4 Barcelona Players Who Deserve Increased Playing Time
Luis Enrique has a pretty firm starting lineup. The Barcelona coach's favourite side goes like this:
Claudio Bravo, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
The only one of those players who sometimes doesn't feature in his Gala XI is Bravo, because Marc-Andre ter Stegen plays in the major cup tournaments.
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Ter Stegen goes between the sticks in the Copa del Rey and Champions League, although Lucho showed whom he prefers in goal during the Club World Cup, when Bravo was picked ahead of the 24-year-old German.
And he is the first of four players who deserve more opportunities at Barcelona.
Ter Stegen had a rocky start to the season but found his form soon enough and is a goalkeeper that could conceivably play for the club over the next decade.
Some would say on that basis he should be patient, but it's hard to make someone with so much ambition and talent wait. He fears he might stagnate if not allowed to play more.
He told Sport1.de (h/t the Mirror): "If the situation remains the way it is at the moment, however, then we're definitely going to have to talk—there's no avoiding that."
It might be better for Barcelona in the long run if he was made first choice next season, even though Bravo has done little wrong.
Another youngster, Munir El Haddadi, could do with a few more chances at Barcelona.
The forward has impressed this season when asked to fill in for one of the "MSN" front line of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
It's hard to see him getting the chances he deserves, because of how impressive that front three is, but with eight goals from 26 games, many of those as a substitute, Munir has got himself into Lucho's good books.
That's how Sport sees it, explaining that the 20-year-old forward is close to signing a new contract with the club and may play more next season:
"The 20-year-old is one of the first-team players that has a long list of suitors, for both transfers and loans. However, he is wanted at Camp Nou. Luis Enrique insists he'd like Munir by his side, satisfied with his progression this season and convinced he will be more important still next season."
Another player who deserves more opportunities is Rafinha Alcantara. As one of the coach's favourites, with Luis Enrique helping the midfielder develop while on loan at Celta Vigo, he will get them, too.
So far it's been injury that has cost Rafinha the chance to get more game time at Barcelona, and it's easy to believe he'll play much more next season.
That may come at the cost of Arda Turan, who is one of the players in the squad who doesn't really merit more chances based on what he's offered, but he should probably be given them.
On most occasions the Turkish star has played this season he has disappointed, although it can take longer than the four months he's had since his debut to make an impact.
The same goes for Aleix Vidal, another player who should be afforded more game time even though he hasn't really provided the coach many footballing reasons to pick him over Dani Alves.
Finally, a word for Marc Bartra. The centre-back seems to be in his manager's bad books.
When Thomas Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu were injured, and Gerard Pique suspended, Luis Enrique played Bartra against Deportivo la Coruna, congratulating him afterwards, per Sport.
Bartra played well and even scored a goal, making the most of his rare chance in the spotlight. And yet, as soon as Mathieu was fit to play—for this weekend's game against Espanyol—Bartra was cut from the squad and the Frenchman installed on the bench.
So Bartra is another player who deserves more minutes, but it doesn't look like he'll be getting them at Barcelona.
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