Team for Dortmund...

[eddiev14]

There is no logic behind playing Dier, Lamela, Alli and Kane tomorrow but I feel like we're being set up for it.

Especially as you just know Woy will play Kane and Alli in both international fixtures...

 

[Hazardousman]

If we were in with a realistic chance to win the tie I'd say go full strength. We are not. Therefore, why knacker the players we are relying on in our title challenge for the sake of a misguided notion of dignity?

Bournmouth are a punishing side to play and they are having a very good 2016 so far. It would be foolish to take risks.

Besides, the centre backs remain regardless, the full backs always rotate, and last season Mason with Bentaleb was an impressive first choice pairing. Chadli was also first choice in the previous two seasons while Son is potentially a great player who, like so many others, needs to adapt.

Only Vorm, Carroll and Onomah from the common reserve teams being posted are players who you'd be uncomfortable with playing an extended run in the first team. The others have all proven themselves with us or elsewhere are some point and have ahown they've got the stuff at a very high level.

Read today that Bournemouth are actually sitting 3rd in points taken over the last 2 months (or something like that) when you combine that with the fact they outrun us in games we are going to be in for one hell of a game.

We cannot afford to take them lightly, I think Bournemouth will be a harder game than Liverpool, I also think Bournemouth are seeing what Leicester are doing and thinking "If they can do it so can we"

We have to put all our focus on that game, if I was Poch I wouldn't even be working on tactics for Dortmund with the players, I would be working with them on Bournemouth and fielding the weakest side possible Thursday.

 

[EQP]

I know it's easy to bring out the club motto whenever it suits, but if the club's motto is 'To dare is to do', then playing another weak team feels so wrong. We almost got the three goals we needed at home against Sevilla nine years ago (they were a very good team, admittedly not as good as this Dortmund team). A heavy defeat which might add up to an embarrassing aggregate score would be damaging for the club, it's reputation and brand. Wonder if any of our possible transfer targets might look at our approach to this massive fixture and think....what's the appeal and pull of signing for this club if they're not serious about winning European silverware?

If we win the league or finish second, I will guarantee that no signing will look at the Dortmund result. No one cares , if the end result is champions league.

 

[yankspurs]

Especially as you just know Woy will play Kane and Alli in both international fixtures...

Poch should hold them back from international duty, to be honest. My worst fear is Kane going on international duty now and getting hurt. Im literally scared shitless of it.

 

[EQP]

Read today that Bournemouth are actually sitting 3rd in points taken over the last 2 months (or something like that) when you combine that with the fact they outrun us in games we are going to be in for one hell of a game.

We cannot afford to take them lightly, I think Bournemouth will be a harder game than Liverpool, I also think Bournemouth are seeing what Leicester are doing and thinking "If they can do it so can we"

We have to put all our focus on that game, if I was Poch I wouldn't even be working on tactics for Dortmund with the players, I would be working with them on Bournemouth and fielding the weakest side possible Thursday.

Yup, tie is effectively over. Bring in the players who have something to prove so they can show what they can do against quality opposition, while saving the players with considerable game time minutes from burnout.

 

[Hazardousman]

People here want us to field a strong side in a game we are already 3-0 down in after seeing us in recent weeks starting to feel the fatigue not taking into account that the next PL game we play we are up against the fittest side in the league and the 3rd most in-form side as well btw and all that after Leicester have just moved 5 points ahead of us again.

I hope these people wanting a strong side realise we simply cannot afford to drop points against Bournemouth, we HAVE to keep pace or we have no chance at the title.

Can people not figure out from everything I have just said above why it may be a terrible idea to play a strong team against Dortmund who even with our best 11 at 0-0 would be a damn hard game with no guarantee of a win?

Just think about it for a second, what realistic chance do we stand against Bournemouth if we play a strong 11 against Dortmund which would require a MASSIVE effort to overturn a 3-0 scoreline when Bournemouth have had a weeks rest and are the fittest side in the league?

It is literally handing Bournemouth points bar a miracle.

 

[thfc1973]

That's the problem. The media have pressured Poch into 'admitting' he made a team selection mistake last week, and now that he's admitted it, he's unwittingly put pressure on himself and the team to go out and make amends tomorrow and try to win. Therefore, he's fucked the team selection and dare I say it more than that. Players that need a real rest tomorrow will be picked now and they'll be under-par for the Bournemouth game which I now see us losing or drawing.

Yes I am a doom and gloom merchant who is the ultimate pessimist!

 

[EQP]

That's the problem. The media have pressured Poch into 'admitting' he made a team selection mistake last week, and now that he's admitted it, he's unwittingly put pressure on himself and the team to go out and make amends tomorrow and try to win. Therefore, he's fucked the team selection and dare I say it more than that. Players that need a real rest tomorrow will be picked now and they'll be under-par for the Bournemouth game which I now see us losing or drawing.

Yes I am a doom and gloom merchant who is the ultimate pessimist!

Again, its the EL, with the CL up for grabs, he shouldn't care what the media has to say. I can bet that DL, Poch and the team understand whats at stake and realize that sometimes losing out in one aspect will help the overall team goal.

 

[Hazardousman]

That's the problem. The media have pressured Poch into 'admitting' he made a team selection mistake last week, and now that he's admitted it, he's unwittingly put pressure on himself and the team to go out and make amends tomorrow and try to win. Therefore, he's fucked the team selection and dare I say it more than that. Players that need a real rest tomorrow will be picked now and they'll be under-par for the Bournemouth game which I now see us losing or drawing.

Yes I am a doom and gloom merchant who is the ultimate pessimist!

