Torres

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by AdamS Yes i did.

just messing

[Gav]

Originally Posted by Hermes Exactly. So in the press conference the day before the game the opponents will say that and Rafa says "Torres is on the bench". He used the "playing between the lines" excuse because he'd already used the "tired" excuse the previous week. He just won't admit that rotation of your best players doesn't work, he'll use another excuse the next time he leaves him out and we don't win.

exactly , and he doesn't rotate his best players either .Carra was dead on his feet towards the end of last season ,likewise gerrard and Finnan.Its the strikers he rotates more than anyone else from what I can see.I'm sure Crouch would agree.Actually did crouch get dropped last season after scoring a hat trick ??
Games like last night are the times to rest them,not supposed fuckin priority tournament like the league.delighted nando got to score his first hat trick against readings B team,he'll learn way more there than he will playing against yard dogs like Birmingham or Portsmouth

[keysaint]

i would have like babel to have played last night with more space to see if he could exploit it. i still think we have a player there and can see him getting 10 plus goals this season.

[dirty_sanchez]

Fernando Torres is the balls.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Gav exactly , and he doesn't rotate his best players either .Carra was dead on his feet towards the end of last season ,likewise gerrard and Finnan.Its the strikers he rotates more than anyone else from what I can see.I'm sure Crouch would agree.Actually did crouch get dropped last season after scoring a hat trick ?? Games like last night are the times to rest them,not supposed fuckin priority tournament like the league.delighted nando got to score his first hat trick against readings B team,he'll learn way more there than he will playing against yard dogs like Birmingham or Portsmouth

devil's advocate though

look at fowler who played every game
look at owen who played every game

you could argue if rafa was here at the start of their careers they would be in better condition now, did I say 'argue' I think its safe to say its a fact.

[Jose Jones]

Originally Posted by Hermes Exactly. So in the press conference the day before the game the opponents will say that and Rafa says "Torres is on the bench". He used the "playing between the lines" excuse because he'd already used the "tired" excuse the previous week. He just won't admit that rotation of your best players doesn't work, he'll use another excuse the next time he leaves him out and we don't win.

We're not going to win every game this season. Torres isn't going to play every game this season. What do you want, Rafa to make an excuse every time we don't win?
Torres looked fucking knackered at the end of the Porto game and Rafa obviously thought he could get away with Kuyt and Voronin, who have both scored a few this season, up front at home against Brum. It didn't work, so Torres came off the bench, but we still didn't score.
So it turns out that was a mistake. But then what do you want Rafa to say? "It was a mistake, I should have played Torres from the start he's miles better than our other forwards?"
Use your brain and get fucking real, or at least shut your whining.

[Gav]

Originally Posted by dirty_sanchez Fernando Torres is the balls.

I'd agree totally ,but the consensus seems to be that he can only play effectivly against High line teams

[hamstrung]

Kuyt wasn't often rotated last season, although maybe that is more to do with the alternatives at the time

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Jose Jones We're not going to win every game this season. Torres isn't going to play every game this season. What do you want, Rafa to make an excuse every time we don't win? Torres looked fucking knackered at the end of the Porto game and Rafa obviously thought he could get away with Kuyt and Voronin, who have both scored a few this season, up front at home against Brum. It didn't work, so Torres came off the bench, but we still didn't score. So it turns out that was a mistake. But then what do you want Rafa to say? "It was a mistake, I should have played Torres from the start he's miles better than our other forwards?" Use your brain and get fucking real, or at least shut your whining.

there is no real reason why torres can't start every LEAGUE game this season.
how many league games was henry dropped for?

[Gav]

Originally Posted by spider-neil devil's advocate though look at fowler who played every game look at owen who played every game you could argue if rafa was here at the start of their careers they would be in better condition now, did I say 'argue' I think its safe to say its a fact.

Nope , I agree totally that players need to be rested ,and cannot play every game .League cup games against yard dogs playing their 2nd team and FA cup games against minnows and end of group CL games are the times to do that though ,not the league.
I also cannot for the life of me see what "resting" a player on the bench brings .Sure ,Reina last nite was rested ,he had no involemnet, gerrard wasn't .Sticking a guy on the bench has no effect from what I see ,he's still involved in every thing to do with the game from travel ,to training ,to preperation ,to warm ups and obligitory hour of aftergame interviews .Rest means he doesn't go through any of that

[Sweeney287]

Originally Posted by spider-neil there is no real reason why torres can't start every LEAGUE game this season. how many league games was henry dropped for?

How many was he injured for though?

[Hermes]

Originally Posted by Jose Jones So it turns out that was a mistake. But then what do you want Rafa to say?

I want him to tell the truth, not make himself look like a prick with excuses that everybody knows are ridiculous. He's making himself the laughing stock of the Premiership.

[Jose Jones]

Originally Posted by spider-neil there is no real reason why torres can't start every LEAGUE game this season. how many league games was henry dropped for?

Agreed. But once Rafa has made the understandable mistake of resting Torres (which only came after 2 international fixtures and a midweek champions league game) what do people fucking want?
Rafa's now getting shit from people for his rather lame excuse. But he shouldn't have to be making excuses! If people took the trouble to understand why he might have made the decision, and why he thought he would get away with it (Brum at home - he thinks our other strikers are actually quite good), they should fucking support the team and not take any chance to get on the managers back and continue whining about it for 4 fucking days afterwards.
It turned out resting Torres against Birmingham was a mistake. Understandable, but hey hindsight is 20-20. Now get fucking over it.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Originally Posted by AdamS Don't be fucking think. Reading had space behind their defensive line. Space that Torres exploited superbly last night. There is no space behind the brum line because they play so deep. that doesn't mean Torres would have had no joy, because he's a class player. What it does mean that is he would have had less joy. So as he can't start every game, it makes sense to rest him in the games when he will be less effective. Do you understand?

At last somebody has posted the reason for him being rested against Birmingham and I would include Portsmouth too.

I also thnk Rafa is saving his prized asset from being harmed, if youi watch the games he has played in the Premiership, the CB's of every team have attempted to kick lumps out of him, if he had played against Portsmouth, Birmingham, Porto there is a possibility not one of us would have been as happy today or last night if he had played in all of those games, I also think Rafa is slowly and effectivley helping him adapt to the Premiership, without putting him at trisk of injury. I wouldn't be surprised if Torres has two ankles the size of globes this morning.

[Jose Jones]

Originally Posted by Hermes I want him to tell the truth, not make himself look like a prick with excuses that everybody knows are ridiculous. He's making himself the laughing stock of the Premiership.

So you want him to come out and say "I should have picked Torres, we needed him because Kuyt and Voronin weren't good enough"?