YV's team makes a lot of sense and I was thinking along the same lines, although I'm afraid Carter-V will be on the bench and Toby or Jan will start next to Kevin. Just stopping over in Bucharest. Should be in Baku before the snow sets in for the winter it's f***ing so far away. And by the looks of things, I may need to charter a plane to get all these guys back to London!
ROTFLMAO. At this stage of the season, I wouldn't criticise the manager for picking the strongest team possible as our ambitions in the league aren't dependant on the result of one game, regardless of how important the game is to us the fans, or as some want, for Mourinho to be sacked. Later stages of the season, would be different as come the business end of the season, that is when juggling of the squad is more crucial to maximising chance of success, while you only need to look at the two best players in the world, Messi and Ronaldo, they are rarely rested, with some seasons playing 60 games. If Kane wants to win ballon d'or, he has to play every game, not become a pussy and worry about injury. Not that I believe he's worried, as Kane wants to start and play every game, no matter how low quality the opposition are, and that is because he loves the game,
It's different at Barcelona, they don't have to compete for 90 minutes to win matches as they're 3-0 up at half-time in most games
The strategy by Pochettino could be akin to the League Cup final last season : take most of the squad playing at the weekend so they train as a whole, even if they are not expected to play in the Europa game. Unfortunately, the weekend opponent that time was also Chelsky and we know how that turned out.
Based on the team photo... ...the squad's that traveled is: Goalkeepers: Lloris, Vorm Defenders: Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Davies, Trippier, Carter-Vickers Midfielders: Dier, Alli, Mason, Carroll, Winks Attacking midfielders: Eriksen, Son, N'Jie, Townsend, Onomah Forwards: Kane, Harrison Add to that the club have confirmed Wimmer and McGee have traveled, while Lamela, Dembele, Walker and Rose have remained back in the UK. That leaves Bentaleb and Fazio unaccounted for - although in Fazio's case, if he hasn't been picked for a trip to Azerbaijan that pretty much confirms he won't be around much longer.
Leaving Lamela out makes sense to spare him the pointless travel he’s done so much of lately. Dembélé may have chronic injury issues, so I get that as well. (No news there, I’m just speculating.) If we would have left Kane above all, plus Erikson and Dier, that would have made sense. All have been excellent and could use a breather more than more practice, I think. I don’t know why we’d take Vertonghen either, come to think of it.
Wow. Fazio not even worth a ticket to Azerbaijan. Can't argue with that. Such a shame that the lumbering fool pretty much guarantees that one, probably both, of our first choice CBs have to start every game.
By the looks of things, Townsend's just been informed that he doesn't have a seat on the return flight.
Just read an interesting piece on FB - MP says that Premier League should help clubs that have to travel for European ties. He states that Chelski have an extra 2 days to prepare for the game and why kick off at 12 why not 4pm or even make it a Monday game. That's the article in a condensed form its too long to publish here. I'm sure everyone here agrees except the broadcasters and the PL after all its all about player welfare right!
It's a combination of things: Dier being a revelation in central midfield that makes dropping him into the back four a foolish idea, Veljkovic wanting to leave, as well as Fazio's general haplessness Hopefully we start with Alderweireld and Wimmer at the back, as there's two options available - if we need to shore things up for whatever reason we can bring on Verts, while if we're comfortable we can bring on CCV for Alderweireld for the last ten minutes.
Great seeing Carter-Vickers and Harrison included, I sort of thought/ predicted they may get a call and I think they fully deserve their selections, both have had a good start to the season. It may be too hopeful to see both start but it wouldn't surprise me if they each got playing time. I suppose that the travelling fans deserve to see a few first teamers in fairness, they've shelled out a lot of money and also travelled all the way out there so in some ways it'd be unfair on them not to see some of the stars, even if logically and ideally most believe many/ all key players should be rested.
Qarabag are undefeated in two games at home against two good teams in Anderlecht and Monaco. They beat Anderlecht who IMO are the only team to outplay us this year. Chelsea is the biggest game of the year so far. The chances of us not getting through the group stages of the Europa look small, and frankly getting knocked out could be a blessing in disguise. So I say play the second team, not only because Chelsea is the far more important game, but also because Qarabag at home, on their pitch, is likely to make any team we start look out of sorts. Two Chelsea players got injured on Maccabi’s dicey pitch. Better on both counts if it’s the second team for us, I think. Son and Mason might be able to use a half to knock more rust off, but rest Erikson, Kane and Dier (though I know Dier will play 90 minutes). Why not give Harrison, Onomah, Townsend and Carroll starts? A team with Carter-Vickers, Carroll, Mason, Onomah, Alli, Townsend and Harrison would be particularly interesting for the academy/youth angle.
MP has said this is a 'very important game' so it's unlikely that it will not include 1st teamers. Flying dehydrates people and even if you drink water all the way it still takes a couple of days for the body to return to normal. It's the flying that will do the damage not the football. We will not be at our best on Sunday when we play Chelsea whatever happens. It is just a question of whether a slightly below par performance from some of our guys will be enough against a misfiring Chelsea team who are just beginning to return to form.
