Valverde pays the price for shuffling thin Barca pack

AFTER Barcelona’s shock 1-2 defeat to Leganes on Wednesday, coach Ernesto Valverde was left grappling with a problem that also haunted his predecessor Luis Enrique: how to rotate his squad and keep his best players fresh without dropping points.

Valverde started the game at Leganes without first choice left back Jordi Alba and center forward Luis Suarez, a move that at first glance appeared to carry few risks given his opponents had taken only 1 point from 5 games.

The ploy looked to be paying off when Philippe Coutinho put the visitors ahead with a first-half volley, but their lack of spine was soon exposed by the Madrid minnows, who scored twice in 68 second-half seconds.

Valverde’s response was to promptly bring on Suarez and Alba for Munir El Haddadi and Thomas Vermaelen, who had been caught out of position when Nabil El Zhar headed in the equalizer. He also brought on Brazilian Malcom, a summer signing from AS Roma, but none of the three substitutes could prevent the champion from suffering a first league defeat to Leganes.

Valverde’s selection was inevitably cited as a key reason for the unexpected result, which came on the heels of a surprise 2-2 draw at home to Girona in which again starters didn’t play.

Valverde was criticized last season for not rotating his squad, particularly towards the end of the campaign when the title was practically sealed, leading to key players being overworked and saw it exit the UEFA Champions League to AS Roma.

Now, however, the coach is being questioned in the Spanish media for putting too much faith in fringe squad players, and he looked visibly annoyed when asked about his team selection.

“It’s cynical to talk about the changes after the result,” Valverde said. “There were two changes. In the case of Luis, I had thought about resting him for one of this week’s games. As for Jordi, it was because he’s played every game”

The Catalan side’s transfer policy certainly looked like an exercise in squad building rather than meddling with the nucleus of players that swept to a domestic double last season, as none of its new arrivals has started more than one league game.

That plan cannot said to be working so far, though, as every time the coach strays from his usual starting 11, his team appears to run into problems.