Got to go full strength , they have had a **** run but that will end , we have had a great run that will also end , need to pick up points where we can and not ease off. because of the so called rivalry i imagine they will be up for it , I don’t see it as rivalry I know very little about muff other than they stole are championship trophy , they cheap a lot , Eddie Howe was a god and the press loved them because they were everything we weren’t. only change I would make is start Gray , let muff kick the **** out him , then bring on JP once they have tired themselves out kicking Gray. muff 1 Watford 3
Been thinking... Surely with all the 3 games in 8 days we've had this season, and considering at this stage every player should now be fully fit - they shouldn't need "training" in the usual sense.? They should be mainly resting + the odd tactical session and save their energy between games..... I can imagine that Cleverley will feel it most at his age and Hughes runs a lot, but the rest should be fine if taken care of between games.
So you would think. Play,rehab,rest,light work,tactical analysis,rehab,play again. No need for any hard graft. On another note do any of our ITK brethren know if the team flew to Blackburn or travelled by coach?
They should be training both in preparation for each individual opponent and to improve ever further their own understanding as a team, not to mention, say, learning and perfecting dead-ball routines. I think you'd have to be going down quite a strange path to suggest that we, as a team, no longer need to be training. Particularly when four games ago we could barely string a pass together, and we still have at players who are nowhere near fully integrated.
I think we should rest Sema tomorrow and give Zinckernagel a start on the left. Sema looked very tired against Derby a week ago - and while he was back to his best midweek, there’s evidence that he could need a rest. I’d also be tempted to bring Wilmot in for Troost-Ekong. Bournemouth will have a good pitch and the conditions are gonna be ace. Not to mention they like to pass it around a bit. I think the condition will suit those two coming into the side. I think Chalobah is likely to come back in for Gosling. But I do hope we have leaned on the latter for some inside info and use that to our advantage.
Think it’s a mix of both but I imagine most of the opposition ‘training’ comes verbally rather than physically at the moment just due to volume of games/travel etc. Leventhal did a fairly in depth piece the other week about it - I know he usually spouts waffle but there was a fair bit of info in there that suggests a lot of preparation is currently taking place away from the training pitches.
That's good. Doesn't disrupt the sleep patterns too much and long enough for players to have relaxed and lost the adrenaline rush that playing gives the athlete.
Agree with those changes. Only thing I would so is play Sarr on the LW and Zinckernagel on the RW. Smith will dread being up against Sarr. Plus Masina and Zinckernagel on the left side is pretty weak. Sarr will help Masina and Kiko would help Zinckernagel. Ekong has to be dropped as you said.
Does Adam Smith still play? Can’t stand the bloke. Would love to see him try to look after Sarr all game.
I saw whoever's quotes it was, possibly from Leventhal, talking about how there isn't much time to train as they would like at the moment, but that's rather different to not needing to train or, indeed, voluntarily forgoing the opportunity, if you get me.
It’s the same guy who refereed the Preston away match 10 days ago and gave us the match-winning penalty.
Bournemouth have lacked cutting edge since Razer was put into retirement. It’s old and rusty now, we have nothing to fear.
Think it might be the same side apart from Chalobah for Gosling. Whatever we may think of Ekong he's played 9 of the last 10 games, same as Sierralta, so am assuming the Sierralta Ekong partnership is Xisco's preferred CB pairing.
In recent years I've never looked forward to games against this lot. On far too few occasions have I felt happy with the result. I expect nothing to change with this game.
On the contrary, I definitely AM looking forward to today's game very much. Have been all week. Mostly because judging by recent games, there's a good chance I'll be entertained. The hair-rippingly boring, backward and sideways passing, spiritless and spineless 'binary' scoring, £10 wasted, Ivic dull-ball seems to be, thankfully, getting smaller in the rear view mirror. Win, lose or draw, at least we can be reasonably confident that they'll give it a good go. cu-u-u-u-mmmmm on yoooooo HORNETS!!!
After the Cov game it looked like we had no chance of going up. Dire Deeneyball was destroying our season. It was a miracle he got injured and now we are playing the best formation for every single one of our front 6. Its marvellous stuff and we might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Hopefully it will lead to promotion but if it doesnt at least we gave ourselves the best chance of success in the run in. If we dont go up its possible none of us will ever see players of the quality of Sarr and JP in a Watford shirt ever again. I for one am gonna try to enjoy every minute of it! *Before the trolls come out, I'm not celebrating Deeney's injury. Unlike Troy, I wouldnt wish a physical injury on anyone. But it's clear his injury has transformed our season and put us in within a stone's throw of promotion. If Troy isnt out for the season, how Gino manages his reintegration with the squad will be key for our promotion hopes. Manage it wrong and I dont think we'll b promoted.
Sarr is our best player. Don’t chop and change him. Play him where he’s most effective not where our opponents are least effective. On this form he will be a handful for anyone.
If a player needs a rest take them off early after the work is done. I’ve never understood why a manager would weaken their team and then rely on a player to perform miracles in 20 minutes
I mean, the answer to that would be 'because the player needs more rest than a token 20 minutes after a herculean 70 in which the bulk of impactful play and effort was carried out'. You'd probably also have to be talking about a Messi-level impactful player to be sure that you could safely take them off after 70 minutes having 'done the work' and ride out the remaining 20/25, when the opponents are still trying to beat you; possibly even harder than they were before.
I have a feeling their ploy will be to kick the **** out of our players at every chance they get today
Whenever you hear ex-pros talk they nearly always say players don’t actually want or need rest, I think this is especially true when you’re winning and playing well. Unless a player is physically showing signs of exhaustion, or is telling the manager/medical team they’re exhausted, then I don’t think we need to be resting our best players, I think they’ll all want to be playing every minute at the moment.
