Rotation Policy

FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has not repeated his starting lineup two matches in a row since he took over the team, according to Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivoobservations.

Since taking the helm on July 2008, Pep Guardiola has taken charge a total of 73 official games. In the 2008 – 09 season, he made an average of five changes per game, two more than at present. A system to manage playing times (between players) has won him five titles, which is not bad.

The Barcelona coach had inherited a weary and mentally fatigued team, deprived of a title for the second year running, and blighted by internal problems caused by some players. He needed to clean up the camp and got down to work. He defined players’ roles and distributed playing times, conscious of the need that every player has to feel important. On his second match in charge – the return leg of the Champions League qualifiers against Poland’s Wisla Krakow (In UCL season 2008-09, Barcelona has to compete in a qualifying round by virtue of being placed third in the Spanish 2007 – 08 league) – Guardiola began shuffling his starting line-up with two changes and has not stopped since. On average, in his first year, there would be 5 new faces for each match, but he always sticks with his core players: Valdes, Xavi, Eto’o, Alves, Messi, Puyol, Piqué, Henry and Iniesta. In all, he used a total of 28 players.

As the season progressed, Pep realised that the League and Cup line-up had to be different. Pinto and Bojan assumed a leading role in the Copa del Rey competition. Up to eight changes were introduced in the opening match against Benidorm, days after winning the league match against Almeria. The Champions League was no exception – Guardiola made seven changes to the line-up for the match against FC Basel from the one that faced Athletic Bilbao. The most hectic time was when the Champions League (proper) season was in full swing. Against Shakhtar Donetsk, ten players who had not been part of previous league match against Mallorca and Real Madrid were committed – a completely revamped line-up. Only in the final stage of the la Liga season when they began to decide the title that Guardiola reduces the changes from an average of five players to three. The day the team won the (2-6) El Classico at the Santiago Bernabeu, which was coming off the Champions League semi-final match against Chelsea, Guardiola only substituted Puyol for Márquez. When the league title was already decided, and so as not to risk his line-up for the Rome final against Manchester United, Guardiola began using reserve players.

In the current season, his second, the rotation rate is lower. He still has his backbone of seven players, but with a few changes. Valdes, Xavi, Alves, Messi, Puyol, Piqué and Ibrahimovic (who replaces Eto’o) are common, while Keita, Busquets and Pedro have increased their presence. In all, in the three official competitions that Barcelona currently participated in, the coach has already used a total of 20 players so far.