Phil Smith discusses Sunderland's rotation policy after the 1-0 defeat to Swansea City
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00:00A lot of you are asking around this same topic, so I'll just put the questions in together and then we'll have a bit of a chat about it at a bit of length.
00:07Chantel says, I think just meandering through the remaining games and the belief we can bring players back in and be right at it for the playoff games is a dangerous game in itself.
00:15Michael says, playing this right, I think, so far and giving players rest and allowing others to ease back into it.
00:20But how far do we take it? Ease the fixtures rotating the squad and then back at it after the Blackburn game.
00:25Colin says, it's all about peaking at the right time now. Wrestling joke felt sensible, but time will tell. What's the strategy through the playoffs?
00:31It's a fine balance of recuperation, confidence, match fitness and team harmony.
00:36And then a couple of you on our instant reaction video on YouTube asking much the same thing.
00:40You know, at what point do we start playing our best team? Is it best to get the best team out now to start building some momentum?
00:45I think this is a big debate for LeBreece. My personal feeling is that I'm totally in line with Mitle in terms of,
00:53I think these Ease the fixtures because it's sort of two games and four games and because you've got players who are still feeling their way back from injury.
00:59I expect and I don't really have a problem with LeBreece taking a similar approach in terms of rotating.
01:04In my personal opinion, I would love to see Daniel get arrested in at least one of those games.
01:09I think his form is understandably dipped because of the workload that he's had.
01:12I don't think his last few performances have been at his best level.
01:15And so he's a player who I would like to see get arrested because I think he potentially needs one.
01:20I think hopefully Jobe coming back in over the Easter weekend and Solis being back allows LeBreece to do that.
01:27I don't want to see Enzo LeFay risked because in terms of like two 90 minutes and four days,
01:32I think that's way too big a risk to take at this stage of the season.
01:35So I'm comfortable maybe he could get half an hour in one game and start and get an hour in another.
01:39I think that would be a really sensible approach.
01:42So I do think that while I've raised some concerns with the performance level and definitely the attacking player,
01:46I don't have an issue with what LeBreece is doing.
01:49I think it is the right thing for me.
01:50You've got two games there at the end of the season, Oxford away, QPR away.
01:54There's a week in between the fixtures, a chance for players to train well, to get some rest and recovery as well.
01:59I think those two games you would like, I think, to see pretty much the team that you're going to play in the playoffs
02:04because I think that then gives you an opportunity to sort of reset, to get that familiarity back,
02:09hopefully build a bit of confidence.
02:11So I think the last couple of games of the season, I really want to see something just going at it,
02:15you know, 100% strongest team that you can possibly name.
02:18If you want to rotate from the bench, then that's fair.
02:22But I think the next couple of games, I do think realistically, we are going to see more rotation.
02:26Maybe that'll lead to some more disjointed performances, but I do think that's the right approach.
02:30I think there's too many players at the moment that you can't afford to take too many risks with.
02:34So hopefully that answers that a little bit.
02:36I do agree that in terms of you need to build some momentum,
02:39and I think you don't want too much disruption to the team at the back end of the season.
02:43But I do think the Easter weekend, we need to be fairly pragmatic in terms of,
02:47I think there are players who need a rest.
02:49And I think we have got to keep being cautious of the face, frustrating as it can be,
02:53because we're all desperate to see him on the pitch for 90 minutes wherever possible.
02:56And rightly so, because he's so good.
02:58But we don't want to see something taking too many risks.
03:03So we've got questions.