BARCELONA boss Quique Setien is worried the advent of five substitutes will hurt his team’s chances of wearing their opposition down.
A new law introduced to help reduce player injuries upon football’s restart from the coronavirus pandemic has been questioned by some.
Barcelona are back in training ahead of a touted kick-off on June 15Credit: Handout – Getty
For Setien, there are worries that smaller teams are able to pack their defence and replace tired players in a way they would not normally be able to do.
The 61-year-old stated in a chat with the Las Palmas Football Federation: “I think having five substitutes could actually be detrimental to us because of the way we play.
“We know that a lot of the time we resolve matches in the latter stages of the game.
“Therefore, if you give the opposition the option of putting on fresh players during that time, the weakness that is generated, by tiring their players, won’t happen to the same degree.
“That said, it can also give you more resources at a specific moment. So, it is an unknown quantity and we’ll see how it goes.”
STAT ALL YOU GOT?
However, the statistics do not necessarily agree with Setien’s point.
Throughout the 2019/20 season, the vast majority of which Barcelona have played under ex-coach Ernesto Valverde, they have conceded a higher proportion of late goals than they have scored.
Just 11 per cent of the Blaugrana’s league strikes have come after the 81st minute, compared to 19 per cent of the goals they have let in.
The LaLiga leaders rely far more heavily on goals scored between the 31st and 40th (16 per cent) and the 41st and 50th minute (19 per cent).
Game changing goals have come in the final ten minutes of five of Barcelona’s LaLiga games in 2019/20 – only two of which were winners.
Lionel Messi claimed his new boss a vital victory on the eve of football’s shutdown with an 81st minute winner past Real Sociedad, and it was the Argentine who notched late on at Atletico Madrid in December.
Setien fears teams may not be 100 per cent ready for the restartCredit: AFP
Espanyol and Osasuna have snatched late draws against the Catalans with Athletic Club securing a last-ditch win at San Mames on the opening weekend of the season.
The intent of the five substitute rule is to limit injuries for players currently undergoing only a gradual return to training before matches restart.
Barcelona are set to play Mallorca on Monday, June 15 and Setien admitted his worries over rushing the restart.
He noted: “We thought we would have more time together as a group, but it’s not to be.
“We haven’t even been able to be in the same room to do some video analysis.
“And now, in two weeks’ time, La Liga is restarting. We would have liked more time. I hope there are not many injuries and that it’s not as damaging as we imagine.
“It is clear that we will start to compete with a high level of stress because you are playing for the La Liga [title] in 11 games.
“We do not know how that, along with the physical effort, is going to affect us. We will see as time goes by.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
