rotation rotation rotation

[redlancer]

Rafa can't be stupid mate. I know where he's coming but as I said somewhere else, we maybe don't have the required quality to win the league yet. We've been maybe lauding this team too early into the season based on a couple of results against poor opposition.

I too would have wanted Torres playing yesterday but the player coming in for him must have took up the challenge but clearly we don't have the required depth in attack that people thought we had.

Babel is still learning the ropes, Yossi is in and out of the team, Pennant still have to up a notch, and apart from Stevie G in midfield we seem to miss a backup up driving force when he's not on song.

All in all I'm not worried yet as we're still 4 points off the top and we host Arsenal in a couple of weeks, which will be a crunch match already ... Lose that and we'll have a mountain to climb.

As you say Babel is still learning - but then we should of played a player on form to compensate.

I think we have the players to win the PL but we 1st need to get the team winning week in week out then we can rotate the world class players - Carra, Masher, SG and Torres should play every PL game with Alonso out injured.
It only needs a SG pass and Torres finish to win the game.


Scum will put in a crap player but as the other 9 are playing week in week out he'll fit in perfectly.

We are as you say just 4 points off the top and I think drawing to Portsmouth wasnt'a bad result but drawing to Birmingham in the way we did was a bad un.

[Johnny]

Birmingham Played With 10 Defenders.that Is Hard To Score Against No Matter What Our Manager Or Team Do.

[Assassin]

moaning about rotation just glosses over the fact that we were ****e

Fecking rotate

[willa1975]

I don't necessarily think rotation is a bad thing...especially if you've got depth in the side. However, especially in September, rotation should be done on a strictly strategic basis i.e. fielding the side you think will be best to beat a specific opponent, or removing from the starting lineup someone who's playing poorly. If a player needs to be rested in September, he's not fit enough to be a professional footballer.

I just don't think Rafa managed the team properly yesterday. Why start Kuyt and Voronin...was that a good combination to take on a side who's playing for a 0-0 draw? Never mind that they just don't look like an effective partnership. And at halftime, when it was obvious that it simply wasn't working, changes should have been made. I agree that Torres should have started, especially after being rested against Portsmouth. Furthermore, when a side is putting everyone behind the ball, you need players like Torres who, if they get the ball in a dangerous position, can make their own chances.

Also, Kuyt was very poor yesterday. Made no impact on the game whatsoever, in my opinion. I don't think Rafa should have stuck with him. I'd have taken him off for Torres, and played Torres/Babel/Voronin as a front three in a 4-3-3. Babel wasn't playing lights out, but he was at least involved, and was giving opposing defenders something to worry about.

Unfortunately, we played right into their hands yesterday. They went out to stop things going through the middle, and accomplished that. They did a good job shutting out Gerrard, and Babel was too easily herded inside when he would have been better off staying wide. And, unfortunately, Pennant did not have one of his better games.

Regardless, we did have a few chances and could have managed a win. But, in the end, we dropped points at home against a side who was not, by any stretch of the imagination, playing to win. While I didn't think we'd win the title at the beginning of the season, I do believe that we need to finish within 10 points of the winners for this League season to be a success. Contenders beat sides like Birmingham at home...we've got some way to go then, haven't we?

[Rigadon]

Torres is not our only player. He won't be available every game. If we can't beat Birmingham without him then our biggest problem is not rotation, whatever people think of it, it's that we have a squad lacking in certain areas and/or a lack of an overall attacking pattern to the team etc. Or maybe it's just an off day. Either way like you're saying, going on about rotation just disguises the real issues.

It's been the same for the last three years. Possession, possession, possession but we don't pose enough threat in the final third.

Re: rotation – continuity does help in a team game. Also, the Prem winners usually stick with their best players.

[Rigadon]

Birmingham Played With 10 Defenders.that Is Hard To Score Against No Matter What Our Manager Or Team Do.

Do you think Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea will struggle at home against Birmingham?

[Kopite_Colin]

Rafa is behaving ridiculously. It mirrors the stubborness displayed by Ged towards the end of his tenure.

That is the single most worrying thing about all of this for me.

Let's get 2-0 or 3-0 up with our best players on the pitch and then think about resting key players if you need to.

The other biggest worry is the quality of our wide men. Still not good or consitent enough.

[Johnny]

Do you think Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea will struggle at home against Birmingham?

Actually,i do think ManU and Chelsea will struggle.They both look like shadows of their former selves this season.

Arsenal i`m still undecided about.

[AFII]

You've got the wrong end of the stick my skando buddy............All i'm saying is everyones having a go at the rotation policy BUT at the end of the day we are playing ****e at the moment



And just to clear it up, the rotation of our players pisses me off big time

We are playing **** because the players isn't match fit enough and they play with different players almost all the time.

It's much easier to play as a team if the players knows each other on the pitch, knows which runs his team mates will do and so on.

Rafa makes it more or less impossible for the players to play as a team until after the new year.

Football is a team game and the players must know what his team mates will do on the pitch. That is very difficult when you play with different players.

[Spionkop69]

moaning about rotation just glosses over the fact that we were ****e

Thank you!

Anybody care to put Tuesday's team against yesterday's team so we can see exactly who was rotated?

I wonder how many were rotated...

[Spionkop69]

We had a team capable of beating Birmingham City yesterday. Torres alone can't guarantee a win each time. What if we lose him through injury for a long time ? Are we fooked ?

Simple but effective post that. Puts some of our (the fans) issues in a nutshell.

Torres is not a one man team.

[Johnny]

We are playing **** because the players isn't match fit enough and they play with different players almost all the time.

It's much easier to play as a team if the players knows each other on the pitch, knows which runs his team mates will do and so on.

Rafa makes it more or less impossible for the players to play as a team until after the new year.

Football is a team game and the players must know what his team mates will do on the pitch. That is very difficult when you play with different players.

Jesus on a bike.Change the record will ya!!!!!!


You`d think our players don`t train together to listen to you.

Go back to quoting Tribal football.

[JPK]

Actually,i do think ManU and Chelsea will struggle.They both look like shadows of their former selves this season.

Arsenal i`m still undecided about.

Chelsea put 4past them on the opening day.

[Dan]

That is the single most worrying thing about all of this for me.

Let's get 2-0 or 3-0 up with our best players on the pitch and then think about resting key players if you need to.

The other biggest worry is the quality of our wide men. Still not good or consitent enough.

Babel is good, Pennant is ok. Leto looks a good prospect but Benayoun is muck.

[Spionkop69]

I reckon Rafa could get sacked come the end of the season...that's no understatement IMO

Indeed its more like a tabloid hype statement. I'm glad you're not running the club.

Perhaps we should bid Rafa farewell now? You know "Thanks for the European Cup but can you **** off now please" (copywright of someone on 6CM). That seems the intelligent thing to do.