23 Feb 2024 14:23:35
Heard that both Salah and Nunez will be unavailable for the final, hopefully Elliott is still buzzing and puts the shift of his life in. Took a while to get going against Luton like they all did but we are always better second half so i fancy a Chelsea to score first, 3-2 Liverpool win Sunday, UTFR.

1.) 23 Feb 2024
23 Feb 2024 15:08:54
@FSGfleecingus, Lijnders' exact words, "Dom, Darwin and Mo we have to really see, we have two more days, ”.

While @RobboLFC said he has news that both will train with the first team on another thread.

Not saying you are both worng but you both cannot be right so, who am I to believe? Help me out here, people.

For me, I like a rumour or two and all that but I think we should actually believe the actual assistant manager and see what happens on Sun. Just saying.

2.) 23 Feb 2024
23 Feb 2024 21:02:02
To be honest I hope we don’t risk any of the three if there is the slightest risk. We are playing well as a squad at the moment. Some of the young lads have earned the right to start / play and they aren’t going to let anybody down.

As for Dom, Mo and Darwin, we have bigger fish to fry before the end of the season. It’d be great if they are fit for Sunday but it would better to hold them back if they aren’t ready for it.

3.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 03:18:52
Whenever someone says bigger fish to fry I can’t help but thinking of Robbie from Arsenal Fan TV ?.

4.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 07:58:31
Obviously I know Chelsea is a tough game but I think we have enough to beat them without risking mo dom and Darwin so get them in the best shape fort city as that’s the big 1 for me . Would love to win the cup but the title is up for grabs this year and we have a great chance . So no risks taken.

5.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 08:13:37
Really interesting narrative and I hope people are consistent with their comments about this game and their general assessment of how we approach the league cup.

I think we play the strongest team available whilst balancing injuries and rewarding squad players who have earned a starting spot. If everything is fit I’m think someone like Kelleher, Elliot, Grav, Gomez and Quansah may have started the game anyways.

6.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 09:03:40
Agreed WDW.

7.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 10:55:00
To be fair @Faith, nobody has said that we shouldn’t play our strongest team available. Again I think that we approach the cup with every intention of trying to win it. I don’t see a contradiction in saying we really want to win but we don’t want to risk key players who might be carrying an injury.

8.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 11:55:54
With you there WDW - much rather have the 3 fit for city than risking them for this if not fully fit. To me that is the more important game in the context of our season and defs the game I’d rather win.

9.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 12:25:01
Interesting. For me the next game is the most important. And with it being a cup final, potentially Jurgans last (hopefully not) we have to use them and try win the game.

10.) 24 Feb 2024
24 Feb 2024 15:15:34
There is no way players should be risked. even if it is a final. Three players have already had injury setbacks, which is surprising enough being relatively close together. Risking them could potentially put them out for the season.

11.) 25 Feb 2024
25 Feb 2024 06:24:33
WDW - I guess what I thought I was reading and hearing about this final (not just this thread) is a general sense that we have to win. Yet I recall couple years ago we had to convince people that winning the league and FA Cup was a good thing albeit missing out on the big two.

My thing is to just keep it consistent. For me I want us to win everything but recognise that there are levels to it lol as I’d said in earlier reply I would have expected that we played our strongest possible league cup line-up which should reward the fringe players who had really contributed to getting us to the final.

12.) 25 Feb 2024
25 Feb 2024 09:59:34
@Faith - spot on mate.