THE FUTURE DOESN'T FLINCH
We know, we know. We said we'd take a couple of days off instead of doing a Port Vale preview, yet here we are. We just can't stay away from all you good people (plus we had spare time and were bored). Just a quick one today, though, not as 'in-depth' as our usual ones.
Let's start by saying we DO NOT want to see any regulars anywhere near the lineup tomorrow. I wouldn't even have them travel. Flood the bench with youth (unfortunately, our U21 game was last night, so no chance of that).
Yes, give Trossard a run, get Martinelli an hour in his legs before his start on Sunday (surely?), but get Rice, Gabriel, Calafiori, etc, as far away from the starting eleven as humanly possible. Don't play Saka. Let's not be rushing Bukayo straight back into the mix on a cold midweek night game in Stoke. We have an abundance of young talent that can play RW.
First Maudeke, now Hincapie. It's like the injury curse has brought its friends along to join in the fun. Hincapie, having only seen action coming on in the 91st minute in Bilbao, has a groin problem. That's 100% training-related. Arteta said it was a "load issue" after the Ecuadorian had an operation in the summer and no pre-season. Here's a wild idea. GIVE HIM LESS OF A LOAD THEN! Jesus.H.Christ. This would have been the perfect game for him to get some minutes and shake off the rust, but now he annoyingly misses out.
We can't remember a time when, as a club, we HAVEN'T been plagued by injuries. This is nothing new. How many medical reviews and staff changes does it take before it gets sorted out? We can't continue at this pace every single season. We understand that some are simply bad luck, but others are most definitely not.
As for the game itself, no disrespect intended, but it's Port Vale in the Carabao Cup. Yes, we want our team to win every game, but honestly, fuck that Cup. The deeper we go, the bigger the reasoning Mikel will make for starting more stars. Nah, hard pass from us.
It's a shame because back in 92/93, when we were the first team to win the cup double, the League Cup, as it was known back then, seemed a big deal. Nowadays, celebrating winning it gets you nothing but trolled. Why even bother?
We vaguely remember the FA Cup games from the 97/98 double against tonight's opponents, 'The Valiants'. Both ties were instantly forgettable 0-0's, but despite the away one having an extra-time DB10 special, it ended 1-1 and went to penalties. Lee Dixon missed his, but David Seaman dug us out of a hole, and we went on and won the whole thing. Football is indeed a funny old game.
Below we have our stab at the starting eleven. These are always way more fun on nights like tonight when any number of lineups can get wheeled out. We're betting not one person gets it 100% right.
As we said, the lineup is a mix of heavy rotation with a sprinkling of youth. A bit like when your wife decides she's going to 'make something from scratch' (most of us have all been there). None of us has any idea what to expect.
We even would have gone the Marli Salmon at centre half route, but he played for the U21's last night, so that's a non-starter. Shame because we are itching for the day when he scores with a header. You all know what the headline the next day will read.
Still, the line-up above would give a lot of Premier League sides a hard time, never mind League One. The AI Score Predictor went for 3-0 Arsenal.
Hopefully, Dowman gets a nice long run out to showcase his talents some more. We really might have something special on our hands with him. He definitely doesn't lack confidence if the nutmegging of senior players at training is anything to go by. Maybe they were trying to bully him for his lunch money?
Handling a precocious fifteen-year-old talent can't be easy. Don't play him enough; you are stifling his 'pathway'. Playing him too much and you are wrecking his career with overexposure. Tricky balancing act fo' shizz.
The main requirement of the night, though, is NO MORE INJURIES. If there is, we're personally getting on Amazon Prime and delivering a truckload of bubble wrap with free next-day delivery to L̶o̶n̶d̶o̶n̶ ̶C̶o̶l̶n̶e̶y̶. Sobha Realty Training Centre (rolls right off the tongue).
We'll see you tomorrow for a quick review of what the lineup was and how the night went.
Laters Legion.