FA Cup

[littlebig]

I think the FA cup should take the least priority. League is priority #1 and against Barca we are performing on the elite stage so I think the club will want to put their best foot forward

[Ted Hughes]

No way will we or should we treat the FA Cup game as unimportant. I am sure Pellers won't and will play his strongest available team.What will be of real interest is how he will set the team up to play against a Chelsea team that will play the same way as it did when they beat us 1 nil.

If he goes in just the same I expect we will lose but so far he does seem to have learned things the hard way and I hope he has learned from that defeat.

With the league game, if he had decided to change the system, Chelsea already had the team on the pitch with 3 central defenders & two agressive mids, to just sit there & take a point or beat us from a corner/free kick.

Nothing would have changed for Mourinho; he was happy with a point before kickoff. Just would have meant they had less defending to do.

In the Cup game, he wants a win, not a draw. So in theory we could play a tactical game, or we could just treat it as shit or bust, win or go out playing our football.

Neither way is definitely better than the other imo. Chelsea are a team well suited to play v a weakened City with either method.

Had Silva scored from 3 yards, I recon we would have scored more last Monday, so it could equally be that it suits us to play like that, but do it better.

[Hazy2]

No way will we or should we treat the FA Cup game as unimportant. I am sure Pellers won't and will play his strongest available team.What will be of real interest is how he will set the team up to play against a Chelsea team that will play the same way as it did when they beat us 1 nil.

If he goes in just the same I expect we will lose but so far he does seem to have learned things the hard way and I hope he has learned from that defeat.

With the league game, if he had decided to change the system, Chelsea already had the team on the pitch with 3 central defenders & two agressive mids, to just sit there & take a point or beat us from a corner/free kick.

Nothing would have changed for Mourinho; he was happy with a point before kickoff. Just would have meant they had less defending to do.

In the Cup game, he wants a win, not a draw. So in theory we could play a tactical game, or we could just treat it as shit or bust, win or go out playing our football.

Neither way is definitely better than the other imo. Chelsea are a team well suited to play v a weakened City with either method.

Had Silva scored from 3 yards, I recon we would have scored more last Monday, so it could equally be that it suits us to play like that, but do it better.

Chelsea have 7 days before Everton, we have 2.5 days before Barca ? Pellers to earn his money now boys.

[Tokyo Blue]

Chelsea have 7 days before Everton, we have 2.5 days before Barca ? Pellers to earn his money now boys.

That will even itself out the following week though, mate, when they play in the Chumps and we don't.

[Sideshow Bob]

just hope pelle doesn't become so fixated on beating Maureen that he plays nasri/fernandinho/aguero before they're fully fit.

[Twobob]

What we definatley do not need is a draw and anouther game to play so however we play this one we need to ensure that the team we put out is attacking balls to defending, and I'd like to see Yaya only play part of the game and Silva & Zabba rested, Negrado too depending on this ankle 'injury' that Dzeko is aparently carrying.

We're thin as paper but certainly Lopes should get a start, Michah and Rodwell too, these two have to step up to the plate now it's all hands to the pump and the players we have should be able to cover and at least up thier game by 20% to prove what they can do in hope of progressing to the next round, no fucking excuses.

Jojo to start and with him and Lopes we should have creativity and Kolo on the left as we'll get bugger all crosses from Michah who, if he cant figure out yet when to run back, needs to be told to stay back.

My next worry (apart from Vinnie) is Navas - he could do with sitting this one out as he'll really hurt Barca's defence - but he wont if he's on his last legs so Probably Milner out on the right.

IS there something we can do to get this game postponed or cancelled? It's been looking like snow again (sorry Ashton) ;-)

[Hazy2]

Chelsea have 7 days before Everton, we have 2.5 days before Barca ? Pellers to earn his money now boys.

That will even itself out the following week though, mate, when they play in the Chumps and we don't.

