I've been saying similar with Harvey White since last season However, I think the real issue is refusing to rotate, for example Lloris did look a little slower on Saturday due to the knock he picked up on international duty, so why not avoid the potential risk and give Forster a start? And that's where it gets somewhat aggravating: if a player is good enough for our bench, they must also be good enough to come off it when required - and not for a handful of minutes towards the end of a match
Conte wanted a strong squad becuase of how congested this season was going to be because of the World Cup, yet atm he’s just relying on the same 12-14 players and running them into the ground. Must be so frustrating for the likes of Bissouma, Skipp, Spence and Doherty
My opinion is that Conte picks any player who is really high quality in almost every match. That accounts for Kane, Son Romero, Dier and Kulusevski. As for players who are of similar quality, he values experience, commitment and the ability to follow instructions over minor differences on quality.
That certainly explains Hojbjerg's ever-presence, given he shows more commitment than anybody else and seems to follow instructions well ...except when he presses too fast and leaves a gap in midfield that is invariably exploited in seconds
If we had done all those loans, then who would have been on the bench last night? We would have had three untried youth players and we would be a couple of injuries away from having to play them. The issue is that we need to rotate more, mot that we have too many players.
Why would it matter if the ones on the bench aren’t coming on anyway? Pointless having a 25 man squad if you’re only using about 15 players.
The manager won’t rotate though and that’s the problem. Competition for places is all good but when you’re using the same players regardless of form then they can get complacent and the ones not playing will get frustrated.
I don't see any complacency. As I said in a previous post, I think Conte sets clear objectives for those coming in to the team. You have to understand the system and be able to stick to it and be fully committed. Emerson ticks all those boxes. If he thought Doherty or Spence did he would select them. If they can't or won't what business have they in being frustrated?
Like I’ve previously said, Conte knows best but I’m baffled why he keeps picking Emerson. We might not see what goes on in training but we see matches and Emerson doesnt do enough as a RWB. Spence was bought by Spurs but as yet he’s not been given a proper chance, why wouldn’t he be frustrated when the guy in his position is putting in bang average performances week after week.
Doherty proved that he could and then got injured. He even did it on the left with Emerson on the right and assisted him for a goal. He's also proven his fitness during the international break. If he's not selected against Brighton, then he has every reason to be frustrated.
Like @Dier Hard has said, you just know it’s going to be Perisic moved to the right and Sess on the left, Conte’s reasoning will be that Doherty and Spence aren’t match fit so not ready to play (even though it’s been his choice not to give them minutes recently)
And Perisic seems incapable of playing 90 minutes, too. He was out of steam last night when he was replaced by Sessegnon.
100% it’ll be Perisic and Sessegnon on the weekend. If Doherty or Spence were in consideration they’d have played some minutes last night to get them semi-prepared. Emerson absolutely has nudes of Conte, probably on multiple devices too just to make Conte sweat. No other reason for him constantly getting picked because it ain’t footballing ability.
Sad news. I didn’t even know he was ill. I know a few of the players were close to him despite his punishing fitness regimes. RIP x
That's tragic! RIP! As mentioned, he was very popular with the squad and his loss will hit them hard.
