Salopian 1 Posted September 17, 2009 We lost,slightly, against Peterborough reserves. Given that we had to put out 14 players, there were inevitably one or two names we did not know, - scholars, trialists?PL seems to think that we have too big a squad, but given the current injury list - T-J and Gill, plus the three from Monday and Wiggins, and the need to rest leading first team players, especially young professionals, for Saturday, we put out a weakened side, so perhaps a 5-2 beating was to be expected.The Reserve league was said to be for giving the young a game and helping players back from injury.Hoolahan shone, because he is an individualist and enjoys taking on players. What about other more "cog" players, who need to practice shape and passing? Are returning players going to gain much among very junior players, apart from running about?It is probably good to play against weaker opponents, but when your own team has inexperience almost everywhere, it''s difficult.The problem has been caused by having the first team of 16/18, including the bench, so it means that with a a handful of injuries, there will not be enough in the club squad to find another full team for the reserves. As it was Dumic played out of position in the midfield, because that is where we have many injuries and young players to protect.The point I am trying to make is that given the size of the first team match squad and injuries, and the need to scrape around for Reserve players, our squad is not over-large, and reserve team football is going to be an unpredictable experience. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legend Iwan 30 Posted September 17, 2009 Does this mean you want to go back to the state of our reserve team last year, trying to set up friendlies whereever possible?Going back into the competition was a good move, this allows us to traverse the gap between the youth team and the starting 11as well as give the possibility for the people who aren''t starting to keep up with match fitness, so they are ready to play if called upon by PL.Also what do you mean by weaker opponents? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
First Jedi 0 Posted September 17, 2009 "our squad is not over-large"Er... yes it is! We''ve loads of professional players... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
