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*** Tottenham Hotspur v Monaco OMT ***

We've showed previously this season that at least some of our players manage to play 3 games in a week just fine. This time we're talking about home games against both Monaco and Saudi Sportswashing Machine so no great travelling distances.

We had a full week between the Chelsea and WBA games and will again have full weeks off between the Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Southampton and Norwich games.

I don't think we have to change our entire starting 11 between the Monaco and Saudi Sportswashing Machine games.

For me something like:

Trippier-Alderweireld-Wimmer-Davies
------------Bentaleb--Alli-------------------
Lamela-----------Kane---------------Son
----------------Clinton----------------------

Would provide a good balance between resting some players, giving some squad players game time in a functional team that's not thrown together whilst being a team that should be capable of putting in a good performance against Monaco. Could see arguments for Alli, Lamela or Kane being rested instead and for playing Dier or Eriksen instead. Point is more that I don't see a reason to change everything.
 
braineclipse said:
We've showed previously this season that at least some of our players manage to play 3 games in a week just fine. This time we're talking about home games against both Monaco and Saudi Sportswashing Machine so no great travelling distances.

We had a full week between the Chel53a and WBA games and will again have full weeks off between the Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Southampton and Norwich games.

I don't think we have to change our entire starting 11 between the Monaco and Saudi Sportswashing Machine games.

For me something like:

Trippier-Alderweireld-Wimmer-Davies
------------Bentaleb--Alli-------------------
Lamela-----------Kane---------------Son
----------------Clinton----------------------

Would provide a good balance between resting some players, giving some squad players game time in a functional team that's not thrown together whilst being a team that should be capable of putting in a good performance against Monaco. Could see arguments for Alli, Lamela or Kane being rested instead and for playing Dier or Eriksen instead. Point is more that I don't see a reason to change everything.
Click to expand...

If you are going to rotate at lest base it on how many games people have played.
Kane has played in all 21 of our games this season and all 5 England games.
Alderweireld played 90 minutes in 20 games for us missing only the league cup and played 90 minutes in every Belgium game.

rBYNYqE.png



But ultimately I still don't get what people have against us playing our young players (that Poch is supposed to be giving a chance) in a game that doesn't matter to us.
 
Especially when the game matters to Monaco, we want to keep integrity, try to beat Monaco. After all, I remember how much fuss people made when Alan Pardew said, in 2013, that he wouldn't mind if Saudi Sportswashing Machine lost to Arsenal, in a game which would help Arsenal to secure CL that season.

Treat the competition with respect, aim to finish top, for if we don't then we are not being fair to ourselves, the competition & other clubs. Yes, let's rest a player or two, but please, let's not have any of this 'play the Under 21s' nonsense that is being repeated with too much ease.
 
El Guepardo said:
Especially when the game matters to Monaco, we want to keep integrity, try to beat Monaco. After all, I remember how much fuss people made when Alan Pardew said, in 2013, that he wouldn't mind if Saudi Sportswashing Machine lost to Arsenal, in a game which would help Arsenal to secure CL that season.

Treat the competition with respect, aim to finish top, for if we don't then we are not being fair to ourselves, the competition & other clubs. Yes, let's rest a player or two, but please, let's not have any of this 'play the Under 21s' nonsense that is being repeated with too much ease.
Click to expand...

I couldn't give a single damn about 'integrity' when my club and our season's at stake. Other clubs usually have no hesitation when it comes to screwing us over on all sorts of stuff, and I'd rather we not be the hapless white knight getting bashed by all and sundry in the ruthless jungle that is professional football. If other clubs are relying on us being competitive to do what they themselves couldn't do over the previous five games, sod 'em: I'd rather not burn out Kane and the rest of our lads to please UEFA, Monaco or anyone else, because they sure as hell won't offer us a CL spot or a cup we could otherwise have won for being 'fair' to the competition or to other clubs if we do end up missing out on one because we tried to be 'fair'.

Yes, let's be fair to the people THFC employs. Yes, let's be fair (as fair as we can be, anyway) to the community we're based in and to the fans. Yes, let's be fair off the pitch: competitive as all hell on it, but that should ideally end when the whistle blows, no handbags carried over to later fixtures.

But really, sod being 'fair' to our competitors as a whole, or to other clubs. Play the U-21s, with a few first-team lads thrown to make it look mildly competitive. None of this 'put out the entire legion of first teamers for a near-worthless Europa League game against Monaco' stuff. Hell, I'd advocate playing Marcus Edwards and the U-18s, if it weren't for the need to keep those lads sheltered from the pressures of top-flight football at their age.

