benjii

I thought you favoured Minford's free-market approach?

Patrick Minford! Christ, blast from the past. Some of his peers thought he was behind the times fifteen years ago when I dealt with him. That's not to say they were right and he was wrong but he has been staunchly anti-Europe for decades. Personally, I wouldn't listen to any macroeconomist on this subject. You'll be able to find one who agrees with you, whatever it is you think.

Yes. Drinkwater does a certain job but I think his technique is lacking for international level. First touch and passing not good enough. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Shelvey is going to be an international star but he does offer more in terms of passing ability from what I've seen of the two. I'm not a massive Henderson fan but if we want to play high-tempo, like against Germany, then he is useful - he covers a lot of ground (despite his suspicious gait).

So if I had to pick the 23 now I would go with: Hart Forster Butland/Heaton (depending on fitness) Clyne Walker Bertrand Shaw / Rose (if Shaw not fully fit) Smalling Cahil Stones Dier Carrick Henderson Wilshire (the Ox if he's not fit) Lallana Alli Sterling Barkley Rooney Welbeck Kane Vardy Carroll I wouldn't bother with Milner, Delph or Sturridge. Sturridge doesn't have the right temperament and if we're taking a third or fourth choice striker to come off the bench then sod it, let's take Carroll in case we want to go direct. If Carrick is too out-there then Shelvey instead. No point taking a fourth centre back either when: i) it won't be very good and ii) Dier or Bertrand could play there if need-be.

I was being slightly optimistic with the forwards, of course, and I assumed Jay Rod would be fit but we are on target for over 50 goals and a top 8 finish so I wasn't far wrong. In a way, I was absolutely correct.

He does make a lot of mistakes but the good aspects to his game generally make up for most of the mistakes when you look at the overall contribution.

It was a good performance but Germany looked pretty half-arsed and still should have been 3-0 up. Encouraging match but the usual over the top optimism is comical. We have the opportunity to develop a decent enough team but, as people have mentioned, when the tournament cones around various over-rated no-marks will be squeezed into the team and we won't have the bottle to execute a coherent game plan.

He's better than Vardy, much more reliable than Sturridge and has proven to be pretty effective for England. That's why. The Spurs lads are making the Liverpool ones look pretty average. If Henderson was half the player he thinks he is England would actually have a decent team.

What position? Sorry about the swearing, I know you're a delicate thing. I'm not defending anyone. I think all religious nutters are utter fools and violent ones are scum. It's just that what you just wrote is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.

No one is going to defend what sounds like a disgusting and inexcusable crime. It maybe a good idea to wait until someone is actually convicted and the motivation is known before suggesting it has any sort of relevance whatsoever to this thread though. That would also make you look like less of a thick ****.

[video=youtube_share;h7SpXGz-XOc]

Agree entirely. People like the one you have just mentioned deserve lengthy spells inside. Look at the sentence burglars get. That is a calculated, callous, spiteful and destructive crime. And often they get a pathetic sentence. I have no doubt Johnson is something of a *****. I have no doubt the girl has suffered quite a bit. I reckon the majority of that suffering is a consequence of the media attention though, not having been touched and kissed. It would have been better for everyone if he had paid her a load of cash and they had never gone to the police.

Completely agree. Tonight on ITV, "New: Europe Under Attack". Screeching, arm-flailing nonsense.

Why do people like Leicester? They are owned by Thai businessmen who's company has historically been involved in collusion with politicians and officials and alleged to have facilitated extortion rackets. Their defenders are thugs. Their striker is a nasty looking racist. Oh yes, what a wonderful antidote to City etc.

So armed police at every gig in London? It wasn't exactly a massive gig anyway in Paris. And if they then wanted to target a gig, just go to Manchester instead. Or is it every gig in the UK? Fact is, whilst these attacks are devastating for the families of the victims they are, in the grand scheme of things, minor ripples. They certainly aren't significant enough to demand a shift in our own societal norms. Frankly, I wish IS was given less airtime. The "clash of civilizations", "they want to bring down the west" narrative is such palpable garbage it does my head in whenever it's alluded to by politicians or commentators who should know better. These people want control of sections of the middle east. These attacks are perpetrated by thick thugs who are attracted to violence. They are part of the cycle of action and response which can drive recruitment. They absolutely cannot win a war with the west and they know that. I can think of numerous ways they could easily cause far greater damage but they don't because these attacks are basically a gang of dimwits following a rather formulaic script because it has some idiotic pre-existing religious seal of approval. The only way they can achieve some sort of victory is if we react hysterically. I heard that some Italian UEFA delegate has been saying Euro 2016 could be played behind closed doors. What an utter moron. Thick ****. Just crack on.

IS should develop tax-cheating, suicide paedos. That really would put the qitta amongst the alhammam.

Subbing Lovren was sensible. He was awful and was going to be sent off. Unfortunate for them that Skrtel was hardly any better.

I am more worried about the referee than the opposition. That's a pretty damning indictment of the current crop!

Wes Morgan and Robert Huth. Five words there, which really sum up how truly incomprehensible and incredible Leicester's league position is.

