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.
Dieter Eckstein wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 4:10 pm
Totally agree with this lineup. Antonio can't be risked. He might not be our best player, but he's the one whose absence would make the biggest difference to how we're able to play against Fiorentina.
Antonio can't have not played for three weeks.
He needs to start and come off at half time regardless of the result.
Fornals, Ings and Coufal on at half time, Ings to give Antonio a rest, the other two to give them a chance to play their way into the starting line up for the final.
I feel sorry for any club that gets relegated, devastating for them and their fans, but I wouldn’t change the system, it’s equally great for the teams and fans of those coming up.
From a selfish point of view as a hammer who has moved North the more Northern teams in the premier league the more opportunity there is for me to get to a match. Purely on that basis I hope we beat Leicester, not least because winning becomes a habit as we gather momentum before the BIG match.
Many on here saying lets go full strength.How are they going to feel if any of our best players get injured in what is in all fairness a meaningless game for us and miss the final.
The clever thing for moyes to do is announce we have a few "minor " injuries and a few are struggling etc at his press conference Friday.
Then come Sunday when the team sheet goes out and some of our best players are not in the squad no one will be shocked and you cover yourself with the premier league.
We have to look after ourselves in a situation of this magnitude where we are hoping to win a European trophy for the 1st time in 43 years !!
For those who may disagree with me how will you feel come Sunday evening and the likes of Rice,Paqueta,Bowen,Antonio are injured
I remember back in 2006/7 going Liverpool played a team of virtually reserves against Fulham on the penultimate game of the season which Fulham won 1-0 and saved them from going down.For the record Liverpool had a champions league final a few weeks later.
w6hammer wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 9:00 pm
Many on here saying lets go full strength.How are they going to feel if any of our best players get injured in what is in all fairness a meaningless game for us and miss the final.
The problem with that is the length of time between the last game some of those players would have played (last Sunday/last Thursday) to the final.
As it is it will be 10 days between games. It's no good wrapping them in cotton wool if they are going to lose that match sharpness as a result.
I reckon go full strength and build on what we have seen over the last couple of matches.
Our cup final team needs to be match fit, so they need to play.
It's ten days between the Leicester game and the final, and the Leeds game was a week before that, we can't have players having gone 17 days without a game.
w6hammer wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 9:00 pm
Many on here saying lets go full strength.How are they going to feel if any of our best players get injured in what is in all fairness a meaningless game for us and miss the final.
They could just as easily get injured in training. We need to keep them in peak form and that is by playing matches. Antonio especially.
Albie Beck wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 10:26 pm
They could just as easily get injured in training. We need to keep them in peak form and that is by playing matches. Antonio especially.
True.But there is a greater chance of a player getting injured during a game against a team desperate to avoid relegation than on a training pitch.The players are fit they just need to tick over.
It's only a week ago the manager was saying the players were fatigued. Keep them fresh for the final I say.
I reckon Dean Smith will follow his newcastle system for an hour or so, knowing we like to sit back and counter. Will it work? Who knows, They'll be gutted if Leeds win and Everton lose and they only get a point
Have we ever lost to a Dean Smith team? I know we've had some great results against Villa while he was in charge and was he in charge when we did Norwich 4-0?
The opportunity to rest most of them has now gone for me. We can't go so long without playing close to our strongest against Leicester, so it's pretty much same again.
Zouma had to go off at half time after picking up a knock. Soucek, Rice and Paqueta all had full games off the back of the Semi Final ties, as well as Bowen playing almost an entire game himself. Coufal didn't need to play a full game either after just coming back from a hamstring injury. Ideally I wanted to see more of the squad used to rest weary bodies after their recent excursions in both Semi's.
w6hammer wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 9:00 pm
Many on here saying lets go full strength.How are they going to feel if any of our best players get injured in what is in all fairness a meaningless game for us and miss the final.
Getting injured is a risk, but a much bigger risk is that the whole team turns up to the final undercooked and lacking match sharpness. It happens quite often in football. The team that has had the longest amount of rest just doesn't seem to turn up to the all-important game. For example, if Antonio doesn't play against Leicester, then he will have had a three week break between Alkmaar and Fiorentina. If none of our first team play against Leicester, they'll have had a two week break. At some point, if they last long enough, breaks start to become counterproductive.
Players need to play. Momentum needs to be kept. Under cookery is a huge problem in these circumstances. With 10 days after this game. You just basically pick your best team ....injuries are a risk naturally. But resting up is also a switch off for the players....and that is a risk too. Routine lost and changed....and good form lost when we have just rediscovered it. Moyes won't be far off his first team in this game imo.
