Bad luck or bad rotation?

[DeadlyDemon]

Heard a little talk of injury doubts on Walker, Lennon and Defoe. The first thought that came to mind is "this is taking the piss now".

However is it just a case of bad luck?
Walker, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Dembele, Parker, Sandro, Livermore, Defoe, Adebayor. They've all missed games through injury this season, I realise some of them are unavoidable but I can't help feel our lack of rotation has also possibly caused us unnecessary problems.

We played a strong team up at Carlisle, we played a strong team against Norwich, we've played a strong team in our 4 Europa League games and then the league is obvious.
Not that it should be an excuse but that's 16 games by the middle of November for a lot of people and that's despite having a later kickoff than normal with the World Cup and Olympics.

Are we now feeling the strains of playing our strongest 11 every game?

I threw Parker's name in because I think he went to a World Cup that he shouldn't have done. As was the case with Lennon in 2010 who then had a poor World Cup and his confidence/form massively suffered because of it.
I appreciate in Parker's case he hasn't had and won't get many more opportunities to feature in a World Cup but I don't think he was at full fitness to be going off and competing in the summer. Even if on a personal note I can understand why it was a risk worth taking for him.

Anyway thoughts? Maybe we have just had some unlucky curse placed on us this season.

 

[Norwegian Jim]

I preferred the way Redknapp approached the lesser cup competitions. Maybe he was a little bit too extreme, but for for me the league has to be the priority. We have the squad to challenge for top four, but not the quadruple.

 

[sammyspurs]

Are we now feeling the strains of playing our strongest 11 every game?

On the contrary, I think the problem is that we are'nt

 

[VirginiaSpur]

There's practically no argument at the start of November for a lack of rotation leading to injuries. If there is, that is as a knock-on from last season, as we inherited several injuries from over the summer which haven't returned, yet.

Also, I wasn't aware that the World Cup was on over the summer. I missed it completely! Between the Olympics and the Euros I guess there just wasn't anymore coverage left to spare.

Spoiler

On the contrary, I think the problem is that we are'nt

BAE, Kaboul, Parker, Livermore, Dembele. Adebayor just came back, and potentially Walker, Lennon and Defoe are carrying slight injuries. I think we can all stop pretending that playing our strongest 11 is an option at this stage, or that there are an extraordinary number of options available to us at the moment for rotating our players, at least without dipping into our reserves.

 

[sammyspurs]

BAE, Kaboul, Parker, Livermore, Dembele. Adebayor just came back, and potentially Walker, Lennon and Defoe are carrying slight injuries. I think we can all stop pretending that playing our strongest 11 is an option at this stage, or that there are an extraordinary number of options available to us at the moment for rotating our players, at least without dipping into our reserves.

The post I answered said:

Are we now feeling the strains of playing our strongest 11 every game?

I think my answer was fairly apt.

 

[Kalyl]

I would say that we're missing an injury we need to have us playing closer to our potential... a two or three week strain on Brad will force Hugo on AVB and I doubt Brad would get back in. Just my two cents though and just to clarify, I do NOT wish ill on Brad, from the interviews I've seen he's a lovely lad and a great footballer!

 

[DeadlyDemon]

On the contrary, I think the problem is that we are'nt

Well minus the absences anyway. We've been close to full strength for most games once you account for the players missing.

There's practically no argument at the start of November for a lack of rotation leading to injuries. If there is, that is as a knock-on from last season, as we inherited several injuries from over the summer which haven't returned, yet.

Also, I wasn't aware that the World Cup was on over the summer. I missed it completely! Between the Olympics and the Euros I guess there just wasn't anymore coverage left to spare.

Spoiler

BAE, Kaboul, Parker, Livermore, Dembele. Adebayor just came back, and potentially Walker, Lennon and Defoe are carrying slight injuries. I think we can all stop pretending that playing our strongest 11 is an option at this stage, or that there are an extraordinary number of options available to us at the moment for rotating our players, at least without dipping into our reserves.

I meant the Euros haha. Damnit.

 

[Norwegian Jim]

It is possible to have fatigue in the short term. Bale was shit against City. Maybe he would have made a bigger impact if he hadn't played 90 min against Maribor? Speculation of course, but a very real possibility.

