Rotations show Barça’s limited resources | Football | Sport
Barcelona fans assume that their team’s goals are medium to long term and therefore it is assumed that they will have no difficulty digesting the defeat to El Sadar. Even President Joan Laporta avoided talking about titles in his latest speech, a departure from the stance he has taken since his re-election in 2021. The rotations that Hansi Flick arranged against Osasuna go in the same direction of effort management. due to a busy schedule that includes an important match on Tuesday against Young Boys in the Champions League. Defeat in Monaco forces Barca to quickly respond to a tournament that has opposed it since 2015. Nothing to do with their leadership in the League.
Although the team is traveling in style, Flick immediately upon his arrival in Barcelona convinced his players of the need to start the championship with good results, in order to try to gain self-esteem and confidence, and on the other hand, to earn the respect of their team. rivals, including Madrid, to whom the coach also took on the adaptation process due to the departure of Kroos and the signing of Mbappe. The German coach is very good at preparing short cycles, as he already demonstrated in the final stages of the 2020 Champions League, which, due to the pandemic, began in the quarter-finals in Lisbon. Bayern became champions after defeating Barça (2-8), Lyon and PSG.
The results at the start of the League were equally extraordinary. The Blaugrana have seven wins, one shy of Tata Martino’s 2013-14 record, after a busy pre-season that centered on the tour of the United States. Flick took care of both physical and tactical preparation and ensured that the team shared his vision of the game, watching the excellent performances of the La Masia players. The coach’s proposal was not alien to Barça’s playing style. The somewhat unexpected results of their generosity supported Flick’s proposal, with the exception of a 2-1 defeat in Monaco.
The coach measured the rotation a lot before the game with Pamplona. Flick reserved up to five players in the starting lineup, and Barça lost 4–2. This ambitious and compact, intense and direct team disintegrated in a way that expressed the limited resources that were hidden against Getafe, Villarreal, Girona, Valladolid, Rayo, Athletic and Valencia. The schedule is tight, eight losses are heavy and the squad is very short after only Pau Victor and Dani Olmo joined him. The difference between the starting players and the substitutes is noticeable, the leadership has not yet been determined, and this character is 17 years old and his name is Lamin Yamal.
Flick, however, never complained about shakyness, he improved all the players and took responsibility for the defeat against Osasuna. No one doubts the manager has become the best signing, but he was surprised by the way he “looked after” his players on Saturday, when more changes were expected against Getafe or Young Boys and a good result. The result was expected to put pressure on Madrid ahead of their appointment to Atlético Madrid.
The starting line-up was as surprising as the changes, with the exits of Raphinha and Lamine coinciding with the departure of Lewandowski. The naivety of the team, with an average age of 23, offended such a seasoned and physical opponent as Osasuna. The Navarrese pressed very well and played on counterattacks, looked for the protection of the central defenders, made good crosses, avoided losses and finished out the game with Pena. The Blaugrana were unable to press and were no longer compact, although they never wavered, proud of the identity they had adopted with Flick. The goal is not about records, but to become a reliable, competitive and ambitious team, whether they win or lose, as happened in Pamplona.