27 Jul 2015 23:51:51
One of the things I never get with BR is his obssesiveness with resting players. I said in the past that I think he lsot us the game against Besiktas by leaving home the fit Henderson and Couts so they can rest for the leage. Now I have read somewhere that he was saying we can play with two entirely different teams for the EL and the PL and that he is not sure if he will open with Couts and Firmino in the match against Stoke because of the Coupa America.
I was always of the belief that you have to play your best 11 every game (other than the league cup maybe) especialy in a team like ours where there is such a big drop in quality between the starting 11 and the rest of the squad.
You can say he still doesn't know who is his strongest starting 11 anyway but surely Couts is the first name on the list.
28 Jul 2015 00:16:10
Realistically it is very difficult for a player to play 50 or 60 games a season without getting knocks and injuries.
When those players do get a little knock or a tweak, we could play them but they would not be at their best AND you run the risk of further injuring the player.
When in this situation, you "rotate".
Natural
28 Jul 2015 01:46:17
Well resting players is important, as you say we left both coutinho and Henderson home from the besiktas game and i believe we were playing city at the weekend and we beat them 2-1. Who got our goals? Henderson and Coutinho
28 Jul 2015 03:10:58
Didn't really care for the Besiktas game to be honest. A good number of players played both games and we outplayed City which debunked the whole resting plates issue.
28 Jul 2015 04:13:23
How do you know a best 11? If someone hits a bad run and the replacement comes in and does we'll surely they are in the best 11 then?
28 Jul 2015 05:12:06
I reckon play 6 or so "1st team" and 5 "second team" players in cup games to give youngsters/others a chance and give 1st team players a rest every 2nd or 3rd non PL match.
Going to be tough to get the likes of Illori, Gomez, Ings, Origi, Teixera, Rossiter, Markovic and maybe even Can the game time they deserve without rotation.
28 Jul 2015 07:00:06
Play your best 11 more often than not and only change if a player is injured, a poor run of form by the team, and the odd rest. I hate to say it but Chelsea don't feel the need to chop and change too much.
28 Jul 2015 08:33:40
Zimbo - they don't 'deserve' any game time. In teams like LFC players don't play because they 'deserve' time but because on the day they are the best solution we have. And if we have a fit player who is better and can play all the games and they sit on the bench so be it. They are paid enough to accept this. The only exception is maybe the GK where a lot of managers give their second GK a chance to play in the cups because otherwise he will nto see a minute the whole season.
with the rest of the players the idea is that they play because they are the best solution for a game either because we don't have a better player in the squad or because a better player is injured or suspended or becuase this is a competition of low priority (league cup) and a better player should be rested.
Given how slim our chances to get top 4 in the league are and big our thirst for trophies I think this year, PL, EPL and FA cup are all top priority and we should rotate only when there is no other option. Look at Terry in chelsea, despite his age and the other good options of defenders they have he played every league games and some CL and cup games.
If BR really intends to have in the EL a team where half of more of the 11 are different in the league we will not pass even the group stage. Same in the FA cup.
28 Jul 2015 09:01:28
I don't have the stats on me, but I'd be willing to bet I could find one to show since Jan '14 we've underperformed in almost every single game Hendo hasn't featured in (i.e. Last 3 games of 13/14, Besiktas and Palace (I think) away this season)
Before the arrival of Milner, Jordan was the only central midfielder who could press responsibly and effectively.
That's one of the benefits of signing Milner I'd say, it means we can now rest Hendo without completely killing the dynamic of the team.
28 Jul 2015 09:02:27
One reason cheslea were successful last season, they hardly touched their starting eleven baring injuries. Some people might get rotten on the bench but Jose field the best eleven regardless of names and status.
28 Jul 2015 09:33:59
Toddy
Pressing should be collective. Its even more stuppid to say, we now have two players to press?
Who does the pressing at City? We were pressed by West Ham twice last season and Aston villa every time they play against us.
Milner wouldn't add any dynamism to the team nor any kind of creativity. He played the wide role at city for 5 years. He was replaced by a younger version of Milner in Delph.
28 Jul 2015 10:06:57
Excellent point Toddy.
28 Jul 2015 10:40:36
Yes harry and that's why they failed in the CL, the Chelsea players were shattered from having the same core 7 players play almost every minute of every game.
It will be even harder for our players with even less resting time thanks to EL. That's why we need this squad depth.
28 Jul 2015 11:48:26
LFCfan
Common mate, Falure in the CL has nothing to do with Squad deapth. To get past Messi and Co you need world class beater in your starting eleven. None of the EPL sides are equipped to compete against the Barca and Real.
Chelsea were the victims of their own tactics to play out the game rather than taking the 10 men PSG.
It had nothing to do with any sort of Squad Depth.
28 Jul 2015 12:17:32
So Delph is going to play the wide role for City EG?
28 Jul 2015 14:38:52
Somebody mentioned earlier in the thread that we should pick our best 11 come what may.
Honestly I hope I'm wrong but I reckon it will be at least Christmas before Brenda will work out what that is.
There are more attacking permutations even than there were last year. We can't play Lallana and Firmino and Coutinho and Ibe and Markovic and Sturridge and Benteke and Ings and Henderson and Milner and Can.
5 or so of that group are going to have to miss out on any given day. I just worry that we will chop and change and chop and change that we will never settle.
When your 10 best players don't include any defenders or a keeper something is out of kilter.
28 Jul 2015 16:32:26
User, he`s been here for going 4 years and still doesn`t know his best eleven.