When we have a £Bn assembled squad then multiple rotation might be a bit easier. We’re building a better and stronger squad with more depth but we’ve got a long way to go til we’re in a position where we can make about 6 changes for a Premier League game and still expect a top performance. Pep “the false messiah” doesn’t play Kyle Walker RW in place of someone like Bernardo Silva like you’re suggesting to do with Djed Spence for Kulusevski. Pep also doesn’t bench players like de Bruyne in the Premier League when they’re doing well just to give an opportunity to someone in the hope they can also do well. Just as Conte won’t bench Kane when he’s scoring goals in the Prem, to give someone else an opportunity to do what Kane is already doing. There’s absolutely zero logic to that. If Kane’s goals and form dry up, then you look at benching him. Yes, I would always choose Dier and Romero because that’s our strongest available choice. If Romero isn’t fit then Sanchez starts. If Dier is injured then you make the choice of playing Romero and Sanchez, or Lenglet and Romero.
Forest used to be a real bogey team for us (the 91 Paul Stewart cup final aside). Got a real soft spot for them from my childhood. Really liked Brian Clough (apart from his bollocks over Hillsborough). Me and my girls were at the last game v Forest when Ryan Mason made his debut and scored a cracking goal from outside the box to set up our equaliser in a 3-1 in the league Cup. We need to turn up and work hard if we are to get anything from this. Need to take our chances and shut the crowd up if we are to avoid West ham's fate.
Training video featuring a bunch of sanders, possibly: Players featured: Lloris, Forster, Austin, Doherty, Spence, Emerson, Dier, Sanchez, Tanganga, Lenglet, Davies, Perisic, Sessegnon, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Bissouma, White, Gil, Kulusevski, Kane, Son, Richarlison, Mundle. Not sure if I missed anyone, but notable absentees would be: Skipp, Romero and Moura, which are all expected. We've got 3 games in 6 days coming up, which is both stupid and annoying. Squad depth is going to be important quickly this season, in my opinion.
What would be your suggestions to overcome this dilemma (lessening the risk of fatigue / < standard > injuries, optimising the amount of competitive game time all squad members get - the 5 sub regime etc) ??
Rotation, starting with the midweek game, unfortunately. Conte's not done well with fixture congestion, so far. That needs to change.
I have gone for rotation of a lesser starting XI for the Forest game on the understanding that the strongest available starting XI is required for the Spanners game. If that lesser starting XI acquits itself well, then I would repeat the rotation for the next two games (Fulham - promoted peer of Forest, and Citeh) , After the Fulham game, we would know whether rotation #1 (or something in between it and #2) could suffice to overcome Lesta. "Conte's not done well with fixture congestion, so far. That needs to change." October is going to be utterly brutal, More so if the CL fixture planner is unkind and gives us Eintract as match weeks 3/4. We only have 3 seasons of PL data for Conte. Any repeat of season 2 by Conte IMHO will end ill for Spurs at the end of the season.
So, what is minimum number of changes to a PL starting XI in order for such changes to be deemed "wholesale" ... ??
1. Richarlison ... ?? < He ain't no Traore, bruv > 2.Lenglet starting tomorrow would for me be ultra rotation (the reason I did not select him is because of all the changes I pondered - he currently has no PL physicality level "blooding" ) . I think we can say with certainty that the starting XI for tomorrow will speak volumes about what/how Conte is pondering in order to get thru to WC 2022.
We don't have a stellar record against them. All our main rivals won 3 points yesterday. Surely today we're going Spursy!
Big changes, eh? Had a feeling all week that we'd find today tough, but after the results yesterday I'm now convinced we'll slip up. Almost guarantee it!
Need Sonny back on form, can’t keep carrying him as a deadweight. Though I think Richarlison can feel hard done by to be honest.