Rotation=Yes or No!

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No, but surely it's strong enough to prioritise one competition. We're not really talking about rotation here. .
Which one. Prioritise the PL ? what if we finish 5th or 6th ? We'll have wasted an opportunity in the other competitions. The fact we have the thinnest squad of the top 6 tells me we should go balls deep for all 3 and see where it takes us.
 
We need to do smaller rotations at times. Only time any of these reserves gets to play it is with the entire reserve team. We need to see Winks starting, GNK getting some time with the starters, and Wimmer should have been getting a bit more time. Dier at CB is not the answer and now it is hurting us.
 
I've seen all the comments about how we only have 3-4 guys we can even trust in important games. This is exactly why we need to utilize rotation on a more frequent basis.

All the training in the world is no substitute for actual playing time in a competitive match. Football as much as any sport (maybe moreso) requires players have time playing together against real competition (not in training scrimmaging) to build confidence as well as cohesiveness with teammates.
 
Im happy to rotate Vorm and Lloris more often.

Cant believe its come to me feeling very uneasy with Hugo when we want to keep possession deep. I feel much.....much safer with Vorm in possession.

He too made a mistake today, and it could have been costly as fuck. However I felt it was a one off, not the norm, which goes a long way. He didnt panic, and played some really steady passes out afterwards, even unde pressure.

If Hugo had Vorms distribution, hands down best keeper in the world, but he is becoming a liabiltiy when we set up a certain way. We play to his weaknesses, which is odd.

He was much better when we used him as a sweeper keeper, and would come out and play football. In his box, he is awful with the back passes.

So for me, a pressing game like today, Id happily use Hugo. Sitting back, Id go with Vorm.
 
I think todays' line-up epitomised how rotation can work!
We actually made several changes to what many consider our 'Best XI' ... and yet because Poch kept it strong in vital areas... he was able to slot the likes of Vorm, Trippier, Davies & Winks in without disrupting the overall strength of the team.
Making wholesale changes for changes sake rarely works... as everyone in the team is looking around them for leaders...

as it was, today you could argue that with Jan & Toby back, plus a very strong front line of Eriksen, Dele & Kane, the rest of the team had enough quality around them to feel safe in their environment, and as such, thrive without the added pressure of one mistake costing us dear!

Dembele was merely a reminder that we do have strength in depth, and by the time Sissoko and Onomah came on, it was merely a case of helping keep hold of what we had, not to have the added burden of having to score to change the game... the job was already done, and as such, I thought Sissoko visibly thrived!
 
I'm o.d school I'm afraid, I think rotation is modern trend that is a total nonsense. Liverpool won the league and the European cup in 1977 total players used that season 13.
The argument for rotation holds no water with me.
 
I'm o.d school I'm afraid, I think rotation is modern trend that is a total nonsense. Liverpool won the league and the European cup in 1977 total players used that season 13.
The argument for rotation holds no water with me.
Not comparable, massive changes in the way players are trained and injuries are handled in the last 40 years.
 
Not comparable, massive changes in the way players are trained and injuries are handled in the last 40 years.
Not comparable? Your right, the training is better today, they play on billiard tables today compared to the mud bath pitches of the 70s. Back then the real 'hard men' of the game plied their trade, tackles from behind from the likes of Norman'bite yer legs' hunter, 'chopper' Harris, Tommy smith, to name just a few. Defenders had to face the likes of joe Jordan who would give as good as he got.
Watch any match from the 70s and marvel at the tackles that didn't warrant a card! You'd be gob smacked.
Watch the Leeds United v Liverpool charity shield game from 74!!
The players would finish the match have ten pints and be back out on the pitch midweek with not a hint of 'rotation'
Players want to be picked and they just want to play, that's the same today as it was back then.
They were fit back then as they are today, the difference is the modern sports science is fantastic for fitness, but back then they managed to play every week with squads half the size as today.
 
No easy answer, especially from our comfy armchairs.
The are a number of things to factor.
1. The oppo: Non-League or Prem, Citeh or Sunderland etc. + How long ago did they last play. Most teams lick thier lips at playing us on a Sunday after we have played on a Thursday.
2. If I were to race Joe Bloggs over a 12k run but I made him race an additional 12k race 2 days beforehand who are you going to put your money on, assuming we are evenly matched over that distance?
3. Forced rotation: With injuries and suspensions you have no choice. Or, we need to sell the shite, Paulinho (the worste excuse for footballer I have ever seen) had to be played by Poch last year to convince the Chinese that he exists.
4. Sports Science: Wether people like it or not the Doc's can tell if you are about to come down with a virus before you do, or if you are close to tearing something. None of this we see, so arguably the most frustrating.
5. Development: Young and new signings have to start sometimes. Get used to the surroundings etc...
6. 25/28 man squad got to keep them happy.
7. Kick up the backside, towing the line, just not being played is a message, it might not mean you are shit but you are being taught a lesson.
8. You're shit
9. Out of form. Do you drop and train your way back or should you play your way back to form
10. Births deaths marriages etc
11. International commitments on the other side of the world. AFCON
12. Usually a mix on more than one of these.
 
