by rabidbee »
07 Aug 2009 13:37
Sarah Star Thanks Moo. I can see that you need players who work together at the back, but does that mean even if we're 4 goals ahead or more with 10 minutes to spare we wouldn't send him on?
Another factor is that you might not want a substitute for a key position like centre-back to be somebody you're expecting is only good for a 10-min cameo when you're cruising. An injury in the first minute could force you to play him the whole match. Of course, if the FL has also extended the number of substitutes to 7 then that's less of an issue, but I suspect not - some L2 teams probably struggle to have 18 players, some weeks. Besides which, aside from the psychological factor of getting your debut out of the way, you're not going to learn much or get much benefit from sticking an unfit player in for a cameo. Burton is about the level of a pre-season friendly anyway, so it makes much more sense just to play him for the whole of that game, if he's fit enough. Then he has a chance to get to know at least one of the other centre-backs, and get a feel for how we play.