Play the kids for Europa [Poll added]

What strength team should we play in the final rounds of the Europa League?


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Josep Dowling

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The winners of the EL are a top seed.

Currently we are in the 2nd pot.
I don’t think this is correct? When they updated the system last year they made sure 1st to 4th went into the relevant pot. So I think we should be in pot 3 at the moment?
 

McGrathsipan

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Now that champions league is secured.

Don’t think we should bother with the Europa league. Yeah it’s another trophy, but we over used our starting 11 and they all need a break.

Would give some of the young and fringe players a go.
Unreal attitude.
It's a European trophy.
It's 40 million for the winner.
It's a seeding for CL.
Approached correctly it could be a truly competitive pre season.

Play fringe players next game sure.
Then it's got to be a side that is picked to win the game
 

romufc

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The quarter final is on 10th August.

Lets give Martial, Bruno, Rashford, Pogba, Maguire, Awb, Greenwood, Matic all 1 week off

They can come back in 10 days to full training.

Its 3 games.. we will need to get match sharp for the next season, what better way than winning the cup?
 

Withnail

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So did every other team in the league. We're still at a disadvantage compared to most of our rivals.
If we end up starting the season stronger than other teams in the league it could work in our favour. Fitness will have to be managed and obviously we need quality additions to the squad.

Who are you thinking of as rivals for next season?

Leicester are probably at their high-water mark and I can't see Vardy hitting those heights again, Liverpool get a decent break now but Chelsea and City are both in the CL, so are in the same boat.
 

Withnail

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Unreal attitude.
It's a European trophy.
It's 40 million for the winner.
It's a seeding for CL.
Approached correctly it could be a truly competitive pre season.

Play fringe players next game sure.
Then it's got to be a side that is picked to win the game
40m is not to be sniffed at. I thought it was two buttons and a piece of string the way some people talk about it.
 

stevoc

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Play the kids for as long as we can risk it.

We can definitely do it in the next game against LASK.

We can probably do it in the first leg of the next round dependant on who we get.

After that we'll need a full strength XI or at least close to it.

I want to win this.
Its straight knockout from the quarter finals onward this season. No more two legged ties.
 

Bojan11

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Unreal attitude.
It's a European trophy.
It's 40 million for the winner.
It's a seeding for CL.
Approached correctly it could be a truly competitive pre season.

Play fringe players next game sure.
Then it's got to be a side that is picked to win the game
I think you should get your facts right. It’s not £40m for the winner. It’s 8.5m.
 

Nickelodeon

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The Athletic have covered that PL will give a minimum break of 30 days to whoever is playing European competitions. So if we are involved in the EL final, our season wouldn't start on 12 Sept but around 20 Sept. Without counting LASK, our players have to focus on (max) 3 games between 10-Aug and 21-Aug.

And it's not just about Europa and stuff. Winning trophies will always forge a winning mentality. We won the EL in 16/17 and went on to a second position finish in the PL. Yes, it's not the biggest achievement but it represents progress. We might not win for other reasons but surely not trying with our full squad wouldn't be one of them.
 

Bondi77

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If we make the semis we would probably play Wolves and they will be taking it very seriously so if we want to beat them we would have to be full strength anyway.
Season starts again so soon so I would prefer a second seed with a fresh team then a first seed with a knackered one so let us play players that need games and rest the ones that don’t
 

Wednesday at Stoke

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Watching the game yesterday, the FA cup semis against Chelsea and any of the games where there was an opportunity to bank on Chelsea/Leicester losses to cement 3rd place earlier in the season, one of the bigger concerns is the nerves and bottle of the team in games that matter. For that reason alone, there is strong reason to let this squad play as many important games as possible so that it becomes second nature to do the things they do under higher pressure.
 

SirAnderson

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2nd rate cup :lol:

How else are we going to build a winning mentality, a team hungry for trophies?
Our team needs to get used to cup finals and the pressure of that hunt. Congested fixtures and fighting for all honors available.

