Guest Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) We got the depth/ability yet to make 4-5 changes in the league one weekend, play the strongest XI possible in the CL, then to keep things fresh, rotate a few who've started both games the previous 6 days for the weekend? Wouldn't touch the GK and CBs, though and midfield someone would have to play all 3 unless we thought Miley could start yet. So say Sunday v Sheff Utd we have something like: Pope Livramento Targett Schar Botman Tonali Hall Bruno/Longstaff/Anderson/Miley Murphy Almiron Isak Edited September 18, 2023 by Optimistic Nut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 14 hours ago, Dokko said: We've played 4 of the current top 7 in the opening 5 games, and the 5th are keeping us out of the top 10. We've got some niggling injuries, all in the same-ish area as well, and had a better start than Manu & Chelsea. It's going to be a long and tough season with hopefully some memorable moments, and being brought down to earth early on can be a good thing in that everyone refocuses and stops taking things for granted. Sure we had the same points after 5 games last season and we had an easier start. turned out to be decent in the end. I’ve just realised I haven’t looked at the table yet this season. This feels like being good again - I never really used to bother looking pre-Ashley until October. Under Ashley, I would look at it pretty much from day one of the season - due to relegation fears. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 6 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said: I’ve just realised I haven’t looked at the table yet this season. This feels like being good again - I never really used to bother looking pre-Ashley until October. Under Ashley, I would look at it pretty much from day one of the season - due to relegation fears. You have just described an Everton fan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, Rod said: You have just described an Everton fan. Yep, that’s their lot now. My heart bleeds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) I think he plays the strongest team possible again unless players have niggles and the like. With 5 subs you can plan to give certain players an hour each game. Isak, Almiron and Tonali are ‘starters’ so they will get at least one start coming up. But the rest? Hall and Livra will do well to get an hour over both games. Nothing I’ve seen from Howe suggests he’s into heavy rotation. Edited September 18, 2023 by The College Dropout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 57 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: Nothing I’ve seen from Howe suggests he’s into heavy rotation. I know what you mean, but this is his first time in European competition. I don't think he's got a choice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 20 minutes ago, Cronky said: I know what you mean, but this is his first time in European competition. I don't think he's got a choice. Jurgen Klopp doesn't rotate that much. Allison, TAA, VVD, Robertson, Salah, Mane, Henderson - in their prime, they were clocking up over 4,000 minutes a season. That's 40+ 90-minute games a season. From what I've seen from Ten Hag - he runs his players into the ground. We have a few positions where the starting role is close between a few players, and I expect rotation there. ST, CM 2x, RW. But like fullback, Trippier gets at least 120 minutes across the next 2. I reckon he starts both and gets a minimum of an hour each. Or starts one and comes off the bench for another. It is a similar thing for Burn. But I do expect Livra and Hall to start to get decent minutes. And I hope they play really well and make it tough for Howe. But the reality is Howe will feel we need 7 points from the next 3 league games no matter how we do in the CL. And we need to do our best in the CL. A manager like Benitez genuinely liked to rotate. You can play well and win. Next game he's made 3 changes. Howe isn't like that. Dan Burn 90 minutes week in week out, winning streak, losing streak Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallowgate Toon Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 31 minutes ago, Cronky said: I know what you mean, but this is his first time in European competition. I don't think he's got a choice. This early in the season he absolutely does have the choice. We saw in January with the cup run that he was more than happy to keep the XI consistent despite congestion. With how we've started this campaign, I think he'll be focusing on continuing to set some of the standards from Brentford over the next couple of games to set the squad competition up for the rest of the campaign. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 I'm glad he started both Barnes & Gordon. I didn't like how wide both often were, but I think that was tactical to pen in the Brentford fullbacks, which contributed to Brentford not really having a kick. I think that's the way forward for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1964 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: I'm glad he started both Barnes & Gordon. I didn't like how wide both often were, but I think that was tactical to pen in the Brentford fullbacks, which contributed to Brentford not really having a kick. I think that's the way forward for us. And whilst I love miggy, he's predictable and they aren't Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallowgate Toon Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Really like the potential of Gordon/Barnes. Pace, decent workrate, both can go either side having decent weaker pegs, they can either stay wider or take up inside forward roles depending on overlaps from FBs or the midfielders. Main component they're missing is ability to consistently beat a couple of players if needed but they're very capable 1v1. Barnes primarily left makes sense due to his shooting/finishing and nous for finding space. