Relive every moment of every first team game since the beginning of the 2005/06 season. Our archive of matchday threads originally posted in the General Discussion Forum.
Just sitting back and watching all the debate from long standing and new kumb members alike regarding team selection for Leeds, it strikes me we may be missing a key point.
If any member of our first team squad is so inferior to others that he should not be used, even in a cup match, why are paying him?
So many of our squad members are just about acceptable as single replacements, but we (fans) all seem to get nervous when three or more are selected by the manager and coaches after a week of training and preparation specific to a given challenge.
Doesn’t it say more about us than the players? Me included by the way. ⚒
Think it depends on the positions tbh. CB wise, we have 2 senior fit. I like the look of Alese and Baptiste, have seen quite a bit of them in the u23s, but unless we have no choice I'd not throw them in yet. Their time will come.
Antonio is our only fit striker (I know Bowen has played there but he is so good out wide, I'd rather leave him there tbh)
I'd have no issue seeing Noble or Kral alongside Rice.
It’s worth noting after these 3 games we have a week before playing Man U followed by an International break.
I therefore wouldn’t be quite as worried about playing Dawson and Diop in all three games as they will have a two week rest soon.
As for Antonio I’d rest him for one game and play Bowen up top instead. It will be interesting to see if Bowen makes the England squad, but if he doesn’t he also has a two week break on the horizon.
I think I’d play Coventry against Leeds in the cup or maybe Norwich, as we need to see if he’s up to it or not by the end of the month. Sounds like he wasn’t given a fair crack at Peterborough who have resorted to long ball football to try and avoid relegation.
Vlasic and Areola need to start against Leeds, as should Fredricks who also needs a game. Similarly Noble and Kral must be pushing for a start but I wouldn’t play Yarmolenko as he offers so little. I’d also hope Fornals is back from what I assume is Covid.
Something like:
—————-———Areola
Fredricks Dawson Diop Arthur
——Coventry—-Kral—-Noble
——-——Fornals——-Vlasic
——-——-Bowen/Antonio
Last edited by stu1 on Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
paulhs1 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 4:30 pm
I just think that some are now coming round to the notion of squad rotation being a huge part of the game, especially for teams trying to fight on 2-3 fronts as we currently are.
All about risk/reward, getting the best out of the squad and taking calculated risks.
The bottom line is thst we aim to win all 3 games, if we can still achieve that goal by rotating the squad during what will be a busy period then I'm all for it.
Sure, I do get it, but why not put out a weaker side against Norwich rather than Leeds (FA Cup). My point is, are we (supporters) now prioritising the League over the FA Cup? If we were playing a League One or Two side I could better understand it but Leeds are a very dangerous Premier League outfit and whatever side their Manager puts out they will give us a tough, tough game.
Diogenes wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:16 pm
Sure, I do get it, but why not put out a weaker side against Norwich rather than Leeds (FA Cup). My point is, are we (supporters) now prioritising the League over the FA Cup? If we were playing a League One or Two side I could better understand it but Leeds are a very dangerous Premier League outfit and whatever side their Manager puts out they will give us a tough, tough game.
I think Moyes is likely to treat the Leeds league game as the toughest and put out a full strength team in that game with both the cup game and Norwich game being treated equally with regards to team strength.
I know Moyes takes the cup games extremely seriously.
1984 QPR at home wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:12 pm
Can someone post the link to the covid form for the tickets as I still havent received one from the ticket office.
Ethanadict wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:20 pm
Moyes respects the Cups and he generally expects players to be able to play three times in 8 days, so I think rotation will be minimal.
Do we know when Cresswell returns? Assuming he’s out still…
Fabianski
Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Johnson
Rice, Soucek
Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals
Antonio
I'd be swapping left backs.
I'd sooner have Masuaku attacking Norwich than defending against Leeds.
Not sure I'd start Noble against Leeds either, they're all about running and high energy, it's probably a game more for Kral who seems to have the energy and stamina part of the game.
IronZ-79 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:44 pm
Kral has to start in the cup. Needs to be given an opportunity. Vlasic is starting to show a bit more promise so I expect him to also start.
Don't think Johnson will be used in both matches since he picked up a knock yesterweek or so. Didn't Ashby play the last cup match? I wouldn't be surprised to Ashby or Fredericks against Leeds.
Moyes wants some silverware as much as us and I am sure we won’t see wholesale changes for this.
A sensible mix of experience, squad players and youth should suffice based on the expectation that Leeds will be making significantly more changes.
If we are up for this and give it a proper go we should be winning this.
Wouldn't normally have any concerns over Nobes coming in for a game like this. Did a good job at Watford for instance.
However Leeds's high energy game may seem him struggle in the middle and fear the game could past him by. To offset that Bielsa has tended to field weakened teams in such Cup games, added to their need to prioritise survival and injury issues.
Chicken Run Supreme wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:12 am
Moyes wants some silverware as much as us and I am sure we won’t see wholesale changes for this.
A sensible mix of experience, squad players and youth should suffice based on the expectation that Leeds will be making significantly more changes.
If we are up for this and give it a proper go we should be winning this.
Agree, he has played a fairly sensible mixture of first and second choice selections throughout the cup games this season.
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