Good, you've achieved your aim.
Now go elsewhere and babble your bullshit at them.
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Now go elsewhere and babble your bullshit at them.
Before I go, I have to say, I Still Live You.
Can I just say, I’ve now forgotten all about this game….
I have not and it will take longer to get over the fact our quest for a trophy looks like going on for some time. Ange justified his team selection and therefore we must expect more of the same being a disjointed team and getting beat by Teams we should be beating. 9 changes was ridiculous and even when we brought some of the first teamers on as subs it did not really get better. I know I am not in the majority but I would trade yesterdays good win for still being in the league cup.
We could have had both.
Or neither
If I had picked the team, I wouldn't have made 9 changes, maybe 4 or 5, as I get that Ange wanted to see how some players would perform in a proper, competitive game before deciding on our final squad. Training and friendlies aren't always a good indication though.
However, that decision only confirmed that our second string is not very good and it cost us a pathway to getting some silverware.
Onwards and upwards.
However, that decision only confirmed that our second string is not very good and it cost us a pathway to getting some silverware.
Onwards and upwards.
Shame we lost as we could have beaten Norwich and Ipswich next. Then a draw against Mansfield or Port Vale.
Just dreaming after nightmare pen from Sanchez !!
Just dreaming after nightmare pen from Sanchez !!
People say our 2nd string isn't strong enough but we drew the match but useless on pens.
With no Euro matches it would be ideal to get the others some time on the pitch.
It was only Sanchez who missed and I felt Hojbjerg should have been taking the penalty instead of him. When Sanchez went up, I had a feeling he was going to miss.
As I've said before, I think Ange did this because he wants to build a second string team to take care of the early round cup games and this is something that can take time before it bears fruit. When Alex Ferguson did it for the league cup back in the late 90s, they had some embarrassing defeats to York City and Leicester and, even in their treble season, they went out to us in the quarter finals.
But, there was a progression in the results that team was getting, and it was the second string forwards (Solsjaker and Sheringham) that SAF turned to when he needed late goals in the CL final against Bayern Munich and they were able to do that because of the match time they were getting in the background.
There is also the issue of transformative success. The last four trophies we won did not push the team on to bigger and better things; they were fluke wins in the midst of poor league form and Ange wants to do something to address that culture. In his words: "Winning the Carabao Cup and finishing 10th is not what we're about."
It wasn't good enough, we were shit.
Yeah it’s definitely a pain from that perspective. We all like a settled starting XI but there comes a point that players will start to get fed up training hard and getting no minutes as a reward.
If we were still in the draw would have been different
Everyone's reaction to Madders knee injury post NLD is surely proof that we absolutely should not have gone stronger in the Carabao game.
An injury to JUST ONE of Vic, Romero, VdV, Udogie, Biss, Madders, Son and we simply cannot play the same way (no exaggeration or hyperbole). That's 7 players who it would be insane to risk.
An injury to JUST ONE of Vic, Romero, VdV, Udogie, Biss, Madders, Son and we simply cannot play the same way (no exaggeration or hyperbole). That's 7 players who it would be insane to risk.
What about Perisic? Injuries can happen any time including training. You cannot wrap players up in cotton wool. It was different in previous seasons when we had extra European matches but without Europe they are not been over played. We need to win a trophy and the top 4 trophy is not a trophy. We will not win a trophy by playing the second string that played as strangers. If we needed to rest players which we don’t then just a few and not 9.
Yeah injuries can happen whenever. They are more likely to happen in games. It's about being sensible with the percentages.
When you have such a thin squad then you absolutely must wrap up players in cotton wool. We are one injury away from not being able to play the way we are playing. Davies is not going to do what Udogie does on either end. There are no CB backups. Madders and Biss we must pray stay healthy. If this happened you would instantly regret being short-sighted when it affects our football for months of the season.
Ange made it crystal clear he doesn't want to win a trophy for the sake of it at the expense of everything else. A dynasty is the priority - that is the best method to win cups as you can kick on. Unlike our previous cups which were accompanied by midtable mediocrity.
To summarise:
- strengthen the squad (getting top 4 helps)
- use said strengthened squad to challenge on all fronts (including the carabao) properly
Weekly reminder.
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Top 4 does not guarantee you strengthen the squad. We had top 4 only the season before last and the next year we ended up out of Europe for this season.
We have had many top 4 finishes in recent years but no trophies. Get top 4 this year but no trophy will be a disappointing year again for me. I know we got to the CL final a few years ago but the chances of winning it are slim at present and so the only benefit of qualifying is money. We should prioritise winning a trophy we can win. We lost Kane because of a lack of a trophy. This season without the extra European matches was an ideal time to really go all out for a domestic cup. Woolwich, Chelsea & Spammers are still in the cup but we are out.
Top 4 guarantees the funds and CL football to strengthen the squad. Sure maybe Levy doesn't spend it if we have it (he has previous). But he's certainly not going to spend it if we don't have it (in fact he'll use that as the excuse).
This season without europe is good to go all out in the league with this thin squad. If we go all out in domestic cups we undo that advantage.
Again it comes down to direction. Ange isn't concerned about the "when did Spurs last win a trophy" banter and neither am I - cos we're building something bigger. The time to go all out on trophies was with Jose and Conte and that failed.