Strength in depth and squad rotation – surely a balance needs to be found?
At present we have what is essentially a ‘A team’ of about 12/13 players, and a formation that, while not rigid, they are comfortable with. We watch this every week and we are thrilled by it on most occasions.
Against Shakhtar on Wed (a good European side, at home in freezing conditions), Pep made multiple changes, changed the formation, and introduced 3 aspiring youngsters (one playing out of position). There were so many variables that its difficult to tell who or what worked. Should we be surprised that we did not see the fluid football that we are getting used to?
Squad players are not getting game time, but is this amount of change presenting a realistic opportunity for them to shine or grow?
Many called for the B team (even women’s team) to go and play this match so that the A team would be fit and rested for Sunday. So maybe this is what we got and we should manage our expectations and not be too critical. However, this does not represent rotation. Surely the right balance is to play to our best ability while also ensuring the full squad, including our aspiring youngsters, get game time.
Therefore, rather that wholesale changes for games like this, wouldn’t a sensible approach be to give one place in most regular season games to a 'squad player'/aspiring young player? Then we could see what works and what doesn’t, based on a single change under the true guise of squad rotation?
First post – go easy on me.