Squad rotation for the run in.

[Centurions]

...
You make a very big mistake if you start a season of 60 games and plan to play your strongest side every game. That is the road to disaster. It is called the Anfield road and its disciple is Jurgen Klopp.
...

Not true as Liverpool deliberately throw the domestic cup games to reduce the workload. They then play their best 11 relentlessly in the PL & CL until the 3rd season in when they all look shattered or have recurring injuries all season.

It used to be that you'd get punished for not respecting the domestic cup games but that's long gone.

We want to win every single game in every single competition, and even in a normal season that means rotation. This season we need to heavily rotate and anyone who thinks we don't need to and can just start the same 11 in every game is a buffoon.

 

[balotellishaircut]

It is what I affectionately call 'Big Game Pep'.
In the FA cup / CL games against teams that are 'so so good' and now the league Derbies Pep does random shit, changes the way we play and 9/10 games we lose.

Fascinating how the team are tired, he makes 8 changes and then only makes 2/5 subs.

I just hope Pep doesn't see the Villa game as a big game because if he does in the space of 10 days our lead will be down to 5 points.

Don’t you mean I hope he does see the game against Villa as a big game ?

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

Don’t you mean I hope he does see the game against Villa as a big game ?

No I mean I hope he doesn't.

If he sees it as a big game he will change something tactically which will fuck the team and see us drop points.

 

[Danamy]

There's no way he would've made as many changes if the game was today, he said himself before the game he wishes he had the extra day with there only being 2 1/2 days recovery from Dortmund with travel. I firmly believe he'll go strong against Villa on Wednesday and injuries aside not so many changes next Sunday due to having that extra day.

I'm not sure some people realise what goes on behind the scenes with the science on body recovery and performance, they're trained athletes to perform at the highest level, their bodies are required to peak at game time but much like a racehorse if it's overun then it won't perform at its peak.

Without doubt Chelsea were better than us yesterday and deserved to win but they've not been playing every 3 days the best part of all season like us and if they played Wednesday I'm sure they would've struggled like we did.

 

[Blue Til Death]

Look where Liverpool got by playing the strongest side every week. Quickly blown up and exhausted.

You need to see the bigger picture and the demands of the toughest season ever.

I’ve looked at the bigger picture mate, I’ve no issue with rotation per se, I just have an issue with the side picked for the game yesterday, it was unbalanced, unprepared and uninterested .. I don’t expect that from my team and when I see it, it distresses me a lot... Chelsea deserved to win but they didn’t do a lot to achieve that, that’s on Pep and the team he picked...

It’s just my opinion, changing 8 players before a big game was always going to be a challenge, especially when they fail to step up .. That level of rotation isn’t good for the balance of the team and it showed yesterday, I’d say that’s arguably our worst performance in 3 seasons ..

Pep is a genius and our squad are amazing, I love em, I will express my opinion on them though, if they don’t put a shift in, that’s what fans do isn’t it??

ps.. I agree about the dippers but it took them 3 seasons to blow up not 8 weeks...

 

[jayblue]

There's no way he would've made as many changes if the game was today, he said himself before the game he wishes he had the extra day with there only being 2 1/2 days recovery from Dortmund with travel. I firmly believe he'll go strong against Villa on Wednesday and injuries aside not so many changes next Sunday due to having that extra day.

I'm not sure some people realise what goes on behind the scenes with the science on body recovery and performance, they're trained athletes to perform at the highest level, their bodies are required to peak at game time but much like a racehorse if it's overun then it won't perform at its peak.

Without doubt Chelsea were better than us yesterday and deserved to win but they've not been playing every 3 days the best part of all season like us and if they played Wednesday I'm sure they would've struggled like we did.

Haven't chelsea only played 2 or 3 less games than us ?

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

There's no way he would've made as many changes if the game was today, he said himself before the game he wishes he had the extra day with there only being 2 1/2 days recovery from Dortmund with travel. I firmly believe he'll go strong against Villa on Wednesday and injuries aside not so many changes next Sunday due to having that extra day.

I'm not sure some people realise what goes on behind the scenes with the science on body recovery and performance, they're trained athletes to perform at the highest level, their bodies are required to peak at game time but much like a racehorse if it's overun then it won't perform at its peak.

Without doubt Chelsea were better than us yesterday and deserved to win but they've not been playing every 3 days the best part of all season like us and if they played Wednesday I'm sure they would've struggled like we did.

This argument would hold up if Pep used substitutions properly.

Yesterday he made 2/5 subs. At Dortmund the game was over after 75 mins. I seem to remember him making 1 sub around the 90th min. He could of made 5 but chose not to. I'd be really interested to see how many times he has used all his subs this season. I'd be surprised if it's over 20% of games.

 

[robbieh]

There is a reason we have virtually annexed the League Cup this last decade and especially recently. Lots of clubs no longer take it seriously whatever division they are in. They may be prioritising promotion or avoiding relegation. Our PL rivals like us play second string sides. We have a better second string than most. The FA Cup is taken a bit more seriously by the big sides but often lower division sides prioritise.
My point? These cups are not what they once were. I´d have liked to win the FA Cup as we have a relatively poor record in it since the takeover. The Carabao not that bothered.

The manager, owner, staff and players want to win the Champion´s League. So we will be playing our best team on the 28th of April. It follows that nest Sunday we will not.

The question is what sort of team do we play against the Villa. To a certain extent it depends on whether United win today. If they don`t we have a bit more room for manoevre.

Having said that I think the Villa game should be a dress rehearsal for the CL. Play our best team, hopefully get 3 points, then give the majority of them a week´s rest.

 

[Keeper!]

There is a reason we have virtually annexed the League Cup this last decade and especially recently. Lots of clubs no longer take it seriously whatever division they are in. They may be prioritising promotion or avoiding relegation. Our PL rivals like us play second string sides. We have a better second string than most. The FA Cup is taken a bit more seriously by the big sides but often lower division sides prioritise.
My point? These cups are not what they once were. I´d have liked to win the FA Cup as we have a relatively poor record in it since the takeover. The Carabao not that bothered.

The manager, owner, staff and players want to win the Champion´s League. So we will be playing our best team on the 28th of April. It follows that nest Sunday we will not.

The question is what sort of team do we play against the Villa. To a certain extent it depends on whether United win today. If they don`t we have a bit more room for manoevre.

Having said that I think the Villa game should be a dress rehearsal for the CL. Play our best team, hopefully get 3 points, then give the majority of them a week´s rest.

Strongest 11 for Villa, a must win game, next Sunday a very weakened team.

 

[knuckles]

Haven't chelsea only played 2 or 3 less games than us ?

Yes and they played their chumps league match in Seville not at home so they had similar travel to us, 24 hours is a long time in terms of recovery but these players are elite athletes - I just compare with elite athletes from other sports and I don't get why you wouldn't play the best team knowing you can make 5 changes. I still just think it was a combination of to many player changes with to many out of form players trying to play in the shite double pivot formation that we played at the start of the season.