Lliga | Round 30: Villarreal - FC Barcelona 4-4

El Gato

Villarato!
Time for rotations. Umtiti, Vidal and Malcom are sure starters. Messi shouldn't play.

It's a great opportunity to try the Umtiti-Lenglet duo with Piqué given a rest.

Have we ever succeeded with rotations this season though? It feels like we're always subbing on our starters early in the second half.

Voluntary rotations of Messi never really worked for Barca full stop unless you had Neymar in the side. He had so few fixtures where he hasn't played a full 90 in the league this whole decade and almost none voluntary.
13/14 - several injuries, no voluntary rotations all season
14/15 - 1 out of 38
15/16 - 2 out of 38
16/17 - 6 out of 38, possibly 2 voluntary + 3 games missed injured
17/18 - 3 out of 38, possibly 2 voluntary
18/19 - 3 out of 38 so far, none voluntary + 2 games missed injured

Rotating Messi isn't something Barca know how to do. And rotating everyone else depends on whether you leave him on or not. All revolves around him.
 

Alik

Moderator
1. We won't play all games over the next two weeks with the same lineup.
2. Raki was one of our best players against Espanyol. Not seeing tired at all. He's a yellow card away from a suspension so he could be rested vs Villarreal to be ready for AM and United though.
3. Messi will get a rest in coming weeeks for sure.

That's what we were asking for before you brought up our obsession with rotations.

Voluntary rotations of Messi never really worked for Barca full stop unless you had Neymar in the side. He had so few fixtures where he hasn't played a full 90 in the league this whole decade and almost none voluntary.
13/14 - several injuries, no voluntary rotations all season
14/15 - 1 out of 38
15/16 - 2 out of 38
16/17 - 6 out of 38, possibly 2 voluntary + 3 games missed injured
17/18 - 3 out of 38, possibly 2 voluntary
18/19 - 3 out of 38 so far, none voluntary + 2 games missed injured

Rotating Messi isn't something Barca know how to do. And rotating everyone else depends on whether you leave him on or not. All revolves around him.
I hope we learn to do it.
 
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soul24rage

Senior Member
Play full team against Villarreal - Rest Leo and Suarez against Pathetico - Play full team vs Utd

This is what I would do. United don't have a game this weekend so they will have 1 week to rest and prepare for the CL match. We have to rest the key players vs ATM to have 100% intensity for the CL game so I'd rather we lose to ATM than to lower our chances of winning vs United.
 

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Exactly, go all out for a win tomorrow and if we can do that, we can afford to draw or even lose to Atletico this weekend.
 

Joan

Well-known member
I'd only rest Rakitic. Big games coming.

But I don't pretend to know much about their state.
 

jairzinho

Senior Member
It's crazy how some people fail to recognize that fatigue is a significant factor that can influence how far we go in the knockout rounds.
 

PhilS

Active member
Messi is playing crazy well now, so he will not want to sit. The time for that might be between the two Man U games.

Before the season, Suarez asked for rest before CL games. That will happen.
S
Alba has no backup. Resting him has been disastrous. Valverde has only bad options controlling his minutes.

This would be a good time to rest Pique, and split a game Busquets/Rakatic.
 

Vilarrubi

New member
Really tough to decide whether to rest key players in this game or the Atleti one. A few in each would probably be best.
 

Mitchell1978

Senior Member
Exactly, go all out for a win tomorrow and if we can do that, we can afford to draw or even lose to Atletico this weekend.

makes no sense, if barça beat Atletico this weekend the lead will be a minimum of 10 points but if barça beat Villareal and loose to Atletico the lead could be 'only' 7 points

besides there's 3 full days before the man u game, rotation tomorrow just makes more sense
 

gregorrin10

Senior Member
To be honest, i'd rather see us go big in the midweek, retain the 10 point lead, and then play the big rotations against Atletico...even if we lose, we'd still be comfortably in the lead. Most importantly, 3 days before United, (who won't have a game at all next weekend by the way and will be really well rested), our biggest players would also come more rested into the CL game, which is the absolute priority at this point, since we can screw up a few games in La Liga until the end and still win it.

Big rotations in the midweek are just asking for trouble, we're a lot stronger at the Camp Nou anyway, even if it is against a better opponent. so I'd rather see us go big vs. Villarreal, bring home the win, retain that 10-point lead, and then go easier vs. Atletico at home. But if we see the big rotations vs. Villarreal, we might draw/lose there, the pressure before Atletico game would rise, so EV will then go all out vs. Atletico for sure, which is not something I want to see. Rather we win against Villareal, and go more calmly and with a less strong team against Atletico, we know that we're better at the Camp Nou anyway, so i'd rather see us take care of business away at El Madrigal first, then go easy vs. Atletico, since even a draw/loss there wouldn't be a disaster, plus i'd be better to rest the big players 3 days before CL, not 7. Not to mention the Atletico game will be tough as hell, Atletico will be motivated and very aggressive, injuries could happen, fatigue (physical and mental) will be high there, and right before CL, that is not a sight you want to see. Rather we give players like Umtiti, Malcom, Alena, who have something to prove, a chance against Atletico, let the biggest players rest mentally as well, and be prepared to let it all out against United, not Atletico.
 
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Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
makes no sense, if barça beat Atletico this weekend the lead will be a minimum of 10 points but if barça beat Villareal and loose to Atletico the lead could be 'only' 7 points

besides there's 3 full days before the man u game, rotation tomorrow just makes more sense

First off, do you agree that we are more likely to lose away against Villarreal with rotation than losing to Atletico at home with rotation?

If we rotate and lose tomorrow against Villarreal, the lead is cut down to 7 points and Valverde would go all out with starters against Atletico seeking a win, guaranteed. Regardless of the result the starters will be tired when facing Manchester United.

If we lose tomorrow and beat Atletico this weekend the lead is still 7 points, and the starters will be fatigued and exhausted. Worst case scenario is we lose to Villarreal tomorrow and lose to Atletico this week and the lead is down to 4 points.

If we start with starters tomorrow and win against Villarreal, we can afford to lose to Atletico at home (less likely) and still maintain a 7-point lead, with the added benefit of starters being relatively rested and fresh when facing Manchester United next week. The point of rotation at this point is to make sure our starters and core players are as rested and fresh as possible while protecting the lead in the league. Hence going all out tomorrow and rotate against Atletico is the best choice.
 

Cule4life

The Culest
Man i like Villareal and don't want them relegated. Wouldn't be upset if they got something from this match.
 

serghei

Senior Member
We have 4 days to recover for United. Game is on Saturnday and CL match is on Wednesday. I'd rest the whole team in the game between the Manchester home leg. Unless we somehow take a great lead on Camp Nou, even though winning away in CL is not our MO.
 

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