Some of our fans, geez.
I'm all for resting and managing the squad, but don't act as if winning the Europa league has more cons than pros.
FFS.
 

EwanI Ted

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If we end up starting the season stronger than other teams in the league it could work in our favour. Fitness will have to be managed and obviously we need quality additions to the squad.
Not giving the players a proper break would help with a fast start for sure, but in the end players would be playing for 11 straight months, so all it does is knock the problem down the road. We'd end up with tiredness during/at the end of the season, as opposed to being behind on fitness at the start.

Who are you thinking of as rivals for next season?

Leicester are probably at their high-water mark and I can't see Vardy hitting those heights again, Liverpool get a decent break now but Chelsea and City are both in the CL, so are in the same boat.
Conceivably anyone from 9th to 1st could be competing against us. We dont even know how we'll do next season, never mind other teams. Certainly you'd guess that, say, Chelsea are more likely to be rivals than Arsenal. But who knew we'd be battling Leicester on the final day for a CL place? You never can tell. Not with enough authority that Im happy for them to be handed an advantage.

Chelsea and City are in the Champions League, we're in the Europa, so the situations are totally different. I'd happily gamble on fitness if we were 3 games away from winning the CL.
 

KeanoMagicHat

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Unreal attitude.
It's a European trophy.
It's 40 million for the winner.
It's a seeding for CL.
Approached correctly it could be a truly competitive pre season.
Often forgotten about, this can be the difference of getting through the group stage or not. If the goal of getting top 4 is to reach the Champions League, the goal should also be to make passage through the Champions League as easy as possible then.
 

superdry

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Yeah let's win feck all for the next ten years, trophies are overrated, it's the thrill of being average that matters!
 

rotherham_red

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According to Ornstein @ the Athletic, every PL team is guaranteed at least 30 days rest. So it could mean that if we go far in the tournament, our PL season start will be delayed to late September, which would put less onus on us resting the first choice players during this EL run.
 

Withnail

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Not giving the players a proper break would help with a fast start for sure, but in the end players would be playing for 11 straight months, so all it does is knock the problem down the road. We'd end up with tiredness during/at the end of the season, as opposed to being behind on fitness at the start.
We've two weeks til the QF and, provided we get to the final it's another 3 weeks, possibly 4 depending on where the PL give teams more time, til the season starts. That isn't 11 straight months playing competitive football to me.
There is also the 5 subs and hopefully a better squad to factor into the equation. We should be able to rest players throughout the season.


Conceivably anyone from 9th to 1st could be competing against us. We dont even know how we'll do next season, never mind other teams. Certainly you'd guess that, say, Chelsea are more likely to be rivals than Arsenal. But who knew we'd be battling Leicester on the final day for a CL place? You never can tell. Not with enough authority that Im happy for them to be handed an advantage.

Chelsea and City are in the Champions League, we're in the Europa, so the situations are totally different. I'd happily gamble on fitness if we were 3 games away from winning the CL.
Next season we should be comfortably in Top 4. We were in a battlle with Leicester because we had a shocking start to the season. If we're scrabbling around competing with 6th - 10th placed teams the wheels will have come off the wagon long before tiredness becomes an issue.

As far as I'm concerned City and Chelsea will be our rivals and they are in the same boat regarding playing a competitive competition over the next few weeks so you can't just dismiss that.
 

Cloud7

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The league is done, and we don’t have any more games there to worry about. There’s no reason for us to not go all out to win the Europa league now.
 

Champ

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They had 3 months off yet have looked absolutely dead mate the last 3 games. These players are going to suffer with fatigue next season and injuries even if they have the whole summer off now. This football season started over a year ago now and it's still got 3 to 4 more weeks to run for teams in Europe.

I'm amazed how people think we will be fine. This is a risk going for the 2nd rate Europa League when we now don't even need to win it. Yes it's a trophy and that's all good but ultimately I think the negatives far out weigh the pros.

