Juric insists it was about protecting the winger's fitness.
"When I was deeply watching all of the games, my feeling was that he's a little bit tired. He started very, very well," Juric explained.
"(He's a) great talent, incredible talent. In the last few games, I saw him a little bit less explosive, which is normal, he's only a kid now.
"But (he's a) big talent, great talent. I really believe that he can become a really good player."
Juric added, "What I really like to do is improve the players.
"I'm obsessed with you giving me the player whose value is five and after one year he's eight.
"I like to work, I like to analyse all the things, to be in the right contact with the players and my satisfaction is that every individual player is getting better."