JoeTerp wrote:Torres has been injured for much of the season and somehow we still score more goals than all the other teams
Lando_Griffin wrote:The Chelsea result was down to the fact that we're concentrating on the league, and Chelsea played above themselves.
Let's not forget that we've beaten them twice this season. And Man Utd.
GOAT wrote:You say we're some way off being as good as ARSENAL??
The Good Yank wrote:I think it's just a matter of depth. Is it reasonable to expect the top notch performances for a solid month from the same starting XI, on two fronts, and not expect there to be a drop off?
This club has shown to a great extent that they can beat the top clubs in both Europe and the Premiership consistently. But in order to do so the starting XI needs to be fit. And if there are any injuries the defense needs to be absolutely spotless. Something that occured in both winsearly in the season against Chelsea and the Mancs. Defense first won those two matches with an early lapse against the Mancs allowing Tevez to score the only goal allowed in those two fixtures. The second win against Chelsea and the win against Real Madrid away were both of the smash and grab variety.
Were the wins prior to the International break marvelous? Of course they were. They were achieved by having the best XI Rafa could put out on the pitch and playing an agressive style of football.
The match against Fulham, with a midweek QF upcoming was something that worried me, not in that I didn't think we could get the job done, but the manner of which the job against Fulham was done. Some minor changes were made, but the main core of excellent players were needed in order to get a result against a mid table team. Not enough depth in the squad to allow players who had just played two matches for their respective nations a break, and get a result.
What then was to happen in the CLQF vs Chelsea? Well again, the same cast of characters, with a couple of minor changes, were called upon again, without significant cover. Chelsea were without there first choice RB, his cover netted two goals. Drogba was a questionmark prior to the match. If he was unable to go, they had Anelka waiting in the wings.
It's my opinion that the first choice XI at Rafa's disposal needs little tinkering. That said, one of the mains problems is that there really is no tough decisions to make regarding the first choice squad. The only debatable one being Agger or Skrtel. Quality in depth is needed, not only for competition in both the league and the Champions League, but also at Melwood. A player, no matter how great he is, has little incentive to strive to improve if he knows his place in the team is already secured. I'm not saying this as a knock against the work ethic of the team, I'm simply stating that the motivation is much greater if there is competition for very high stakes, and I think you'll all agree that there is no higher stake for a professional footballer than to lose his place in the side.
LegBarnes wrote:But did we not have our starting 11 FB's and wingers on pitch and they looked very poor.
I meen you could take route like lando said about them not to worried about it due to league but come on this is rafa's no1 objective no matter what you say he wants this every year.
I feel unless we get a few top class FBs in team we will never be able to hold good enuff form to win the prem.
I hope I am proved wrong.
The Good Yank wrote:LegBarnes wrote:But did we not have our starting 11 FB's and wingers on pitch and they looked very poor.
I meen you could take route like lando said about them not to worried about it due to league but come on this is rafa's no1 objective no matter what you say he wants this every year.
I feel unless we get a few top class FBs in team we will never be able to hold good enuff form to win the prem.
I hope I am proved wrong.
I don't think at all that they did not want to win that match. And yes, the starting FB's and wingers were on the pitch. The hole created by Mashers absence cannot be overlooked either, so actually the first choice XI was not on the pitch. Not that I'm trying to use that to explain away the loss.
And I agree with you about your point about the FB's. I just happen to think that our first choices aren't too shabby. It's the depth that is what hurts.
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