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Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)


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We also have the opposite problem with Kenedy and Slimani, who need to get up to full match fitness.

 

Would be interested in seeing stats on this if someone can find them, but I'd be willing to bet there are a couple teams in the bottom half who have used mostly the same team all season and may limp to the finish. Huddersfield is the one I would guess without looking it up.

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I don't think we'll see too much rotation from now on tbh. His reason for rotation early on seems to be so that his best team have enough left in the tank to maintain the final push. I may be wrong but I'm sure that was the case last season.

That's the exact point I'm making though.
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I don't think we'll see too much rotation from now on tbh. His reason for rotation early on seems to be so that his best team have enough left in the tank to maintain the final push. I may be wrong but I'm sure that was the case last season.

That's the exact point I'm making though.

 

I wasn't arguing or even disagreeing with you.

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Rafa on taking players abroad: "Our idea is to train and keep the players happy with their families. Some people prefer to go away at this time of year. But when you are travelling away throughout the season in the Premier League and the cups and you are also training most days I don’t think players get the time to spend with their family. So if you can give them that time back it is much better for them."

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Rafa on taking players abroad: "Our idea is to train and keep the players happy with their families. Some people prefer to go away at this time of year. But when you are travelling away throughout the season in the Premier League and the cups and you are also training most days I don’t think players get the time to spend with their family. So if you can give them that time back it is much better for them."

 

Aye you only take the team away if you've got Stan Collymore in the squad.

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  • 2 weeks later...

He should be praised for first half and should be criticised for second half. Fair game to be honest, 1 point from an away game isn't that bad.

It is when you're in a relegation dogfight 2-0 up away from home with ten minutes to go looking comfortable - then the substitutions. Madness.

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He should be praised for first half and should be criticised for second half. Fair game to be honest, 1 point from an away game isn't that bad.

It is when you're in a relegation dogfight 2-0 up away from home with ten minutes to go looking comfortable - then the substitutions. Madness.

 

It's about control. Most of these players don't have the intelligence to play for fouls and waste time when it counts. As a result Rafa over compensates by bringing on defensive players.

 

I personally would have left Gayle on for his pace, and used Merino rather than Hayden if we were going to bulk the midfield out. But I can see why he's done it, the team are naive and lack confidence to see a game out.

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That's a load of crap. We were getting out fine and drawing plenty of fouls before Gayle went off.

 

Aye because the mentality to defend 15 mins into a game is the same as 15 mins remaining, no.

 

Whether you like it our not, players will drop back and lose their calm when closing out a game. Unfortunately we don't have enough players to handle the pressure.

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He should be praised for first half and should be criticised for second half. Fair game to be honest, 1 point from an away game isn't that bad.

It is when you're in a relegation dogfight 2-0 up away from home with ten minutes to go looking comfortable - then the substitutions. Madness.

 

It's about control. Most of these players don't have the intelligence to play for fouls and waste time when it counts. As a result Rafa over compensates by bringing on defensive players.

 

I personally would have left Gayle on for his pace, and used Merino rather than Hayden if we were going to bulk the midfield out. But I can see why he's done it, the team are naive and lack confidence to see a game out.

 

Excellent point this. We lack the intelligence and nerve to finish off games like this and this is compounded when our more "experienced" players like Shelvey are letting players run into the box in the final 10 minutes. These lads are good lads and work really hard but they have a terrible habit of not killin games off and switching off defensively. We've shipped far too many points in the final minutes

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We obviously don't have the quality to sit back and see games out, it seems to develop a negative mindset and increases the pressure until the inevitable happens. We need a clever outlet to take the pressure off in these situations, whether it's someone being a shitehouse, drawing fouls, frustrating the opposition, just generally buying some breathing space. Joselu could do it, probably needs to get more streetwise, but I was surprised he didn't come on for Gayle

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We need a clever outlet to take the pressure off in these situations, whether it's someone being a shitehouse, drawing fouls, frustrating the opposition, just generally buying some breathing space. Joselu could do it, probably needs to get more streetwise, but I was surprised he didn't come on for Gayle

 

:thup: Outlet needed. Surprised not Joselu. Consequences bad :(

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