Coach V Thinks Players Might be Tired - Could Change Lineup

[Seven]

There's a fuller version of Vieira's comments in an EoS article here. Blue City Radio also posted a new episode this morning, but I haven't had a chance to listen, so I'm not sure if it includes any of Vieira's comments or not

The article seems to specifically reference Villa

"I think I have to manage in the next few months the game load of the majority of the players,” Vieira told reporters on Tuesday. “David [Villa] may be going through that as well. He has been playing a lot, giving us a lot, scoring some really good goals and he has been playing a lot of games as well. I will have to manage his game load.”

 

[adam]

The article seems to specifically reference Villa

"I think I have to manage in the next few months the game load of the majority of the players,” Vieira told reporters on Tuesday. “David [Villa] may be going through that as well. He has been playing a lot, giving us a lot, scoring some really good goals and he has been playing a lot of games as well. I will have to manage his game load.”

Villa the super sub!

 

[Viewfrom226]

The article seems to specifically reference Villa

"I think I have to manage in the next few months the game load of the majority of the players,” Vieira told reporters on Tuesday. “David [Villa] may be going through that as well. He has been playing a lot, giving us a lot, scoring some really good goals and he has been playing a lot of games as well. I will have to manage his game load.”

Villa's minutes are incredible for a striker, let alone one at his age and one who is almost entirely playing in a single striker system. Here's the list of the top 10 strikers in terms of minutes played and age, assuming I didn't miss anyone

(1) Villa - 2386 (34)
(2) Dwyer - 2285 (26)
(3) Giovinco - 2238 (29) (and now injured)
(4) BWP - 2235 (31)
(5) Morris - 2138 (21)
(6) Adi - 2110(25)
(7) Sapong - 2089 (27)
(8) Wondo - 1977 (33)
(9) Larin - 1960 (21)
(10) Urruti - 1952 (25)


Note, feel free to quibble with my definition of a "striker" and a few of these guys have logged national team duty in addition, but I think the point holds in any event.

 

[sbrylski]

Villa's minutes are incredible for a striker, let alone one at his age and one who is almost entirely playing in a single striker system. Here's the list of the top 10 strikers in terms of minutes played and age, assuming I didn't miss anyone

(1) Villa - 2386 (34)
(2) Dwyer - 2285 (26)
(3) Giovinco - 2238 (29) (and now injured)
(4) BWP - 2235 (31)
(5) Morris - 2138 (21)
(6) Adi - 2110(25)
(7) Sapong - 2089 (27)
(8) Wondo - 1977 (33)
(9) Larin - 1960 (21)
(10) Urruti - 1952 (25)


Note, feel free to quibble with my definition of a "striker" and a few of these guys have logged national team duty in addition, but I think the point holds in any event.

Yeah, Villa definitely needs time off the most. Lampard missed half the season, so a game or two of rest for him should be ok. And Pirlo doesn't sprint a ton, give him a game or two off at most as well.

Harrison missed half the season, and has already been rotated a bit. McNamara has played a lot so could see a little time off as well. I think Mendoza, Shelton, and maybe Taylor will be frequently used down the stretch.

 

[LionNYC]

Villa's minutes are incredible for a striker, let alone one at his age and one who is almost entirely playing in a single striker system. Here's the list of the top 10 strikers in terms of minutes played and age, assuming I didn't miss anyone

(1) Villa - 2386 (34)
(2) Dwyer - 2285 (26)
(3) Giovinco - 2238 (29) (and now injured)
(4) BWP - 2235 (31)
(5) Morris - 2138 (21)
(6) Adi - 2110(25)
(7) Sapong - 2089 (27)
(8) Wondo - 1977 (33)
(9) Larin - 1960 (21)
(10) Urruti - 1952 (25)


Note, feel free to quibble with my definition of a "striker" and a few of these guys have logged national team duty in addition, but I think the point holds in any event.

Could you add games started?

 

[Viewfrom226]

Could you add games started?

Done (albeit with ugly formatting due to laziness). Starts and appearances off the bench.

(1) Villa - 2386 (34) 26/1
(2) Dwyer - 2285 (26) 25/2
(3) Giovinco - 2238 (29) (and now injured) 26/0
(4) BWP - 2235 (31) 26/2
(5) Morris - 2138 (21) 24/2
(6) Adi - 2110(25) 24/3
(7) Sapong - 2089 (27) 24/1
(8) Wondo - 1977 (33) 22/0
(9) Larin - 1960 (21) 23/2
(10) Urruti - 1952 (25) 23/1

 

[Gotham Gator]

So, if he is going to sit some key players, when does he do it. Is it one guy this game, another guy the next? or does he have them all sit at once? And which game is ideal?

This weekend, we are on an 8-day rest, and he clearly gave the team the weekend off. Does it make sense to rest people further for this game? Which game on the upcoming schedule makes more sense? Note that we have an international match break before the last 2 games, which should allow for a nice break before the home stretch and playoffs.