Edit:

" I also think we'll qualify.
Tottenham still five matches to play between now and 2/01. It is their only opportunity to run and they are already qualified.
The team will be revised to 75%. I do not see how it would be otherwise.

We are going to put the big team to not be ridiculous. I think we can do it again."


That's from asmforum.fr, the Monaco fan forum. They're actually counting on us sending out a weakened side, since they (rightly) figure we're more focused on the league at this stage. So, really, we'd be doing them a disservice by sending out Jan, Kane and all the other lads for this one: we'd be doing them a disservice, and we'd hobble ourselves as well in future league games as that extra bit of fatigue is added to the team. Do I want us to do that for Qarabag and Anderlecht? Hell no.
 
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El Guepardo said:
Especially when the game matters to Monaco, we want to keep integrity, try to beat Monaco. After all, I remember how much fuss people made when Alan Pardew said, in 2013, that he wouldn't mind if Saudi Sportswashing Machine lost to Arsenal, in a game which would help Arsenal to secure CL that season.

Treat the competition with respect, aim to finish top, for if we don't then we are not being fair to ourselves, the competition & other clubs. Yes, let's rest a player or two, but please, let's not have any of this 'play the Under 21s' nonsense that is being repeated with too much ease.
Click to expand...

If Anderlecht beat Qarabag they are through regardless what Monaco do. If they cant beat Qarabag at home they dont deserve to be in the next round. And fudge Qarabag they have no integrity. A team not even from Europe come from nowhere with a load of oil and gas money.
 
I'm with Dubai and Modric, we have qualified already, we cannot play our core of the 6 or 7 best players in every single game, especially considering how many miles they cover in 90 minutes and especially given that we are entering the most hectic period of games in the season. If Kane, Eriksen etc are not rested on Thursday then when will they be?

Another point, Poch has given players like Dembele, Rose and Kane a chance who either weren't exactly fan favourites or hadn't nailed down a place in the first team, I want Poch to continue giving fringe players/youngsters a chance, who knows, we may even find another Kane or Alli.

To hell with treating the competition with respect, we have qualified and earned the right to rest players, if Anderlecht and Qarabag are unhappy then that's their problem. Do you think Alan Pardew gave a feck about us when he said "I don't care if we lose 4-0 to Arsenal" when Saudi Sportswashing Machine were playing them on the last day of 2012/13 whilst we were chasing a top 4 finish?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to send a team out to no try or to lose, but can we honestly not win the/try to win the game by resting a few players?
 
El Guepardo said:
Especially when the game matters to Monaco, we want to keep integrity, try to beat Monaco. After all, I remember how much fuss people made when Alan Pardew said, in 2013, that he wouldn't mind if Saudi Sportswashing Machine lost to Arsenal, in a game which would help Arsenal to secure CL that season.

Treat the competition with respect, aim to finish top, for if we don't then we are not being fair to ourselves, the competition & other clubs. Yes, let's rest a player or two, but please, let's not have any of this 'play the Under 21s' nonsense that is being repeated with too much ease.
Click to expand...

Pardew is a clam and I didn't agree to say the least when he said that, but you ultimately have to look out for yourself regardless of integrity and treating the competition with respect.
 
Jurgen the German said:
I'm with Dubai and Modric, we have qualified already, we cannot play our core of the 6 or 7 best players in every single game, especially considering how many miles they cover in 90 minutes and especially given that we are entering the most hectic period of games in the season. If Kane, Eriksen etc are not rested on Thursday then when will they be?

Another point, Poch has given players like Dembele, Rose and Kane a chance who either weren't exactly fan favourites or hadn't nailed down a place in the first team, I want Poch to continue giving fringe players/youngsters a chance, who knows, we may even find another Kane or Alli.

To hell with treating the competition with respect, we have qualified and earned the right to rest players, if Anderlecht and Qarabag are unhappy then that's their problem. Do you think Alan Pardew gave a feck about us when he said "I don't care if we lose 4-0 to Arsenal" when Saudi Sportswashing Machine were playing them on the last day of 2012/13 whilst we were chasing a top 4 finish?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to send a team out to no try or to lose, but can we honestly not win the/try to win the game by resting a few players?
Click to expand...

I said that we should rest a few players. I just think that fielding an under 21 team would be way too far.
 
We need to focus on Saudi Sportswashing Machine, but we've got to be careful to not lose momentum/confidence with a bad defeat at home; away from home would have less of a 'bubble-bursting' feel to it.

I'd go:



Vorm (LAST CHANCE SALOON!)

