Derby match thread

[kopash]

Was at game. We were woeful today. Still 3 points is 3 points.

Voronin, Riise (when at left mid) were clueless. Babel still frustrates me so much. He seems to lack confidence and I don't know why.

Torres was starved of service and bar his brilliant goal did nothing else. Aurelio I thought was quite poor generally.

We desperately need Cb cover. Surely Hobbs should have been on bench?

[CAD]

but we named a good side that should have brushed them aside, we started the game well and derby where anonymous in the first half and we should have killed them off. today's problems have nothing to do with rotation. after the torres goal we switched off thought it would be a walk in the park, gerrard was anonymous for about 80 minutes. derby had two chances we had a buckload. yes we got lucky in the end but derby where lucky the entire game...

i thought we fielded a good side today, one that was miles better that the opposition, but we were'nt clinical enough and should have killed them off early. and at the end of the day they where good enough to produce the results. we have a much more difficult game on sunday and we have to rotate in a tight christmas schedule...

I agree Diego, we did name a good side.

However I think that one thing is imperative to win the PL: Momentum. I think that Yossi and Mascher should have played after the Pompey game. Not only did they deserve it, they are also some of the most on form players we have right now.

We have players who are between 20 and 23 who has to be rested again and again? I fail to see the point. It's done on principle more than anything else, Mascher don't really need a rest and it will only add up to one thing: We won't win the PL.

I think we need our 'best side' to be granted a few of the "easy" games, to get a better sense of each other. We can't just field our best side whenever we meet Chelski, Scum and Arse and expect them to perform miracles. We need to give our A-team a decent run.

I will never understand how resting a player who just had a MOM performance can be good for morale. Not for the player. Not for the team.

I realise that rotation has it's upsides as well. We will have keyplayers rested and ready and that's all fine and dandy. I just don't think we have the width for heavy rotation and I think we have been dropping points because of this rotation ever since Rafa took over. This season rotation has costs us at least 8 points. The Pompey game still pisses me off.

In short the rotation policy hurts us more than we benefit from it in the PL.


IMHO.

[rage]

rafa looked exasperated post match. we got lucky today. happy with the 3 points but honestly we need to get better if we're ever going to stop playing catch up. We've dropped far too many points in recent times through our inability to finish teams off - no idea why we don't seem to have that killer instinct.
I agree with diego that regardless of the changes we fielded a good enough team but some of our players simply aren't good enough and some never will be.

Riise's attacking game has got worse and worse
Voronin should have been sold the day we bought him - at best he's bolton class
kuyt offers very little, yes he only got 10 minutes but he ain't no impact player any more than he's a striker.
Aurelio-is he strong enough for the premiership?

and babel reminds me of heskey - now before people start ranting i don't mean in a donkey way or workhorse manner like kuyt. He just seems to suffer from low confidence. An aggressive heskey was unplayable against but most of his time with us he just seemed to be filled with self doubt, babel strikes me as suffering a similar mental disposition.

Rafa will never stop rotating. We just need 20 quality 1st team players for him to rotate. So far we have imo

Reina, Itandge (GK)
Finnan, Arbeloa (RB)
Carra, Hypia, Agger (CB)
Aurellio? (LB)
Yossi (RW)
Lucas, Gerrard, Alonso, Masch (CM)
Kewell, Babel (LW)
Torres (ST)

We're a full back, centre back, right winger and striker short for rafa's rotation to work for us in the league.

[Red_Polo]

Thing with rotation is the negatives are glaringly obvious as well as easily exaggerated and the positives are difficult to isolate. As long as we rotate regularly more or less any defeat or draw can be put down to rotation, there's almost always someone who 'should have played'. That we pick up fewer muscle injuries, that players are able to give us more when selected due to being in better condition, that our players improve more as they can train harder etc etc - you just can't simplify that down to 'we would never have won that without rotation' so easily.

It's up to a manager to strike the balance. I don't find it strange that some people disagree a little with that balance, but I do find it absolutely bizarre that a few disagree with the whole idea of rotation full stop. It clearly has its merits. It's worked for Rafa elsewhere, it's seen success in our league, and it's slowly becoming the norm for all top teams.

[Diego]

I agree Diego, we did name a good side.

However I think that one thing is imperative to win the PL: Momentum. I think that Yossi and Mascher should have played after the Pompey game. Not only did they deserve it, they are also some of the most on form players we have right now.

We have players who are between 20 and 23 who has to be rested again and again? I fail to see the point. It's done on principle more than anything else, Mascher don't really need a rest and it will only add up to one thing: We won't win the PL.

I think we need our 'best side' to be granted a few of the "easy" games, to get a better sense of each other. We can't just field our best side whenever we meet Chelski, Scum and Arse and expect them to perform miracles. We need to give our A-team a decent run.

I will never understand how resting a player who just had a MOM performance can be good for morale. Not for the player. Not for the team.

I realise that rotation has it's upsides as well. We will have keyplayers rested and ready and that's all fine and dandy. I just don't think we have the width for heavy rotation and I think we have been dropping points because of this rotation ever since Rafa took over. This season rotation has costs us at least 8 points. The Pompey game still pisses me off.

In short the rotation policy hurts us more than we benefit from it in the PL.


IMHO.

rotation is a funny business, i doesn't really work unless you have good players to rotate, thats where i feel we have failed in the past we have been rotating with turd players comming in. but i do feel now that we have a good enough squad to be rotating with, apart from our strike force. bringin in babel into this game was exactly what i wanted bring on a little pace and hit them hard and harry needed a rest as well the only one that thought should have started today was yossi cause he was getting on a roll, but in the end he came on and continued to chip in. i think it was very important to give alonso a full game (and he a great game imo comming from injury and all that) and mascher will have his hands full on sunday against city so i though that was a good change. arbeloa's absence was strange, but Benitez said in his post match interview that part of the heavy rotation had to do with some players having a slight problem that might have been arbeloa especially since we didn't have a defender on the bench, but then again it was good to give finnan ago after his injury problems. my biggest problem with today's lineup was riise, if yossi would have started instead it would have been a easier game...

so all in all even though he changed 5 players from last game i didn't think it was all that bad, most of the players that where brought in had been playing some minutes in the last few games and had been part of the squad. some weren't fit and one or two being rested over the hectic schedule. sometimes i have a problem with rotation but not today, i though it was spot on and we should have battered them no matter what. i expect to see a team similar to pompy going against city next sunday with one or two slight modifications. it's only my opinion and what do i know

[CAD]

We just have to give it two or three more years. When the youngsters start to come around we will be the new Arsenal. The squad right now is barely 2/3 of the way imo. I really don't think we have a really good winger in our team. Kewell? Always freezes in the big games. Yossi? Not really a winger. Babel? Not a winger! Pennant? Couldn't score at a Scum xmas party.

In three or four years the youngsters will change everything.

I can wait...

Happy newyear everybody

[rage]

We just have to give it two or three more years. When the youngsters start to come around we will be the new Arsenal. The squad right now is barely 2/3 of the way imo. I really don't think we have a really good winger in our team. Kewell? Always freezes in the big games. Yossi? Not really a winger. Babel? Not a winger! Pennant? Couldn't score at a Scum xmas party.

In three or four years the youngsters will change everything.

I can wait...

Happy newyear everybody