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Hansi Flick is burned for reckless player selection

You can see what Hansi Flick is trying to do.

Everyone is trusted, everyone has a role to play. Even if things don’t go your way, you have to find a way to save yourself.

But at some point the laws of football will bring you back down to earth.

Barcelona is still suffering from an injury epidemic. They play in front of a young and unproven goalkeeper. Admittedly, Iñaki Peña was the least of their worries on Saturday.

CA Osasuna vs FC Barcelona – La Liga EA Sports

Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

You simply can’t push Sergi Domínguez, Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín ahead of you.

Especially with a forward line consisting of Ferran Torres and Pau Víctor, with a Robert Lewandowski who doesn’t do any running work.

Looking back, it’s just crazy. Honestly, you had to scratch your head when the lineup was announced, but with Hansi Flick’s luck, maybe, just maybe, you thought, there’s a method to the madness.

That doesn’t mean he has a deep bench to turn to.

His job is really challenging.

But haven’t we seen this story before? Managers make many changes in a game when perhaps only a few are necessary.

CA Osasuna vs FC Barcelona – La Liga EA Sports

Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Lamine Yamal definitely needed a break. But Raphinha held up well.

Hector Fort was desperate to get minutes. Perhaps this was a game to start Kounde in the middle alongside Cubarsí and Alejandro Balde. Or maybe Eric Garcia could have moved to the backline. Although I have to admit that Kounde was the biggest threat going forward in this strange game.

For my money, Domínguez and Martín aren’t ready for prime time yet. Your minutes really should be limited.

Ferran Torres has shown once again what a fish out of water he is in a Barca shirt. Two wide open misses as he struggles to get a feel for what’s going on with his teammates.

Osasuna vs FC Barcelona – LaLiga EA Sports

Photo by Cesar Ortiz/Soccrates/Getty Images

In the short term, Barca need to sign a quality goalkeeper and prioritize strengthening their defense.

Osasuna, like Monaco before them, sat deep and simply aimed balls over Barcelona at Barcelona and threw their very high line. That’s why Barcelona’s strikers have to be so quick and committed to pressing and counter-pressing. And that is also the reason why the Blaugrana must not fall into the trap of playing a possession game against a team that parks the bus.

Flick will be forgiven this time. You have to experience that you can’t learn from it.

But he also has to be realistic when it comes to preparing his team for success.

You can’t throw anyone in at any time and expect everything to work.

CA Osasuna vs FC Barcelona – La Liga EA Sports

Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Experience still matters. And assessing players’ performances based on their performance will be crucial.

Many of these players failed the test today.

However, the manager must take responsibility.

There are important games against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich coming up.

In the meantime, Barcelona must get back to winning ways. And they should go with the players who were the most reliable.

By Jasper

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