Barcelona: Valverde should try to avoid falling into the ‘Lucho trap’

Barcelona’s starting lineup in the 0-0 draw with Athletic was questionable

Barcelona’s fortunes gradually declined following Luis Enrique’s debut season as head coach, when the club secured the second treble in their history. This was attributed to a variety of factors, most notably a poor bench and lack of depth in various crucial positions.

Lucho tried to rest his first-team players against lesser opposition, but the second-choice players failed to step up. Players like André Gomes, Arda Turan, Aleix Vidal, Munir and Paco Alcácer were huge failures despite getting many opportunities to impress under Luis Enrique.

So, the former Barça captain was forced to field the first-team even when they were very tired. The fatigue affected the side, and results became hard to come by in periods where fixtures were highly congested. To an extent, Lucho’s successor Ernesto Valverde solved that in his first season.

Players like Paulinho were brought in, and the quality of the bench generally improved. But the fatigue of the first-team still remained an issue. In fact, Barça lost 4-0 to Roma in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final because the first-team was fatigued.

But the bench was taken to a whole new level by Robert Fernández’s successor Éric Abidal. The former Culé removed all the second-string players who had performed poorly, and replaced them with high-quality talents. The Frenchman also reinforced the squad in January.

Jordi Alba still doesn’t have a backup, but that is the only issue bugging the squad right now. Otherwise, the squad has a lot of depth. But there would be no point to Abidal’s revolutionary changes if Ernesto Valverde still continued to field tired first-team players.

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That was exactly what happened in the goalless draw with Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés. The Basque club were not in the best of form, and a fresh second-string side could have had a chance of beating them. Instead, a tired first-team struggled to keep up and eventually failed to score.

A half-fit Lionel Messi struggled throughout the entire game, as he was unable to sprint and showed very little mobility. Malcom should have started in his place, especially after his brilliant performance in the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid.

Valverde did not bring on Malcom even in the second-half, when Messi was totally absent from proceedings and lost possession on several occasions. Instead, he took off Philippe Coutinho for yet another half-fit player, Ousmane Dembélé.

With the current run of fixtures, this should have been an opportunity for the first-choice players to get some rest. Instead, they put up an underwhelming performance which brought Barça’s 37-game goalscoring run in the La Liga to an end.

Kevin-Prince Boateng had a poor debut for Barça, but he could certainly have done better than Luis Suárez against Athletic. Arturo Vidal’s display was his worst since joining, and in-form La Masia graduate only came on as a substitute in the second-half.

Clément Lenglet hobbled off the pitch to be replaced by Thomas Vermaelen in the dying minutes of the game, while the experienced Belgian centre-back should have started the game due to his ongoing good form.

The team selection of Ernesto Valverde was very puzzling, and it is almost as if he is falling into the trap that his predecessor also fell into. Athletic were probably overestimated by their former manager, and Valverde denied opportunities to players who deserved them.

In the upcoming home game against Real Valladolid, Valverde should put out a very weak team, with the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Lyon close by. Otherwise, he will have certifiably have fallen into the ‘Lucho trap’ of his former teammate.