And when real play ludo and Basel in last games they then have to field a strong team despite already winning group On it's face we know no such thing will occur
if they want to preach that to managers why not go back to the old format of straight knock out and only champions eligible, teams have no choice then do they, but of course never happen as this format is a money spinner. wonder which **** at the fa or eufa keeps wanting to see Johnson in the team then
TBH, the only rested player, that you could say conclusively is definitely one of your best XI is probably Sterling. The others had been under performing. Johnson and Gerrard especially
What about this then guys? Say Real Madrid rest players or play a weakened team in their final 2 games and lose and we don't go through because of it. Would everyone stand by Ancelotti's team selection being fair?
that's the problem of the team relying on them to field a strong team for me personally. shouldn't be in the position where you have to rely on others to qualify, it's your own doing and fault you are their in the first place, so no, if real have earnt the right to do that by already being qualified fair enough, its no dif from ANY other club who would do exactly the same thing. why should real have to play their strongest team if they have already qualified and risk injuring key players? also a chance to use fringe players or youngsters give them experience without it being crucial, hows that suppose to happen if everyone moans all the time about teams always having to play there strongest?
Sounds fair enough, if we haven't done enough on our own up to that point and have to rely on other teams losing then its our own fault to being with. Ancelotti has 25 players like everyone else, its up to him to pick his team accordingly. As I understand it this rule is to ensure competitive matches, can anyone honestly say the 'a' team were better or more competitive than the team that played away, the performance and 2 goals would say otherwise. It could be claimed that BR's changes were tactical, that he picked players that were better suited to nullifying Real's gamr plan.
Did FIFA fine the FA when Hodgson put the squad players out against Costa Rica........similar scenario, in that the second string achieved a better result than the 'best XI'. Another similarity was that Gerrard was wheeled out for the latter stages.
Hodgson should have been sacked on the spot for treating an England world cup finals game like a Lampard testimonial
Actually a fine might help us funnily enough. If Real were thinking of playing a weak team having won the group already, then they may think again. They mag prefer to let ludogrets or Basel through if they fear we could improve significantly next year.
Based on what? Our record of significantly improving this year? Do you really think Real care about us?
Most managers don`t set themselves up for it I did not see this as the big showpiece game where we have to play the big names.
