Liverpool (H) - Carabao Cup 4th Round - Thu 22nd Dec, 20:00 | Pre-Match Thread

[Kippaxpete]

I think his point is there's also an argument that the man who's won four Premier League titles, three Bundesliga titles, and three La Liga titles as a manager might know what he's doing.

And I thought it was only the Pope who was infallible.

 

[supercity88]

I tried to defend our international players having the break before coming back, however after seeing that Wilson & Trippier started tonight for Newcastle then I’m slightly perplexed as to why players like Phillips, Grealish and Walker aren’t back with the squad to be available for Thursday. Mental.

It's a different context for Newcastle though. They don't have European football so play less across the season anyway. The break isn't as necessary. We play until June. There's a lot of football to come and a week to rest and recover from the mental pressure of a World Cup is probably a good thing. If this wasn't Liverpool I wouldn't give a shit. We're better out of the league cup in my opinion, it's the bottom of the pile in terms of things you want to win and we've got a tough enough schedule as it is. With it being Liverpool I want to win it, because I despise them. We still might. Maybe they'll be fresh but lacking match sharpness and the few World Cup players we have back will be in better competitive shape to drag us through...or maybe not. They might put out a weakened team to prioritise the league. They play again on Monday away at Villa then Friday at home to Leicester then the following Monday away at Brentford and they're 7pts off 4th. We've got another week until our league game at Leeds so we've got more opportunity to build towards that.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I think Laporte will also play, but other than that presume that will be the team. None of the others are even back in training yet, so can't see them being involved.

Genuinely seems bizarre to me. Some of the players not back yet barely featured in Qatar, and Portugal and England, the two biggest users of City players, both got knocked out 11 days ago. I can only assume the extended break has been sanctioned with an eye on the nasty run of fixtures coming up in January.
A team with that kind of lack of pace/legs though, is likely to get overrun by Liverpool. Not expecting anything out of tonight tbh, bar getting a few miles in the legs of those that didn’t go to the WC

 

[asahartford1]

It's a different context for Newcastle though. They don't have European football so play less across the season anyway. The break isn't as necessary. We play until June. There's a lot of football to come and a week to rest and recover from the mental pressure of a World Cup is probably a good thing. If this wasn't Liverpool I wouldn't give a shit. We're better out of the league cup in my opinion, it's the bottom of the pile in terms of things you want to win and we've got a tough enough schedule as it is. With it being Liverpool I want to win it, because I despise them. We still might. Maybe they'll be fresh but lacking match sharpness and the few World Cup players we have back will be in better competitive shape to drag us through...or maybe not. They might put out a weakened team to prioritise the league. They play again on Monday away at Villa then Friday at home to Leicester then the following Monday away at Brentford and they're 7pts off 4th. We've got another week until our league game at Leeds so we've got more opportunity to build towards that.

You are suggesting that elite managers and football clubs actually plan ahead. That they try to maximise players fitness and well being. Do you really think that they plan up to a month ahead and manage the minutes to prevent injury. -)

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Genuinely seems bizarre to me. Some of the players not back yet barely featured in Qatar, and Portugal and England, the two biggest users of City players, both got knocked out 11 days ago. I can only assume the extended break has been sanctioned with an eye on the nasty run of fixtures coming up in January.
A team with that kind of lack of pace/legs though, is likely to get overrun by Liverpool. Not expecting anything out of tonight tbh, bar getting a few miles in the legs of those that didn’t go to the WC

It will be a miracle if we win tonight! Especially as we play tomorrow :-)

 

[supercity88]

You are suggesting that elite managers and football clubs actually plan ahead. That they try to maximise players fitness and well being. Do you really think that they plan up to a month ahead and manage the minutes to prevent injury. -)

Pep always says it's about focussing on the next game but I reckon they might look beyond that occasionally yes ;)

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

It will be a miracle if we win tonight! Especially as we play tomorrow :-)

Ha ha, I’m half asleep!

 

[Jesus H Gabz]

It's a different context for Newcastle though. They don't have European football so play less across the season anyway. The break isn't as necessary. We play until June. There's a lot of football to come and a week to rest and recover from the mental pressure of a World Cup is probably a good thing. If this wasn't Liverpool I wouldn't give a shit. We're better out of the league cup in my opinion, it's the bottom of the pile in terms of things you want to win and we've got a tough enough schedule as it is. With it being Liverpool I want to win it, because I despise them. We still might. Maybe they'll be fresh but lacking match sharpness and the few World Cup players we have back will be in better competitive shape to drag us through...or maybe not. They might put out a weakened team to prioritise the league. They play again on Monday away at Villa then Friday at home to Leicester then the following Monday away at Brentford and they're 7pts off 4th. We've got another week until our league game at Leeds so we've got more opportunity to build towards that.

Think I’ve just overdosed on sensibility

 

[JRockBlues]

Thinking that the extra time some of our players are getting before they return to the club is more of a mental refresh rather than a physical one. As has been mooted, some of them didn't play that much. However, they were still part of squads and had to be ready to perform at the highest stage just in case they were needed. If they weren't used much then that will also take a toll.

 

[Esox Blue]

Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo, Rodri, Philips, Silva, Grealish, Alvarez, Foden. Plus Laporte.
Tidy team unavailable. Shows our strength in depth.