Just putting it out there.... one of the things I’ve decided I love about Ralph, is his seething, bubbling rage in the dugout..... have been lucky enough to have tickets by the dig out over the last few weeks, and I’ve decided I love that everything matters to him.... and he lives every part of the game echoing the frustrations in my head.... love that man....
It’s interesting. All the same flaws in the squad are still present. Lack of finishing, defensive mistakes, letting in late goals... they’ve just been minimized. We walk away from that game thinking we should have put them away early and scored 3 or 4, and We need to stop giving up late goals. Six weeks ago, we had the same feelings. It’s just that we would have lost 2-0 or 2-1 instead of walking away with a win.
OK, I'm going to stick my head above the parapet with this one and say that I thought that Ian's point about not continually rotating selection has some validity (I always enjoy his posts as they add a different perspective from the consensus opinions on the forum) Granted I'm a dinosaur brought up in the era when some professional footballers worked down the pit on Saturday morning and played for their home team in the afternoon but I feel that professional athletes should be able to run around for 90 minutes and repeat that four or five days later. Tennis players etc often do. Can't be arsed to look it up but there are examples of consistently picking a successful team week in, week out, that litter the annals of football history. If rotation works as it appears to be working with RH all well and good, it's been very refreshing to observe him introducing alternative players and formations but don't be surprised to see him settle on a very settled team in the not too distant future. Ducks back behind parapet.
Ralph is still learning about our squad....not as individuals, but when playing together. He has to have seen different combinations play together in case of injury and suspensions....and he's had to cope with a few of those. I'm sure the players were fit when he arrived, but were they fit enough for the physical and mental strains of the pressing style. Don't know anything about physical training....how long does it take to get the body used to a more strenuous level of activity (without risking injury).
The point is Ralph has his favoured formation and starting eleven in the league. The cups have always been and will always be a means of resting first teamers and giving others a chance. This is what Ian doesn’t seem to understand.
Unless you're in mid table. Then you can rest players in the league games and really have a go at the cup.
Will be interesting to see how Palace cope with the spurs match. With us 3 days after. If they don't rotate our energy might overrun them. Their fans will be pissed if they don't have a go at the cup as I don't think they see themselves being relegated but they won't want to put a weakened side up against us either!
I agree pro footy players should be able to do more than one 90mins a week. However some do not give 100% for other reasons, in this Saints squad RH is finding out who. I've always thought in the modern game rotation is most valuable at keeping players happy and commited. If we could name the same 11, never have injuries or suspensions, and have opposition which play in the same style and at the same level . . . . it would be easy
They are able to play more that 90 minutes a week but won't be at peak performance doing so. And in professional sport being at peak performance can be the difference between winning or losing. In tennis tournaments every player has played the same number of games and you can't sub them out so it's a kind of level playing field you don't have in football.
Its never fun to get knocked out the cup, but not having to travel up to AS this coming weekend will massively help our preparation for the midweek Palace game. As you point out, Roy has some big decisions to make. Surely he has to go strong, and what better time to face Spurs! I'm going to enjoy the build up to that game and seeing how it unfolds!
Milton, I too enjoy most of what Ian posts. Not all though. In the modern game, which is a different sport (as is Tennis), you can’t compare it to 15 years a go let alone when we were nippers. If you do ever decide to look up the annals of football history, I might do the same for the opposite. I agree that he will settle on a more settled team, but that will be partly because he will know his squad better and partly because there will not be much fixture congestion. Players today are monitored for a zillion aspects of their fitness and health, sonolayers not in the A-zone, will likely be rested.
Absolutely. You also have to factor in that injuries are more likely to happen when players get tired, and there’s a fine line between keeping players at peak fitness and overstretching them.
And it's reasonable to think that they will carry on getting smaller and fewer with each passing Ralph training session and match. The point is that players that looked like they barely had a future at the club (Bedders, Vester, Oriol, JWP etc) have come in out of necessity and performed and given Ralph a nice headache when others come back from injury. The players that I would most fear for as regards to a future here would be Hoedt, Cedric, Chaz and Mo El at this time.
I cant believe saints paid what £16m for Mo El or something silly like that. surely there are better players in the championship
I do honestly believe that lack of fitness was the largest contributing factor for the last couple of seasons. I know a lot of us on here have saying it for ages. All those little 50-50’s start going our way now we are fitter.
