Getting carried away

[Sarb]

rORotation works wonders when you're manager of the Mancs or Chavs when you've got players like Anelka, Cole, Hargreaves, Nani, Rooney, Scholes etc on the bench. All top quality and equally capable of doing the job like the starting 11. However, when you're rotating in players like Pennant, Yossi, Lucas, Voronin for the likes of Torres, Gerrard, Mascher etc, it don't quite cut it I'm afraid

Rotation works if you've got quality on the bench. We didn't have that and that's why it didn't work

[Craig_H]

That's mostly it yeah.

The lack of cohesion and loss of rhythm you get from changing half the team regularly doesnt help either.

[Nicey]

We have to have the eye of the ****ing tiger .. nobody is going to give us the title, 3 points or any kind of advantage, we have to earn it.

We must fear nobody and look to beat everyone, home and away. We must believe in ourself s, never give up, never surrender and know that we have what it takes.

All the way baby

[Craig_H]

I agree with you nicey, but my way of looking at it as we've got 14 points from 6 games and the focus should just be on having 17 from 7 games. Then it'll just be about having 20 from 8 games. And so on.

[Redspin]

We have been rotating this year too, and quite a lot. I don't have the stats but Rafa has been tinkling with the side. The difference now is that he has got the 'core' of players needed (the spine of the team) needed and he can rotate everyone else.

He still didn't rotate Torres too much last year. This year we've beaten United with a supposedly 'weaker' team and we've won. Maybe this has just given us the needed lift and confidence that we have been lacking.

Rafa now has the quality to replace Torres with Keane or Kuyt, and he's even let Crouch and Voronin go, so this must speak volumes.

As I said, it's not about rotation being less as it's a myth. Rotation is still key in this day and age. But we just have better players and rotation doesn't seem to be a problem because of that fact.

You're 100% correct. Unfortunately the media in general seem to believe that only Rafa "rotates". When Ferguson, Wenger etc do it it's called "resting players" or "playing the kids". It's a funny old game and no mistake!

[Vermilion]

which 4?

its only ever going to be one or two of rooney, tevez and Berbatov

With Ronaldo the ever present

He didn't expand on it, whether he included the Winker in this intent to Rotate i have no idea.. he just said ALL strikers regardless of how well they are playing, the winker being a winger sort of counts him out of the statement.

Your point of it only ever being one or two of the above 3 strikers, i think the main issue is that he's saying whether Berb, Roon or Tevez is playing well with a partner or alone he still intends to rotate, but i think your point is that rotation of this kind wont/shouldn't upset a winning side, it's hardly rotation on a big scale.yes?

And of course the proof is in the pudding, will he really split up a winning partnership, and if so how often, just for the sake of rotating them, we'll see.

[DannyMan2006]

I agree with you nicey, but my way of looking at it as we've got 14 points from 6 games and the focus should just be on having 17 from 7 games. Then it'll just be about having 20 from 8 games. And so on.

Correct. A draw against Man City or Wigan and a defeat away to Chelsea and suddenly we could be 5 points back on Chelsea and everyone is writing us off again.

It's a long season and only at the end will we find out if we are good enough or not. Even the above scenario would not meen curtains, it would just inject some realism into the club. Any team can have good spells during the season. Only the best go the whole season and come out smiling.

7 points out the next nine will have everyone happy methinks and would go a long way to making up for a missed chance at home to Stoke.

[Redspin]

Agreed. Not against the rotation idea at all. But your best players when on form need to play the matches. The spine of the team should stay constant at all opportunities, until they absolutely need a rest or are injured

So who's in the best position to decide if players "absolutely need a rest", you or Rafa? Perhaps you could email him to give him the nod that someone looks to have gone off the boil. I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He's so obviously an idiot who - alone - has no idea how to use his squad to the best effect. God knows why we pay him so much. All he needs to do is read this forum and it'll be much easier for him

[Shaggy]

[Guest]

rORotation works wonders when you're manager of the Mancs or Chavs when you've got players like Anelka, Cole, Hargreaves, Nani, Rooney, Scholes etc on the bench. All top quality and equally capable of doing the job like the starting 11. However, when you're rotating in players like Pennant, Yossi, Lucas, Voronin for the likes of Torres, Gerrard, Mascher etc, it don't quite cut it I'm afraid

Rotation works if you've got quality on the bench. We didn't have that and that's why it didn't work

[Guest]

So who's in the best position to decide if players "absolutely need a rest", you or Rafa? Perhaps you could email him to give him the nod that someone looks to have gone off the boil. I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He's so obviously an idiot who - alone - has no idea how to use his squad to the best effect. God knows why we pay him so much. All he needs to do is read this forum and it'll be much easier for him

[DannyMan2006]

So who's in the best position to decide if players "absolutely need a rest", you or Rafa? Perhaps you could email him to give him the nod that someone looks to have gone off the boil. I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He's so obviously an idiot who - alone - has no idea how to use his squad to the best effect. God knows why we pay him so much. All he needs to do is read this forum and it'll be much easier for him

Problem is, past history has shown that Rafa has over rested players. It is quite clear in the league that sometimes you need to just play them, tired or not, as opposed to sticking them on the bench every four games or so.

I think Rafa has learned his lesson now.

[Redspin]

which 4?

its only ever going to be one or two of rooney, tevez and Berbatov

With Ronaldo the ever present

Possibly, but Ronaldo was rotated - sorry, rested! - more often than Torres last season, for what it's worth - and you must know from reading the sage comments on here that Torres was rotated about every other game

[Craig_H]

So who's in the best position to decide if players "absolutely need a rest", you or Rafa? Perhaps you could email him to give him the nod that someone looks to have gone off the boil. I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He's so obviously an idiot who - alone - has no idea how to use his squad to the best effect. God knows why we pay him so much. All he needs to do is read this forum and it'll be much easier for him

You're obviously being silly here, as nobody said they're in a better position to decide who needs a rest than Rafa is.

The main point (nay, fact) is that this season has seen FAR less rotation than in the first 9 games of last season and we're doing very well.

Whether you choose to consider the fact that we're doing well as a consequence of less rotation, or mere coincidence, is down to you.

[Redspin]

rORotation works wonders when you're manager of the Mancs or Chavs when you've got players like Anelka, Cole, Hargreaves, Nani, Rooney, Scholes etc on the bench. All top quality and equally capable of doing the job like the starting 11. However, when you're rotating in players like Pennant, Yossi, Lucas, Voronin for the likes of Torres, Gerrard, Mascher etc, it don't quite cut it I'm afraid

Rotation works if you've got quality on the bench. We didn't have that and that's why it didn't work

Man U are more likely to have O'Shea, Fletcher and such similar dross on the bench than Rooney or Scholes. Fatboy was left out last weekend (rotated even!), but that's been a rarity. Ditto Scholes, who seems to be a favourite of Ferguson. Anelka seems to start more games than Drogba these days and Cole is first choice LB at Chelsea, so to chuck in disingenuous comparisons with our using Pennant etc is a bit pointless