Barcelona overloads talent who then suffer injuries

Barcelona have often put teenagers in the starting line-up in recent years. At first glance, this is something that doesn’t really strike anyone, but a closer look reveals that overloading can be behind the frequent injuries of, for example, Pedri or Ansu Fati.

Ansu Fati

Ansu Fati made his debut in Barcelona’s first team at the incredible age of 17 alongside the best player in Barcelona’s history, Lionel Messi. He scored in his second match in a 2-2 draw with Osasuna. Next game? 1 goal and 1 assist, a dream start. Immediately the media called Fati the new Messi.

In the 2019/20 season, which was the first in adult football for Fati, he appeared in 33 matches. In the following season, he started in just 10 games, with an incredible record of 5+4. What happened? A damaged meniscus, surgery and missing the rest of the season. 2021/22 season, same story. Fati played 15 games, and was bothered by hamstring or knee problems for the rest of the season.

Fati played 51 games last season, but looking at the numbers, no glory. 10 goals and 4 assists. On top of that, the Brighton loan spell hasn’t gone to plan and Fati has played 899 minutes, which is +/- 10 games. The overload in his teenage years is probably behind the decline of Fati’s career.

Pedri

Every football fan probably knows the story of Pedri. He played an incredible 73 games during his first season at the highest level, he was 18 years old. Specifically, the 2020/21 season for which he subsequently won the Golden Boy award. What’s the problem? In the 3 seasons since, he has hardly played those 73 games in their totality.

Numerous muscle injuries allowed Pedri 24 games in the 2021/22 season, 41 games in the 2022/23 season and 24 in the current season. Fortunately for the player himself, the injuries are not as serious as in Fati’s case, but their frequency has hampered the Spaniard’s career. If only he hadn’t played so many games in the 2020/21 season, I’m sure he would have been singled out on the pitch more often in Barcelona.

Gavi

Gavi started his debut match on August 29, 2021. He was a fresh 17 years old at the time. In his debut season, he started 48 games for the A-team. In the following season, he appeared in 49 games. The bottom line is that after his 2nd season he had just under 100 games in a Catalan jersey.

But what is the sacrifice? Tearing his cruciate ligament last November and missing the entire rest of the current season. If you had asked Gavi if he would prefer to start fewer games there early in his career in exchange for a healthy knee, I believe he would have agreed to the deal.

This should make Barcelona think about whether there is a need to frequently overload talented players. Currently, Lamine Yamal has started 37 games and if he continues to be a regular in the starting lineup, he could suffer the same fate as the aforementioned players.

Source: LaLiga, FC Barcelona