5 ways Ernesto Valverde can make Barcelona's season perfect
There is no doubt that Barcelona have had a wonderful start to this season, as the Catalans are yet to be defeated in any of the 3 competitions. The Spanish giants have enhanced their team and they seem to click together collectively once again, after a disastrous last season, but they are not flawless either.
Valverde has done well to embellish this Barça squad, but the former Athletic Bilbao manager has made some blunders too. Here are the 5 ways that Valverde could have perfected Barcelona's season so far.
#5 Give Iniesta sufficient rest
Andres Iniesta still has plenty of football left in him and it's reasonable that Valverde would want to make the most of someone like him, but if there is anything that the Barça coach needs to be cautious about, it would be Iniesta's fitness and to make sure that he is available in the prominent games that Barça will play in the second half of the season.
Iniesta has started in 11 of the 12 matches that he has played this season, whereas, at this point of the last campaign, the 33-year-old featured in only 5 Liga games under Luis Enrique.
The midfielder is not having an injury-free season either, having injured his thigh against Real Madrid in the first leg of Spanish Super Cup. Iniesta injured himself once again after playing the first 45 minutes against Las Palmas.
The 33 year old suffered an injury for the 3rd time this season after he pulled one of his thigh muscles last month which saw him missing out against Athletic Bilbao and Olympiakos.
It goes without saying that Iniesta is still an incredibly influential player for Barcelona, but at the age of 33, Valverde would certainly want one of his best players to be free from injuries and that can only happen if he is given enough rest.