The College Dropout

If you think Howe couldn’t have done anything more to rest Bruno - then let’s respectfully agree to disagree. Ditto Gordon, Almiron, Schar, Trippier, Burn when fit. Even Lascelles and Libra are picking up fatigue from injuries. But aye - nothing Howe could’ve done.

You don't think they could have won the league cup? Or he prioritised the fitness and sharpness of his team in the medium/long-term over the 1 game? Howe said: "It's in-built in me, I think every game is a must-win, and the term is probably overused in football. "But it's the only way that we prepare. We prepare to win every game, we never have anything else in our minds and we will prepare to win this one." So when Tonali, Murphy & Barnes got injured - long-term injuries btw - the best course of action was to run the fit players into the ground? You can't rule fatigue out as a contributory factor when you play a lot of minutes unless it's a high-impact injury. You could also argue at least one of these players came back too early and played too much. With injuries and fatigue. Howe needed to be more flexible in his approach both tactical and in terms of personnel. I'm not saying it's all his fault. But he could have taken a more long-term approach to keeping players fit and sharp. But ok - Bruno has played 93% of available minutes + Brazilian internationals and there is nothing Howe could have done to help keep him fresh and sharp. It's just unfortunate. Onwards and upwards.

Mixture of fatigue and lack of athleticism from the fit players. We need a different setup.

As in 2 of the players that played in the CL final - Akanji & Ake. A team that included Oscar Bobb, Ortega, KALVIN PHILLIPS, Sergio Gomez, Mateo Kovacic. Like I said - his key men. Ederson, Dias, Rodri, Haaland - not a single minute despite losing. Pep Guardiola didn't want to run his star men into the ground so they sat it out completely. What is/was the plan to rest Bruno? Almiron? Trippier? Schar? Gordon? He's ran them into the ground. He has to take some responsibility for that. Milan (H), old boy bursts past Bruno before the winner in the 85th minute. On the weekend, Elanga runs straight past him to setup the second. MGW runs straight past him to head wide at 46 minutes - the lad is knackered and hasn't had a rest in months. Howe is responsible for that. We've had injuries at CM - serious ones. But I've always thought we needed 2 CMs in that position in the summer. We didn't do it. Likewise we are a quality player light on the wings.

The Barnes injury is bad luck. But many questioned the transfer from the start. Both position and profile of player. Disagree here. A lot of people wanted Burn replaced in the starting XI this season. Given the additional fixtures and Howe's reluctance to rotate - getting a player who would be 3rd choice LB is a calculated risk that hasn't paid off so far.

Most players are available on that unless the selling club need the FFP wriggle room now. Next season is all fine and dandy. But we needed a first choice LB for this season. Not getting one - was a calculated risk that hasn’t paid off.

Bruno has also played qualifiers in SOuth America. What’s the plan to rest him up?

I think he is better technically than Joelinton. He would be our second best midfield technician passing wise. But I agree with the overall point. Hindsight is 20/20. But imagine we had a Paqueta type in there with what we already have. Then a Palmer or Kudus on the RW. We suddenly look a proper top 6 team imo. Almiron, Barnes, Gordon, Murphy, Joelinton. That’s not a top 6 winger pool. And it’s light on depth considering one of them is needed in midfield often. Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton, Willock, Longstaff, Anderson and Miley. It’s still 1 injury or suspension away from lacking quality on the ball as we’ve found out.

It’s not a bonus. We have committed funds to sign him. Maybe I’m stupid but how?

Think it helps with our inflated sponsorship deals. And I think the adidas deal has performance based bonuses.

We’ll finish no worse than 8th. Which is probably the lowest Howe could finish and keep his job. If we can get some fitness and rest, we’ll go on a good run and get into the top 7 imo. We are on track for 58 points but I expect us to end closer to 64-65 points which is usually enough for Europa league.

Im Not having a go for him trying to win cup games. I’m criticising his approach to keeping players fit and sharp. He could’ve rested players in the CL or league instead. He didn’t do that either. He has tried to tinker with our press, especially away from home - but that hasn’t worked at all. Btw I love his winning mentality. But he’s been a bit naive imo.