 

[Hegarz]

On the contrary, I think the problem is that we are'nt

I'm not sure if you meant that they haven't had a chance to find their form, or if you reckon we still haven't gotten a definite starting 11.

Either way I have to agree, I really don't think players should be feeling any strain by November, they're professional football, they get paid to play football, and if they can't handle at least a match a week they're probably in the wrong profession. I think the more time they get to play on the pitch the better they will become.

 

[sammyspurs]

Both to be fair.

Id say our strongest 11 since Villa way back on October 7th should have featured Adebayor in the starting 11 (fair enough starting on the bench for his first return)

Against Chelsea we were decimated, yet still started the game with Lloris, Ade and Naughton on the bench.

I dont want this to turn into a formation debate, so to please the masses, I will say my strongest 11 would be a 4-5-1 of:

.........................................Lloris


Walker..................Caulker...............Vertonghen...............Naughton


Lennon..................Hudd........................Sandro...............Bale


..........................................Ade


....................................................Defoe

Havent seen that one single game


In my honest opinion, I dont see any better players that are fit than those 11 (the CBs could be rotated with Gallas and Daws, no issues for me)

 

[Hegarz]

I think we may be one of the unluckiest teams ever, just in general

 

[CharlieTHFC]

I would say that we're missing an injury we need to have us playing closer to our potential... a two or three week strain on Brad will force Hugo on AVB and I doubt Brad would get back in. Just my two cents though and just to clarify, I do NOT wish ill on Brad, from the interviews I've seen he's a lovely lad and a great footballer!

I'd say the same about Gallas.

 

[YidoBuckler]

I dont want this to turn into a formation debate, so to please the masses, I will say my strongest 11 would be a 4-5-1 of:

.........................................Lloris


Walker..................Caulker...............Vertonghen...............Naughton


Lennon..................Hudd........................Sandro...............Bale


..........................................Ade


....................................................Defoe

Havent seen that one single game

Fuck off thats 4-4-2.

 

[sammyspurs]

 

[Tucker]

I preferred the way Redknapp approached the lesser cup competitions. Maybe he was a little bit too extreme, but for for me the league has to be the priority. We have the squad to challenge for top four, but not the quadruple.

If we want to play in the Champions League, we are going to have to be able to cope with playing in mid week, if we cant do it against Maribor and Carlisle, then there is no way we will manage it against Inter Milan and Barcelona.

 

[Norwegian Jim]

I agree, if we were a champions league club. We're not at the moment. Job one is getting back to that level, then we can add some players and try to compete in both the league and the cl. We applied this way of thinking last season and just a ridiculous amount of bad luck kept us out of the cl. But it's about preferences, right? AVB wants a trophy, any trophy.

 

[Dru]

Both to be fair.

Id say our strongest 11 since Villa way back on October 7th should have featured Adebayor in the starting 11 (fair enough starting on the bench for his first return)

Against Chelsea we were decimated, yet still started the game with Lloris, Ade and Naughton on the bench.

I dont want this to turn into a formation debate, so to please the masses, I will say my strongest 11 would be a 4-5-1 of:

.........................................Lloris


Walker..................Caulker...............Vertonghen...............Naughton


Lennon..................Hudd........................Sandro...............Bale


..........................................Ade


....................................................Defoe

Havent seen that one single game


In my honest opinion, I dont see any better players that are fit than those 11 (the CBs could be rotated with Gallas and Daws, no issues for me)

You say one single game but how often have all those players been available for selection at the same time?

Naughton was out for a while, Hudd was desperately short of fitness at the start of the season and Ade has only just come back to fitness.

 

[Dru]

I do sometimes wonder why we suffer so badly with injuries but Woolwich have done too recently. Man Utd have also had to play Carrick at the back not too long ago, every club goes through a drama at some point.

 

[Jonners]

the depth and scope of injuries is reaching francis like proportions. it's widely accepted that "terror tuesdays" & literally running the players into the ground in training was contributory.
however, i think the current rash of injuries are a combination of bad luck & a carry over from last season's willful burn out of the "first xi". we ended the season on our knees and are yet to fully get up

 

[Blanchflower]

There's practically no argument at the start of November for a lack of rotation leading to injuries. If there is, that is as a knock-on from last season, as we inherited several injuries from over the summer which haven't returned, yet.
.

Precisely.

Parker, Assou-Ekotto and Walker were run into the ground last season.