I'm not going to read any posts here, because I can't get past the title. AVB is unhappy, why? only if his intention is to play predominantly the same players.
It's because he's Jose "The Happy One" Mourinho's nemesis. Athough their monikers should be changed after tonight.
Hopefully we can be, but it will probably be extremely difficult, and I think the Lge Cup has to be shifted to the bottom of the pile ATM. To win the EL is about 17 games IIRC, that would make 55 right there to do that. I doubt we can deal with, say, another 10 domestic cup games on top of that. However if our squad can, then great. We couldn't manage it last season, and our half-hearted attempt to win the EL ended up with disappointment there and in the Prem. We have the squad to have a real go at both EL and the Prem this season, ATM anyway. But that's about it I reckon, though the FA Cup does get spaces in the calendar early on, so a go at that might be on as well. So much will depend on the Jan window, where we traditionally need reinforcements, and only sometimes get them in the right amount of quality/quantity.
Really looking forward to the game BTW. Should be a good team fielded (though hopefully no Paulinho, he deserves a rest) and a good win recorded. Another clean sheet too, please.
The next 6 days are going to ask big questions about whether AVB as a manager is able to utilise his squad to get both the results and minimise player fatigue.
Too right, and if he starts anyone on Tuesday who played 90 mins on Sunday, then he's got it wrong IMHO As ever results tell everything He failed to manage our assault on the EL and Prem properly last season, and we got neither 4th nor a semi-final berth Here's hoping he's learnt from his failures (amongst his successes I must add, as overall I give him a 'good' rating)
The team that plays tonight, which I presume will mainly be squad players, can be the same team that plays Tuesday vs Villa. The likes of: Friedel Naughton Chiriches - if/ when work permit arrives Kaboul Fryers Holtby Lamela Defoe All need game time for either fitness/ experience/ bedding in reasons. That's 8 players there, you can then rotate 3 first teamers around in different matches to ensure no one is "over cooked". Plus hopefully the likes of Chadli, Capoue and Lennon can return soon as well. The games in quick succession aren't ideal but I wouldn't say it's too problematic. We've a big squad to deal with it, it's a chance for AVB to assess players hoping to make an impact.
Agreed with the above. I'm disapointed with AVB. If we do not have a squad capable of playing in all comps now, we never will. We have a better squad then villa, so the likelyhood is there players will be tired too. So second team vs Tromso First vs Cardiff Second + some first teamers vs Villa
"and if he starts anyone on Tuesday who played 90 mins on Sunday, then he's got it wrong IMHO" I would assume there will be a core of 5 outfield players who are going to do 90 mins in both the cup ties. And the final 5 in the starting XI for Villa will be decided based on : - fitness - who got subbed when in the Tromso/Cardiff games - the likelihood that Villa will effectively field a PL strength side
Why? It's September and he has a huge squad. Try having this sort of scheduling in April/May like we did when players are burnt out and numbers are small. Anyone that can't play that amount of games in September/October shouldn't be a professional footballer.
Yeh but I imagine the chelsea training set up resembles that of Ivan Drago in Rocky 4. How your players were able to play twice a week and not look jaded is beyond me. How many games did Mata and Hazard play? wasn't like 50+ each or something crazy? Fair play to Benitez for that - He's also doing quite well with Napoli actually.
Yeah, it was 60+ for Mata and Hazard, 70+ for Oscar. I actually think this huge backlog of fixtures this soon will benefit AVB's side in the long run, especially with the squad size he has and keeping players happy and fit by getting them involved.
No-one who plays 90 mins v Cardiff should play v Villa for me. In fact anyone who who plays 60+ mins v Cardiff shouldn't play v Villa - It's that simple - AVB has stated the risks if he then runs those risks he is at fault - IMHO We play '2nd XI' plus youngsters at Villa, if we lose, 'c'est la foot.'
I agree the League Cup has to give, all things considered. On the bright side, we could win or draw with our second team, and could have lost or drawn with our first. Aston Villa has been very up and down. I'm thinking a second team plus (the plus being Lamela) to play today and Tuesday. We might consider playing either or both of Dawson and Jan on Tuesday and subbing them at halftime. With Lamela, Holtby, Townsend and Defoe, we should be able to score. The question is whether we can control Bentecke and friends.
It'd be nice for Dawkins to get a game. He looked ok when he played for Villa last season and it'd give us another option, at least until January. I haven't seen Kane's name in any of the provisional squad lists, so he may well be off to QPR for a bit.
I believe Benitez did something very smart, which I wish AVB would have imitated: cut practices in proportion to fixture congestion. Luiz said something about loving fixture congestion because they don't practice. Surely it's a good idea, and that reaction shows it.
This is why I was slightly shocked at his unhappiness, I understand 2 games in 2 days isn't ideal, you can be more vulnerable to injury on the 2nd 'recovery' day. That said, at the back end of the season when key games come thick and fast, there's no wholesale swapping then, so i do find it a little odd as there's 4 full days between cup games. The only thing I can think of is he's unsure, as we all are, how Villa will play it, for them Tue is sandwiched nicely between two Sat games, so they 'could' put a near 1st team out, I'm not sure if a scratch side of ours would be wise from us...if we're serious about this one.
I don't want Daws or Jan even travelling up to Villa Park, let alone playing 45 mins. AVB has stated quite clearly they will be at risk of injury if they play, so why should he risk such key players. He's made his statement, I believe it to be correct, to then play players who played on Sunday for a substantial part of the match is to leave himself open to accusations of irresponsibility. I was perfectly happy with the team last night, they'd had four days rest, it may be he should have rested Rose as some said, but I back AVB over this. Rose had an easy 'international break', ie didn't play. He was full of running last night, it looked an excellent call to play him, then came the injury. Those who said beforehand Fryers should have played were justified in their call. Indeed, I think the team 'I picked' had Fryers in it, but I can easily see why AVB went for Rose. Of course, we've needed another LB for years as I've been calling out for, as I never rated BAE anywhere near the level most Spurs fans did, but Rose has surprised me to be fair. It's just we need another one, unless Naughton can do a job there, we'll see I guess on Sunday. It may be of course that JV can play there, but I can't see it on Sunday.
"AVB has stated quite clearly they will be at risk of injury if they play, so why should he risk such key players." What "injury" ?? Fatigue-based ones ??
