Suarez is off to Dubai midweek, if Sturridge if fit, I'd consider give Luis a break in this one. He is looking a bit spent.
Need to get revenge for that opening day debacle. I would imagine Clarke will get a healthy reception and he deserves it. Odemwingie will be back in the Black Country and not travel. He is still in the doghouse. Lukaku will be a threat as will Long. A solid win will start to put pressure on those fighting for the top 4,5 and 6 spots.
I agree with this. This is no time to underestimate anyone. If someone is tired, sub them off, not start on the bench. If Gerrard can play every minute of every match, then any of our other players can.
You get minimal benefit from coming off early. Gerrard didn't play the full 90 at Oldham. Suarez did. We do have a stretch of Monday Thursday Sunday Thursday Sunday games coming up, including the trip the Russia. Suarez is starting to look leggy and off the back of a trip to Dubai, if there is a game to give him a rest, this would be it. Assuming of course Sturridge is fit.
I say start best possible team, we have an 8 day break between the City game and this one. That's plenty of time to recoup. 3 points every game on out should be our goal since all of the "tougher" games have been played (away manu, city, arsenal).
This is going to be a tough fixture. WBA have now gone 9 games without a win, teams usually bounce back from this kind of run sooner or later(Oldham springs to mind) and usually against teams with little to play for. For me, this more than the previous 2 games, will show the mettle of our squad and if they actually really want to compete for Europe. Last season around this stage of the season we were still very much in the running for a top4 place but began our huuuge slump in form.
It seems to happen. And not just this season but for pretty much, to my memory at least, the last 20 years.
just realized that we (kinda) lucked out - everyone of our internationals will be getting an extra 2 days (and 3 if you were a U21) to recover with this game being on a monday!
Agree with those who say play best possible eleven. The concept of "resting players against weakened teams" is not a winning mentality.
Only person I'd consider resting is Suarez and only because he is starting to look like he needs it. He was shattered at the end of the Arsenal game and was well below his best against City. On the back of a trip to Qatar and probably 90 minutes for Uruguay tonight, starting him on the bench with Borini and Sturridge up front would be a sound decision, especially with a trip to Russia 3 days later. Has nothing to do with a winning mentality, has to do with effectively managing the squad in order to get the best out of them over the long term. Sturridge is more than capable of leading the line.
Atrocious defending by Stoke's Geoff Cameron costs the US a point. Tough to play in Honduras but the match was there to be won. Very disappointing.
Play the best 11. Sub Suarez out early if necessary. If we're going to rest Suarez do it for some of the games later on when Coutinho will be a little more acclimated to LFC and Borini will hopefully be in better form and shape. I also read that Sterling has a "dead leg" so hopefully in another week he'll be able to add to the attack.
