Claudius that’s patronising nonsense. Nobody underestimates the value in having the full strength, first choice team out and we would all do that every game if we could. Bar a few stylistic choices or fan favourites most of us would be picking 80% of the same team.
The problem is in managing a squad that allows us to maximise the opportunities to have those players available and in the team as long as possible.
I was going to comment in reply to Jazz’s post about Neville’s comments in the other thread but it’s relevant here too. Neville does have a point in what he is saying. Injuries have undoubtedly played a part in our failings this season, but they don’t occur in a vacuum. Certainly not the types and frequency of injuries we’ve been getting. And when we have got them, @Don Pacifico is absolutely right, we can and should expect more of the squad. It is management failings that have seen us overplay key individuals for seasons now and run them into the ground. It is management failings that mean when our two offensive stars go down, we’ve got an untested 17 year old a wane to, and a testing-your-patience Sterling as first in long to replace them. Say all you will about Nwaneri’s potential, very few teams with title aspirations will go into a season with someone of his experience so close to the first team in key positions. And it does Nwaneri himself no good to place so much burden on him in terms of pressure and fitness to plug those gaps for an extended period when our schedule is so heavy.
We can all accept injuries happen. We don’t need to accept the implications of those injuries, but that apologetic nonsense is what we get all too often. What others do has little bearing on our team when we’re considering our performances. I couldn’t care less about how City, United or Spurs are performing.
Again to touch on @JazzG’s post in the other thread, the refereeing issues are an issue we can’t get away from. But we haven’t squeezed the maximum we could have out this season despite them. Injuries and ref issues are being used to mask what has been a disappointing return this season from the management team. The irony is that I think Arteta has actually performed quite well considering what he’s had at his disposal, but that makes it all the more grating about how up the creek he left us going into the season, and in January. The mistakes were mainly made before the summer window shut.
As for Brentford, we had more than enough out there to be beating a bottom half of the table team.
