Mark Lawrenson: Rotation policy used too soon by Liverpool FC

I respect Lawro's views & he is just commentating what some people feel about Rafa's rotation policy...

Mark Lawrenson: Rotation policy used too soon by Liverpool FC

Nov 13th by Mark Lawrenson, Liverpool Daily Post

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2007/11/13/mark-lawrenson-rotation-policy-used-too-soon-by-liverpool-fc-64375-20099041/

WHAT happened at Anfield on Saturday proves Liverpool have a strong squad.

But it’s a shame that they will soon enter a phase of the season where they will have to use it.

Manchester United and Arsenal, on the other hand, don’t. They can save their best line-ups for picking up Premier League points, safe in the knowledge that they have already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages.

Liverpool don’t have that luxury, but I reckon they would have if they had played pretty much their best starting XI in every game so far.

I always think rotation shouldn’t kick in until March or April, by which time you can let the circumstances of the season dictate which side you pick.

But from August to December you worry about August to December. Send out your best players all the time and, like Arsenal and United, it’s happy days.

Rafael Benitez will be glad he has the strength in depth to help him win those final two group games in the Champions League and Liverpool have it in them to join their rivals in the last 16.

But whether they can keep pace with them in the Premier League during this vital forthcoming period is another matter entirely.

I disagree with this opinion TBH.

Lawro says to start rotating in March or April, what that would actually mean is playing your reserves at that time as if you have stuck to your 'best XI' they will all be knackered & will all need a rest. To me it doesn't make sense to be sending out your second string at potentially the most important time of the season. As ever I still believe rotation works but Rafa has got his selections wrong on occassions. That to me is an issue with the team selection, not rotation itself, but somehow it is rotation that still gets the blame.

Every other club changes teams from game to game we rotate.

Every club is acknowledged in the media when significant players are missing - not mention or probably called "rotation by stealth" or something equally sinister against Benitez.

Rotation pays dividends at the end of the season - from easter onwards.

The media in the UK are on Benitez's back because he doesn't give the bunch of media-vultures what they want - sensational-one-liners, gossip, mind-games, winge, etc, etc --- a la rednose Fergie or mental-case Moanrinio.

In Benitez We Trust.

Benitez taking us back to heaven, step by step by step.

Don't believe what you read in the media.

Blimey even read somewhere (Mirror on Sat??) that he is supposed to be evaluating an offer from Bayern Munich?? WHAT UTTER BOLLOCKS!!!!

The rotation policy is commendable and advantageous when the right players are picked to play. but it keeps the players fresh and fit to play throughout the season.

We have been hampered by injuries at the start of this season.  Okay we lost a couple of games in the Champions League by one goal that we shouldn't have.

I don't think Rafa has actually done a lot of rotating other than that whch he has been forced to do for the reasons I have just pointed out.

Too early to judge whether the policy has succeeded this season but three consecutive years of cup finals suggests he is doing something right, no?

I have yet to make my mind up if I like the rotation of players or not...I feel we still need some quality players to make it work a little more seamlessly.

I know short replies arent liked but all I want to say on this is, and its a shame cos he was a good player but

LAWRO IS A tw*t

I have very limited amount of time for Mark Lawrenson, probably stemming from the Truth Day at the start of the year.

tw*t's a bit harsh.

Not a recent fan of Lawrenson myself. And over the years I've raised a few eyebrows at some of his views. So I'm not surprised he's come out with this statement. I don't really take much notice to him anymore.
The fact there's no mention of injuries to valuable members of the squad in important positions says a lot about his intentions to fly the media crazed rotation flag. It's a shame for an ex red.

If the rotation policy has been used too soon by us, then obviously the season is over for us isn't it and now we're playing for nothing. 

You'll be forecasting the horoscopes in the tabloids next Lawrenson....

I personally think that we should start the season with a very small squad of players for the starting line up and the rest should be used from the bench. The rotations in the starting line up should be limited and start to pick up the changes in October and more in November to prepare for the festival period. 