I thought last Monday was a free hit, I see him using anything against us a fuel to aid his mad world. I happen to think Barca is crucial and we need to be fresh for Tues. It could be we get the deluded one again in The Chumps, and revenge could not be sweeter.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

I want to see the strongest team possible. I don't care that we're tired or a few players down.
Winning breeds confidence and is a habit. Going into Barca game having beaten Chelsea 3-0 and getting the feel good factor back will do far more good for our chances than going in having seen a bit-part side taken apart 3-0. Also Chelsea are on a bit of a roll and denting their confidence will knock them down a peg.

How many times have we seen Arsenal go out of one competition, then before we know it they've been knocked out of all 4, end up finishing 4th and winning diddly squat? Losing games is not a habit I want us to get into and for those reasons, strongest line up please.
Furthermore, if we beat Chelsea, then the only 'big' teams left will be Liverpool/Arsenal and Everton, presenting us with a good chance of winning another trophy.

[Florida Blue]

I believe this will be a great test of Pellers. Last season we beat Wigan 1-0 at the Ethiad on April 17th. Outplayed Wigan and probably deserved a 2-0/3-0 result. Less than a month later we lost to them 1-0 in the FA Cup final. Martinez took to heart the lessons learned from that April match and adapted, Mancini did nothing, and we were shockingly beat by a relegated side. 3 hours of football and we only scored 1 goal on a team with a -26 goal differential. That 1-0 win should have screamed an adjustment in tactic it - it did to one RM, but not the one at City.

If Pellers can show some creativity in his tactics (granted he is limited by some injuries), it will already show something different than we can win with what we have no matter what attitude we seem to carry from time to time. I really hope we do win, but something has to be adjusted from the last two matches, and hopefully something we carry on from Sunderland tomorrow.

[Crossie]

Who is fatigued?

Winning solves fatigue.

Win more.

[Ted Hughes]

I believe this will be a great test of Pellers. Last season we beat Wigan 1-0 at the Ethiad on April 17th. Outplayed Wigan and probably deserved a 2-0/3-0 result.

Eh ?!!

Wigan ran rings round us. We were struggling like fuck & Mancini went to a back 3 with Garcia which was pure comedy. (On one occasion Lescott ran round him to get a block in). Then Mancini took Garcia off & was basically having a nervous breakdown

Wigan missed a bunch of chances in that game & they should have won by several goals. Tevez rescued us with about ten minutes to go.

Both City & Mancini were so fucking bad, that I was convinced we were going to lose the Cup final, so I left the board til afterwards because I couldn't join in the buildup without spoiling it for people.

[Sparklehorse]

If someone offered you 100 million pounds (or the cure for world hunger) to run a marathon tomorrow in under 2 1/2 hours, could you do it?

id have a damn good go, if i was in my prime i could definitely play 180 mins of footy a week though !!!

[Blue Since 76]

Linked to this, do any football teams use in game technology like the rugby guys do (ie GPRS sewn into shirts, also taking heart rates etc)?

There isn't the money in football like there is in rugby to do that sort of stuff. As long as they can finish the woodbine without passing out, they're declared fit and sent out to play.

[Blue Since 76]

I really can't see how fatigue can be an excuse ; to me , it's not.
The Marines, the Paras, the SAS,SBS and so on routinely have to meet physical and mental/emotional demands like a 15-20 hr non-stop, cross country march in sub-zero or desert heat temperatures, lugging 40-odd kg of gear, THEN be prepared to fight real/simulated battles making clear-headed split second decisions which can affect life/death or the outcome of an engagement , campaign, or conflict.

THEN clean their weapons thoroughly, read maps , assess intel reports, assess supplies/ammo ; it's too dark, I'm too hot, I'm too cold, I'm too knackered - tough shit - mistakes not allowed.

THEN march another 15-20 hrs , and do it all again.

No nice cushy heated/aircon bus to ride home in . No smick 6 bedroom pad in Alderley Edge to go back to. No physios and ice baths and gentle warm-downs.

Some of these players make more in a WEEK than the above services make in a year . Fatigue my arse .

Now is the time to EARN IT !!

