I don't think Varela will start tomorrow and here is why. Since his return to full training after surgery, he has had to get his fitness back to the desired levels. It took longer because he had to regain his fitness whilst training with the rest of the squad who were at higher levels in their fitness than he was. Now that he has his fitness up, he needs to now get match fit which also takes time and is different to normal fitness. So far he has had 1 behind closed doors friendly and a 30 minute substitute appearance. That is not enough to reach the desired match fitness levels from where he can then start matches and even last the whole match if needed.
Now you could say that he had the chances to get his match fitness up against Chelsea and Arsenal and that is very true. I can understand the reasoning for Irvine not having him on the bench against Chelsea because it was always going to be a long hard slog where we would have to keep things tight and try to stop Chelsea from scoring for as long as possible. Remember that the same starting 11 that beat us 2-0 then beat a very good Schalke team 5-0 in the Veltins Arena 3 or 4 days later. However, I was very surprised that Varela wasn't on the bench against Arsenal because a 15-20 minute appearance off the bench against a tiring and slack Arsenal defence would have been a great chance for Varela to up his match fitness levels and possibly win the game for us. Obviously for whatever reason(s), Irvine decided to not include Varela on the bench. Maybe he wanted to save him for the West Ham.
Varela's 30 minutes against West Ham was a good start for him and another 20-30 minutes off the bench tomorrow will help him even further. Maybe he could then be in contention to start against Villa but that will be up to our professional coaching and fitness staff who will be assessing his match fitness levels and will know what is required. He has also been struggling a bit these past few days due to his 30 minute appearance against West Ham which is understandable as it was the longest competitive football he has played since the World Cup. (The behind closed doors friendly doesn't count as competitive because it was a friendly to build up the fitness levels of Varela, Blanco and Ideye)
I absolutely understand everyone wanting Varela in the team as soon as possible, I'm included in that but sometimes you have to put that to one side and look at all this from the point of view of our coaching and fitness staff. It's not perfect especially when we are in the spot of bother like we are now but it is just how it is.
Now you could say that he had the chances to get his match fitness up against Chelsea and Arsenal and that is very true. I can understand the reasoning for Irvine not having him on the bench against Chelsea because it was always going to be a long hard slog where we would have to keep things tight and try to stop Chelsea from scoring for as long as possible. Remember that the same starting 11 that beat us 2-0 then beat a very good Schalke team 5-0 in the Veltins Arena 3 or 4 days later. However, I was very surprised that Varela wasn't on the bench against Arsenal because a 15-20 minute appearance off the bench against a tiring and slack Arsenal defence would have been a great chance for Varela to up his match fitness levels and possibly win the game for us. Obviously for whatever reason(s), Irvine decided to not include Varela on the bench. Maybe he wanted to save him for the West Ham.
Varela's 30 minutes against West Ham was a good start for him and another 20-30 minutes off the bench tomorrow will help him even further. Maybe he could then be in contention to start against Villa but that will be up to our professional coaching and fitness staff who will be assessing his match fitness levels and will know what is required. He has also been struggling a bit these past few days due to his 30 minute appearance against West Ham which is understandable as it was the longest competitive football he has played since the World Cup. (The behind closed doors friendly doesn't count as competitive because it was a friendly to build up the fitness levels of Varela, Blanco and Ideye)
I absolutely understand everyone wanting Varela in the team as soon as possible, I'm included in that but sometimes you have to put that to one side and look at all this from the point of view of our coaching and fitness staff. It's not perfect especially when we are in the spot of bother like we are now but it is just how it is.