Ernesto Valverde has been under a lot of critics after Barcelona’s poor start to their campaign. Barcelona’s manager tries to give an explanation for 32-year-old striker’s poor run of form.
It’s not a big deal if a player above 30 is having a poor run of form with injury, which can be rectified and the player can get back to their best. But it’s not the same case for a player who can’t play at the top level anymore.
Uruguayan striker Luiz Suarez has been under heavy criticism and his manager has been playing him regularly amidst his poor form. But Valverde is backing the Uruguayan striker mentioning that, “Luis Suarez has been injured and he needs some time to get back to form. Over time he will be able to help the team a lot.”
Barcelona was forced to play without their star player Lionel Messi and faced defeats against Osasuna, Granada, and Athletic Bilbao. After playing Suarez regularly game after game, his poor form has been exposed. It’s not easy for rotational players to step up and deliver high quality when needed. You’ll only come to know to when one player is injured and ruled out of the squad.
That was the case with Paco Alcacer, who is now a key player for Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga. He left Barcelona due to lack of playtime on the field and player of his quality will expect playtime more than anything. Messi’s injury paved the way for Ansu Fati’s talent to be exposed to the world. But sooner or later even Ansu would like to often play else he might leave for another club.
On the other side, they made signing a player like Kevin Prince Boateng, who’s willing to warm the bench for a season or two as they won’t be able to play for a big club like Barcelona.
Lionel Messi’s fitness level is still a big question mark and Cules will be hoping for Suarez to get back his prime soon else the league will be out of Barcelona’s reach.
