I AM fortunate enough to be able to visit lots of different grounds in my roles for Sky TV. And one thing I always look at as part of my research is how many players teams use.
There was a big article last weekend about this and the rotation system – and why rotation is necessary.
In the article the authors were a little surprised to discover that Everton had been in the top six for most of the season having used less players than anybody else.
If they had done their research they would not have been surprised.
Everton under David Moyes always use less players than most, if not all, teams.
When I was playing one of my aims at the start of every season was to play in every game, a feat I managed in several seasons, but more often than not suspension thwarted my attempts.
But the numbers of players who go through a season now without missing a game is becoming a rarity.
Everton, however, regularly buck that trend and do have very, very resilient players.
Leon Osman has started almost every game, as has Leighton Baines, while Sylvain Distin has missed only a handful and is unique in that he has played in every Premier League game in a season for three different clubs.
At Everton a lot of players have played a lot of games.
While it is common sense for the likes of Alex Ferguson to rest players for big games, that has to be, in my opinion, tempered with the less measurable effect of getting rhythm going, giving players confidence that they are playing every week and establishing a routine of training and playing which is less quantifiable.
I hated missing any game for any reason. I have long believed that if you tell players they are tired and that they can't play three games in a week, some players will take that as an easy way out.