It's not pessimistic to suggest we may lose or draw against Bournemouth if we play a strong team against Dortmund, I would say that it is highly realistic that the outcome will either end in a draw or a loss if we do and we most likely wouldn't even overturn the 3-0 anyway so it would be a complete waste of time to do so.

When taking into account Bournemouth and their form, their fitness, our recent form and our recent levels of declining fitness due to a packed schedule over recent weeks it would be extremely dangerous to play a full strength side against Dortmund.

Sure we COULD play a full strength side VS both and have positive outcomes in both games, the actual probability of that happening is very slim unless you are being overly optimistic or dare I say, delusional.

Being realistic we need to rest our side for Bournemouth if we want to win and quite frankly at this stage of the season, we need to win, a draw won't be good enough if we want the title unless of course we beat United and Liverpool. (IMO)

Leicester won't drop that many points on the run in and if we want any chance (realistic chance) at the title we need to be taking 7 points bare minimum from our next 3 games.

If we would have played a full strength team first leg and managed to keep the score at maybe 1-0 I could justify it (even then I would be thinking about the Bournemouth game being of higher importance, simply because I rate winning the league higher than the EL) but at the very least I could justify it.

I couldn't justify it now, under any circumstances, I really hope Poch gets this right.

 

[Wsussexspur]

What if we get an early goal, say in the first quarter of an hour?

What if Dortmund get a goal in the first 15 minutes? We will then need 5 to go through.

See no point in playing Kane, Dier, Alli, Lamela tomorrow. This tie is already done. Just playing for pride tomorrow night.

 

[tobi]

Going through the group stages and then waving the white flag in the knockout stages is extremely annoying.

Put out a strong team and go for it.

 

[tooey]

Going through the group stages and then waving the white flag in the knockout stages is extremely annoying.

Put out a strong team and go for it.

Hell no. Why would you even contemplate that when we have a close to zero chance of going through even at full strength, we're fighting for the premier league title for god sake. I just can't understand peoples logic.

 

[tobi]

Hell no. Why would you even contemplate that when we have a close to zero chance of going through even at full strength, we're fighting for the premier league title for god sake. I just can't understand peoples logic.

Next season when we have a Tuesday night Champions League game, will we rest players in order to give us a better chance to qualify for the following season?

Winning the Europa League is a big deal, its something to be proud of, it's the perfect stepping stone to the Champions League.

Winning the league and the Europa League in the same season will destroy this stupid and arrogant mentality that the English teams (and fans) have towards the competition. I want us to do it and we have (had?) a great chance to do it.

 

[tooey]

Next season when we have a Tuesday night Champions League game, will we rest players in order to give us a better chance to qualify for the following season?

Winning the Europa League is a big deal, its something to be proud of, it's the perfect stepping stone to the Champions League.

Winning the league and the Europa League in the same season will destroy this stupid and arrogant mentality that the English teams (and fans) have towards the competition. I want us to do it and we have (had?) a great chance to do it.

All valid points if we were say... a goal down, even two...we have to turn round a 3 goal deficit to one of the top 5 clubs in world football. The whole "are we going to rest players in the CL when we qualify to try and qualify again" argument isn't valid, I repeat we are 3 goals down to one of the top 5 clubs in world football.

 

[Mr Pink]

All valid points if we were say... a goal down, even two...we have to turn round a 3 goal deficit to one of the top 5 clubs in world football. The whole "are we going to rest players in the CL when we qualify to try and qualify again" argument isn't valid, I repeat we are 3 goals down to one of the top 5 clubs in world football.

Exactly this.

 

[spursram]

All valid points if we were say... a goal down, even two...we have to turn round a 3 goal deficit to one of the top 5 clubs in world football. The whole "are we going to rest players in the CL when we qualify to try and qualify again" argument isn't valid, I repeat we are 3 goals down to one of the top 5 clubs in world football.

In the context of away goals, and Dortmunds goal scoring ability, "3 goal deficit" is understating the task.

 

[Kilkenny Cat]

All valid points if we were say... a goal down, even two...we have to turn round a 3 goal deficit to one of the top 5 clubs in world football. The whole "are we going to rest players in the CL when we qualify to try and qualify again" argument isn't valid, I repeat we are 3 goals down to one of the top 5 clubs in world football.

Absolutely. There is no debate to be had. Play a shadow team tomorrow night and use the full team to beat Bournemouth on Sunday. The End.

 

[Hazardousman]

If Dortmund score then it will take 5 goals just to send it to extra time am I right? After all these years I still don't get the away goal rule, either way, we don't stand a chance.

 

[Hazardousman]

I personally feel like the club should have cut ticket prices after the first match because it would take the pressure off Poch to pick a full strength side.

I hope he doesn't buckle and pick full strength just to please the very few who think we stand a chance.

Imagine if he goes full strength and we get nothing from either game and it effectively ends our title chances? The backlash would be huge.

 

[LDNYid]

I personally feel like the club should have cut ticket prices after the first match because it would take the pressure off Poch to pick a full strength side.

I hope he doesn't buckle and pick full strength just to please the very few who think we stand a chance.

Imagine if he goes full strength and we get nothing from either game and it effectively ends our title chances? The backlash would be huge.

Surely Poch is too savvy to risk a full strength team. We threw in the towel and I think, having done that, there is absolutely no point going full strength.

Rest players, motivate those who go out to try to make amends and restore some pride, sure. I do not want to see Harry, mousa, dele or Eric on that pitch (the only situation would be if, by some absolute miracle, we find ourselves 3-0 up!).

Dortmund are a great side and I for one feel no shame in going out to them, especially with the compromises that needed/need to be made based on our unexpected yet fantastic league position.