That's why you do it before the Thu-Sun-Thu-Sun. There's this thing called training, where you prepare physically to be able to do something hard, then you taper down on your training to perform the activity. There is some experience, and even science, around how much training, and how to maintain athletic levels. Most of them actually involve achieving the athletic level in the first place. Experience has shown that this approach is more effective in preparing for peak athletic performance than sitting for a couple of weeks in your pants, eating crisps, and watching your favourite film.
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Dyche’s first game was on a Thursday.
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But surely the fitness was baked in by the time Dyche arrived and we were in the middle of the Thurs Sun schedule, so maybe the running them into the ground in addition to this was counter productive.
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Thought experiment: Imagine it wasn't. Whatchagonnado?
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Don't you think the enemy are going to try and kill them? They won't need to, you'll have wiped them all out first.
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If anyone has missed the post game interview by Pep (sic) then check it out, he's so fucked off it's untrue. Loved it.
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I think I get it now. Run them into the ground, give up on the next twenty or so games and be fitter than a butchers dog for the last few games!?
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You don't get it. As the current manager said after the shitty game, the players are not ready for two games a week. So given that the club will be playing two games a week, you have essentially two choices*. Watch the outcomes go down the shitter when you have to play two games a week, or try to get them ready for two games a week.
* I think that most people now accept that putting the second string in is not a solution, at least not a satisfactory one.
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This is true, but then making numerous changes in one game is unlikely to pay off for any team aside from the ones in the upper echelons with all the lovely moolah and the fine squads.
A better solution might have been to just make a couple of changes for one Thursday, and then two different changes for the following Thursday. Not ideal and it clearly depends on how the preceding fixture went, but it might have been a better approach. After all, some of the second string* have been tarnished with the 'you're shit' brush when maybe if they'd played in a team with 9 regulars they may well have slotted in ok.- excl Morato obviously
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He's been a mardy cunt for a while. All that running on the pitch and picking fights with players. I would love it if someone chinned him.
Or even better, someone comes to their senses and relegates the cheating cunts for financial doping for nigh on 20 years.
Chicago: Fighter.
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I've mentioned before that it's never made sense to me to think you can make 9 or 10 outfield changes and expect to be ok. The only approach that makes sense is to establish your strongest team in the first few weeks and then, once you start playing twice a week, switch 3 or 4 for every game. So Cunha is playing with Milenkovic or Murillo, rather than Morato. Bakwa is playing in front of Aina and with Gibbs-White inside, rather than with McAtee and Savona. Kalimuendo is playing in front of the MGW, CHO and Ndoye (who was first choice at the start of the season), rather whoever we've thrown in this week.
By sending out a team of reserves, you are setting them all up to fail and destroying their value.
That doesn't change the fact that there were players signed that I simply don't understand what we thought they'd add - primarily Kalimuendo, Savona, McAtee and then Lucca in January.
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Totally agree but could see the point in signing Savona as cover, he’s young and didn’t cost much at £8m. Also he’s a reasonable player and more than adequate for the cups and Europa.
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I've probably got too much of a down in him. But our full backs are quick, strong, good ball carriers. And he's not. But we did sign him from Juventus, which is a nice Edu boost for the owner.
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He's looked ok at times, but my overriding thought with him is that he is a centre half trying right back (like zak abbott)
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Sam problem though. Neither look strong enough to play centre half at this level.
