All Hail Rafa's Rotation

[Xabi_is_God]

Crouch is in form(recent goal run), Pennant is in form(best he's played all season over last 5 games), Kuyt is in form(3 goals in 3games), Mascherano is in form(Quality since he arrived), Gerrard is in form(2goals vs.Boro), Arbeloa is in form(Excellent since signing),

On top of that - Carragher, reina, finnan, agger, riise are all playing consistently well,
Only player lacking confidence seems to be Sissoko, Bellamy looked lively on his return against wigan.Only position where we are not doing very well is left wing.

BRING ON THE CHAVS

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Just thinking of this the weekend, it seems all to be quiet on the Rafa rotation bashing and why???..........cause we are winning. Like the last two seasons we seem to hit form at the end of the season.

Is it because he does rotate alot at the start? What could be said is that there is no point resting your top players at the start of the season because if you lose a few at the start you will lose ground on the title chase and having them fresh for the run in with no title to play for is pointless.

Or is it because they are extremely fit, i notice Manure and Chelski seem to be tired and drained. Have we a better squad then them? Maybe not better squad players but more of them?

[bigfooty]

We've been out of the title race since November - if not before. The reason Rafa's rotation doesn't get mentioned much is because enough was said about it then. We're finishing strongly and it may pay off in the Champions League, but I'd much rather be fighting for the title than the Champions League.

On the positive side I do think Rafa and his team do an excellent job of getting players to good fitness levels, we do seem a very fit side who can press for 90 minutes if we want to.

[Zambian_Red]

Just thinking of this the weekend, it seems all to be quiet on the Rafa rotation bashing and why???..........cause we are winning. Like the last two seasons we seem to hit form at the end of the season.

Is it because he does rotate alot at the start? What could be said is that there is no point resting your top players at the start of the season because if you lose a few at the start you will lose ground on the title chase and having them fresh for the run in with no title to play for is pointless.

Or is it because they are extremely fit, i notice Manure and Chelski seem to be tired and drained. Have we a better squad then them? Maybe not better squad players but more of them?

I think the rotation policy has paid dividends in termsof players being fit and fresh. As we head for the chavs game Alonso/Carra/Gerrard have been rested, or brought on for 25/30 minutes to keep them fresh for the semi final.

Also plaudits should be given to our fitness coach whoever it is for keeping our squad extremely fit considering we are approaching the end of the season.

Also it should be said that Rafa loves his rotation policy and until he came to the premiership i dont think any other manager has done that. The pundits/media are not use to the rotation policy but it does have its advantages and disadvantages.

Both legs of the semi finals should be extertaining and i really hope we play at a fast tempo at Anfield and put the chavs out of thier misery cause i dont think they will have the energy levels that we currently have in our midfield and defence.

[Zambian_Red]

We've been out of the title race since November - if not before. The reason Rafa's rotation doesn't get mentioned much is because enough was said about it then. We're finishing strongly and it may pay off in the Champions League, but I'd much rather be fighting for the title than the Champions League.

On the positive side I do think Rafa and his team do an excellent job of getting players to good fitness levels, we do seem a very fit side who can press for 90 minutes if we want to.

Agree with you mate, i am sure we should have a much more realistic chance gunning for the title next season when rafa reinforces the attack and quality wingers.

[lfc_1892]

I feel Gonzales is also slightly lacking in confidence

[Nicey]

Crouch is in form(recent goal run), Pennant is in form(best he's played all season over last 5 games), Kuyt is in form(3 goals in 3games), Mascherano is in form(Quality since he arrived), Gerrard is in form(2goals vs.Boro), Arbeloa is in form(Excellent since signing),

On top of that - Carragher, reina, finnan, agger, riise are all playing consistently well,
Only player lacking confidence seems to be Sissoko, Bellamy looked lively on his return against wigan.Only position where we are not doing very well is left wing.

BRING ON THE CHAVS

Great shout mate .... same way they bashed his Zonal marking system which produced the best defensive record in the land ... They have all gone very quiet over there .... There job is to complain and follow the heard Bunch of numpties mostly

[Nicey]

I feel Gonzales is also slightly lacking in confidence

Agreed, think if he is still around we will see the best of him next season.

[Reece]

Agreed, think if he is still around we will see the best of him next season.

He will have another competitor for his place though - Sebastien Leto. No idea how good he is though. And Kewell may still be around. Will be interesting to see what becomes of young speedy.

[Craig_H]

We've been out of the title race since November - if not before. The reason Rafa's rotation doesn't get mentioned much is because enough was said about it then. We're finishing strongly and it may pay off in the Champions League, but I'd much rather be fighting for the title than the Champions League.

On the positive side I do think Rafa and his team do an excellent job of getting players to good fitness levels, we do seem a very fit side who can press for 90 minutes if we want to.

Good post.

"All hail" it? When we havent even been IN the title race?

Erm....no.

[red g]

interesting that both chelsea and scum seemed on there arse over the weekend, both looked like shot heavyweight champs !!!

hopefully next yr will get the right balance and we can start and finish well !!

[Monkeywool]

Problem is that Rafa seems to be depending on our run in being better form and the mancs and chelse dropping points near the end of the season because they are knackered.

Good in theory but this isn't like spain. Even if teams like the mancs and chavs are completely ****ed they will still beat the likes of Sheff Utd and Watford because the league hasn't got the quality to even beat a team like man u when they are dead on their feet.

It's about getting balance, and I am sure Rafa knows how to tweak pre season this year and knows that we have win the first 6 or 7 matches in order to get us that title. If we can do that then we will be in pole position knowing our end of season form will be a lot better than everyone around us.

[Craig_H]

The point is, it doesnt matter if you're fresher near the end, if you're 20 odd points behind by then. The damage has been done.

My philosophy would be get the points on the board ASAP and then if people are knackered near the end, you just try and work around it when (if) it happens.

[Shaggy]

Been thinking the same thing this morning.

Haven't had time to read any of the thread aside from the opening post but has anyone mentioned the injury situation?

Look at Chelsea and United - their players are dropping like flies and, without checking the facts, I'd assume their big players have played more games than ours. We have virtually a fully fit squad (Garcia and Kewell aside) and this surely must have something to do with the rotation in the early part of the season.

[SouthAfricaRed]

We've been out of the title race since November - if not before. The reason Rafa's rotation doesn't get mentioned much is because enough was said about it then. We're finishing strongly and it may pay off in the Champions League, but I'd much rather be fighting for the title than the Champions League.

On the positive side I do think Rafa and his team do an excellent job of getting players to good fitness levels, we do seem a very fit side who can press for 90 minutes if we want to.

I think the main reason for the poor performance initially was due to the fact that we had many new players and that we once again did not have a proper pre season to prepare properly. It was our World Cup stars like Gerrard, Alonso and even Carragher that started poorly that contributed to the poor start. They all had extra time off after the World Cup. United who had less players at World Cup started with a Bang. Chelski and Arsenal also battled

Rafa's rotation policy has been proven to be effective. It's the third time now that we are finishing strongly. Combined with a decent start we'll see the full effect of it.

I dont think we'll see to many new faces next season and combined with the First proper pre season since Rafa has taken over, I expect us to start much better