Just a question, maybe a criticism but do you buy into the players are tired theory?

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Pauliej

Well-known member
Because I'm struggling.
We are talking about players, generally in their mid 20s who surely should be able to play games on a regular basis.
We are talking finely tuned athletes, who have the best of everything, struggling to play a few games in a short space of time.
Throw in Carrick saying the players are tired and in my eyes just gives the players an excuse for that pitiful second half today.
Just my opinion though.
 
Half the team will be carrying niggles as well as depleting fitness levels.

It's not so much tired as being able to keep a core of players at peak fitness. You can't maintain that if they play every 3 or 4 days. Just not possible.
 
I think it's an easy excuse to make. The players won't even be training at this time of year. The fixture list has been kind to us. Away trips to South & West Yorkshire won't have taken anything out of them from a travelling point of view. In between games it'll be massages, baths and conditioning.

We have opportunity to make 5 subs per game but generally we don't.
 
Which is true until your team of 20 something players comes up against a team with 20 something players who have not had to play quite so many minutes or are not playing a full 90 minutes when they are not fully up to speed (Coburn) or with niggles (VDB) etc.

It doesn't show for some 60-70 minutes maybe but it will eventually play its part.

We're not the only team that this has happened to and it's screamingly obvious to me that some of the players would not be starting if they weren't the "only RB" or one of only two fit CBs etc.
 
Of course they can play the games but if the same players are playing every game and if Coventry are able to rotate and make changes during the game then it makes sense that they will be fresher.

We also know some aren't fullly match fit - eg Clarke, Coburn.
 
The difference being that they’re playing against other fine tuned athletes who’ve had more rest time as Coventry have been able to rotate.

For the first hour today, we matched Coventry. 1st half in particular, we played a reasonably high tempo and pressed high. We made Coventry make loads of mistakes in their own half.

We just couldn’t maintain those energy levels. Coventrys freshness made a huge difference. Think the 2nd knocked the stuffing out of us mentally as well.
 
The players look knackered. It's hardly surprising as we have 12 senior players available. Also don't forget we've been playing with the same CM pairing for a month. Oh and one of them is 35.

We also have the likes of Greenwood / Rogers / Coburn and Rogers who are young. I doubt any of them will have expected to get this much game time. That's out of necessity.

The bench today was as bad as I've ever seen it. I imagine half of them are 'not ready'. Hence they don't feature.

Coventry made 5 changes from the side that played Friday. Also brought on a few senior pros. That's the difference.

The fact that Robbins basically said they had got lucky playing us in our current situation. He can see we are on our ars*. Strangely some of our fans can't.
 
As I put in the match thread, Mark Robins certainly thinks so ...

"We knew what was going to happen because they have a lot of injuries, as well as players who have gone to play at the Asian Cup. We moved the ball really well at times, got into some dangerous areas and finished clinically. The last 15 minutes were a non-event because we controlled the ball."
 
I fully understand what everyone is saying but it wasn't like we ran out of steam on 60/70 minutes. We simply did not turn up for the full 2nd half. We were so flat when we came back out that it made me question the tired take on things. We just looked like a totally different team second half.
 
Pauliej said:
I fully understand what everyone is saying but it wasn't like we ran out of steam on 60/70 minutes. We simply did not turn up for the full 2nd half. We were so flat when we came back out that it made me question the tired take on things. We just looked like a totally different team second half.
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Players are not idiots, they put it all into that first half and we should have been 2 up at least, but it didn't happen. Coventry turned up in the second half and we would have expected that at half time, we just couldn't match them.

They are running on fumes, if that's not obvious I don't know what is.
 
I think we should also take into consideration the way the game is played now. The high press, the need for full backs to get forward, midfielders covering huge areas of the pitch. You don't see many players strolling round the pitch like Gary Lineker waiting for a through ball to chase, or Jan Molby never leaving the centre circle. I'm sure this makes demands on the players physically and is responsible for the long injury lists that a lot of teams have.
 
o
Pauliej said:
Because I'm struggling.
We are talking about players, generally in their mid 20s who surely should be able to play games on a regular basis.
We are talking finely tuned athletes, who have the best of everything, struggling to play a few games in a short space of time.
Throw in Carrick saying the players are tired and in my eyes just gives the players an excuse for that pitiful second half today.
Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...
of course, most athletes can't perform at their peak if their muscles are fatigued.
 
There’s not a chance at the start of the season Rav, Rogers, and Coburn would be playing so many games. You could see it in them three especially.
The starting 11 today are basically playing every game, they can’t be 100% every game. We need players in/back asap.
 
Pauliej said:
Because I'm struggling.
We are talking about players, generally in their mid 20s who surely should be able to play games on a regular basis.
We are talking finely tuned athletes, who have the best of everything, struggling to play a few games in a short space of time.
Throw in Carrick saying the players are tired and in my eyes just gives the players an excuse for that pitiful second half today.
Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...
With up to 14 players out injured or away on International Duty, do you expect the remaining 10 in the Senior Squad to be able to compete and perform consistently for the remainder of the season, until we either refresh the squad or injured players come back?
Having to resort to U21`s and U18`s is not a temporary arrangement - it is forced upon the Coaching Team.
No one can go on ad-infinitum without a break, whether they are "athletes" or not.
How many on here have been involved in continuous high-intensity work and reached a point at which the body won't perform at its optimum level without rest.
I find it astonishing that some on here think overexertion is a lie.
Obviously, never done more than pick up the remote to change channels on SKY.
 
xmas break has been touted for how many years? Problem is without extending the season or starting it earlier where do you play the additional games?

Plus traditionally crowds go up over the festive period
 
Davey_C said:
xmas break has been touted for how many years? Problem is without extending the season or starting it earlier where do you play the additional games?

Plus traditionally crowds go up over the festive period
Click to expand...
Winter break just ends up with teams going abroad to play exhibition games for money
 
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