We’ll see.
So far, we’ve mostly rotated almost the same positions. LB, one of the two double pivots, #10, left winger and striker.
Mostly left side of the team.
Other than the injuries of course which have forced us to change in goal and a bit at right back.
At the moment, it’s more a case of what he rotates with. He has to pick 4 out of 5 fit defenders and 3 out of 4 fit forwards.
I do think the December fixture congestion compared to the Netherlands will stretch him, though.
I can’t remember if Alexander-Arnold was carrying an injury at the start of the season but didn’t we regularly swap Bradley in at around 70 minutes or before?
He came on a few times, but he didn’t start much.
Yeah but that wouldn’t be too unexpected, since he had more limited Premier League experience, similar to Quansah.
I think rotation-wise, the main stalwarts are really just Salah, Gravenberch, and van Dijk. I think the latter has only missed minutes in the League Cup so far this season? I’m guessing if/when Chiesa is back, we’ll see more rotation for Salah, if just to keep him fresh and firing.
Gravenberch is really the main issue here, since Salah and van Dijk have had history of playing the vast majority of minutes in extended seasons.
Yeah, this is my concern as well. Even Salah got subbed off in a few matches but I can’t for the life of me remember Gravenberch being subbed off in PL and CL matches. Endo was coming on for more offensive players, I think.
Perhaps it’s a discussion for another thread but I was concerned as to how effective Newcastle’s pressing was in the first half. Gravenberch was dispossessed three times, all leading to dangerous attacks. Something for Slot to ponder in the future, I guess.
I’m not a big fan of Endo’s technical ability but he’s a true professional and maybe he should have been entrusted with starting that match and offering some protection to the backline, in the first half at least, before sending on Gravenberch.
Looking it up, I think it’s happened once, when Endō came on for him against Brentford?
The former informs the latter.
Our options were a bunch of kids with no experience at this level and aren’t on the bench on merit, an established player who has got only about 5 mins under Slot because of injuries, and a senior international who for all his good qualities has limitations and doesnt appear to be fancied by Slot.
I see the argument for throwing Endo in once we’ve taken the lead, but that is a switch (whichever one you make) that arguably invites more pressure on us rather than one that allows us to control the last few minutes. And with the way they scored I dont see that he impacts that anyway. Any of the rest of them would have been throwing them to the wolves given the intesnity of the game and certain response from Newcastle.
For all the bad things about that performance, ultimately it was a game decided by a ref giving a pathetic free kick in a dangerous area, on par with the way he interpreted their diving all over the place all game, and then a massive brain fart from the goalie. It strikes me that complaints about the way Slot went about the game should focus on the 80 minutes prior to finally taking a lead rather than that short period before their equalizer
Not a clear injury, but it was reported as being physical management given he ended the season with a series of niggles and then started pre-season late after a very short break because of the Euros.
There weren’t great options on the bench, but last night, the game as it was, intense, plenty of cards, end to end stuff even when we were 2-3 up with a few minutes to go, the week we’re in, I’m disappointed we didn’t use at least one of the two subs we had left. Perhaps it was planned after the 90th, which was exactly when we conceded, but there was nobody ready. Kelleher’s mistake was a much bigger factor, that’s it.
I think the fact we didnt probably says a good deal about what Slot thinks about Endo. Coming on late to protect the defense is one thing. Coming on late into a game like that where our biggest liability was dealing with how effectively and intensely they were pressuring us in possession in our half is seemingly a bridge too far.
I think we have a pretty good idea already what he thinks of him. We didn’t have to play through the lines in those final few minutes. If Endo can’t come on at least in those situations (doesn’t have to be always), then we really have a serious problem because this guy will still be needed this season. I don’t rate Endo, but even I don’t think it’s that terrible.
I rate Endo after what he did for us since coming to the club. He’s a dependable, professional player who knows his own qualities and weaknesses very well, and does his job when called upon. I can’t for the life of me understand why Slot doesn’t trust him. Of course, he must see things in training we can’t see. Maybe he’s spectacularly declining or something? But if he can’t even play a few minutes at the end to help us crowd the midfield and destroy opposing moves, why is he then on the bench?
Technically pretty limited, a bit slow and can have issues with the intensity of the league. He played a fair bit of football under Klopp, but perhaps in Slot’s evaluation and what he wants from his double pivots, he rates him less than Jurgen did. It looks like he really won’t play much unless we have to change here and there (like probably against Girona and then some cup games), the late cameo to see of games or if there are more injuries. I agree about yesterday at the end though, I was surprised to see us not use the remaining two subs, least one.
I’m wondering if it’s more to do with the balance of whether he offers enough over whoever’s on the pitch in their physical condition that makes it worth destabilising the situation on the pitch by introducing someone whose playing style is that much different.
In any case, that wasn’t what lost us the three points.
I thought at the end of the game we were actually having less issues playing through the initial press it was losing possession close to and in the final 3rd and off our throw ins. Also, when Endo has come on, each time it has calmed us and resulted in us controlling the game.
Also there is, as shown against City other ways than keeping possession to control a game and at 3 - 2 the change I felt should have happened and I reckon Slot in hindsight feels the same and learns from it, which I am confident he will do
What I don’t understand is that in a couple of our tighter games he has trusted him to bring on and shore up the game, which has worked each time.
I think the criticism for not suring up the game is a little bit misguided. They got a free kick in the middle of the field (another dive, shocker) and our keeper made a bad decision.
Other than that I don’t really remember any chances of note late in the game.
I was impressed to see him hook Gomez for that performance. I know he’s already shown himself to be a tough manager but that was a very good decision as it would have been easy to lay the blame on the 20 year old next to him but Slot correctly identified that Gomez was the source of all his own issues.
As always, I’m rather wary as to the idea of who Arne “trusts” and who he doesn’t. I’m more inclined to it simply being the case that he would rather not disrupt too much at this early stage, particularly not with the decent start we’ve had.
Jones didn’t play much at the start either but he was eased into it. The same goes with Núñez, well before the Jota injury.
I’m not 100% convinced it’s that so much as Gomez having played more than Quansah recently. It will be more interesting to see what he does against Everton. That said, I wouldn’t be too surprised if we end up seeing Gomez at left-back. I doubt he would do it though.