Birdy
Senior Member
Against Eibar at the end of December. And the next home game is vs Bilbao next weekend.
If you include also Copa and Supercopa games, we will complete 8 (!!!!) away games in a row within a month.
It must be a record!
La Liga | Round 20: Elche - FC Barcelona 0-2
- Thread starter Barcaman
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Against Eibar at the end of December. And the next home game is vs Bilbao next weekend.
If you include also Copa and Supercopa games, we will complete 8 (!!!!) away games in a row within a month.
It must be a record!
serghei
Senior Member
Considering our home record under Koeman is quite poor, maybe it's not that bad.
fergus90
Senior Member
Yeah I agree about the freshness, it's about being proactive to ensure we have the best possible XI available fit and fresh for PSG and for the final stretch in the league. Some of the players looked pretty lethargic last week in the normal 90, let alone all the extra time we've played.
So many fixtures since June really and a lack of a proper pre-season, means extra caution is probably needed compared to normal circumstances.
fergus90
Senior Member
I think a large part of the problem is, many of the games with the supposed first XI have been hanging in the balance or still chasing a result in the last 20 minutes. So there hasn't been the luxury to rest players when cruising which would probably happen in normal circumstances. Can only really think of Valladolid and Granada in the last couple months where that's been the case.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
That is the point. The last game Barca had well won against Granada Messi, FDJ, Pedri and Dembele all came off.
None of those 4 started all three cup games in last week and half and bar FDJ none of them played the full 120 min in both supercopa games and was then rested v Cornella.
It has been difficult to rotate any more than has recently if trying to win the supercopa.
serghei
Senior Member
Yea, exactly, at big clubs, a manager needs to show that they don't think a game at a time. It's useless if you play great in January, but burn out the starters so that in March you can barely assemble a team that can carry on playing at a high pace for 90 mins.
Koeman seems pretty ignorant about this part. Or maybe he's very confident that the fitness of the team is pretty high level and this is just a small dip. I'm not as optimistic as him...
soul24rage
Senior Member
I very much doubt this part. There was a time in which you could obviously tell that Pedri was tired and we needed fresh legs vs Bilbao in the Supercup final. Koeman kept him on almost the 90 minutes.
serghei
Senior Member
I doubt it too. Which is why this approach, for me, is shortsighted and unsustainable.
serghei
Senior Member
What part? I'm usually clear when I'm trolling and when I'm serious. Only Wolfe doesn't seem to tell the difference
.JamDav1982
Senior Member
Then took him off before ET in both supercopa games and took him off early in last league game and didnt start him in Copa.
Pedri has not been flogged for every minute.
soul24rage
Senior Member
I'm aware that he has not played every single minute. My point was that he was played more than he should have in terms of freshness.
Even having been taken off early in the last league game, Pedri still looked tired and should have been taken off much sooner vs Bilbao final game.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
Difficult to rotate him consistently when no real alternative.
Looked fresh enough in last game.
soul24rage
Senior Member
In the last game, Pedri should be fresh enough against a team that already played 70 minutes-ish.
They are not the same profile, but Puig is the closest in terms of profile to Pedri in this current squad, and I think Puig should come on more often as a sub in difficult games (Pedri should definitely start in difficult games)
Whether people like him or not, Puig does inject energy to the team as a sub.
In the easy games, maybe Puig can start and Pedri can come on.
I just don't want players to start all the time and be burned out around Feb or March.
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