Knox_Harrington

Far better than their ale.

What's spectacular is that he's still very conscious of the reality of the situation. It requires pragmatism. It bogs you down. Because the situation is obviously s***. And hard.

I think they do everything in their power to do so because it was part of the package of A, B, C games etc.

I think we'll want to play Sunderland when we are meant to play City. Sunderland will be alright with that as well. So if they go out and City go through it will be that weekend. I agree with everyone saying that TV will put loads of pressure on for City to be as close to the season's close as possible.

Technician.

Yep. His reluctance to send off before 20 minutes part of that as well. He/they seem themselves as the midfwife of the game rather than a dispassionate arbitor over mostly disconnected events.

Five if you include that mad international break. Which suits us as it currently stands as we have Monday night against Sunderland.

There are a couple of things I'm arguing. One is that we haven't been brilliant in these sequences. Only one has seen three wins. We tried to be address it in advance in Hull in my opinion and then came through against Norwich and West Ham like you say. What the Chelsea one showed was they could make five changes (plus push Luiz into centre mid) and we couldn't and looked nowhere near as sharp. And we got two injuries after an intense game of football. We weren't great in the game just gone if we are all honest but we gritted our teeth and got through it brilliantly. We don't look ready for these runs yet and that is fine as far as I'm concerned - we're a great team but not a great squad. The other is that we've picked up knocks in these runs and visibly looked like we've dipped. Gerrard, Allen and Sakho all spring to mind for the injuries. I hope we embrace both aspects of this Sunday, playing our strongest side means making five or six changes for sharpness in order to mean a result is more likely and players are protected.

Can we stop this? If we win, it won't be. If we draw, it won't be. If we draw then win in this round and then draw then win in the next it will happen four more times this season.

Chelsea was a third 2 defeats and injuries, especially Sakho. Southampton, United, Sunderland (lost two, beat Sunderland in the third). Bournmouth, Everton and West Brom. Disappointed against West Brom. Tried to do a premptive one at Hull, Norwich and West Ham - Gerrard injured against West Ham and lost to Hull. On the other hand we did Villa, Notts County and United early on and won all three. Five times. We haven't come out covered in glory and we have had knocks.

Despite all the evidence that our players struggle with three games in eight days and that there is an increased chance of injury in the third game of that sequence.

Don't compare it. That's where everyone is going wrong, it's where everyone's been going wrong all along. This is a mad season. You embrace there are all sorts of things happening this season that effectively don't have precedent (Palace, Suarez, ours and City's goals, no Ferguson in a post Abramovitch era, no oil money club looking unstoppably strong, the bottom ten) and you stop rationalising us out of it. The worst part of it is everyone's desire to see process. Get top four and then see next season. No. We don't know about next season and what we want from next season we have now. It's 12 to go and we have the most we can normally ever hope for. The stars are aligning. Look at them align.

Jesus. Hope to Christ we come through it unscathed.

What's key for me in this is even if we were top four this season and strengthened brilliantly in the summer, if you offered me, right now, 4 points off the pace, twelve games to go next season, I'd be made up. I'd take it like a shot. Somehow, we are here and this is now. We have 12 league games left, 4 off the pace, no overseas travelling to do and players to come back in. We're flawed, yes. But our rivals are all flawed.

All I can think of is Sakho's hamstring going in the 91st minute of his third strenuous game in eight days. Might have gone anyway. But.

I f***ing don't.

With the honourable exceptions of "Show Them The Way To Go Home" and "Every Other Saturday", I've decided I've had enough of songs. Punchy chants and walls of screeching, face-clawing noise are all I want.

Sell him. He needs to build a career somewhere.

I'll answer this one. I'll go f***ing spare. The worst possible outcome is a draw. We don't want a game taking up mental and physical energy between Swansea and Southampton. I hope we throw the kitchen sink at it last 15 if we have to.

Sense. Sense. Sense.

I don't think we can. I think we have the best team, not the best squad, and the manager for all his strengths hasn't shown he's going to make squad based decisions - and in fact that doesn't suit the team he's built either. I'd rather he just made them in the cup and if they prove unpopular, so be it. And if we go through great, but keep making them. If we do the first xi thing you are talking about then 6th round we play whoever, play Sunderland at home midweek, play United away, then if we have a replay we have to deal with that and then Cardiff away. No breaks in there - all first xis. Or we make the call now - in this tough game - to weaken and then if we get through do the same again. EDIT: The sort of changes I'm suggesting anyway aren't massive. I'd keep Gerrard and Henderson in. Skrtel, the goalkeeper and Sturridge. If we went through I'd probably suggest resting Henderson before Sunderland, United and Cardiff though. And resting one of Sturridge and Suarez again. The latter is only what he'll have to do in Europe next season.

You see the thing at the bottom is great in theory but Suarez, while brilliant, hasn't looked quite as sharp as he did. A rest could do him good. A mad last 30 even more so. Agger and Johnson need to get back on the pitch. Allen needs to get on the pitch. We have an opportunity to look at someone else too. I want as few of them as possible to be completing their third 90 minutes in 8 days.

If we go through we aren't one game a week for the rest of the season. When the sixth round is, is when Sunderland is. It moves to a midweek. When the semi is, is when City is. It moves to a midweek. If we get a replay in this one, we go for a home tie against Arsenal midweek and if we win that and get something like Everton away, another intense game and a possible replay we have yet more congestion. And in all those (completely hypothetical) games people will understandably pull for us to play a first eleven. We really haven't been good at 3 games in 8 days this season for a variety of reasons. Sakho's late pull is also indicative of the wear and tear that can hit players after an intense run of games. I'd look to manage them through this and look to get the other side of it without injuries or a replay.

Mignolet Johnson Skrtel Agger Flanagan Henderson Allen Gerrard Teixiera, Ibe or Moses Aspas Sturridge Rest Suarez, Coutinho, Sterling and get the two defenders match fitness.

Yep. He's made it really f***ing clear whether we like it or not. Of course he should come for that last night. Of course he didn't. That straight forward.