but he’s growing into the position and he’s looked pretty good.
Also, remember even though it feels like he’s been around…Busio just turned 18 (in May). There is tons of room for him to grow, especially if he gets a run of games in this new position.
Usually for these scouting reports I’ll watch two, maybe three games, and then try to put together my thoughts. I watched all four of Busio’s games at his new position for this one. So to quote Fabrizio Romano, “Here we go.”
Strengths
That Right Foot
I really enjoy the NFL draft and one of the attributes that American football scouts fall in love with at times is “arm talent” in a quarterback. If a dude can throw the ball through a brick wall he’s going to get a lot more leeway from scouts than someone with a lesser arm (anyone remember Jeff George? JaMarcus Russell?😂) Busio has a “golden leg.” He hits the ball so hard and so sweetly. It’s a joy to watch.
I don’t think Busio is on the edge of making the full national team or anything, but if he was on the roster…he’d be the team’s best set piece taker. He does favor that foot, FBref has him at 91% right footed, but it didn’t negatively affect him in these games.
Initiating Offense
Busio didn’t have any amazing through balls or creative assists, but he got the ball to his teammates in stride and initiated the offense. He isn’t usually a dribbling threat, but if teams don’t pressure him he will find a good pass. It looks like SKC favors attacking from the wing because most of the entry passes were to wide players.
He is also very capable of playing an accurate long ball. This goes back to the leg talent I was referring to before. If the opposition gives him time and one of his teammates makes a good run, Busio is eminently capable of dropping it on his foot.
Facilitating Possession
Busio rarely turned the ball over. In these four games he had one turnover (an underhit cross field pass got picked off) that was very dangerous, but other than that he kept the ball moving and didn’t get caught in possession. If you are playing as a deep midfielder (regista, controlling #6, whatever) you cannot give the ball away and Busio doesn’t. He’s not exactly Busquets/Thiago making space for himself, but he never got stuck with the ball in a bad spot.
He moves well without the ball to be in position to receive, as well. He drops back even with the center backs at times or moves forward as needed to get open. It really looked like SKC should have done more to get him the ball. They looked better when Busio was starting the offense than when their center backs were trying to launch attacks.
Room to Improve
One v One Defense
Busio struggle a bit when matched up mano a mano. Part of this, I believe, is that he’s 18 and going up against full grown men is generally going to be a struggle for teenagers. Another part of it though, looked like a hesitancy to be physical. He’s not an exceptional athletic talent to begin with and being willing to get into opponents would be helpful. One of the games was an exception to this and I’ll address that in a different section, but Busio does need to put in some work on his defensive skills.
Defensive Awareness
This is probably a function of the new position, but Busio had some troubles with cutting off angles and drifting out of position. Those issues will likely improve with more time on task in his new role. In these games it looked like he had difficulties keeping track of attacker in behind, and being aware of where he was on the field.
Visible Growth
Even though I just spent a couple sections criticizing his defense, Busio does show ability there. Specifically, I’d like to discuss the FC Dallas game. Busio comes out very aggressive in this game and maintains it for the full 90 minutes+. Buzz over at 3rd Degree (you should follow him btw) tweeted this out during the game:
Busio out efforting like 6 Dallas players by himself.
— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) September 3, 2020
All of the “negative” defensive gifs I clipped out came from the first three games. I’m sure he wasn’t perfect on defense against FCD, but he was noticeably more physical and aggressive. Check out some of these clips:
There were some good defensive moments in the other games, but it was much more inconsistent. If Busio can keep up this level of energy and aggressiveness…the sky is the limit. Ilie Sanchez may have been Wally Pipp-ed by Busio at this point.
USMNT Prospects?
As I said above, I don’t think he’s close to the full national team at this point. (Although, if he gets the rest of the season at the #6 will he be that much behind a guy like Jackson Yueill?) The U20 team or even maybe the Olympic team…absolutely. I even think a call up to January camp would be completely reasonable. The guy has potential and there’s no telling what he’ll grow into. Whatever happens, he has gone from not that interesting a player to a reason to watch SKC whenever they’re on. Good luck, kid. 👍
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Cutting Room Floor – extra gifs