Tripper, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies

Bentaleb (or Winks), Dembele, Carroll

Son, N'Jie, Townsend
​
 
A few years ago we took a very young side side out to Greece to play PAOK and they came back with a credible draw, then in the return fixture where we needed a win we brought back most of the big guns ... and we lost. I'm not saying we should therefore play a team of kids here but it shouldn't keep being assumed that by doing so we'd be throwing the game away, sometimes a fresh player with the motivation to prove a point is equally or perhaps better equipped in a game like this than a slightly jaded 1st teamer who has one eye on the game at the weekend. Another example was Benfica under Tim, 1st team lost the first leg 3-1 at home whilst a weakened side drew 2-2 away and were unfortunate not to actually force the tie into extra time.
 
Modric THFC said:
If you are going to rotate at lest base it on how many games people have played.
Kane has played in all 21 of our games this season and all 5 England games.
Alderweireld played 90 minutes in 20 games for us missing only the league cup and played 90 minutes in every Belgium game.


But ultimately I still don't get what people have against us playing our young players (that Poch is supposed to be giving a chance) in a game that doesn't matter to us.
Click to expand...

Like I said I can see arguments for resting Kane instead. I don't get looking at minutes played ignoring positions and roles and how these players have coped with fixture congestion in the past. I don't think there's as much need for rest/rotation at centre back as for some of our attacking players (and full backs). With full weeks between games coming up I think Alderweireld will be just fine. I think Verts would be too, it's more about giving game time to young Wimmer.

Kane has proven that he can play a lot of games, we're talking a relatively short trip to WBA and two home games. I think he will be fine, but like I said I can see the arguments for resting him instead. Onomah in for him in the line-up I posted makes a lot of sense for example. If you cannot see my overall point on this you're simply not reading my post.

What I don't see any strong argument for is changing the entire starting 11. It's clear as day that Poch gives young players a chance by the way. But I think it makes more sense to give Wimmer game time next to Alderweireld (or Vertonghen) instead of surrounded by players lacking match fitness, making their debuts etc. Give him a chance alongside someone in form that can help him. I think that will do him a lot more good than being thrown into a completely makeshift team. Similar story with Clinton, Bentaleb, our full backs etc.

Jurgen the German said:
I'm with Dubai and Modric, we have qualified already, we cannot play our core of the 6 or 7 best players in every single game, especially considering how many miles they cover in 90 minutes and especially given that we are entering the most hectic period of games in the season. If Kane, Eriksen etc are not rested on Thursday then when will they be?

Another point, Poch has given players like Dembele, Rose and Kane a chance who either weren't exactly fan favourites or hadn't nailed down a place in the first team, I want Poch to continue giving fringe players/youngsters a chance, who knows, we may even find another Kane or Alli.

To hell with treating the competition with respect, we have qualified and earned the right to rest players, if Anderlecht and Qarabag are unhappy then that's their problem. Do you think Alan Pardew gave a feck about us when he said "I don't care if we lose 4-0 to Arsenal" when Saudi Sportswashing Machine were playing them on the last day of 2012/13 whilst we were chasing a top 4 finish?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to send a team out to no try or to lose, but can we honestly not win the/try to win the game by resting a few players?
Click to expand...

Is anyone saying that we shouldn't rest a few players?

The discussion seems primarily between those that want us to change our entire 11 between the Monaco and Saudi Sportswashing Machine games and those that are happy to see us rest a few players.

Yoof said:
A few years ago we took a very young side side out to Greece to play PAOK and they came back with a credible draw, then in the return fixture where we needed a win we brought back most of the big guns ... and we lost. I'm not saying we should therefore play a team of kids here but it shouldn't keep being assumed that by doing so we'd be throwing the game away, sometimes a fresh player with the motivation to prove a point is equally or perhaps better equipped in a game like this than a slightly jaded 1st teamer who has one eye on the game at the weekend. Another example was Benfica under Tim, 1st team lost the first leg 3-1 at home whilst a weakened side drew 2-2 away and were unfortunate not to actually force the tie into extra time.
Click to expand...

Solid points. I'm not against playing a young team (any team we put out is a young team). I think quite a lot has changed since the games you talk about though. We have a lot fewer players that aren't going to put in an effort in an EL game in our strongest 11 I think. And we're already putting a lot of trust in our younger players.

I agree that we shouldn't play a team of kids. Pochettino made the point about trusting young players not just throwing them into games that don't really matter. If Onomah or Winks are given a start in this one I think it might be better if they have players around them that are relatively in form and up to speed.
 
braineclipse said:
To add to that...

Townsend also played around an hour, Veljkovic played the full game and Onomah wasn't involved at all.
Click to expand...

So Onomah to start on Thurs, Winks and Townsend on the bench. If Townsend doesn't start on Thurs, then he clearly isn't remotely in Poch's plans
 
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