Brentford (H) - Wed 17th Dec, 19:30 | EFL Cup | Pre-Match Thread

[pee dubya]

Think the question is who needs a rest? For me, the fullbacks, Nico G, Bernardo, Foden and Haaland. Obviously Trafford will play.

I think I'd go

Trafford, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, Ake, Lewis Reijnders, Cherki, Savinho, Bobb, Mukasa.

 

[mosssideblue]

Honestly, who cares

Plenty, especially those paying good money to attend

 

[Oldham Exile]

Plenty, especially those paying good money to attend

Yep - match going fans do give a fuck

 

[hertsblue]

Referee: Sam Barrott, the same cheat we just had for Newcastle away
No VAR apparently

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

Leverkusen team for this one.

Nico G needs the night off

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

Put out the XI he picked for the Leverkusen game. Maybe give some of the academy lads 15 or 20 minutes. Heskey, for example. I never want us to lose, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if we got knocked out.

Gotta take Nico G out of that XI - no idea who plays in there, it wouldn't be out of this world if it were Kalvin though

 

[JewelZee]

Put out the XI he picked for the Leverkusen game. Maybe give some of the academy lads 15 or 20 minutes. Heskey, for example. I never want us to lose, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if we got knocked out.

Marmoush, Ait Nouri, and Stones are not available from that match...

 

[JewelZee]

Think the question is who needs a rest? For me, the fullbacks, Nico G, Bernardo, Foden and Haaland. Obviously Trafford will play.

I think I'd go

Trafford, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, Ake, Lewis Reijnders, Cherki, Savinho, Bobb, Mukasa.

As good a D team as any...

 

[JGL07]

Fucking glad someone else is taking that view - fucking hell - we seem to be on the verge of being football snobs

2 matches away from a Wembley final !!!

Unfortunately it’s three matches with the two- legged semi-final.

 

[simmo]

As I was creating it, I typed in 20:00 before checking, just assumed.

Hopefully 19:30 doesn't catch any out!

Event on at Co-op live as well based on the info email sent out.

 

[deano ou812]

Referee: Sam Barrott, the same cheat we just had for Newcastle away
No VAR apparently

Hmmm no VAR what could go wrong..

 

[IronsideKozuch]

We need to rest O'Reilly, Haaland, Foden, Bernardo. Doku probably unavailable anyway. Obviously Trafford for Donna. You may stay with one of Dias/Gvardiol, I expect both Ake and Khusanov to start.

We need to rest Nico G. as well, but in a way Nico would be the toughest to replace atm. No Rodri, no Kovacic, no Stones. If no O'Reilly and Bernardo, then we have Rico Lewis and maybe Reijnders and Mukasa in the midfield, there are not many set ups left at all. I like all three players and all three gonna get better in the future, but atm Brentford could be better than this.

I would still do it. Our bench needs to be strong again, in good form. That won’t happen without playing time. We still definitely have the larger part of the season ahead of us. This match doesn’t carry extreme pressure too. We’ve shown recently that we can fight for all trophies, and some teams almost deliberately sacrifice the Carabao Cup from time to time.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

Gotta take Nico G out of that XI - no idea who plays in there, it wouldn't be out of this world if it were Kalvin though

Klein?

 

[Eaststander1]

It would be nice if Rodri was close.

That's probably as far as he will get from now on .... close !

 

[schfc6]

Would like to see Khusanov at centre back. Then whoever everywhere else.

 

[Ashton Moss Messi]

As I was creating it, I typed in 20:00 before checking, just assumed.

Hopefully 19:30 doesn't catch any out!

Especially the players!!

Strong-ish team to start, bench if/when in a good position.
This is a big chance for a trophy for Brentford and we should expect a strong start from them.
No point in playing a weak team, going 2 or 3 down and expecting the bench to rescue the game.

 

[Cigs&Alc]

Would love to rotate but there's also a trophy to win so I'm seeking a balance here.

Trafford
Lewis
Khusanov
Gvardiol
Ake
Nico
Reijnders
Mukasa
Cherki
Savinho
Haaland

Hate having to play Haaland.

I get why Pep wanted to cull the squad but we could really do with depth.

 

[bluemoonandmore]

We should absolutely in my opinion rest almost all of the first 11. The Leverkusen game was a gamble, it didn't go horribly wrong performance wise. It was just one of those days where mistakes were made and the substitutions could not quite make up for deficit. It is way too easy for people commenting to disregard recovery and increased injury risk, just because they want to watch a good game. We are on a good run now; let us not make another Tottenham H. mistake in the League cup like last season.

 

[Cigs&Alc]

We should absolutely in my opinion rest almost all of the first 11. The Leverkusen game was a gamble, it didn't go horribly wrong performance wise. It was just one of those days where mistakes were made and the substitutions could not quite make up for deficit. It is way too easy for people commenting to disregard recovery and increased injury risk, just because they want to watch a good game. We are on a good run now; let us not make another Tottenham H. mistake in the League cup like last season.

Resting our main XI against a side like Brentford is a bad idea imo. They're a cog and they'll be all in on this match. It's a trophy to win.

Resting halfish is the way to go imo. We can do some further rotation against West Ham before a weeks break.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Honestly, who cares

If it meant we had a season we win everything I'd certainly care.

A trophy is a trophy and we should have the talent to get through without needing the big boys.