As for March and April I totally disagree.

its easy for Lawro to jump on the bandwagon and criticize Rotation but he's wrong when he comes to dates. As EddieC says, if you used your 1st team until march then they'd be drained at the most important period and so to suggest rotation begins at the end of the season is wrong. That is when the benefits of Rotation should start to kick in. When Liverpool have had strong finishes to seasons under Rafa,not forgetting the winning of the champions league in 2005, did Lawro mention the benefits of Rotation then?

No.


 so why mention it now in an 'I-told-you-so sort of way' 

Out of Arsenal , Man U and Liverpool , which team has had the strongest runs in the CL since Rafa arrived at anfield? :

Spot on there LondonRed.  Come on Lawro - 'Show us yer medals'.

(Your management ones obviously)

To be honest from what I am reading here Lawrenson has just poked his head up and tried being clever. Not only has this backfired it also proves he thinks he is cleverer than what he actually is. I agree with LondonRed on this one also and would like to add that Lawro is still very much caught up in the old school style of football, along with a number of other pundits whose names I shall not mention, Rafa has proved that one thing that some of these so called experts forget, football is no longer a team game its a squad game, I think some of the old brigade forget that the human body is pushed beyond endurance in todays game with injuires far more prevelant due to the stresses involved and the amount of games played especially in this country.

Well another bite at the rotation argument so I think we need to make clear exactly what we are talking about.  Like EddieC I don't think changing the team for tactical reasons is rotation anymore than injury or suspension is.  Rotation is resting a player who is playing well so that they will not be burnt out by the latter part of the season.

With the injuries we have suffered so far it is hard to pin some of the less than convincing performances on rotation although I still can't get my head around why Torres played a bit part against Birmingham and then played 90 minutes in the Carling Cup the following Tuesday.  I always thought we should play our strongest team for the first ten games of the season to get some momentum, confidence and understanding going but we are past that now and have to look forward.

We kept the same squad for the Besiktas and Fulham games, obviously reduced for the domestic game, and played pretty well.  I think we should persevere with the same squad up to Christmas and only make changes to accommodate injuries e.g. Agger, Xabi and Yossi, suspensions or loss of form.  I have no problem with rotating within this squad.  There should be enough players there to keep everyone fresh.

I think Lorro's suggestion of playing the same team until April is just rubbish. 

His suggestion is rubbish. what is talking about? god knows! The rotation system is alrite but sometimes you need to play a team constantly so they know how tomplay with each other.

One of these days samuel you might post something that actually makes sense. I doubt it though.

His suggestion is rubbish. what is talking about? god knows! The rotation system is alrite but sometimes you need to play a team constantly so they know how tomplay with each other.

I can never get my head around this' they need to play with each other' argument, what the hell do they attend training for? I'm fairly sure Rafa has thought of this and tries out different partnerships every training session. It's a load of nonsense this rotation argument.

The stats show that we only rotate as much as the mancs or Chelski. Can't remember the exact numbers but last season i think we made 119 changes, the mancs 117 and Chelski also with 119. It's the media making a big deal over it then people jumping on the bandwagon.

Since Rafa came we have always been stronger in the 2nd half of the season, and this season we have apparently 'rotated' and we have only got one defeat and seven points off the top, four if we win our game in hand, so when everyone else slips up, we will be there to capitalize on it and everyone will be saying how great rotation is.

His suggestion is rubbish. what is talking about? god knows! The rotation system is alrite but sometimes you need to play a team constantly so they know how tomplay with each other.

Rafa rotates now so that we can pick up points in the Premiership at the vital stages, and it's proved that it works every season since Benitez arrived! Rafa knows what he's doing and why Lawro has to jump on the F***ing bandwagon, I don't know! Surely he can spot the fact that every journo who knocks Rafa and his 'meddling' has been humbled second half of the season!