The old football maxim of never change a winning team has long since bitten the dust.
Until the mid 1990's the word rotation was never used in footballing terms. You never rested your best players. By & large you picked your best 11players if fit. At LFC, players regularly played 60 games in a season. Nobody suggested resting Keegan or Dalglish, Hansen or Hughes. Imagine telling Shanks you needed to miss a game because you felt tired.
This was in the days remember of 1 sub per team, were if you started a game, you generally finished it. You were unlikely to be subbed after 70 mins ( a la Crouch last season) to 'save' your energy for the next game. Travelling abroad is also much easier than in years gone by. In the 1970's & 80's trips to the old Eastern block were a nightmare. Nowadays even the more undeveloped European countries are a relative picnic to get to compared to Sofia, Kiev or Istanbul in the 70's & 80's.
Also players have never been fitter. The game is quicker nowadays, but fitness is so much better also. We never used to have special diets for footballers, full of carbohydrates & energy boosting foods. Shanks would often encourage weak players to eat steak & drink guiness to build up their strength. Nowadays, players are monitored to ensure they don't overdo the junk food & drink.
So given all this is rotation really needed. Can Stevie really not play every game in the way Souness used to. Does Bellamy need to miss the Derby so he's fresh for 2 games in 6 games. Rushie wasn't rested, & never looked jaded.
Will Rafa's rotation policy cost us our chance to win the league or is it our only chance to win the league. Will we be still going strong come March & April whilst United & Chelsea's players are dead on their feet from playing to many games early on in the season. Or will we be so far behind come the spring that unless Chelsea do a Devon Lock, it doesn't matter how fresh we our, chelsea will be out of sight.
I don't have any magic answers. time will tell. If Rafa is right, it will be a true masterstroke. If he's not it will be a highly frustrating season, full of might have beens. Will we look back to the 1st few games & think Rafa blew it with his continued rotation or will saving SG & co mean us sprinting clear as tired minds & bodies catch Chelsea & Man U up.
My heart tells me Rafa is wrong. My head says otherwise. I'm not saying we'll win the league but despite the lessons of the past maybe we do need to continually rotate to bring no. 19 home.
thoughts please.
Until the mid 1990's the word rotation was never used in footballing terms. You never rested your best players. By & large you picked your best 11players if fit. At LFC, players regularly played 60 games in a season. Nobody suggested resting Keegan or Dalglish, Hansen or Hughes. Imagine telling Shanks you needed to miss a game because you felt tired.
This was in the days remember of 1 sub per team, were if you started a game, you generally finished it. You were unlikely to be subbed after 70 mins ( a la Crouch last season) to 'save' your energy for the next game. Travelling abroad is also much easier than in years gone by. In the 1970's & 80's trips to the old Eastern block were a nightmare. Nowadays even the more undeveloped European countries are a relative picnic to get to compared to Sofia, Kiev or Istanbul in the 70's & 80's.
Also players have never been fitter. The game is quicker nowadays, but fitness is so much better also. We never used to have special diets for footballers, full of carbohydrates & energy boosting foods. Shanks would often encourage weak players to eat steak & drink guiness to build up their strength. Nowadays, players are monitored to ensure they don't overdo the junk food & drink.
So given all this is rotation really needed. Can Stevie really not play every game in the way Souness used to. Does Bellamy need to miss the Derby so he's fresh for 2 games in 6 games. Rushie wasn't rested, & never looked jaded.
Will Rafa's rotation policy cost us our chance to win the league or is it our only chance to win the league. Will we be still going strong come March & April whilst United & Chelsea's players are dead on their feet from playing to many games early on in the season. Or will we be so far behind come the spring that unless Chelsea do a Devon Lock, it doesn't matter how fresh we our, chelsea will be out of sight.
I don't have any magic answers. time will tell. If Rafa is right, it will be a true masterstroke. If he's not it will be a highly frustrating season, full of might have beens. Will we look back to the 1st few games & think Rafa blew it with his continued rotation or will saving SG & co mean us sprinting clear as tired minds & bodies catch Chelsea & Man U up.
My heart tells me Rafa is wrong. My head says otherwise. I'm not saying we'll win the league but despite the lessons of the past maybe we do need to continually rotate to bring no. 19 home.
thoughts please.
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