Harry's small squad

Big Bad Brad,

If Kaboul had stayed injury free, then i imagine he would have deputised for Walker, so Corluka would not have made the bench in that scenario.

There's too many ifs & ands for any human being to know, without the use of a crystal ball.

We cant keep all our loanee players, as half of them wouldnt even get near the fringe of the fringe-squad.

And how could Harry have known we would need Pienaar when we were doing fine up until the January TW, Pienaar hadn't featured much before then & even when he did, he had a shocker (& we were moaning about him not being good enough - although now we're claiming he could have won us 2 league places)?

As i said before (& i'll say it again) there is never a good time to rest your best players. If we had rested them throughout the season (beginning, middle & now) & we dropped points, we'd all be going mad.

Even with the benefit of hindsight, i'm not sure i could name a game i would have rested either Bale, Modric, VdV, Walker, BAE, Parker or anyone else, let-alone without it.

So, no-one's heard of this supposed Harry-Livermore bust-up (maybe I imagined reading about it)?

Brad - Corluka wanted regular first team action, or to leave. There was no choice on that one I don't think to be fair A real shame for me as not only could he play CB too (last resort) I always really rated him, and he was brilliant in tandem with Lennon.

Chicken - 5 CBs is fair enough (two of whom can adequately cover respective FB positions) imo. Three of them being aged perma-crocks though is absolute madness, plain and simple.

kimchi,

I take on board your point about our perma-crocked CB's, and this is probably the only argument for the fact we should have held onto Bassong, as he's always sprightly & fit.

Has our problem been in defence though (other than goalkeeper issues, of course)?

Chicken - I get the feeling we've been here before..

Seriously though, the comparison with United's players and our own is as clear as it's going to get. It's easy to blame the other stuff going on a round the squad but I can't (and won't) believe that our players don't care about our recent run.

The only sensible conclusion is that largely they're knackered, this is backed up by the numbers.

With regards to "picking a game" to rest one or two.. why do we assume it's going to be a bad thing? Bale only got into the team thanks to an injury to BAE.

Players aren't given a chance to prove their ability, how can we expect them to bust a gut in the token 5 minutes they're given every other week? Chances are they won't be fit and they'll try too hard.

Maybe this is what separates the talented mangers from the great ones. Could a Rodgers or Moyes handle it? Benitez drove Liverpool mad in the end but he won the CL with a terrible squad

Well just to take Bassong, he did brilliantly for us his first half a season. Never looked like a first choice when all were fit, and can't have expected to be from the off, but did very, very well when he came in. He was much fancied also by City and Arsenal (as a prospect) supposedly, and I think he proved in his early time with us why he was.

Fast-forward to the next season and he was suddenly a bit shoddy, and six months later he was pretty dreadful, confidence shot to pieces, looked like he didn't trust himself.

So go things when you are in one of Harry's Spurs squads but not a first-pick imo - Harry doesn't trust you, lets you know (via the press often as not), what does that do to your form when you do get precious minutes on the pitch? Bassong's shown he cares with his rallying-call to the Wolves boys, and from that first half a season (never seen him before that, I only have eyes for Spurs) he obviously has talent.

Who signed him? Harry. Who failed to get him a few minutes on the pitch (you know, just to keep a regular and very useful squad player 'in the mix', interested, and match-fit) when others came back from injury? Harry. Who broke his confidence, basically let him know he wasn't good enough, and then shipped him out? You guessed it.

And, it's not just Bassong, is it?

Basically you need a squad these days (I would have thought last season's CL showed that), you need players in and around that first team who think that if they sweat blood and tears and perform when they get on the pitch they might actually be considered (see Defoe) and you need a manager who doesn't alienate not only his fringe and squad players but (apparently) half his first team too. It's not rocket science.

Bottom line: Fergie has set the bar for decades now. He is not afraid of using his squad or unable to motivate them, they all play for him (mostly - and those that don't are quickly shown the door). Harry has shown he can't. The next manager we have will need to, or there won't be league success, let alone anything in the cups (which under Harry we have been useless at).

Who has been Utd's most important player this season? Scholes (not sure how much debate there is to be had there). Does he play every game? No. In the games he doesn't start does he come in if needed? Yes.

So, why the feck should Luka have to start and finish every single game he's fit for? He shouldn't, and there was talk much earlier this season of him feeling he was carrying too much responsibility for the team, and that he was a bit sick of it. I'm not surprised, and I don't blame him.

Someone made an excellent point on here that for players like Luka it's not just physical strength it's mental. I'd suggest it's also the 'burden'. And while some players like VDV seem to thrive on being relied upon, others don't.

Right, a few points there Now off to enjoy the Chelsea game

Excellent post kimchi, I couldn't agree more.

If only Harry could read

Bale's - agree with everything you wrote

Haha Bale's, we cross-posted, we'll have to stop that or people will think one (or both?!) of us are schizophrenics sitting here with two laptops and talking to and agreeing with each other

Cheers lads, it's good to have a healthy debate as ever, love it (it's why I still come here). Peace and (Chelsea) out!

kimchi

I'm definitely not schizophrenic.. are we?

C'mon Barca!

Bãle's

Chicken - I get the feeling we've been here before..

With regards to "picking a game" to rest one or two.. why do we assume it's going to be a bad thing? Bale only got into the team thanks to an injury to BAE.

==================

Yes, this discussion has done the rounds more than once.

I'm not saying resting players is a bad thing but when do you do it?

As i say, even with the benefit of hindsight i cant pinpoint a game (or games) where i can say, we should have played Rose instead of BAE in that one, Townsend instead of Bale in that one & Pienaar/Kranjcar instead of Modric in that one.

To make this point simpler to answer, who would you drop against Blackburn, Bale, Modric, BAE? I want our strongest XI which for me, includes all of these players.

So the question is, what would your team be on Sunday, bearing in mind you are suggesting we should rest some first XI players because they are knackered?