Sat - 9/10 - at New England
Sat - 9/17 - vs. Dallas
Fri - 9/23 - vs. Chicago
Fri - 9/30 - at Houston
Sun - 10/16 - at DC
Sun - 10/23 - vs. Columbus

I will conclude with this. Maybe some guys are fatigued. But, if we lose a game and that costs us a top 2 spot in the East, then we have a midweek playoff game before hosting the first leg of the quarterfinals the following weekend. That is a recipe for an even more tired team in a critical game.

 

[Viewfrom226]

So, if he is going to sit some key players, when does he do it. Is it one guy this game, another guy the next? or does he have them all sit at once? And which game is ideal?

This weekend, we are on an 8-day rest, and he clearly gave the team the weekend off. Does it make sense to rest people further for this game? Which game on the upcoming schedule makes more sense? Note that we have an international match break before the last 2 games, which should allow for a nice break before the home stretch and playoffs.

Sat - 9/10 - at New England
Sat - 9/17 - vs. Dallas
Fri - 9/23 - vs. Chicago
Fri - 9/30 - at Houston
Sun - 10/16 - at DC
Sun - 10/23 - vs. Columbus

I will conclude with this. Maybe some guys are fatigued. But, if we lose a game and that costs us a top 2 spot in the East, then we have a midweek playoff game before hosting the first leg of the quarterfinals the following weekend. That is a recipe for an even more tired team in a critical game.

Keeping in mind that we don't have any insight into the real fitness of the players (i.e., it seems like Villa should be tired, but who really knows?), my pure speculation is that Vieira was mostly looking for air cover for possible tactical changes and/or just speaking in "coach-speak".

Given the spacing in the schedule and your point about the midweek playoff match, for so long as we have the possibility of a top 2 spot, I would be surprised if Villa misses any starts, and generally the same for Pirlo and Lampard. As I mentioned elsewhere, I think the two obvious guys for some "rest" are McNamara and Iraola, but I think that is actually more about wanting to try some different things on the tactical side and get a look at different combinations. For example, I've long wondered about whether there are games where Bravo is still the better DM to avoid us getting overrun and overpowered in the midfield. And, on the wing, Mendoza or Shelton opposite Harrison is a different tactical look than TM and might work better in certain instances.

If we drop out of the top 2 race, then I suspect there is a fair bit of rotation for the 10/23 match assuming we've locked up the 3 or 4 spot and a home midweek playoff match.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Keeping in mind that we don't have any insight into the real fitness of the players (i.e., it seems like Villa should be tired, but who really knows?), my pure speculation is that Vieira was mostly looking for air cover for possible tactical changes and/or just speaking in "coach-speak".

This is a good point. This provides him some cover to make try some new things tactically while hiding behind giving guys rest.

Puts other coaches on edge as well once we get into the playoffs as to what they might see.

 

[danger]

Not that it was in doubt, but Vieira's remarks at the Bronx borough forum last night made clear that the goal is no longer just playoffs but to finish as high in the table as possible

 

[Ulrich]

Not that it was in doubt, but Vieira's remarks at the Bronx borough forum last night made clear that the goal is no longer just playoffs but to finish as high in the table as possible

That was my expectation from the beginning. Would have been nice if he said something like: "we've been humble and respected our opponents this year, but we're guaranteed to make the playoffs and we're going to win the Supporters Shield in the process. There. I said it." [drops mic]

 

[LionNYC]

That was my expectation from the beginning. Would have been nice if he said something like: "we've been humble and respected our opponents this year, but we're guaranteed to make the playoffs and we're going to win the Supporters Shield in the process. There. I said it." [drops mic]

Patricof then picks up a boombox from the floor and puts in on his shoulder as French rap music blasts out from the speakers...

 

[EganSoccerWords]

I think we are overthinking this. PV has never really made comments like this to the press. US Open Cup final is on Tuesday. Talking up rotating players will give Revs more reason to rest their players this weekend regardless of who we play. Also nice that we have FC Dallas next weekend too. An extra time cup final with a FC Dallas victory would be great.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Patricof then picks up a boombox from the floor and puts in on his shoulder as French rap music blasts out from the speakers...

French rap actually being pretty good, FWIW.

 

[NickA]

Can't see a complete turnover for one game. I'd expect he is prepping for the playoffs. He's been pretty consistent lately with our starting lineup. I'd figure he'd swap a player or 2 out each game going forward.

 

[FootyLovin]

Win the next 3. Then play our Cosmos Crew at Houston. With the international break all our starters get 3 weeks between starts.

 

[Ulrich]

Win the next 3. Then play our Cosmos Crew at Houston. With the international break all our starters get 3 weeks between starts.

Hypothetically, that's good, but in reality, that game should be the easiest 3pts that we cannot risk on a B-squad performance.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

Hypothetically, that's good, but in reality, that game should be the easiest 3pts that we cannot risk on a B-squad performance.

Agreed, getting the Wednesday bye is absolutely critical for the team. We have proven at every opportunity that playing Wednesday games means we probably loose Wednesday and definitely loose Saturday/Sunday.