Quote from: Allan C on May 12, 2021, 11:20:48 AMQuote from: ChicagoLion on May 12, 2021, 09:23:08 AMQuote from: Risso on May 12, 2021, 09:18:09 AMQuote from: jwarry on May 12, 2021, 08:42:58 AMTo be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, RossSmith specifically said that wasn't a factor, other than the general disruption.It’s been trotted out a while now, there is long covid and fucking long covid.I think Covid in the squad must have played a part but also fatigue in the “first team” and a lack of quality in the deeper squad when injury or fatigue occurred. Yet we are still in a position where we can achieve 9th. That’s a good return in my bookFatigue in the squad was a consequence of Smith failing to rotate the squad in the first half of the season, see JG and MON also. Often he didn't even use his subs properly in games we were coasting to wins. Post covid break, the 6 games in 18 days schedule didn't help obviously but Deano infamously stated at the time that he didn't believe in player fatigue. I'm hoping some important lessons were learned for next season. In some ways we have been somewhat fortunate with injuries this season. Cash, Barkley and Grealish are the only regulars to have picked up significant injuries. Arguably with Grealish moving into Barkley's spot we didn't miss him all that much anyway. No changes required at GK, CB, LB, CM, FW all season really.
Quote from: ChicagoLion on May 12, 2021, 09:23:08 AMQuote from: Risso on May 12, 2021, 09:18:09 AMQuote from: jwarry on May 12, 2021, 08:42:58 AMTo be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, RossSmith specifically said that wasn't a factor, other than the general disruption.It’s been trotted out a while now, there is long covid and fucking long covid.I think Covid in the squad must have played a part but also fatigue in the “first team” and a lack of quality in the deeper squad when injury or fatigue occurred. Yet we are still in a position where we can achieve 9th. That’s a good return in my book
Quote from: Risso on May 12, 2021, 09:18:09 AMQuote from: jwarry on May 12, 2021, 08:42:58 AMTo be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, RossSmith specifically said that wasn't a factor, other than the general disruption.It’s been trotted out a while now, there is long covid and fucking long covid.
Quote from: jwarry on May 12, 2021, 08:42:58 AMTo be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, RossSmith specifically said that wasn't a factor, other than the general disruption.
To be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, Ross
Every club except probably City and United had a big drop off in form in the middle of the season.
Quote from: brontebilly on May 12, 2021, 11:55:57 AMQuote from: Allan C on May 12, 2021, 11:20:48 AMQuote from: ChicagoLion on May 12, 2021, 09:23:08 AMQuote from: Risso on May 12, 2021, 09:18:09 AMQuote from: jwarry on May 12, 2021, 08:42:58 AMTo be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, RossSmith specifically said that wasn't a factor, other than the general disruption.It’s been trotted out a while now, there is long covid and fucking long covid.I think Covid in the squad must have played a part but also fatigue in the “first team” and a lack of quality in the deeper squad when injury or fatigue occurred. Yet we are still in a position where we can achieve 9th. That’s a good return in my bookFatigue in the squad was a consequence of Smith failing to rotate the squad in the first half of the season, see JG and MON also. Often he didn't even use his subs properly in games we were coasting to wins. Post covid break, the 6 games in 18 days schedule didn't help obviously but Deano infamously stated at the time that he didn't believe in player fatigue. I'm hoping some important lessons were learned for next season. In some ways we have been somewhat fortunate with injuries this season. Cash, Barkley and Grealish are the only regulars to have picked up significant injuries. Arguably with Grealish moving into Barkley's spot we didn't miss him all that much anyway. No changes required at GK, CB, LB, CM, FW all season really.And that is precisely my point. The deeper squad wasn’t/isn’t good enough to rest the key players when they needed resting. Yes we’ve been fortunate with injuries thank god but arguably the best player in the league is some injury, Cash too has been excellent and a significant loss when he was out. I’ll agree that substitutions have been poor at times but he’s learning. With better squad players and Smith taking on board his short comings in that area there will be improvement
Quote from: Allan C on May 12, 2021, 12:59:36 PMQuote from: brontebilly on May 12, 2021, 11:55:57 AMQuote from: Allan C on May 12, 2021, 11:20:48 AMQuote from: ChicagoLion on May 12, 2021, 09:23:08 AMQuote from: Risso on May 12, 2021, 09:18:09 AMQuote from: jwarry on May 12, 2021, 08:42:58 AMTo be fair the drop off in form coincided with some of the squad contracting COVID, after which some players were not playing at the same level, eg Jack, Doug, McGinn, RossSmith specifically said that wasn't a factor, other than the general disruption.It’s been trotted out a while now, there is long covid and fucking long covid.I think Covid in the squad must have played a part but also fatigue in the “first team” and a lack of quality in the deeper squad when injury or fatigue occurred. Yet we are still in a position where we can achieve 9th. That’s a good return in my bookFatigue in the squad was a consequence of Smith failing to rotate the squad in the first half of the season, see JG and MON also. Often he didn't even use his subs properly in games we were coasting to wins. Post covid break, the 6 games in 18 days schedule didn't help obviously but Deano infamously stated at the time that he didn't believe in player fatigue. I'm hoping some important lessons were learned for next season. In some ways we have been somewhat fortunate with injuries this season. Cash, Barkley and Grealish are the only regulars to have picked up significant injuries. Arguably with Grealish moving into Barkley's spot we didn't miss him all that much anyway. No changes required at GK, CB, LB, CM, FW all season really.And that is precisely my point. The deeper squad wasn’t/isn’t good enough to rest the key players when they needed resting. Yes we’ve been fortunate with injuries thank god but arguably the best player in the league is some injury, Cash too has been excellent and a significant loss when he was out. I’ll agree that substitutions have been poor at times but he’s learning. With better squad players and Smith taking on board his short comings in that area there will be improvementThe likes of Hourihane and Guilbert were more than competent enough to fill in as squad players I'd argue. Smith lost them through mismanagement, there were a number of games where their direct replacements Barkley and Cash were having stinkers but in Barkley's case he was left on against likes of Leeds and Soton. Think Elmo came on for Cash in a couple of those games. We all like Elmo but he has very much had his day at the top level.I don't think it's a simple as we need better squad players, as we saw in MONs time if you don't use them regularly they become very expensive reserves. Think Deano if his quotes are anything to go by is pretty old school when it comes to players retaining the shirt and use of subs. I think that simply has to change for next season to avoid another March collapse.
Decisions were made based on the assumption that Cash would have a consistently-good introduction and assimilation into the Premier League, and that Barkley would find consistency and fitness from the get-go.So, the question is: do we think those assumptions were valid, at the time both Guilbert and Hourihane were allowed to go on loan? - the club obviously thought so. Hindsight might raise a questionmark over it.I certainly think that Cash would have benefitted from being given some games off, on the bench, since the step-up for him has been quite a steep one. I'm less sure about the Barkley situation because Conor had not really proved himself at this level. Maybe they thought that Sanson would show himself to be more of a Barkley alternative?