Play the kids and bin this. Don't show our hand until we play them Feb 15th.
Prediction
Man city 2-1 Arsenal
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I would agree if we at least had a semblance of a demanding fixtures until now.We have to play him in the league because that's our main target. I wouldn't risk him in the FA Cup unless/until we're still in it and the league is lost.
It's a squad game and you should be rotating/resting players anyway. So it makes sense to rest our key players in the most dispensable competition ie the FA Cup.
I’d say another season or two and then he’d make a move to secure more playing time for the WC on home soil.Maybe post for different thread, but how much longer will we keep him until he’s sold?His form good enough to start prem between the sticks.
On the other hand if we lose Partey for any length of time, regardless of the result, we lose the chance to win the Premier League. I know which I prefer.
The likes of Liverpool & United still remain I wouldn't be underestimating those sides, then you have solid sides like Brighton they are no pushovers.We need a "managed defeat".
I'm simply not interested in this FA cup tie. I'll be spending all game praying that we don't get an injury to a key player. We need our first XI fit & ready for the PL game against City so we can roast them.
We don't have the squad depth to fight on multiple fronts.
The funny thing is, if we really wanted to win the FA cup this year, we could do it confortably. All we really would need to concentrate on is getting past City because I would be confident we could steamroll the rest and lift the trophy. Probably the easiest year to win it actually (if we got past City).
But not worth going for it.
Well, fine. I will explain the reasoning again. We have certain assets - players - who we cannot replace and are therefore important to us in trying to achieve our goals, in this case to win the premier league. I would very much hope that in training we do not play recklessly so that our players can get injured, the same cannot be said for competitive games when we are up against our opponents.I don't understand this reasoning. Partey could injure himself in training, it's not like playing or not playing him in the FA Cup guarantees injury/fitness for the guy. We have 8 days between games, we are playing away to our direct title rivals - there's no way Arteta doesn't go full strength or close to it. The opponents demand it.
Well, fine. I will explain the reasoning again. We have certain assets - players - who we cannot replace and are therefore important to us in trying to achieve our goals, in this case to win the premier league. I would very much hope that in training we do not play recklessly so that our players can get injured, the same cannot be said for competitive games when we are up against our opponents.
So in a rewards/risk analysis to play a player with a track record of injuries in a game in a competition which is our third priority does not make sense. The most we can get is porgressing (maybe) to the next round of a competition which is 3rd in our ranking. The worst is an injury, possibly lengthy, which severly reduces our chances of winning our first priority - the Premier League.
I don't think I can put it any clearer than that. Some may disagree with this but I put it to you that any disagreement is not based on logic but on a gambler's instinc that we'll be all right if we play him.
It is not just Partey who was injured. Against Newcastle, entire backline were half fit. ESR was half fit in that match. We lost because rest of the team fell apart. We beat Chelsea, Manchester United etc without Partey. The moment we had El Neny in the center we improved. These are facts. We did not lose out on CL due to Partey alone.Just like last year, when we lost champions league due to Partey’s injury? Sure Arteta is very tactically adept, but there’s no one in squad to replace partey. No Partey = no PL title. Also tell me when Partey’s injuries have only lasted a few games? And not months.
That is a surprise....Who is this someone?
A lot of guys on here are turning their nose up at the competition and failing to look at the opposition.
Strongest 11 pls, if we beat them we become favourites for the FA Cup and we have time between games.
Anyone give a toss about this dead competition?