Ever get away with playing a weakened team in a derby? I like Moyes but I've got to say I was disappointed with him yesterday and judging by some Toffees reactions. So are they. If they lose Saturday...Moyes little plan will have backfired spectacularly. Win and I guess they'll forgive him but for the life of me I couldn't imagine any Sunderland manager getting away with it against Newcastle.
Everton manager David Moyes hinted he prioritised the FA Cup quarter-finals over the Merseyside derby after suffering defeat at Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool. The Goodison Park club were beaten by a Steven Gerrard hat-trick at Anfield and missed the chance to overtake their bitter neighbours in the Premier League table. But Moyes, who celebrates his 10th anniversary as Evertonboss on Wednesday, made six changes to the starting XI which defeated Tottenham at the weekend. The decision was seemingly based on Saturday's forthcoming FA Cup tie with Sunderland and the Toffees boss admitted the fixture congested did play a part in his thinking. "We contributed to our own downfall, but you have still got to go on and finish them and Liverpool did that" David Moyes Quotes of the week He said: "I think Kenny made a lot of changes in his game up at Sunderland (Liverpool's previous league game). Paid the price "I think you have to juggle your squad and decide where you prioritise. "We have been on a good run and there were bits of what we did which were okay." ........................................................................................ Now there are some on here who have suggested that our very own former manager never wanted to win the derby
Moyes made a huge error imo, regardless of the result on Saturday. Football is all about momentum, form and confidence and whatever gloss Moyes and the Everton fans want to paint on this, suffering a thrashing from your local rivals, 4 days before a cup quarter final, isn't a good preparation. There will be some unrest amongst the Toffee's today at his tactics and team selection and the city of Liverpool will be buzzing about Gerards hat trick all week. It may inspire them, or it may make for a tense afternoon. They have to win now to prove him right. Interesting.
When I saw that Everton had rested players for a derby game, the first thing that crossed my mind was that it would have caused mayhem if we had done the same..If we do knock them out of the cup, then I would imagine that Everton fans will be asking big questions about his philosophy.
Back to the question of..."what is a weakened team"....it's all about squads.. Havn't some clubs been fined for so called weakened teams..
Have to say I was thinking exactly the same - Blackpool and Wolves spring to mind - rested players to play them in more important games - and both got fined - surely the same should apply here?
I think it is fair enough. You can never expect the fans to agree but all be forgiven if they win the FA Cup. Of course if they crash out, he'll look a right wally. But as a manager you have to be brave at times, and you have to use your squad while prioritising your games. Difficult to juggle it all but the FA Cup may well represent their best chance of European football and much needed finances. Personally if Pardew did it I'd be unhappy, but from a managers point of view trying to do what is best for the health of the club I can see Moyes thinking. As for fining people I think that is wrong anyway and certainly not applicable in this scenario. He had a strong side out with numerous internationals. More bumbling FA/PL rules. They tell you can have a 25 man squad but baulk when you use it. Its called management!
You have 25 players registered as first team squad players, plus the allowances, if they are in that squad, how can anyone say 'you played a weakened team'. You saw fit to name them in your first team squad, so in your opinion they were good enough, or expected to be. The FA are a bunch of ****ing dickheads. Original question, no ****ing way would a manager be forgiven for putting us out below par for the derby, I imagine the Mags will say the same.
Exactly this. Was it Blackpool who got fined last season for playing a 'weakened' team even though all payers were in their 25 man squad? Absolute joke. On the managers head if the team he picks loses.
I remember in the 1973 cup run we played Luton in a league game a week before we met them in the cup quarter final. Both sides played below strength teams and both were fined by the FA. Of course in those days we didn't have squads and as we played a weaker team than they did we got a bigger fine I seem to recall. Luton won 1 - 0 but we got our revenge a week later.
The Blackpool case was an absolute travesty. Obviously Moyes is laying his stall out to make progress in the Cup but I still think a derby game with league places at stake is the wrong time to go all strategic. Maybe because Everton expect to be top six or seven but don't expect any more than that means the exact finishing position is less important than, for example, us and the Mags. That said, I can't help but feel that a 3-0 loss to their rivals (when they could have gone above them in the league with a win) will have put even more pressure on Everton's rested players... we start as underdogs but that's never been a problem for Sunderland teams... quite the opposite in fact; that's when we seem to shine. Haway the lads!
