Look, we can go back and forth all day with points and counterpoints, those are the reasons why I think Pep made the decisions he did, if you don't agree then that's that. I think the key fact is you saw it as a title decider whereas I didn't and still don't. I'm blissfully happy with how the season has gone and you won't be till the league is mathematically won, perhaps not even then.And as most people predicted & feared, we'd try hard, & fail miserably.
1. If the league is won, where's the trophy?
2. Our squad plays 3 games per week. When it was obvious we had little more to give, the very same players who 'needed a break', had their break interrupted to try & turn the game around.
3. Fine, if Kev was carrying a bump, we have other midfielders to step in. Who were in this 'many' carrying bumps?
4. The rest of the squad had the same opportunities to impress throughout the season. Are you seriously suggesting Pep should select players to save their feelings?
5. Why would our expected first eleven become complacent because they won the match which secured the double? It's not like it's the only title we've won in decades....
6. Fine, he didn't want to give heads up to Chelsea how we play. To find this out, all Chelsea have to do is watch reruns of MoTD, or our matches against Dortmund or PSG.
7. Fine. Secure the game first, & then experiment. This was a potential title decider, not a pre-season friendly.
8. Our players have had a season to justify their places in our biggest matches. Now is the business end of the season whereby the players who contributed the most to get us this far, should be trusted to finish the job. Pre-season the reset button is pressed, & they all start again from zero.
This ditty from the 80’s sprung to mind. Slightly modernised.This has got to be a wind up. For avoidance of doubt, the guy that has never "got" football has taken every single tropy seriously unlike some managers who i assume you will think "GET" English football. English football is just football like any other, that's why every fucking manager in the country is trying to play out the back and break the lines all of a sudden.
The greatest, and most influential manager that football has ever seen and he'll be an absolute fucking legend when he pack it in. But yeah, you keep going..
then so be it. that's football. what i'm and others are saying is just rotate maybe 5. we made 8 changes v a ten man Leeds and lost . what do we do ? rest NINE against a much better 11 man Chelsea. you'd learn your lesson wouldn't you ? being a genius and all that.And what if we'd gone with our first 11 and still lost?
There was a risk. We risked losing to an on form, buoyant Chelsea. With 24 hours less to prepare than us, they made 4 changes & won. We made 9 changes & lost. That was the risk cruelly exposed.There was no risk, we’ll still win the league. We don’t have the sports science information Pep has, we don’t know how much it would have been a risk to those players to play 4 days after PSG.
We will win the league this week those players will have a good 10 days to recover and stay fresh for the final thats the perfect scenario. The bigger risk was a hamstring pinging and 1 or more player missing the final a risk there was no need to take so we didn’t.
What about the edge they would have had if the full team had lost on Saturday because they were shattered from Tuesday's match?We may well have lost with the full team but Pep tried to be smart and it backfired in my eyes and other supporters.
However in the long run the damage isn't great.
Just don't get the full logic of his thinking, 1 game away from winning the league, surely pick the best team win the league, then rest. 9 changes, Ake and Mendy in and no midfield, it was carnage at times then you get Aguero arguing with Raz and then trying a party trick. It smacked of a testimonial at times. We shoot ourselves in the foot so many times still.
Don't underestimate the edge now Chelsea have over us in the final.
That's all I'm saying. I honestly thought we'd have learned more, & it would have suited us better to see how Raheem performed surrounded by a stronger team. The same for Laporte, Rodri, Cancelo & Fernandinho. However being 36, he deserved the day off regardless.I was hoping for mix and match. A team that could control the game and win.
There was a lot going on in that game. “The cards close to our chest” narrative could be a factor.
Of course, they can and they will watch our games and dissect them. But it is another to have experience so close to the final itself. And have video of that game.
One thing I hate btw. As at the very least it spoils one of the games as a spectacle.
I do think giving a big game to the squad players has its benefits. Giving them meaningless game time screams mistrust.
My overall thoughts. There are a lot of reasons for the changes.
And I would have done what you would have done and gone mix and match.
Exactly!this is me. rotate course , but 9 is a piss take. especially in the prem, against Chelsea and to wrap up the title . i'm still shaking my head. had we won he'd have 3 weeks to prepare for the final. they wouldn't ,they need to secure top 4.
The day I'll be satisfied is the day I'll be dead. We could have won the quadruple this season, & within a couple of days it would be pushed to the back of my mind, replaced by my hatred of international football, & the risk of serious injury to our players at the Euros, & the disruption it will cause to the beginning of next season.Look, we can go back and forth all day with points and counterpoints, those are the reasons why I think Pep made the decisions he did, if you don't agree then that's that. I think the key fact is you saw it as a title decider whereas I didn't and still don't. I'm blissfully happy with how the season has gone and you won't be till the league is mathematically won, perhaps not even then.
really ? i remember gifting the rags a league cup tie. they went on to win it. from there they win the Europa league with help from UEFA. it allowed them entry to the CL.When we add the PL and CL trophies to our collection,no one will even remember this game - chill the fuck out! ;-)
then so be it. that's football. what i'm and others are saying is just rotate maybe 5. we made 8 changes v a ten man Leeds and lost . what do we do ? rest NINE against a much better 11 man Chelsea. you'd learn your lesson wouldn't you ? being a genius and all that.
Seems you worry more about what they do than the success we have. I couldn’t give a toss if they win the Europa or a league cup. As long as we are doing better. Which we are, all because we have a better manager that manages his squad better than anyone else.really ? i remember gifting the rags a league cup tie. they went on to win it. from there they win the Europa league with help from UEFA. it allowed them entry to the CL.
all because we took the piss.
When we add the PL and CL trophies to our collection,no one will even remember this game - chill the fuck out! ;-)
Bill slates the lineup before every match. He’s an old fashioned let’s play the same side every game guy from another era when they used to play the same team Boxing Day and the day after.He knows what he's doing. We'd played a demanding game on a demanding heavy pitch a few days before. By the time of the Newcastle match we should have everyone recovered, rested and raring to go after a 10-day break. Then it's just a matter of keeping them rested but still match sharp with 50% rotation (assuming the league is won by then).
If we'd played the first 11 and lost, we'd have to keep playing them until it's won and that might have meant not having players in optimal condition for the final.
I don't always agree with Guardiola's team selections but I do on this occasion.
Far from assured when every Chelsea player in the CL final will have beaten Pep's City (most of them twice) and not one City player will have beaten Tuchel's Chelsea. That mental advantage will come into play, no question.
That's all I'm saying. I honestly thought we'd have learned more, & it would have suited us better to see how Raheem performed surrounded by a stronger team. The same for Laporte, Rodri, Cancelo & Fernandinho. However being 36, he deserved the day off regardless.
There's your 4 changes, plus a potential 3 more as substitutes. That to me would have made more sense & lifted me as one of the fringe players trying to get in before the final.
If I'm selected to play with the current preferred team, it would have spurred me on waaaaay more than being selected for the 'B team' 3 weeks away from the final. At least then I'd be thinking I had a genuine chance to impress & be in that CL Final starting 11.
Haha!Far from assured when every Chelsea player in the CL final will have beaten Pep's City (most of them twice) and not one City player will have beaten Tuchel's Chelsea. That mental advantage will come into play, no question.
That doesn’t fit the media narrative and the narrative of the wums, weak and drainingly negative on here.They have not beaten anything like our normal 11. There really is no advantage to them.
In fact, I'd say that if any team has an advantage, then it's us. We've had a good look at them and a chance to try a few things out to see what might work and what doesn't. Our players are also be more likely to be at optimal physical condition. Oh and the small matter that we're an overall better team than they are IMO.