We brought on Bruno and Gordon at half time. Almiron played 30. Those minutes count. Pep did not bring on Ederson, Dias, Rodri or Haaland. Pep prioritised the long term sharpness of his side over that 1 game. If 45 minutes is inconsequential he would’ve brought on Haaland & Dias. It was 6-0 and 70 minutes against Sheffield United before Howe made his first subs to rest players. Bruno played 80 minutes, Almiron and Trippier 70 mins. These minutes all add up. What was his plan to keep Bruno sharp? Did he change that plan with the injuries and suspensions? I know he planned to rotate Barnes and Gordon. After the injuries - he’s decided to not rest Gordon at all. That hasn’t been a smart approach.

Only the PIF are ruthless enthusiasts are suggesting he might get sacked. That’s a small minority. Most of the discussion in here is about how much bad luck with injuries vs suboptimal decisions have caused the fatigue and poor form. im including the transfer committee here too. We were left 2-3 players short.

And he didn’t score nor look like scoring. 1-0 down he didn’t even give Haaland 10 minutes to overturn the result. He prioritised Haaland’s long term sharpness and fitness of a LC R3 tie even if that meant losing. Despite a congested fixture list and an injury crisis - Howe has not prioritised player fitness and sharpness over the immediate game. This is where I can admit to results bias. Had we beaten any of Bournemouth, Everton, Spurs or Chelsea his decisions would be vindicated. As such we’ve lost and played badly - almost progressively badly - and his decisions are rightfully being critiqued.

Jo and Joe surround him with real athleticism. With the fatigue and rustiness the 3 of them in midfield didn’t have the running power

I’ve had people tell me he belongs at a top 6 level club. But aye most sensible people realise hes limited and have done for a long time.

And my point is Howe always does what is necessary to win the next game. That has contributed to a knackered squad. In isolation of winning the next game, Gordon should start every single game. With a view of 6–10 games or longer - it’s probably best that he sat out one or two to keep him fresh and sharp. Even if that meant starting Ritchie or Hall. It would pay off over the medium to long term. Howe hasn’t done that.

When you don’t play your strongest team and lose - yes some will criticise you. But you make the hard decisions for the long term benefit of the season. We have a small squad to start with considering we play in the CL. Taking the league cup seriously is a questionable thing to do as it means we’ll play 29 games by New Year’s Day. It’s not hindsight from me. I suggested throwing the Man U game and playing kids. I was bemoaning the lack of subs from the Wolves game. Last season - Howe stuck to his guns, when I thought best for him to twist and it worked out much better his way. I don’t mean to come across overly critical. But he has his approach, he’s not big on rotation and he’s contributed to this knackered squad. He’s not prioritised sharpness and fitness. His attempts at rotation have been insufficient.

In the league and CL, 7 of 11 always start. The other 4 slots do get rotated. 3 of those slots have picked up long term injuries and suspensions and the 4th has 2 seemingly injury prone players. That’s not Howe’s fault aye. The other 7, Howe could do more to keep them fresh and fit. Also including not bringing them back too earlier. For the 3rd time. Man City actually lost the game but didn’t bring on their star striker. I can only deduce that Pep prioritised Haaland’s long term sharpness and fitness over the immediate result. Howe has routinely prioritised the immediate fixture over long term sharpness and fitness. Bruno and Gordon didn’t need those minutes. Bruno doesn’t even have a natural understudy in the squad. He was always found to get flogged at some point.

If we don’t have the freak injuries, we barely see Livramento. That’s not right.

People laughed when I said he looked slow from his comps when he joined. He is slow. But he’s usually super sharp and aggressive. Today he was passive and not aggressive at all.

Fatigue is cumulative. We weren’t going to rest Bruno in December if we were in the league cup and not in the CL or league. We shouldn’t have played him in that game at all. Like I’ve said - City have a much stronger squad and completely rested their spine that they will need in big matches - Ederson, Dias, Rodri, Haaland. With the exception of Trippier all of our key spine players got minutes. Sheffield United we were 6-0 after 60 minutes. Trippier and co. played 80 minutes. They seem small but three things all add up in fatigue. Sime of the injuries have been freak injuries. But Howe’s tactical approach and lack of rotation has been a contributor to the injuries and lack of sharpness.

Watching MOTD For the MGW chance after HT he’s closest to MGW and his natural marker and makes no attempt to track him. For the second goal he just watches as Elanga runs past him and through the midfield. It’s awful from him and Eddie. They were waltzing through the midfield in the first half and it got worse in the second.

I’m not wrong. They all played Man City. Not all started but they played. Man City with a squad more prepared to challenge on 4 fronts didn’t play Rodri, Haaland, Ederson.