I remember when Benitez did not name an unchanged side for 99 games. A huge fuss was made about it as if we was such a big deal. But some one pointed out that Alex Ferguson had a similar stat as well and was winning titles. Chelsea were similar to.
If we want to compete for as many trophies as possible, you have to swap around at times. Not to mention trying to keep a lot of egos happy.
You have to approach each game differently, so you may need to change personnel. I remember Houllier played Steve Gerard as a right back against Arsenal because Thierry Henry was too quick. Sometime you cannot fault judgement of managers when it is working. The only problem is when it is not working
You could use KK last season as well in terms of the cups. Up until January we were right around the top 4 ( think we were 3-4 points off?) in a CC final an in the FA cup. We played pretty much full strength teams in all of those games and by the end of the season we were terrible in the league and good in the FA cup ( one-off games). Think the combination of losing Lucas, tired legs, and maybe some naive tactics cost us. Should be interesting this year, BR is certainly not holding back the talk of getting CL, cup runs, etc.
Dm has to be looked at. For sure. Im not that concerned about Cbs to be honest though. Wisdom and Kelly are both o nthe cusp and are actually natural CBs. Wisdom is a very good ball player to offer something if Agger was out. We also have two very good CBs on the way up in my opinion in Sokolik and Lloyd Jones. We have Toure for a few years whilst the youth develops. Dm is difficult one as i dont see too many Dms coming through the academy, at the same time though part of Rodolphos way of developing players is to put them all in a defensive role at some point, so that all are capable. With all the new attacking players that we have and others coming through the academy, maybe Stevie will take a more defensive role. Or maybe Brendan has plans for one of the younger scousers in that kind of role. Conor Coady, Jordan Rossiter (in a few years.) I dont think we need to go looking immediately for a CB, but rather develop what we have. We have already brought in 3, with 3 more possible. Lets not have another transition season, and lets not waste our young talent by not letting them get a chance to play. Ive been very happy with the business so far and cannot wait to see the team in preseason.........Quietly confident we can carry our form from the end of last season into the new one, and even do better. I think we will be quite strong next year. Hard to beat and even harder to stop scoring
I think the players we have bought in has made our first squad a lot stronger. I'm looking forward to next season, I don't say that on the back of these signings either. I have enjoyed watching us play in 2013, we scored the most goals and only lost two league games. Had we just stayed the same and not sold/bought anyone I would still be looking forward to it, these new players give me a little bit more to look forward to.
Our squads looking alot stronger now than it has since 2008-09. We need to keep the likes of Downing, he's the squad player were talking about. As is Borini and Shelvey, not top class but able to do a job when called upon. We need a battle hardened centre half and a clever tackler like a Mo Sissoko in the middle. I think Henrikh Mhkitryan is a luxury we may not need. But it would be nice.
He was immense until the whole almost losing the eye thingy. I think Mulumbu would be good, more to his game than just destroying and the modern game requires that. Busquets, as much of a **** he is, can destroy and start the attack in a split second. Think there is a quote from Xavi or Alonso that mentioned him as the "best one touch footballer in the team", ball comes in and immediate back out. destroy build start again.
I was a big fan of Sissoko and could have become one of the best DM's in the world. But as you say, the eye injury seriously derailed his progress which is a massive shame. I'm also a big fan of Busquets - he's similar to Lucas in that they are not the all action types like Sissoko or Mascherano, but they read the game so well so they can break up attacks by simply nicking it off the opposition. It's easier to start attacks when the DM nicks the ball of a player and staying on his feet, than by lunging.
you are right about these slots the one thing i would say is i don't think its that "competitive" it depends what you call competitive. you mentioned our first 11 in 08/09 and then the awful bench and thats one thing... but from my point of view we have a LOT of similar players but are any "good enough?" Is there a first 11 you'd put our money on to win an FA cup final v utd or chelsea for example. When it comes down to it I think we are not looking at real top players anywhere i nthe squad at this point so if we want top 4 we need to do this. The thing i'd say is arsenal have not got too many who i'd call top 4 either really. Much depends on spurs signings cos the ones mooted are really going to build upon the defense they built last year.
Hmm, not sure I agree with the claim City have the better players. In midfield yes ( though we had the better overall midfielder ) but elsewhere I think United are better and as a squad we are miles ahead. the key is not just signing every top class player around. this causes issues between players especially when they are dropped in favour of another. Squad players need to be capable of filling in and willing to bide their time. If not then they are sold on for more playing time. United have always had a great first 11 and players who for the most part are nothing special but are willing to work as hard as anyone when given the chance. The likes of Wes Brown and John O'shea, Nicky Butt, Buttner last season and more. Sure we have Hernandez ( a player who would start for 80% of Premier League clubs imo ) and then Smalling and Jones who are the future o Englands defence but all to often its been our more unfashionable players who have been key. the easiest way to tell if you have good squad players is whether or not Sunderland come looking to buy them at some point
