by Clyde1998 »
08 Apr 2023 15:35
YorkshireRoyal99 Snowflake Royal YorkshireRoyal99
Yeah but not with 9 injuries to our squad though, I'm not sure many sides that would be operating at "our level", probably lower mid-table, would be able to cope with 9 injuries. They'd all certainly struggle anyway that's for sure.
How many of those injured players should realistically be starting?
Moore - no
McIntyre - not paired with Holmes
Rahman - no
Hoilett - no
Hutchinson - maybe
Ince - yes
Long - no
Ejaria - no
So our bench is a bit weak. But the 14 who got on the pitch yesterday are easily good enough to stay up.
Whether you think they should or not, McIntyre, Rahman, Ince and Hoilett have all been major parts of our season, Hutchinson has been important when he's been fit and would be if he could stay fit and Ince has said he wanted Moore in our squad as well, Dann has been used when fit as well.
It's not all about the starting XI for one game, but the squad over multiple games. Rahman would start, to the dismay of fans, but he'd do ok generally. Moore would improve our defence arguably, Dann would be an option for the bench, as would Ejaria and Long. Ince starts, McIntyre would find a place in the team, Hutchinson likely would, Hoilett at minimum in the squad etc.
Agreed - it's more about the squad when there's basically no recovery time between matches than our strongest XI.
At the moment the biggest concern for me is the number of players missing and our inability to rotate players. Meite was limping for twenty minutes before he came off yesterday, Mbengue didn't look like he was moving freely at points and the players, generally, looked out of steam towards the end.
Loum will almost certainly come in on Monday, simply because he'll be fresh. I'd guess Azeez, Guiness-Walker and Dann will all come in, should they be fit enough to start the game.
The problem is we'll still end up with something like:
Lumley
Yiadom - Holmes - Dann - Sarr - Guiness-Walker
Loum - Casadei - Hendrick
Carroll/Joao - Azeez
I wouldn't mind seeing Abrefa and Ehibhatiomhan given a go, but both would need experienced players around them (I wouldn't play about Ehibhatiomhan and Azeez). I'd also consider Mamadi Camara and Rashawn Scott being on the bench to bring on with twenty to go - even if just for more energy.
When you're missing: Hoilett, Hutchinson, Moore, McIntyre, Rahman, Tetek, Ince, Ejaria, Long and possibly now Meite you're basically playing whoever's fit enough to play as opposed to worrying about who's your strongest side and even then there appears to be players carry knocks who wouldn't be playing if others were avaliable.