In your war games world, if the SAS had your 20 hour march over broken glass whilst carrying an obese rhino on their back, knowing they had the same return trip but in the middle had to play paintball against an SBS unit who had spent a week relaxing and discussing tactics, knowing they had a trip to a luxury resort the following week, who do you think would win? Or at least have an advantage?

Would it help the SAS if we paid them an extra fiver a week?

[Moonchesteri]

If someone offered you 100 million pounds (or the cure for world hunger) to run a marathon tomorrow in under 2 1/2 hours, could you do it?

Not a fair comparison imo unless Sparklehorse has been training professionally towards it for the past ten years.

Of course it's not as black and white as this either way but I have to say I do wonder a bit is players' fitness really as high as it could be. Five years ago I would've been sure it could be better and they're just lazy bastards, but with all the technology and fitness coaches our club uses these days I'm not sure how much more can b done

[Dunne's Half-Time Pint]

If someone offered you 100 million pounds (or the cure for world hunger) to run a marathon tomorrow in under 2 1/2 hours, could you do it?

id have a damn good go, if i was in my prime i could definitely play 180 mins of footy a week though !!!

I'm sure you would. I imagine - assuming that you're in decent shape, work out etc. - that you'd be at somewhere between the 10 and 20 mile mark after that amount of time. Which would mean that despite your very best efforts and the rewards on offer, your body would only allow you to do about 1/2 to 2/3 of what was necessary to take home the big fat sack of cash.

In football, against Chelsea and Barcelona, 1/2 to 2/3 of the required performance level is not enough to win. As someone else said, the margins are very fine indeed and even though the players will be (more or less) in peak condition and up fot it, it's very doubtful that their bodies will let them perform at 100% for 90 minutes 3 times in 7 days (or whatever). In fact, it's certain.

It amazes me that I still hear this shit from people who watch football regularly really - it should be an absolute given that too many games too close together has an effect on results (no matter how much they're paid).

[mcfc1632]

Cannot understand this obsession with resting - hae we not learnt lessons this season?

This is the FA cup against the chavs at the Etihad - go through and we are mad favourites for a trip to Wembley

Nothing other than the strongest team possible.

The Barca game can take care of itself and with the injured players coming back soon we look good to finish the league season strongly

[Blue Since 76]

Not a fair comparison imo unless Sparklehorse has been training professionally towards it for the past ten years.

Of course it's not as black and white as this either way but I have to say I do wonder a bit is players' fitness really as high as it could be. Five years ago I would've been sure it could be better and they're just lazy bastards, but with all the technology and fitness coaches our club uses these days I'm not sure how much more can b done

It's not about pure fitness though - the ability to run 10 miles non-stop, or 20, or 30. Football is all about flexibility and explosive power. A slight strain may mean you're only 95% able to twist and turn or tackle or shoot. Playing Sunday league will make little difference, as your opponent is probably only 90%, less if he had a hard night beforehand. But you are playing against other professionals who will train just as hard and if they're fully fit, will cause you problems.

For Saturday, Chelsea has an extra day's rest beforehand and no game for a week after. We are going in with a disadvantage. That's a reality we have to deal with and it may cost us. But, if we lose, then later in the season, Chelsea will have a cup game when we don't, so we gain.

[tc6828]

Cannot understand this obsession with resting - hae we not learnt lessons this season?

This is the FA cup against the chavs at the Etihad - go through and we are mad favourites for a trip to Wembley

Nothing other than the strongest team possible.

The Barca game can take care of itself and with the injured players coming back soon we look good to finish the league season strongly

This, all day long as well as previous comment about wining breeds confidence. Dont want Barca to rock up on Tuesday with our last game a loss coz we thought we would save our best for them - that's nonsense. Win on Sat and the mood and confidence will be a lot higher than a loss.

[Im_Spartacus]

With our players on more money per week than I will earn in 10 years, I would expect our strongest team in all three games and all of them playing their hearts out. A game every three days is not too much to ask

Errrrr, and what about their players Einstein?

Should they roll over cos they are on a tenner less per week?