I'd give Bruno, Maguire, AWB and 1 or 2 more the summer off. I'd play a mixture of the first team and ressies in it and see how we go.

We've got a 50 game + season basically weeks away again. These lads aren't machines.
There are minimal negatives for winning the Europa,
FIFPRO guidelines state that teams need three weeks rest between seasons minimum, we will get that, which is plenty of time.
I'm fairly certain the second string will be heavily involved in the LASK game and possibly the next game too,
Once again, I'll reiterate my point about the fact the European Championships should have been held this summer, meaning most of our players wouldn't get much rest anyhow.
I'm sure they will be fine. Three weeks rest is plenty.
 

EwanI Ted

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We've two weeks til the QF and, provided we get to the final it's another 3 weeks, possibly 4 depending on where the PL give teams more time, til the season starts. That isn't 11 straight months playing competitive football to me.
You were suggesting it might help us start well in the league. That would only happen if we dont give them a break and they keep up their match fitness after the EL ends.
 

Champ

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Not for us I don't think. We get an extra 2 weeks rest due to the Europa League. Can someone confirm this?
This has been discussed, but nothing has been confirmed yet,
FIFPRO recommend minimum 3 weeks rest, I am sure we will get at least that not matter what happens.
 

EwanI Ted

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There are minimal negatives for winning the Europa,
FIFPRO guidelines state that teams need three weeks rest between seasons minimum, we will get that, which is plenty of time.
I'm fairly certain the second string will be heavily involved in the LASK game and possibly the next game too,
Once again, I'll reiterate my point about the fact the European Championships should have been held this summer, meaning most of our players wouldn't get much rest anyhow.
I'm sure they will be fine. Three weeks rest is plenty.
Its not about whether 3 weeks is enough, its the fact that most of our opponents get a lot more than that, which puts us at a disadvantage.
 

Nou_Camp99

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Its not about whether 3 weeks is enough, its the fact that most of our opponents get a lot more than that, which puts us at a disadvantage.
Not to forget that even if players don't feature in the next game with us being 5 nil up they will still need to train to keep a good level of fitness up.

I think Ole will mix it up anyway. Be very surprised if he plays his best 11. Some of the players need a break. Maguire, AWB n Bruno more than most.
 

AgentP

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Yep. Play the kids for LASK and then it's just 3 games to another trophy.
Yes and the three games are well spaced out compared to the league. One match every five days. The game after LASK starts on 11th or 12th August. So there's a solid 15-day break without a match for our first 11 to recover.
 

Withnail

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You were suggesting it might help us start well in the league. That would only happen if we dont give them a break and they keep up their match fitness after the EL ends.
There's a month until the first competitive match, they can hardly put their feet up (which is the point I know) but it's not the same as playing competitive matches right the way through. I said it might work in our favour but that was more of an aside really.

The schedule won't be as punishing as the post-lockdown one and we should have the squad to deal with it. We'll only be playing a game a week until Nov-ish when the CL starts, won't we?

Obviously, if we don't get 2 or 3 quality players in we'll likely be in trouble either way, given our record with injuries.

The only way we'll be worse off than our direct rivals is if we mess up recruitment imo.
 

Mark Pawelek

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Play the kids in the LASK return tie as it's a dead rubber. We won it already.

The other games will be proper cup ties. A lot of fans may not want to win the Europa but you bet our management and players do. These players became good by playing football, not by holidaying on a beach with a tequila. They'd play football even if they weren't paid for it.

Play the first 11 for the those last 3 key fixtures but give them all a rest for the LASK game.
 

FerociousCorgis

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I mean i think clearly you need to rest the starters in the 2nd leg coming up. Gives them a little break. Then bring them back next round and hopefully manage their minutes/rotation. Then go from there. Find a good balance between everything. But it would be asanine to continue playing everyone full 90 minutes every single game.
 

