Europa League 2020/21 - Round of 16: Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

[parklane1]

IF we win this trophy then we will be in the CL next season so we should send out teams that have a real chance of getting through, fudge all this sending a team of reserves. Obviously we will have to chop and change to a degree but we can not make wholesale changes and expect them to
Perform well.

 

[AdamB]

They'd still be a scratch side who weren't used to playing together. A well organised team would stand a decent chance against them, even from a less glamorous league.

Yes, dont disagree that organisation enables a team to play to greater than sum of the parts....though if you have Dier/Toby alongside Sanchez and CB and Winks and Sissoko in CM, then we would have some parts of the team which are used to playing together. Will be interesting to how Jose juggles the first month. Really annoying that we have the international games coming up in advance

 

[milo]

Yes, dont disagree that organisation enables a team to play to greater than sum of the parts....though if you have Dier/Toby alongside Sanchez and CB and Winks and Sissoko in CM, then we would have some parts of the team which are used to playing together. Will be interesting to how Jose juggles the first month. Really annoying that we have the international games coming up in advance

I think that he will rotate three or four players between each game and try and have his best 11 available for the PL games.

It is going to be a tough run of games and I wouldn't be surprised if we try to use our post lockdown tactic of scoring first and sitting back, to try and preserve energy.

 

[metalgear]

Small city, hot summers and probably not epl standard pitch. I'm slightly nervous about this one and hope we bring a strong squad just in case.

Sent from my SM-T865 using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[Lemonade Money]

They'd still be a scratch side who weren't used to playing together. A well organised team would stand a decent chance against them, even from a less glamorous league.

This. You can't just throw eleven players together. My guess is we'll send a decent team, maybe even prioritise this over league matches, until we're in the group stage.

 

[Kandi1977]

I agree, but I think we can get through with the sort of team which I posted on the last page (Hart, Tanganga, Foyth, Sanchez, Cirkin, Winks, Sissoko, Bergwijn, Lamela, Sessegnon, [new CF]) and possibly even sending Ledley with the team rather than Jose. On a Tues, pick the teams for the Thurs and Sunday - sure, there might need to be a late change or two and perhaps there might be a couple players who played both games but we should be able to survive it

We definitely need at least a couple of the big guns to make we don't fudge it up.

 

[milo]

This. You can't just throw eleven players together. My guess is we'll send a decent team, maybe even prioritise this over league matches, until we're in the group stage.

At the least, we are going to want to have some big names on the bench. That means flying out pretty much immediately after the league cup game and getting having no time to prepare ahead of the PL game.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Surely you take the squad and treat these games as keep fit exercises for some and for real match play experience for others
The. You add fringe players and we should be more than string enough

 

[scaramanga]

At the least, we are going to want to have some big names on the bench. That means flying out pretty much immediately after the league cup game and getting having no time to prepare ahead of the PL game.

Sounds like a really good reason to send the kids

 

[milo]

Sounds like a really good reason to send the kids

You know that the club will want to qualify and won't take that approach

 

[Bullet]

FWIW according to Google maps:
Plovdiv is in Bulgaria, right next to Greece, London flight is 3 hours on Ryanair
Botosani is in Romania, north of Plovdiv, London flight is 3 hours on Wizz Air
Shkendija is in North Macedonia near Serbia, slightly west of Plovdiv, London flight is 5 hours on Wizz Air
No idea how the last one is closer but the flight takes nearly twice as long. Must be due to that iron curtain or something?

As someone else said, at least we don't have to go to Almaty in eastern Kazakhstan which is basically China...

 

[Kandi1977]

FWIW according to Google maps:
Plovdiv is in Bulgaria, right next to Greece, London flight is 3 hours on Ryanair
Botosani is in Romania, north of Plovdiv, London flight is 3 hours on Wizz Air
Shkendija is in North Macedonia near Serbia, slightly west of Plovdiv, London flight is 5 hours on Wizz Air
No idea how the last one is closer but the flight takes nearly twice as long. Must be due to that iron curtain or something?

As someone else said, at least we don't have to go to Almaty in eastern Kazakhstan which is basically China...

It might LOOK closer on a flat map, but if you use a globe you'll see a different story. (hint: The earth isn't flat, despite some people claiming it)

 

[Bullet]

It might LOOK closer on a flat map, but if you use a globe you'll see a different story. (hint: The earth isn't flat, despite some people claiming it)

Shkendija is a 1,500 mile walk, and Plovdiv is a 2,500 mile walk.
Looking closer, both non-stop flights are ~3 hours. So my point stands, how does one travel 1,000 miles more in 10 minutes?
Don't tell me that huge discrepancy is due to Great Circles?

 

[Kandi1977]

Shkendija is a 1,500 mile walk, and Plovdiv is a 2,500 mile walk.
Looking closer, both non-stop flights are ~3 hours. So my point stands, how does one travel 1,000 miles more in 10 minutes?
Don't tell me that huge discrepancy is due to Great Circles?

Just Checked possible flight routes, and it should take approximately the time to fly to either destination. The longer flight time you referred to, must be due to it not being a direct flight, or slower type of aircraft.
Distance is virtually the same. Think you have mixed up miles and kilometres.

 

[scaramanga]

You know that the club will want to qualify and won't take that approach

The problem with qualifying is that we need to send more players that matter to more far flung places that don't.

 

[Bullet]

Think you have mixed up miles and kilometres.

Strangely yes!! If I try to walk to Shkendiva, Google maps tells me in miles, but when I change destination to Plovdiv, Google maps tells me in kilometres. How strange.

 

[tw12yid]

How many subs are they allowing in this tournament?

 

[thfcsteff]

You know that the club will want to qualify and won't take that approach

Indeed, and hopefully we will be able to with squad players. I expect to see Lamela in these games, perhaps Aurier if he is still here, those squaddies. What we cannot afford is to have some hulking great Plovdivian postie put a stamp on Son, Dele or Bergwijn.

 

[AdamB]

At the least, we are going to want to have some big names on the bench. That means flying out pretty much immediately after the league cup game and getting having no time to prepare ahead of the PL game.

What sort of team are you expecting us to put out in the league cup? I'm kind of discounting the league cup completely. Obviously somewhat depends on the draw but I'd like to think some of the under 23s, particularly those with a reasonable amount of senior football from loans spells, might play. Perhaps 3-4 of Roles, White, Cirkin, Bowden etc, add in Sessegnon and CCV and then a few seniors (Sanchez, Sissoko, Lamela, Bergwign, Hart etc). Will still have a scratch element to it and the increased risk which that brings....really, really could do with a league 2 team at home

 

[milo]

What sort of team are you expecting us to put out in the league cup? I'm kind of discounting the league cup completely. Obviously somewhat depends on the draw but I'd like to think some of the under 23s, particularly those with a reasonable amount of senior football from loans spells, might play. Perhaps 3-4 of Roles, White, Cirkin, Bowden etc, add in Sessegnon and CCV and then a few seniors (Sanchez, Sissoko, Lamela, Bergwign, Hart etc). Will still have a scratch element to it and the increased risk which that brings....really, really could do with a league 2 team at home

I think that it depends on the draw. I think that some of the players that have been involved in the friendlies will probably feature but the vast majority of the side will be made up of the first team squad. I'd expect nearly everyone who travels to be in the match day squads for the league cup and PL games either side.