With the international break in full "swing" i thought ill bring a discussion about our upcoming fixtures and what should be done. I have just checked the fixture list after the international break and it is absolutely brutal. We have midweek games every single week between returning and new year.

Which means clever use of the squad will be needed, and a couple of games where key players are rested, Bournemouth at home in the cup goes without saying will be one of them, but i feel we might need to spare some players the brutal trip to Azerbaijan and i feel it's a calculated chance that we have to take.

Now of course despite winning 6-0 at The Bridge it will be far from easy out there, Roma only just won there and Atletico drew and then again at home. But because of that very team holding the Spaniards twice, the absolute worst case scenario going into matchday 6 will be we need a point against Simeone's men at home. Three days later we have a crucial fixture at Anfield, which dropped points will make an already hard task of retaining the title even harder. Coming back from Spain Thursday morning to play City on tea time Saturday took it's tool which was clearly visible in the performance, so i feel some player's this time need leaving at home.

Assuming everyone is healthy when this comes around, i would leave all the starters that started the United game bar Alonso, Cahill and Baka at home. Was tempted to say Alonso too but starting Kenedy is a one risk too much.

----------------------Willy----------------------
-----------Rudi-----Luiz----Cahill-----------
Zappa-------Drinky---Baka-------Alonso
--------Willian-----Bats----Pedro----------
Bench from: Eduardo, Ampadu, JCS, Kenedy, Musonda, Sterling, one other.

When fixtures are this mad sometimes risk's need to be taken and that team is still a decent team. I remember in 2011 United took a 2-0 lead in the semi final first leg vs Schalke, faced with the 2nd leg a few days before the title decider against us, Fergie put a B team out for the second leg, and won 4-1. The odds were in their favour to take a calculated gamble which i feel they are for us here, so we need to make the most of it. Which will mean we can go to Scouseland with the same side that just played vs United and all bar 3 will be fresh. Only three starters from the game in Qarabag and with Liverpool facing a massive game in Sevilla, that should mean we would be a lot more fresh.

Ofcourse this depends on all the players being fit (or in Luiz's case back in the fold) when these games come about, but this would be the most sensible course of action in my opinion.

I agree that rotation would be needed, just hope we do not fall back on Fab in a midfield 2!

Barring injuries from international duty we should have sufficient cover as we have cover in both defence and midfield. 

Even up front I don't see why we cannot rest Hazard and plump for Pedro and Willian supporting the striker against some of the less challenging matches.

Morata will be key and I see him as the only player we would really struggle to replace adequately.

No, we need to beat Qarabag. 

We arent going to win the league, focus on beating Qarabag and getting through to the next round. I dont want to be in a situation where we need a result against Madrid who might have found form by then. 

A win at Qarabag will have us clinched.  So it is a necessity and should be our full strength squad IMO.  

We managed to beat them fairly easily without having to play our strongest lineup in the first match. We can afford to rest a few players.

57 minutes ago, Maksimov said:

We managed to beat them fairly easily without having to play our strongest lineup in the first match. We can afford to rest a few players.

They have improved since that game. They draw home and away against Atletico and only narrowly lost 1-0 at home to Roma who outplayed us in both games. Can't underestimate them.

On November 13, 2017 at 11:07, benjsross said:

No, we need to beat Qarabag. 

We arent going to win the league, focus on beating Qarabag and getting through to the next round. I dont want to be in a situation where we need a result against Madrid who might have found form by then. 

 

2 hours ago, TheChelsRVA said:

A win at Qarabag will have us clinched.  So it is a necessity and should be our full strength squad IMO.  

Im aware of that, but we must be mindful of the fixture situation we are in. Azerbaijan is further away than Turkey and the travelling alone will take it out of them, Jose in 2015 never shifted from his favoured 11 plus Ramires and eventually it started to show. In some cases heavy rotation is a stupid thing to do but in this case it's more a calculated gamble because for a start 3 games have to go against us for us to go out and having a big schedule to go on top of this journey means sacrifice is needed somewhere.

4 hours ago, Argo said:

 

Im aware of that, but we must be mindful of the fixture situation we are in. Azerbaijan is further away than Turkey and the travelling alone will take it out of them, Jose in 2015 never shifted from his favoured 11 plus Ramires and eventually it started to show. In some cases heavy rotation is a stupid thing to do but in this case it's more a calculated gamble because for a start 3 games have to go against us for us to go out and having a big schedule to go on top of this journey means sacrifice is needed somewhere.

IMO beating Qarabag is more important than the Liverpool game. 

Make no sense resting players for this game, we win this and the group stage is finished, assume Atletico will beat Roma, we will be aiming for top spot comes the final day. We should and will put on the best team to finish them off, not flirting with qualification. They defended all right in the 2 legs against Atletico, but should have lost heavily if those chances were taken. We need to take those early chances and bury the result. If we failed to win this game and mess up the qualification, we all know what's coming.