Ok so we won the derby (luckily), and our only other win in the last month was against Wigan and that was even luckier.
To an extent we were also lucky to pick up points in some of our other drawn games.....but where does that leave us?
Rafa has got some hard decisions to make, and it does not take an intelligent person to realise that there are 3 or 4 players who are being regularly played who have been piss poor.
Personally i have no issue with rotation, as long as it is not 5 or 6 changes per game....one or two changes is fine assuming the players are of the required standard.
Rafa needs his head examined and will lose alot of our support if he continues to play some players regularly (like Momo), and if he continues to make unbelievable decisions (playing Leto in the champs league when he had never played, taking off SG at a critical point inthe derby, etc etc).
For me Rafa needs to decide on his best 18 or 19 players really soon and play them instead of making so many changes. The most important thing is to build up some momentum and consistency before he decides to tinker much.
When Agger, Torres and Xabi return his decisions should be far easier.
For me the 'pool' to select players on a weekly basis should consist of the following core:
Reina , Itandje (we have to have a spare keeper just in case)
Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Riise
Alonso, Gerrard, Mascherano, Pennant, Benayoun, Babel, Leiva (he needs to be blooded)
Torres, Kuyt, Voronin, Crouch
Added to that I'd like to see Kewell getting some much needed game time, and Sami / Aurelio as additional defensive cover.
From the list above I don't think Pennant has done enough to be worthy of as many starts as he has been getting. He is full of running, but more than often fails to beat his man or get his cross in. He is also very wasteful in possession, and the way he goes down like a ton of brcks when he is tackled, rolling around for 20 seconds infuriates me.
I'd love to see a more balanced starting team looking something like:
Reina
Finnan -- Agger -- Carra -- Riise
(With Arbeloa selected to rest some these guys when needed)
Mascherano -- Gerrard -- Alonso -- Babel / Kewell
Benayoun
Torres
I think we'd be far more imaginitive and less easy to predict.
We could then get some 'impact' players off the bench in the last 20 - a role that Pennant may be well suited for!
To an extent we were also lucky to pick up points in some of our other drawn games.....but where does that leave us?
Rafa has got some hard decisions to make, and it does not take an intelligent person to realise that there are 3 or 4 players who are being regularly played who have been piss poor.
Personally i have no issue with rotation, as long as it is not 5 or 6 changes per game....one or two changes is fine assuming the players are of the required standard.
Rafa needs his head examined and will lose alot of our support if he continues to play some players regularly (like Momo), and if he continues to make unbelievable decisions (playing Leto in the champs league when he had never played, taking off SG at a critical point inthe derby, etc etc).
For me Rafa needs to decide on his best 18 or 19 players really soon and play them instead of making so many changes. The most important thing is to build up some momentum and consistency before he decides to tinker much.
When Agger, Torres and Xabi return his decisions should be far easier.
For me the 'pool' to select players on a weekly basis should consist of the following core:
Reina , Itandje (we have to have a spare keeper just in case)
Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Riise
Alonso, Gerrard, Mascherano, Pennant, Benayoun, Babel, Leiva (he needs to be blooded)
Torres, Kuyt, Voronin, Crouch
Added to that I'd like to see Kewell getting some much needed game time, and Sami / Aurelio as additional defensive cover.
From the list above I don't think Pennant has done enough to be worthy of as many starts as he has been getting. He is full of running, but more than often fails to beat his man or get his cross in. He is also very wasteful in possession, and the way he goes down like a ton of brcks when he is tackled, rolling around for 20 seconds infuriates me.
I'd love to see a more balanced starting team looking something like:
Reina
Finnan -- Agger -- Carra -- Riise
(With Arbeloa selected to rest some these guys when needed)
Mascherano -- Gerrard -- Alonso -- Babel / Kewell
Benayoun
Torres
I think we'd be far more imaginitive and less easy to predict.
We could then get some 'impact' players off the bench in the last 20 - a role that Pennant may be well suited for!