Champ

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Its not about whether 3 weeks is enough, its the fact that most of our opponents get a lot more than that, which puts us at a disadvantage.
How does it put us at a disadvantage?
Because they get a few extra weeks rest?? Despite the fact they'll be in pre season training in three weeks time?
The Europa could actually work out as a massive advantage when it comes to approaching this coming season.
 

EwanI Ted

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How does it put us at a disadvantage?
Because they get a few extra weeks rest?? Despite the fact they'll be in pre season training in three weeks time?
The Europa could actually work out as a massive advantage when it comes to approaching this coming season.
They’ll have four weeks off and another three weeks preseason. We’ll either have two weeks off and one, perhaps two, weeks of preseason, or we go into next season without a break at all and play 11 straight months of football. Either way, that’s a problem.
 

Champ

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They’ll have four weeks off and another three weeks preseason. We’ll either have two weeks off and one, perhaps two, weeks of preseason, or we go into next season without a break at all and play 11 straight months of football. Either way, that’s a problem.
We will have a break, probably a 2/3 week break, probably only need one pre season game as the players fitness will still be high,
They'll have four weeks off then straight into intensive training and multiple pre season games in order to gain lost fitness, that can be more gruelling than playing games trust me.
I don't really see our situation as an issue, as I say, these players have just had nearly three months off anyhow.
In fact I feel we can be at a good place for the start of next season, young fit squad, off the back of a few weeks rest, with match sharpness still in the legs.
 

Greck

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Win or lose they need to go for it. A losing rebuild is a fool's rebuild. We're not building a winning culture if we let these guys think losing trophies is okay. We'll just end up like Spurs. They also need to learn to deal with pressure sometime. Might be concerned it would damage morale if we play full strength and lose but that's not the case
 

EwanI Ted

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We will have a break, probably a 2/3 week break, probably only need one pre season game as the players fitness will still be high,
They'll have four weeks off then straight into intensive training and multiple pre season games in order to gain lost fitness, that can be more gruelling than playing games trust me.
I don't really see our situation as an issue, as I say, these players have just had nearly three months off anyhow.
In fact I feel we can be at a good place for the start of next season, young fit squad, off the back of a few weeks rest, with match sharpness still in the legs.
Last year the break was 6 weeks and the pre-season was 4 weeks. The idea you can contract that down into 3/4 weeks with no issues seems fairly unbelievable to me. But if you dont think its going to be a problem, at least I understand your reasoning, even if I dont agree.
 

Champ

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Last year the break was 6 weeks and the pre-season was 4 weeks. The idea you can contract that down into 3/4 weeks with no issues seems fairly unbelievable to me. But if you dont think its going to be a problem, at least I understand your reasoning, even if I dont agree.
You don't reduce it down, you adapt it.

I suppose only time will tell how it affects next season.
 

van Nistelrooy

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"they all need a break".

Are you for real? They've just had three months off!

Play the kids for the LASK 2nd leg, but then it's potentially 3 games if we get to the final for a pretty decent trophy.
 

Leftback99

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I think you should get your facts right. It’s not £40m for the winner. It’s 8.5m.
€12.4m prize money (Qtr 1.5m, Semi 2.4m and Final 8.5m) plus TV income is significant money to us in the current climate. We won't be taking this lightly after LASK.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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I don't see why we wouldn't go for it. Delve as deep into the squad as we like at first to see off the LASK tie then start feeding mores senior players in as the ties get more difficult.

I'd be amazed if Ole gave even the players who are visibly exhausted right now the semi final and final off if we reach those stages, they're nearly three and four weeks away respectively.
 

Class of 63

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Torn, loved winning it the last time to complete the set, but it probably would be more beneficial to let those who will be starters next season rest up now, then get a full pre-season in, plus it will be invaluable experience for the younger lads to play competitive European football and not just a 5 minute cameo in a dead rubber, even if they do get shown their backsides.
 
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