I've thought at pretty much all times through the season that the coach, very early on made a calculated decision that he would have thought minimised risk. To take the risk of going with a select bunch and risking later on in the season some burnout, against the risk of rotating in and playing players he doesn't think are at the level needed.
I think his risk assessment was being strong early, tired later is better than slow start, fast finish
It's been proven that that's worked but I think it's only worked up to a point because lack of energy in midfield looked like a big part of the reason why we fell early in the CL
The worry I have is that there seems to be a disconnect between Hughes and Slot, and I'm hoping it doesn't continue. The sporting director gave him a squad this year that he doesn't fully trust.