It's not just a case of number of games it's the style of play. It's been high tempo & pressing for several months. It takes its toll. How many of them games have we coasted to victory in? I can't remember any, we've had to graft hard for every single one. It takes its toll. I can't believe anybody can see a Barnsley game from 2 months ago & think we've got the same energy levels as we do now
Or to put it another way it's like an extra month + on a season. And to be fair the observation is not over the whole team as the Sheff U comments suggest.. just 2 key players Winnall and Hourihane.
I watched Leicester at Man u the other day...the commentator made reference to at least one player being subbed regularly at around the 60 minute mark due to their phenomenal work rate and style of play. My point is its all........... about how you play your cards.....some of those Leicester lads looked out on their arse but finished off a job....WE can do the same.
I agree with you..most of our lads seem to have a great engine...the problem has been we have few effective cards to play..other than Scowen to come back into a midfield position we don't have a lot to offer particularly up front , Toney has been a disappointment and whether Tuton is ready I don't know.
North Yorkshire Red It is obvious to me along with some others on here that you do not understand fitness and peak fitness. Any athlete works on getting fit. Then they will at sometime get form or edge which will be their peak. This drops away but a little later they peak back. This is their last peak and Mother Nature says that's it . You need to break from it and rest up before you start the procedure all over again. Then their is diet to charge your livers up with glycogen. If too much energy is being taken out of the tank the term running on empty is quoted. Rest and building the livers back up is the answer. Shankly at Liverpool used to bring his team up quick, hence they were fitter early on in the season, but used to drop off in late season. He got his points in bag early on. You cannot quote other teams because you need to know who is playing and what their work schedule has been. Barnsley has a manager, but it is the Trainer and physio who will understand each player and his needs
homer congratulations on one of the most patronising posts ever. To say that you can't say that the same applies to other teams playing on in the same league most on similar size squads is quite frankly ridiculous. BTW this running on empty thing seems to be a pretty recent phenomena, would love to hear what Alan Clarke would have said about it. Like I said earlier did you watch the Walsall game?
I am not patronising you, I am telling you facts on fitness, super fitness . It is obvious you do not understand it. I could write a page on how bodies cope with fitness and fatigue and how to recover but chose not to
Walsall by the way dropped off recently and they have just peaked again. Would be interested how they train and this would probably give the answer
you are talking in general terms though, what ,makes our lot any different to the other teams that have had the same season? Surely mental attitude counts for a lot at this time of year anyway. Can also say I never heard Shankly relate to anything close to that, remember this was an era when they used to shove a needle into them to kill any pain and tell them to get on with it. Heard Tommy describing how knackered his body is because now of that, and Jimmy Greaves describing calling off for a full English on his way to the match, ( not recommending that btw it hardly adds up does it?)
It seems obvious that your body and your mind will struggle to play at an optimum level consistently there will clearly be peaks and troughs it's the same across all disciplines. It's why Olympians schedule there trading to hit optimum periods. Some of our lads have made an Herculean effort to catch up to other teams and in doing so have expanded a great deal of physical and emotionally energy. They can see the finish in sight and are struggling to get there. Teams like Gillingham and Wallsall have or are having dips in optimum performance. We had to maintain constant promotion form for 5 months to even get a shot.
You are right and this is the point I am making. We are near to end of season and some players are doing their best with what they have left. We can hope that they have their last Adrenelin rush this Sunday. Then take the play offs same way
btw Homer, I am not trying to have an argument with you, that's your opinion and you are entitled to it I have stated mine. The point I am trying to make, maybe badly is for all the reasons you stated why should we be any different to other teams in the same league? Personnel will have varied throughout the games for all teams. I just think if we had taken our chances ( we made plenty) then performances would have been more upbeat because we would have been clear in matches. It just seems to me its more a mental thing with the strikers passing when they would normally shoot and putting shots perhaps in a more saveable area because they wanted to be sure of hitting the target where previously they would have tucked it in a corner.
I don't think Homer's post was meant to be patronising..he was trying to give a detailed explanation of the physiology...the point I was trying to get across is that two of our most important players have played more football than the most important players of everyone still in contention . just to repeat the table for Sam Winnall Sam Winnall has played more than any other striker if not in the whole division certainly the top seven , and more than almost any midfielder. He's +6 over Millwall most appearances +7 over Wigan +7 over Bradford +2 over Scunny +10 over Gills +7 over Burton Only Romaine Sawyers midfielder at Walsall has played the same number. Their top striker has only had 46. Every player who's played 40 + games ...particularly those with a high work rate like Winnall will be feeling it...Winnalls on 54...if we make the play off final it will be 58 , his body will be close to exhaustion...if not he hasn't put the effort in and I doubt anyone could accuse Winnall of that.
Has our sports scientist said we are running on empty? If not, then why are others not in the know suggesting we are.
Might be an excuse of sorts but only if if not scrutinised...however when the figures clearly demonstrate no one has played more football than you have , most observers who understand the demands of sport on the body would probably conclude it's a reason not an excuse.
Winnall shouldn't be running on empty anyway, he's not broke into a sprint for the last month. Becoming a right lazy barsteward! Hourihane on the other hand playing as a central midfielder in a 4 man midfield against 5 men midfields most weeks I can agree with.
