As yes I realise it’s nine players. That is actually more of an indication of strength in depth than benches used to be
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First Team
That’s a very weak looking bench. Steveo. And Wjinaldum should probably have been on from the start.Originally Posted by Steveo
FYI due to Salah and Firmino being absent that means you have to take out a couple and add Shaqiri and. Origi to it.
I stand by my judgement if that’s the best you can do
First Team
As yes I realise it’s nine players. That is actually more of an indication of strength in depth than benches used to be
Rowdy Yates
At least you can count.
That’s something you can work with and develop.
First Team
If your referring to something I said I don’t know what it is
First Team
@Taksin. Do you think we played well yesterday?
First Team
I thought we played pretty well in the first half amd were unlucky to go behind. I thought we played really well at the beginning of the second half - much better than I was expecting as ten men - especially in a defensively sound unit like this Chelsea - can usually close down the game when it’s in their interest (ie not being behind).
Then we got a bit sloppy and mesmerised when they did eventually shut it down and looked a bit short on ideas for 30 mins.
Rowdy Yates
@ Taksin - I chose that game specifically to highlight a weakened first 11 which should mean a bench stripped of quality.
And it still stands up.
Let’s look at the real list of 9 for the bench had Salah and Bobby been eligible to play and Keita and Ox fit.
X Shaqiri
G Wijnaldum
D Sturridge
A Gomez
N Keita
O Chamberlain
D Origi
D Lovren
S Mignolet
You can swap Milner with Gini if you like.. but those are the options. How is what we have now stronger? Even with the anomaly of a semi fit Thiago occupying the bench while Elliott plays it looks weaker to me. Konate hasn’t even kicked a premier league ball in anger yet.
First Team
Konate has indeed not kicked a ball in the premiership yet - but if he came off the bench I personally would be thrilled, a feeling I would not have if it were Lovren.
This is a strange choice for a preferred bench as it’s both fairly similar and so recent. I’d say our bench yesterday was still a lot stronger
Gomez Keita and Chamberlain are older and wiser and, Gomez aside, as fit as they can be expected to get. Chamberlain was actually in good form at the time of your bench (as I recall) but we needed a stronger team against Barcelona and it was only really Wjinaldum that offered an option.
Tsimikas is an example of a player who actually represents an exciting prospect when he comes on. We were short of that during the era you have chosen.
Now, our bench is full of options - ones we’re likely to rely upon this season. Unlike Sturbridge and Origi (who wasn’t on that bench anyway)
Kelleher looks to me to be a very strong keeper.
If you think your bench is stronger then best of luck to you - you haven’t convinced me
Rowdy Yates
Also Clyne and Lallana.. you can try and cut it any way you like but for me we have less options now than we did then - the same cannot be said for any of our rivals.
First Team
I didn’t think we had strong benches during that period. We had a strong first team and relatively weak benches. You can say words like ‘Lallana’ but there is a difference between him as key part of the squad and someone struggling to become relevant again.
Yesterday I would have been happy to see any of those players come on, including Minamino. I don’t remember having that experience in 30 years. That’s why I said what I said
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