If we could have turned 6 of 13 draws into wins...

[Craig_H]

I wouldn’t mind 5-8 or even 11 changes in the cups. I think that’s what we as supporters need to come to terms with and hopefully Rafa will too. Our strongest teams in the CL and PL and the kids in the cups. I don’t really care if we get knocked out of the FA cup at home to Barnsley if we are genuinely challenging for the league.

[DeeTheDog]

Not simple enough for some of us, clearly...

What if i write it down on paper and send it to you?

Why have you adopted and an agressive and rude tone?

What exactly was your point again? You recall hearing during matches, commentators say that Rafa has made 5-8 changes and thus proves the point that Rafa over rotates. Please if you can send this highly thoughout dissertation on paper to me, I may be able to finally grasp it.

[Craig_H]

Why have you adopted and an agressive and rude tone?

What exactly was your point again? You recall hearing during matches, commentators say that Rafa has made 5-8 changes and thus proves the point that Rafa over rotates. Please if you can send this highly thoughout dissertation on paper to me, I may be able to finally grasp it.

When a commentator discusses the amount of changes made to the side, they're not making it up are they?

I've heard that on numerous occasions this season and that, to me, is over excessive.

[Pacman]

I think it's oh so easy to blame rotation.

Rafa may have to take the blame for some of these draws but it's easy for us to sit behind our desks and point the finger. Collectively Liverpool under performed this season both on and off the pitch. Draws at home to the likes of Wigan and Brum aren't good enough and tbh it doesn't matter who Rafa puts out our squad should be beating these kinds of teams easily. Also we don't know the the physical condition of players that he left out.

[The Birdman]

Ah the rotation debate.
Here's some facts for you, we rotate roughly the same as the Mancs and Chelsea, the difference is we don't bring in the same quality of player so our results suffer more than theirs.
If we didn't rotate then come the end of the season eveyone would be on their last legs, see how Villa, Arsenal and Everton to name 3 have suffered because either they don't have the squad to make changes or chose not to.
If you compete for 4 trophys and have a squad packed full of international players then they have to be rested.
If you don't like rotation go and support another club because whoever is in charge of a top team these days rotates.

[Scratch]

When a commentator discusses the amount of changes made to the side, they're not making it up are they?

I've heard that on numerous occasions this season and that, to me, is over excessive.

Depends if these matches came after cup matches etc,,,if we played a carling cup match followed by a televised league match, and the commentator sayed "5/6 changes to the line-up" then who gives a monkeys? It's all context.

You're better off finding all these examples that you keep talking about for Dee (and me, cos i'd be interested too) of 5/6 changes and then look at the fixtures directly either side of them, otherwise your argument, whilst factually accurate, still falls flat when put into the context of real life.

[carlton]

On RAWK someone has done the maths and worked out that we dropped 7 pts out of the last 39 (13 games) and 19 pts in the middle 1/3 of the season (13 games), including the devastating Xmas/New Year period where we really screwed up bad. To finish the sequence we dropped 12 out of the first 36 pts. Finishing strongly as we did obviously supports Rafa's theory of keeping players fresh but next season he has to play his strongest formation as often as possible in the league and keep the rotations to a minimum. The sort of rotation rafa persists with probably only works when you have the depth and quality in the squad the likes of which we dont have at the moment but Chelsea and Man U do.

Buying a couple of quality players rather boosting the squad becomes all the more important and given the quality and performance of the reserves this year Im not sure we need to build a bigger squad. What we need in our new additions, as has been pointed out, is players who have quality and impact and less rotation of our key players.

[Craig_H]

Ah the rotation debate.
Here's some facts for you, we rotate roughly the same as the Mancs and Chelsea, the difference is we don't bring in the same quality of player so our results suffer more than theirs.
If we didn't rotate then come the end of the season eveyone would be on their last legs, see how Villa, Arsenal and Everton to name 3 have suffered because either they don't have the squad to make changes or chose not to.
If you compete for 4 trophys and have a squad packed full of international players then they have to be rested.
If you don't like rotation go and support another club because whoever is in charge of a top team these days rotates.

Point me in the direction of when Man Utd and Chelsea have made 8 changes from one game to the next.

Trouble is, they dont do that.

[Craig_H]

On RAWK someone has done the maths and worked out that we dropped 7 pts out of the last 39 (13 games) and 19 pts in the middle 1/3 of the season (13 games), including the devastating Xmas/New Year period where we really screwed up bad. To finish the sequence we dropped 12 out of the first 36 pts. Finishing strongly as we did obviously supports Rafa's theory of keeping players fresh but next season he has to play his strongest formation as often as possible in the league and keep the rotations to a minimum. The sort of rotation rafa persists with probably only works when you have the depth and quality in the squad the likes of which we dont have at the moment but Chelsea and Man U do.

Buying a couple of quality players rather boosting the squad becomes all the more important and given the quality and performance of the reserves this year Im not sure we need to build a bigger squad. What we need in our new additions, as has been pointed out, is players who have quality and impact and less rotation of our key players.

There's nothing to be gained by being fresher near the end of the season, if you're out of the title race by then. What's the use of having fresh players when you've been out of the race for 4 months?

And if we dont have the players to carry out the sort of rotation that Rafa persists with, then he shouldnt bloody persist with it.

It's like not having a vehicle, and trying to run a minicab service

[Guest]

We've rotated quite heavily during the last 3 months and we've had only 2 defeats, against United and Chelsea. 'Heavy rotation' like Rafa does, works and that's a FACT.

It's just that others have slightly better squads.

[Craig_H]

We've rotated quite heavily during the last 3 months and we've had only 2 defeats, against United and Chelsea. 'Heavy rotation' like Rafa does, works and that's a FACT.

It's just that others have slightly better squads.

So constant disruption of the rhythm of the team is now a good thing...

I've heard it all

Or will this be another turkey of yours, which you'll later claim was a joke?

[El Jefecito]

So constant disruption of the rhythm of the team is now a good thing...

I've heard it all

Or will this be another turkey of yours, which you'll later claim was a joke?

How much was due to rotation and how much due to the formation? Seems we rotated within a 4231 much better than 442, no?

[Guest]

So constant disruption of the rhythm of the team is now a good thing...

I've heard it all

Or will this be another turkey of yours, which you'll later claim was a joke?

Constant disruption of team rhythm !? Is it a new way of scientifically analysing football or do you watch Sky Sports too much ?

[Craig_H]

Constant disruption of team rhythm !? Is it a new way of scientifically analysing football or do you watch Sky Sports too much ?

A settled side, with consistency and an established way of playing, will perform better.

When you chop and change it frequently, you disrupt the consistency and stability, which lessens your chances of success.

You'll argue that we dont play in red, next... :yawn:

[Craig_H]

How much was due to rotation and how much due to the formation? Seems we rotated within a 4231 much better than 442, no?

Which ever way it's dressed up, constantly disrupting the stability of any team will have a negative impact.