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Squad rotation?

Danishfurniturelover

Danishfurniturelover

the prettiest spice girl
Just got in from the game, really pleased with how they played and the effort they put in. Thoughts on today aside the fact that i think i killed my liver and howard webb is a ****.

My main thought on today was we have played pretty much the same team the whole of the xmas period and a lot fo these guys have played europa league as well. Last year i was a big critic of redknapps truth be told i just like a moan) for not rotating a bit more and i think it is why we tailed off last year.

People often say that for the money the players get they should be able to play more then once a week but i feel this is missing the point about how sharp a player is when they are playing. I honestly thought it would have been a good idea to drop verts, sandro and bale for today and send them on a holiday for 2 weeks so they are sharp later on in the season.

Then at some point later on in the season i would look to give defoe and lennon a rest as they are playing a lot and will lose their sharpness. I think when ekotto comes back the will be a chance to rest walker and give naughton a go. Parker can offer very good cover for sandro and we can rest him and keep him at top form for longer.

My worry is that if adebayor decides to go to the african cup of nations then defoe could become a little jaded. I hope the will be whole sale changes for next saturday against coventry, i shall be there for it and in some ways im less bothered about the thought of losing then i am at some of our first teamers getting a rest.

So what do you think is AVB potentially going to ruin the back end of the season by not giving our squad a chance to rotate? i think with him saying he wants to win the europa league we are going to have to be very careful about over playing some of our players to much.
 
I think it's a case of the manager seeing whether a player is physically able to perform to a good standard and starting him if true. When the team is playing well, consistency is key to keep an understanding amoung the team members. The luxury AvB has had recently is us going ahead in games and being able to sub players off before the end of a game (Bale, Sandro etc) in order to keep them fresh. Perhaps the manager is banking on playing a strong team now while he can, and then goes and drops a few players for the Coventry where we are at home and should win with a secondary team. This ensures that our best players are well rested for the continuation of the league season.

It's finding a balance - the manager knows how fit his players are judging by training etc so might be going on that rather than resting someone after one game.
 
In theory, you would think playing a maximum of two games a week for a duration of a season shouldn't tire you too much, but that's now how it works. I think so far AVB has got it right in the league in terms of resting players. However, once we get all our players back, specifically Kaboul, pick your best back four and stick with it unless certain players aren't performing. I would like to see him rotate players more in Europe too.
 
He's rotated the defence a lot, so they'll be fresh. I think he'll start rotating Parker with the CM's more from now on, the difficulty is the attacking options, we can't afford to rest Bale and Lennon all that much with only really Siggy able to fill in, and if we play 4-2-3-1 they might all play anyway. Only one option for rotation up front with Dempsey filling in, but again he's not long back from injury.
If we can get that AM and forward player, then I think he will rotate them more.
 
Somewhat worried by this as well. Injuries haven't helped.

Hopefully we'll rest quite a few against Coventry like you guys say.

Going forward I think we have to start rotating a bit more when the EL starts up again.
 
To have a good season, you want different players to peak at different times of the season. When we finished 4th in 2010, Modric broke his leg in August and Bale was the reserve left back. At the beginning of that season the likes of Lennon, Defoe and Kranjcar excelled. In the second half, injuries and loss of form restricted their influence, but we then had Modric, Bale and the re-signed Kaboul to come in and hit form in the second half. Last season, everybody peaked in the first half of the season and in the second half when people lost form, we had no-one to come in.

People have moaned about the injuries we've had this season, but having Kaboul, Parker and Assou-Ekotto coming in for the second half of the season fresh will be a good thing for us. We've also got Sigurdsson who hasn't played as much as he'd have liked in the first half but I hope he'll be used even more.
 
It's a worry yes. We need to give a few players a break. Bale thankfully had a rest today which helps us but I expect half the first team AT LEAST rested against Coventry.
 
