Squad rotation for the run in.

[handsofstone]

We had to rotate

Yea Pep maybe rotated too much but we have a huge squad....he probably wanted to see if those out of form/fitness could play themselves back into the picture

Don't care about the FA Cup, it's a better one to win than the league Cup (which we will likely win) but all focus should be on the ECL and Prem

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

Sterling can't see himself out his front door at the moment but I get your drift

Sterling needs dropping from the 18 until the end of the season but let's not get started on that!

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

I still think Torres is much better down the middle, the few things he did do yesterday was in and around the box, he will come good but with little game time it's hard for him to gain momentum, much like Sane first season with us

it’s too important to risk him now. I agree it doesn’t help throwing him in when we make 7 and 8 changes but we can’t gamble on him at the moment. Pre season and next season he can play more.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

We had to rotate

Yea Pep maybe rotated too much but we have a huge squad....he probably wanted to see if those out of form/fitness could play themselves back into the picture

Don't care about the FA Cup, it's a better one to win than the league Cup (which we will likely win) but all focus should be on the ECL and Prem

The only good thing to come out of it was that the same players have now let him down 2 games on the bounce so he will surely be clear in his mind on who he can trust at the business end of the season.

 

[John Wayne]

I understand that the cups meaning has diminished. I also understand that they are behind the league and CL in priority. If that is the case then play the kids and get knocked out early.

You don't talk all season about winning everything and essentially throw the FA semi and league cup final. If the fact has only just been realised that everything comes to a head in April/May this season we must be run by a bunch of clowns

I don't think City/Pep have talked about winning everything but they have tried to put us in contention in all competitions so that we can prioritise when the time comes around. Yesterday we fielded a team that cost nearly £500m, so it should not have performed as poorly as it did. Regardless however, we were still able to rest 8 first-teamers.

Had we been knocked out of Europe in the last 16, for instance, then yesterday would have had greater priority. We also have to factor in the unusually late date for the League Cup final being played at a crunch time.

It’s a squad game but unfortunately our squad isn't good enough to win all four competitions. What I do know is that if we're taking the domestic cups lightly, it means we're going great guns in the other competitions.

 

[handsofstone]

The only good thing to come out of it was that the same players have now let him down 2 games on the bounce so he will surely be clear in his mind on who he can trust at the business end of the season.

Agree with this

Think its pretty clear from the Dortmund selection compared to the Leeds/Chelsea game who our best XI is

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

I don't think City/Pep have talked about winning everything but they have tried to put us in contention in all competitions so that we can prioritise when the time comes around. Yesterday we fielded a team that cost nearly £500m, so it should not have performed as poorly as it did. Regardless however, we were still able to rest 8 first-teamers.

Had we been knocked out of Europe in the last 16, for instance, then yesterday would have had greater priority. We also have to factor in the unusually late date for the League Cup final being played at a crunch time.

It’s a squad game but unfortunately our squad isn't good enough to win all four competitions. What I do know is that if we're taking the domestic cups lightly, it means we're going great guns in the other competitions.

I'm not sure why you have quoted the cost of the 11 from yesterday. I don't think anybody on this forum believes Mendy is worth £50 never mind £50mil.

Like I said earlier if you are prioritising the PL and CL why are you not getting knocked out earlier. The calendar is set before the start of the season. It doesn't sneak up on you. If you are throwing the league cup do it in October so you don't have to play another 4 or 5 games

 

[BolinCell]

Catch 22 next weekend. Fooked if you do, fooked if you don't. If you know what mean. :-)

 

[John Wayne]

I'm not sure why you have quoted the cost of the 11 from yesterday. I don't think anybody on this forum believes Mendy is worth £50 never mind £50mil.

Like I said earlier if you are prioritising the PL and CL why are you not getting knocked out earlier. The calendar is set before the start of the season. It doesn't sneak up on you. If you are throwing the league cup do it in October so you don't have to play another 4 or 5 games

Because we don't know early on in the season what will happen so we pick a team that we think is going to win the game. We don't know in October that we're going to arrive at this point of the season going well in all four competitions. If we're not doing well in the league then we fall back on the domestic cups. It's an insurance policy, like it was last season. This time, Pep feels he doesn't have to use his insurance policy hence why he rotated heavily and probably will against Spurs.

The relevance of the cost of the team is that it shows our second string should be strong enough to be competitive and the need to put out youngsters is negated. On yesterday's evidence, you'd think again.

 

[jrb]

Before I get called a Rag. You know I’m not a Rag.

The Rags don’t make wholesale changes like we do. They’ve not had as many games as we have, but they aren’t that far off. They also play on a Thursday in the EL.

The Leeds United game was a warning to Pep that the current ’squad of players’ aren’t capable of beating other teams who play their 1st team players. So Pep once again makes wholesale changes to the team that beat Dortmund, and brings in the same players who failed to beat Leeds, and no surprise, City got beat by Chelsea. When you make 6,7, 8 changes to a team it completely disrupts a settled and winning team.

I appreciate Pep has to make some changes. But resting Foden is baffling. He’s young, fit, at the top of his game, and hasn’t played all season. The same with Zenchinko, who has only just got his place back.

Once again we had no creativity or attack in midfield. When you take out Gundogan, Mahrez, Silva, and Foden, and you replace them with Fern, a defensive midfielder, Torress, who doesn’t get game time, and when he does is pretty ineffective, and Sterling, who has completely lost form, the team struggles once again.

Like any City fans I can take defeat. Sometimes other team is just better on the day. Which doesn’t happen very often against City. But yesterday was another horror show from the squad players who got another chance. No doubt they all complain that they don’t get game time, and aren’t in the regular starting 11. The result and performances against Leeds and Chelsea tells them exactly why they aren’t regulars and starters in the starting 11.

So where does Pep go from here? Does he play his first team and the players he rusts for the rest of the season, or does he take another risky gamble and make more wholesale changes for some of the remaining games left? Because if Pep does, anymore performances like Leeds and Chelseawill cost us the Carabo Cup, the PL title(god forbid) and the CL.