danny123 said:When we played in the Champions League group games, we started with Kolarov and Zabaleta and I know at the time, many people were crying out for why Richards and Clichy didn't start those games. It was definitely possible for Zab and Kolarov to play in the Premier League games before the Champions League game and then play Micah and Clichy in the CL games. I feel that Mancini has now recognised this and due to playing Porto on Thursday, we will now play our strongest full backs which will make us look better in my opinion.
FantasyIreland said:It annoys me.We are a far better,more fluid and threatening side with our first choice fullbacks as they are simply better footballers and offer us far more creative options.
Had they played,our goal difference could have improved by a greater margin and i would have some fingernails left .....
Nelly's Left Foot said:FantasyIreland said:It annoys me.We are a far better,more fluid and threatening side with our first choice fullbacks as they are simply better footballers and offer us far more creative options.
Had they played,our goal difference could have improved by a greater margin and i would have some fingernails left .....
Not 100% sure if we have first choice full backs! Most might think it's Micah and Clichy but the manager has rung the changes so often it's not easy to tell.
I assume he changes them as they do so much work up and down the line (more than other positions?) and he thinks they need resting but maybe it's not just that and he plays the ones he thinks are best suited to the opposition.Or are they all as good as each other in their roles
FantasyIreland said:It annoys me.We are a far better,more fluid and threatening side with our first choice fullbacks as they are simply better footballers and offer us far more creative options.
Had they played,our goal difference could have improved by a greater margin and i would have some fingernails left .....[/quote
Stating Clichy is better defensively than Kolarov is fair enough. But creatively. Clichy doesn't offer a fraction offensively in comparison to Kolarov.
dctid said:citymad said:why Kolarov was chosen instead of Clichy ? Zabba for Micah i can sort've understand because both are decent full backs but the difference in quality between C and K is pretty obvious. I can only think it was because Clichy was carrying a knock. I know Nasri had injured his groin last week so he was used sparingly. Overall though I though the midfield was a safe choice, both Nige and Barry did an outstanding job in breaking up play to allow Silva to roam about and rule the roost. Obviously Bobby got it right in the end because we won but I cant get my head around this rotation for left back.
Rotation
The reason we have had few injuries this season is because of Manvini's rotation policy
Nasri did not start because he was unwell
Gotta keep the squad happy and rely on the big players to pull you through - Rags have been doing it for years. Personally the "we get better in the second half of the season" is bollocks - Rags have always had a decent and large squad so when injuries / tiredness or whatever starts kicking in as the new year starts they are able to replace quality players with quality players - many other teams aint so for me its not that the rags get better its the fact that many many teams get worse because they are unable to replace players with similar quality.
Its a squad game