Injuries will/have helped us, as well as the new players

Our CB's have seen regular rotation all season (for a number of reasons). Lennon/Bale/Walker/Sandro/Vert are probably the ones we need to worry about re rotation

Expect Lennon/Bale/Sandro to get a rest this week-end, still think we need another striking option to cover fatigue/form/injury issues
 
Roy1983 said:
I see. I was trying to be cheeky opposed to rude myself although it may not have come across that way! ;)
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i didnt think you were being rude AT ALL mate. but definately if i hadnt put "not being disrespectful" mine would have come across really bad

just to fill you in.

i have no problem with the squad usage / rotation
steff on the other hand based on what he said about harry's use of the squad last season...SHOULD have a problem with it....but i am guessing he wont...just a hunch
 
SUIYHA said:
To have a good season, you want different players to peak at different times of the season. When we finished 4th in 2010, Modric broke his leg in August and Bale was the reserve left back. At the beginning of that season the likes of Lennon, Defoe and Kranjcar excelled. In the second half, injuries and loss of form restricted their influence, but we then had Modric, Bale and the re-signed Kaboul to come in and hit form in the second half. Last season, everybody peaked in the first half of the season and in the second half when people lost form, we had no-one to come in.

People have moaned about the injuries we've had this season, but having Kaboul, Parker and Assou-Ekotto coming in for the second half of the season fresh will be a good thing for us. We've also got Sigurdsson who hasn't played as much as he'd have liked in the first half but I hope he'll be used even more.
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Excellent post and agreed.
 
africanspurs said:
i didnt think you were being rude AT ALL mate. but definately if i hadnt put "not being disrespectful" mine would have come across really bad

just to fill you in.

i have no problem with the squad usage / rotation
steff on the other hand based on what he said about harry's use of the squad last season...SHOULD have a problem with it....but i am guessing he wont...just a hunch
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I think Walker looks better for a game or twos rest and hopefully Bale will too against QPR on Monday night. Hopefully we'll see Townsend on the right with Sig on the left and Lennon and Bale rested against Coventry. I really don't want to see either of them even on the bench. Play Brad too IMO.
 
SUIYHA said:
To have a good season, you want different players to peak at different times of the season. When we finished 4th in 2010, Modric broke his leg in August and Bale was the reserve left back. At the beginning of that season the likes of Lennon, Defoe and Kranjcar excelled. In the second half, injuries and loss of form restricted their influence, but we then had Modric, Bale and the re-signed Kaboul to come in and hit form in the second half. Last season, everybody peaked in the first half of the season and in the second half when people lost form, we had no-one to come in.

People have moaned about the injuries we've had this season, but having Kaboul, Parker and Assou-Ekotto coming in for the second half of the season fresh will be a good thing for us. We've also got Sigurdsson who hasn't played as much as he'd have liked in the first half but I hope he'll be used even more.
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Yep bang on.
 
africanspurs said:
ThfcSteff? what are your thoughts my good sir?
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Hello mate,

I'd say now is the time to start rotating, absolutely. I think we will certainly see Dembele rested a bit more here and there, further I think Sandro and Parker can 'probably' be rotated too, though I am noting that Parker is now back to his more attacking movements of earlier in his career. I think he's done very well with younger players such as Caulker, who have been rested, and I am hoping that he gives Naughton some RB time and Benny back in at left. Gallas has also enjoyed some rest.

I am concerned about JD getting hurt and would like to see if we can't try Sig in the hole off Ade for a couple of games, but maybe the one thing thus far I have seen AVB do well in regards to rest and use, is NOT force player back in if they're, say, 70%. I was gutted Dembele wasn't in for the derby, but if by not pushing him there we actually ensured his current level of participation, then all good.

Let's see mate...I am hopeful he will continue to manage the squad as well as I believe he has thus far!
 
africanspurs said:
i didnt think you were being rude AT ALL mate. but definately if i hadnt put "not being disrespectful" mine would have come across really bad

just to fill you in.

i have no problem with the squad usage / rotation
steff on the other hand based on what he said about harry's use of the squad last season...SHOULD have a problem with it....but i am guessing he wont...just a hunch
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;)

I replied matey...
 
I think it's also important to remember our squad is noticeably thinner than it has been in previous years with Niko, Charlie and Bentley not being available and two strikers opposed to 4 in previous years.
 
Roy1983 said:
I think it's also important to remember our squad is noticeably thinner than it has been in previous years with Niko, Charlie and Bentley not being available and two strikers opposed to 4 in previous years.
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One of Dempsey and Sig replaced VdV, the other replaced Kranjcar?

Naughton replaced Corluka?

Bentley wasn't really around much, mainly out on loan. When he was around he wasn't much use anyway.
 
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