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 7 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said: Really like the potential of Gordon/Barnes. Pace, decent workrate, both can go either side having decent weaker pegs, they can either stay wider or take up inside forward roles depending on overlaps from FBs or the midfielders. Main component they're missing is ability to consistently beat a couple of players if needed but they're very capable 1v1. Barnes primarily left makes sense due to his shooting/finishing and nous for finding space. I wonder if Miggy wasn't playing in South America mid-week - if he still would've went with those 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
80 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Not sure, but I'm glad he did - I was getting concerned that Eddie had boxed him off as not being a serious RW option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 2 hours ago, Gallowgate Toon said: This early in the season he absolutely does have the choice. We saw in January with the cup run that he was more than happy to keep the XI consistent despite congestion. With how we've started this campaign, I think he'll be focusing on continuing to set some of the standards from Brentford over the next couple of games to set the squad competition up for the rest of the campaign. We-el, I've just checked, and he did rotate in the early rounds of the League Cup and FA Cup. He only started fielding his strongest XI when we'd got to the quarter-finals of the League Cup. The other factors in European competition are the extra travel time, the complications of foreign travel, and the quality of the opposition. That's mental rather than physical tiredness, but I think it's a factor. And there's potential intrusion into the normal time he'd like for training. Eddie mentioned that he was pleased that the travel distances weren't too far on this occasion, so it's an issue that he's very aware of. And it's not like the Europa League where you can end up in Azerbaijan. All in all though, I'm quite sure that if we weren't playing on Tuesday, there would have been a different team on Saturday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallowgate Toon Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 5 minutes ago, Cronky said: We-el, I've just checked, and he did rotate in the early rounds of the League Cup and FA Cup. He only started fielding his strongest XI when we'd got to the quarter-finals of the League Cup. The other factors in European competition are the extra travel time, the complications of foreign travel, and the quality of the opposition. That's mental rather than physical tiredness, but I think it's a factor. And there's potential intrusion into the normal time he'd like for training. Eddie mentioned that he was pleased that the travel distances weren't too far on this occasion, so it's an issue that he's very aware of. And it's not like the Europa League where you can end up in Azerbaijan. All in all though, I'm quite sure that if we weren't playing on Tuesday, there would have been a different team on Saturday. That's why I said in January where we we played PL opposition in the League Cup (can include December though for the cup game vs. Bournemouth). We played a lot of games between the restart and the Cup Final and he only properly rotated for Sheffield Wednesday in that period iirc. A lot of the noise on here was that he wasn't mixing it up enough during that period as it coincided with us struggling to put some 'easier' teams to the sword. He knows above all about the importance of momentum hence why he so often keeps selecting a winning team. The factors are nicely lined up for the CL to keep that consistency. Let's see tomorrow! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) Get a draw in Milan and 2 wins from our next 2 leagues games and suddenly things are looking very rosey again. Not impossible. Edited September 18, 2023 by Heron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Rate this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy84 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Sassy Eddie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPL Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 We are not here to admire stadium tours; we are here to compete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 He's bang on like. We have to start normalising games like this if we're to start being serious. We wouldn't travel to Sheffield the night before and have a kickaround at Bramall Lane before we play them on Sunday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRaspberryJam Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 5 minutes ago, CPL said: We are not here to admire stadium tours; we are here to compete. We’re here to trash their 12 bogs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, 54 said: Rate this He's locked in, love to see it. I noticed in the Bretford Match Cam video there was no pre-game footage. Wonder if Eddie had them back off to keep the lads focused on getting the 3pts. Edited September 18, 2023 by The Bonk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Eddie back at the team hotel drawing his trainsona. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggys First Goal Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Saw that prick Lee Ryder in the room earlier. Fat mess that he is. Talk about stealing a living. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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