Squad rotation

[alamo]

Ok, I've been reading a lot over the last few weeks regarding Harry, his inept squad rotation policy and the resultant tiredness of players. And after today, given Charlies assessment of out current plight, I was intrigued enough to do a little bit of detective work to try and gauge quite how much this has been an issue.

So, I decided to compare our teams demands with those nearest us in the table. Unfortunately this was only with Premiership playing time statistics (thanks to limited sites I can access from work) but I still believe it is of some value.

The top ten outfield squad members of "minutes played" in the Premiership thus far are as follows:

Tottenham:
2,986 - Benoit Assou-Ekotto
2,910 - Kyle Walker
2,857 - Gareth Bale
2,856 - Luka Modric
2,565 - Younes Kaboul
2,481 - Emmanuel Adebayor
2,477 - Scott Parker
2,021 - Rafael van der Vaart
1,794 - Ledley King
1,255 - Jermain Defoe
-----
24,202 - Total

Chelsea:
2,700 - Ashley Cole
2,430 - John Terry
2,417 - Juan Mata
2,190 - Ramires
2,148 - Frank Lampard
2,003 - José Bosingwa
1,993 - Branislav Ivanovic
1,976 - Daniel Sturridge
1,764 - Raul Meireles
1,664 - Fernando Torres
-----
21,285 - Total

Newcastle:
3,039 - Danny Simpson
2,959 - Jonás Gutiérrez
2,683 - Fabricio Coloccini
2,485 - Yohan Cabaye
2,385 - Demba Ba
2,035 - Ryan Taylor
1,729 - Cheick Tioté
1,558 - Gabriel Obertan
1,345 - Davide Santon
1,260 - Steven Taylor
-----
21,478 - Total

Arsenal:
3,064 - Robin Van Persie
2,705 - Theo Walcott
2,729 - Alexandre Song
2,604 - Laurent Koscielny
2,475 - Mikel Arteta
2,322 - Aaron Ramsey
2,208 - Thomas Vermaelen
1,830 - Per Mertesacker
1,578 - Bacary Sagna
1,533 - Tomáš Rosický
-----
23,048 - Total

Which leaves us with the averages below:

Spurs average : 2420.2
Arsenal average : 2304.8
Newcastle average : 2147.8
Chelsea average : 2128.5


Obviously there are so many factors that would skew these figures such as:

- Arse & Chelseas CL and (in the case of Chelsea) FA cup runs
- Our first team lack of involvement in the Europa
- Players signed in January having contributed playing time to other clubs beforehand

And as such you have to ask the question, has our season really been that demanding for our squad?

I would tend to say no. Tiredness (as a result of no rotation) doesn't seem plausible to me. If anything it would be down to poor fitness training methods or motivational technique.

I would also say that the players don't have that excuse to fall back on.

Intrigued to know what others think

 

[Damian99]

Tiredness is nothing more than an excuse, nobody is tired when they are winning games and playing in Cup Finals or the rounds leading up to.

 

[lillywhites61]

I don't think the players are physically shot, I think they are mentally shot, they simply have not been able to deal with what has happened to them.

 

[the watson]

I don't think the players are physically shot, I think they are mentally shot, they simply have not been able to deal with what has happened to them.

Agreed. However, squad rotation would keep their minds fresh too. Going from heroes to zeroes is a shock to the system and chopping up the team a bit would have helped the players take some time out and get their confidence back.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Hang on a minute. You mean it isn't just me like i've been told? Well bugger me with a fishfork.

 

[mill]

Hang on a minute. You mean it isn't just me like i've been told? Well bugger me with a fishfork.

If I had a £.........

 

[Kingstheman]

Is it like crop rotation? I need to let Rick and Neil know before they meet up with Bambi.

 

[RJ1882]

Its telling that we have 7 players who have played over 2400 minutes, while Newcastle have 3 (finishing strongly), chelsea have 4 (two Cup finals) and Arsenal have 5(2nd half season resurgence, but fading now).
Does that tell us anything? Perhaps.

Rotation is only 1 factor. Along with the court case, the england job, tactics, loss of quality squad players and obvious loss of belief.

 

[Krafty]

I think you have to delve deeper, simple minutes on the pitch do not tell the whole story...

Firstly, I am amazed that Harry keeps players like Modric and Walker on the pitch for the full 90 even when we are cruising to victory. Harry's subs are very predictable - VDV comes off, Lennon comes off/on, 2nd striker comes on if we are a goal down.

Secondly, when Harry does 'rotate' it tends to be several changes at once with no appreciative change in tactics. He'll make six changes, bringing four players who haven't seen any game time for two months, the team performs badly and so he goes back to his stock eleven. It isn't rotation, it's not tinkering, its sporadic but sharp changes that are not planned and very poorly introduced.

 

[Mr Pink]

I think you have to delve deeper, simple minutes on the pitch do not tell the whole story...

Firstly, I am amazed that Harry keeps players like Modric and Walker on the pitch for the full 90 even when we are cruising to victory. Harry's subs are very predictable - VDV comes off, Lennon comes off/on, 2nd striker comes on if we are a goal down.

Secondly, when Harry does 'rotate' it tends to be several changes at once with no appreciative change in tactics. He'll make six changes, bringing four players who haven't seen any game time for two months, the team performs badly and so he goes back to his stock eleven. It isn't rotation, it's not tinkering, its sporadic but sharp changes that are not planned and very poorly introduced.

I think this post is pretty accurate.

Glossing over the actual minutes won't tell the whole story. I just don't think the squad has been used effectively enough compared to that of our competitors.

 

[3Dnata]

Add to that what JJetset has said in the Corluka thread and tiredness becomes more understandable.

 

[StartingPrice]

Another issue to consider is that lack of rotation affects ohysical and mental fitness of the squad players - and they seem to be suffering. On top of that, Redknapp's managing methodology of making a tight-knit unit, focussed on the preffered starting line-up, seems to isolate those outisde it, and he doeesn;t seem to extend his man-managment skills to these players. Some of our present problems could have been avoided if he'd only kept the players out side his preferred starters on side just a tad more.