Tata Martino is attempting to protect his Barcelona players from criticism by taking personal responsibility for the team’s poor performance in Saturday night’s 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad.
Argentine boss Martino made no less than six changes from the side that won at Manchester City, including three in defence as Dani Alves and Javier Mascherano were rested while Jordi Alba was injured.
He also made a tactical switch, introducing Alex Song into midfield as a defensive-minded pivot alongside Sergio Busquets.
Sociedad boss Jagoba Arrasate sprang a surprise by deviating from his usual 4-3-3 formation, instead employing a 4-4-2 with Sergio Canales pushing forward to support the outstanding Carlos Vela and Antoine Griezmann.
And Barca’s tactical approach was a disaster as Sociedad dominated, fully deserving their victory and only denied a bigger winning margin when Vela’s late strike hit the post.
“I didn’t read the game correctly,” he said, suggesting he regretted his decision to play Neymar and Pedro in attack with Lionel Messi.
“Having three forwards meant we wouldn’t be playing with four midfielders, and I thought it was better to line up a double pivot.”
Martino, who watched the second half from the stands after insulting a linesman during the halftime interval, also held himself culpable for failing to react, only making his first substitution after Sociedad had gone 3-1 ahead.
He added: “It was probably a mistake not to make changes when the score was at 1-1, but when we did decide to make a sub they scored to make it 3-1.”
He also tried to find a positive by noting that Barca have no midweek game for the first time since early December, adding: “We have to look ahead and we now have a full week to prepare for our next game.”