I am with the second post. Midfield should be Classie, Romeu and Davis (possibly with JWP in there as well - I would like us to try 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond). Their threat is through players who are quick on the ball and who will play with a lot of energy. Stop Firmino / Coutinho and we will largely stop Liverpool. We don't need a bruiser to do that; we need mobile midfielders who close down quickly and don't give loads of free-kicks away. Plus, Romeu is much neater on the ball; if they press Wanyama aggressively he will get tackled then bring someone down trying to win the ball back = yellow card. I would go with: -------------------Forster------------------- Cedric ----- Fonte---- Big Dijk---Bertrand -------------------Classie------------------ ---------JWP-----------------Romeu------- -------------------Davis-------------------- -------------Long----Pelle----------------- Personally, I think we play better football with Tadic and/or Mane in the team but I think we need to keep it tight for the first half, at least. The cup match was embarrassing and we need to make sure they don't get up a head of steam. Tadic or Mane can come on for JWP or Davis once we've established a solid platform. Long and Pelle should be able to cause them problems if Bertrand and Cedric can get forwards.

Cheers Lambert. Missed an open goal from a yard out.

Obviously it depends to a large extent on who leaves. I'm starting to think that this summer could be a little more settled than usual, which should help us. I reckon Pelle to leave and maybe Gardos to leave. Mane and Wanyama - who knows. Staying looks a lot more likely than leaving. GK We should sign Stek, if we can, if not loan or sign another keeper to support Forster. RB I don't think we will sign another right back. Martina is not as bad as some people like to make out and we only signed him on a 2 year deal. I think we will make a decision on right back at the end of next season, once Cedric has another full season under his belt. LB No signing unless Bertrand leaves which, hopefully, is not likely. CB If there is a good one available who wants to join then I think we should bring one in and let Gardos move on. Koeman doesn't particularly seem to rate him so rather than have him as 4th choice let's try to sign someone who could realistically compete with Fonte and leave Yoshida as cover. CM No need to sign a Wanyama replacement IMO. I would just give Reed more game time if needed. I like our reputation as a good place for young players and I think it would be a shame if he doesn't get more opportunities here as I think he has the makings of a PL player. Attacking CM A position we have been crying out for since we left the 442 behind...! Gaston was supposed to be it, I presume but we haven't really had another one. Juanmi is probably better further forwards so I think this is a glaring weakness in our squad which needs addressing. Sigurdsson or Wijnaldum would both appear realistic and tick some of the boxes. Wings Depends how we want to set up for the most part. If it's 352 then we don't need any more (and if we do then I wouldn't mind McQueen being given a chance). If we want to stick to 4-3-3 largely then we could probably do with a more direct option in the squad. An Elia or Townsend type to contrast with Tadic and Mane who play quite differently. Forward You could say we don't "need" one (ie. Long, Austin and Pelle between them is decent depth, then you have Mane, Juanmi and possibly Jay-Rod who could play upfront). That said, if a good striker is available we should try to improve on what we have. All three of Long, Austin and Pelle have obvious weaknesses in their game. A good, in form, striker can carry you a long way. Plus, I want to be entertained. We are not going to achieve anything much in the sense of winning things so I would like to see some good, exciting players on the pitch. So, for me, priorities would be, in order: Attacking central midfielder Striker (unless Jay-Rod has a complete and proven recovery) GK Centre Back If Mane leaves then another exciting attacker is probably more important than a centre back.

It would be quite interesting to see how Bertrand and VVD get on as a CB pairing. Might not be out of the question to try it given that Bertrand has been playing CB in the three. In fact, Stoke's main threat is the runners from deep rather than "big" front men who might give Bertrand a hard time. If Walters plays, VVD can handle him, so Bertrand could be an option in the middle of a back four. I'm not sure I would fancy a back 3 whether Fonte in to organise and keep things steady. Seeing as we are not really playing for anything we may as well try things out: --------------------------------Forster------------------------------------ Cedric-------------VVD----------------Bertrand------------------Targett --------------------------------Clasie----------------------------------- -------------------Romeu---------------Davis/JWP----------------------- -------Mane-------------------------------------------Tadic----------- -----------------------------Long/Pelle--------------------------------- .

I think it was a foul. Why is Delaney sliding towards him? He was nowhere near the ball and I don't think Benteke did anything particularly unnatural with his foot. It wasn't like the way Falcao manufactured contact against us at Stamford Bridge this season. I wouldn't expect the referee to have to make a judgment as to whether Benteke fell over naturally or fell over on purpose; it was not an obvious enough "dive" to be pulled up as a dive. It was only so controversial because it was the 95th minute or whatever. However.... would the referee have given a foul if that had happened in the centre circle? No, because he didn't see it. Would the assistant have flagged for it then? Probably not. Is there worse on numerous occasions throughout the game - yes, probably. The standard does seem very, very poor this season. You can understand decisions being incorrectly given. Some things are very hard to see and it comes down to the angle the referee happened to have at the time. What really annoys me is rank inconsistency: - Jon Moss in the Swansea away match, for example, showing us yellow cards for fouls when Swansea committed the three worst challenges in the match and didn't get one; - referees spotting shirt pulling from corners seemingly arbitrarily; there seems to be one of those given every few weeks. Would they seriously have us believe that the collective of referees has not seen any similar fouls in all the other matches? That these are the only times the offence has been seen? If not, why do they give it sometimes but not all the time? Does it depend who the culprit is? What the situation in the match is? - referees (Atkinson) overruling better placed assistants. etc. By all means get some decisions wrong; it is inevitable. But, for goodness sake, give teams a fair chance! As someone else said, Mike Riley was awful and he's the boss now. Good one.

Tadic and Pelle played well. So did Martina. You shouldn't believe what some of the odd-balls on here write!