I mentioned this a few weeks back in a different thread but I think that if Raheem really is "tired" (which I find absurd but let's just assume it's true for a second) then I think it's not just an issue of him playing too much/too often, i.e., not necessarily how MUCH he plays, but HOW he is playing this season, for us at least.
Last season our attack was a thing of beauty. There was so much movement and free-flowing runs and everyone pulling their own weight, that I think it lightened the workload on everyone. Suarez would make a run this way, freeing up space for Raheem to just move into the space; Sturridge would then be free on the opposite side so Raheem could just slide it into him for a tap in. It was just like sliding a knife through butter. It was easy.
This season nothing has been easy and the attack has been slow, has not clicked yet (except for one single game away at Spurs). And so what ends up happening is Raheem ends up playing more like an individual; Balotelli is very static, Sturridge has been out, so there isn't as much space and Raheem ends up taking on 2 or 3 players each time he gets the ball, and has to go from 0 to 60 each time. I imagine that wears you out a lot quicker than the simple pass and move stuff we were doing last season.
I think if everything was running like clockwork with us as a team, there wouldn't be the extra effort that Raheem has had to put in this season.
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