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I'm o.d school I'm afraid, I think rotation is modern trend that is a total nonsense. Liverpool won the league and the European cup in 1977 total players used that season 13.
The argument for rotation holds no water with me.

Not comparable? Your right, the training is better today, they play on billiard tables today compared to the mud bath pitches of the 70s. Back then the real 'hard men' of the game plied their trade, tackles from behind from the likes of Norman'bite yer legs' hunter, 'chopper' Harris, Tommy smith, to name just a few. Defenders had to face the likes of joe Jordan who would give as good as he got.
Watch any match from the 70s and marvel at the tackles that didn't warrant a card! You'd be gob smacked.
Watch the Leeds United v Liverpool charity shield game from 74!!
The players would finish the match have ten pints and be back out on the pitch midweek with not a hint of 'rotation'
Players want to be picked and they just want to play, that's the same today as it was back then.
They were fit back then as they are today, the difference is the modern sports science is fantastic for fitness, but back then they managed to play every week with squads half the size as today.

Don't forGet they played 60+ matches a season, 55 of which with broken limbs!
I remember once seeing Tommy Smith in a severe clash with 'Chopper'Arris... for the remainder of the game he played on with his vertebrae visibly poking out of his neck... but he could still head a ball!!

AND THEY ONLY HAD ONE SUB BACK THEN!

If it wasn't for Fatty Garry Brooke we wouldn't have been able to give anyone a rest... let alone Ossie '40 fags a Day' Ardiles!!

But yes, joking aside... todays' bunch don't know they're born.
I mean literally, some of them are so thick they don't know their own Birthday, and are only reminded of it whe the Club bakes a Cake for them and puts it on Twatterface!
 



Don't forGet they played 60+ matches a season, 55 of which with broken limbs!
I remember once seeing Tommy Smith in a severe clash with 'Chopper'Arris... for the remainder of the game he played on with his vertebrae visibly poking out of his neck... but he could still head a ball!!

AND THEY ONLY HAD ONE SUB BACK THEN!

If it wasn't for Fatty Garry Brooke we wouldn't have been able to give anyone a rest... let alone Ossie '40 fags a Day' Ardiles!!

But yes, joking aside... todays' bunch don't know they're born.
I mean literally, some of them are so thick they don't know their own Birthday, and are only reminded of it whe the Club bakes a Cake for them and puts it on Twatterface!
Them were the days hey! Many a player had to play on with an injury (rightly or wrongly) as the only sub had been used, it added suspense and interest to many a game.


The match above highlights to me just how good the football was in that era, not only did we see some of the best players ever to grace our game, the football was great despite the poor pitches they played on.
There was a far greater connection with the fans, resting players never came into the equation, most of the first team played for their win bonus!!
 
There are two sides to the coin here, so it's not a straight forward yes or no question.

Leicester City won the league last year by hardly rotating at all, it showed at the end of the season when there were a few players who weren't eligible for a medal as they hadn't played in enough fixtures! So it shows it can be done without rotating.

However Leicester didn't have European football midweek to contend with.

They progressed in the League Cup a little but not very far and they lost to us in the FA Cup so mid January onward they only had the prem.

We have had Champions League (Now Europa) League Cup (although we got knocked out first round) FA Cup and the Prem, Europe is the killer due to how many fixtures you have before Christmas, so rotation is a definite for that or you risk burning out players in the key part of the season
 
Keane/Defoe/Kanoute/Mido
Keane/Berbatov/Mido/Defoe
Pavlyuchenko/Crouch/Defoe/Gudjohnsen

Kane/Janssen
Harry needs some help up there.

I seriously hope you're referring to the quality and not the quantity. When those players played we were almost always using a 4-4-2. Now that we play with one striker, having 4 would be ludicrous.
 
I love hearing about how the players in any sport were so much better than their modern day counterparts because they played more, or played hurt, or played in worse conditions ect.

The simple fact is no matter how great the heroes of yesteryear were today's players would run circles around them. I am by no means saying players from those days weren't good players but I'd be willing to bet Leicester or Sunderland would dominate teams from 40 years ago.
 
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