Barcelona Coach Luis Enrique’s Key Decisions Ahead of 2016-17 Season

Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Celtic was pleasing for many reasons, with the team starting off their pre-season fixtures at a high level already. But as is the way for football managers, Luis Enrique’s head will still be filled with problems to solve.

Some of them are ‘good’ problems, like what to do with all the fine midfielders he has at his disposal. Others are headaches, for instance the constant complaints of Marc-Andre ter Stegen about not being the regular starting goalkeeper, ahead of Claudio Bravo.

The latter is the main issue for Diario Sport on Monday August 1, on the newspaper’s cover, as they say both goalkeepers are returning from holiday.

Javier Miguel wrote: “It’s a battle of supremacy that wasn’t expected to arrive on Luis Enrique’s plate until August 8, but Ter Stegen took the decision to return a week earlier than planned from his holidays, while Bravo’s trip to New York has been postponed.”

The strategy thus far has been to play Bravo in La Liga, while the German features in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, but that has not been enough to sate the 24-year-old, who is hungry for more minutes.

Luis Enrique’s dilemma is whether to give Ter Stegen more time in goal, because he is already a fine stopper and has the potential to be Barcelona’s guardian for the next 10 years, or if he should keep trusting the Chilean.

In the past two years Bravo has let Barcelona down on fewer occasions than can be counted on one hand, making some spectacular saves along the way. They have lifted the title on both occasions, and he was also picked to play in the Club World Cup, which they won as well.

Sport’s Lluis Miguelsanz says Ter Stegen felt left out when he was not selected in that tournament, in Japan last Christmas, but also that Barcelona will not let him leave for anything less than the €80 million release clause in his contract.

As good as he is, no club will come in for him at that amount, so the chances of the stopper leaving are fairly slim, unless he forces his way out.

Luis Enrique will probably keep his cards close to his chest in pre-season, splitting the game time between both stoppers, although third choice Jordi Masip will probably feature against Leicester City on Wednesday.

One line forward in the …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com