You know, with all the fuss over the possibility of Raheem burning out by playing too much, I got the feeling watching the game yesterday that it's not only about how *much* he plays, but also .... *how* he plays.
Last season, when our attack was so free-flowing and natural, it seemed almost like the players were just gliding through defences like butter, with almost no effort at all. I think that Raheem could easily play almost every game like that, without any great damage to himself, if any at all.
But watching the West Ham game, it was completely different, he would get the ball in almost a dead standing position, and then he would have to go from 0 to 60 all on his own, with defenders all over him, with the other attackers standing around etc. Surely that takes much more effort than playing the way we did last season.
Last season, we were passing and moving, and Suarez or Sturridge or Coutinho would hit Raheem in his stride, so he would already have his momentum going, and then he would lay it off to someone, etc etc, and so on and so forth. This season---apart from away at Spurs---there is much more work required for Raheem to get his space, less effort taken off of his shoulders by the other attackers, most of whom aren't at his level, etc.
Playing the way we did last season, Raheem could play every game. Playing the way we did yesterday, he will indeed burn out rather quickly.
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