Yeah, I think there was reason Laca was rested against Bournemouth. One of Pepe and Martinelli starts on the bench and they’ll come on later for Laca.
It’s a game against fucking Burnley. Put him on the bench and if we need some energy in the last 15 bring him on. I’m all for him playing but he’s done more than enough in Aubas absence and should now get a bit of a break. It’s not punishment, it’s developing the player in a smart and sustainable way.
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Neither of us are privy to his current fitness levels and if he’s on the cusp on injury or not. If he’s perfectly healthy then I think he should be starting as he’s in our best 11, if he’s not then he shouldn’t be.
If you think otherwise that’s fine.
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To be fair, having a good rotation with EL coming back is essential.
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Martinelli is still quite raw as well. He’s got plenty of time ahead of him. No need to include him in every single game right now. Would be a great option from the bench as well, a much better option than Laca would be anyway.
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We should definitely wait until he’s on the cusp on injury to rest him. That’s never worked out horrifically for all concerned before.
He really hasn’t played many minutes this season so far, we’ll nothing compared to Wilshere 10/11 so people using that example is laughable.
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He’s at about 1200 minutes. It’s not nothing and even if he didn’t play again this season he’s had a phenomenal one. But having him dip in and out is the prudent thing to do because we’ve seen from him that he will run from the first minute to the last if he plays and while I fucking personally love that it’s clear it ends in tears if we don’t protect him.
And I didn’t compare his minutes in any way to Wilshere in 10/11. I was just pointing out we need to not be reckless with his development in the same way we were with Wilshere.
If you disagree that’s fine too. 
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I wasn’t referring to you directly comparing with Jack mate, all good 
.
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While I agree with being cautious, if there are no signs of a players body being at risk, players should be played.
You think they underplayed Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Neymar etc?
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I’ll be pretty pissed off if we see Aubameyang back out wide.
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Get ready to be pissed off.
He’s fine out wide anyway
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they have all started out from wide their entire careers which drastically reduces the time they have to physically fight off 2-3 players on and off for an hour and a half getting hacked at and whacked at, that accumulates over the years I’m certain.
sort of a side note, worth mentioning is how Ronaldo also has this thing where he’s played at say half pace or so the first half of the season ever since he was maybe 30? and then turns it up in the second half of the season to save his body and to be at full force during the later stages and knockouts of all the comps he is in. He’s a remarkable study in terms of all the effort he has gone through in order to stay competitive and even beat Messi at a bunch of things while being significantly less talented, how hard he trains, how much time he practices etc. Always thought that while Messi is the better player in many regards Ronaldo is more impressive because of that, the effort he puts into every angle of being the best he can be impresses me so much.
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Strong statement. I don’t think that the talent gap is that wide between the two.
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Jack didn’t help with the way he played
I think it is tbh.
Messi is the only player I’ve seen that would be a perfect Winger, CM, #10, striker. He’d be the best in the world in any of those positions without a doubt.
It’s not a dig at Ronaldo, the fact he’s the only one to keep the pace is a testament to his ability but Messi is at the top all on his own.
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If he’s the only one that can keep pace, then there really isn’t much of a gap imo
Also Ronaldo has done the business as a winger and a striker in three different leagues.
I honestly think they’re level in terms of skill and talent.
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only player above them is the arsenal version of Sanogo
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That is Emery level wrong
We’re talking about talent not simply numbers.
You have your opinion but in mine the gap is sizeable, Ronaldo is now getting pipped in Serie A in terms of goals.
Couldn’t be my GOAT