benjii

Agreed. We are definitely not right in midfield at the moment. I would start like this for Thursday: Stek Cedric-Fonte-Caulker-Yoshida Reed-Romeu JWP Mane, Rodriguez Pelle Bench: Gazza, Targett, Wanyama, Davis, Juanmi, Long, Tadic

I'd be quite pleased if we had no interest in him but we're just trying to mess with Spurs.

- Did you have a good day babes? - Yesssshhh. We make a good training, en mein opinion, and have some chipssh. It is good. And you? - Well, I sucked a todger and flicked my bean for a bit, then I had one up the bum and one in the *****. There was about ten mins of pounding then they both spunken en mein face.

Answers in bold below.

I think I would select this team: ------------------Incredible Stekkers----------------------- Cedric Sneer-----Fonte-----Yoshi-------------Targett ----------------Wanyama--------Reed---------------------- Tadic--------------------Mane--------------------Davis ------------------------------Pelle-------------------------- Bench: Gazzarniger, Martina, Caulker, Romeu, Juanmi, Long, Jay Rod Reed had a good game against Everton last season and I don't see merit in rushing Classie or playing Romeu from the start. It shows our squad depth that JWP can't even make the bench and if Classie was fit then neither would Reed. If we sign VvD then Caulker would probably also have the day off.

This is my list. I hate the ones at the top the most. 1. Spurs 2. Liverpool 3. Chelsea 4. West Ham 5. Man U 6. Villa 7. Man City 8. Stoke 9. Sooonderland 10. Leicester 11. Palace 12. Everton 13. The Arse 14. Watford 15. West Brom 16. Newcastle 17. Norwich 18. The Cherries 19. Swansea 20. Saints

Stekers Soares Fonte Yoshida Targett Wanyama Reed Davis Tadic Mane Pelle Subs: Gazza, Martina, Caulker, JWP, Jay Rod, Juanmi, Long

Tadic is our only midfield player who's shown any inkling of playing intelligent passes. We badly need a fit partner for Big Vic. If Classie is injured I would start Reed with him on Sunday with Davis in front. Caulker looks poor, although I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's a bit nervous around his new team mates at the moment. We've been rubbish really but then it's been a dead rubber since the third minute. Also, Stekelenberg could well be an upgrade on Forster.

Koeman didn't say which list did he? He could be not on the list of people we don't want to sign.

Bargain fee but presumably there are some hefty wages invovled. As for Traore, it would be a bit of a strange signing for Liverpool given they presumably only have space for three or, at a push, four of the following in the team at any one time: Sturridge Benteke Coutinho Firmino Lallana Balloteli (lolz) Borini (lolz) Markovic (assuming they don't want to convert him to a permanent wing-back. lolz) Ibe (assuming he is viewed as an offensive player rather than Clyne's understudy) I can see Traore being the kind of player Koeman would like in the squad. He's similar to Elia in the sense that he's a touchline-hugging winger, would fit a 4-3-3 happily and he's fast (although he plays on the right, normally, not the left).

Maybe in the odd game we might do that (like last season) and it is a system which should suit Mane but if we were going to do that regularly then we would have practised it a bit more (more than not-at-all, f'sure) in pre-season I would've thought.

I think we should go all out to get him to sign a new one and if that means offering him BIG wages then so be it. We can finance that easily by adding a few more Category A matches next season. Can't see anyone grumbling about that.

I think I would start with: Stekers Martina Fonte Yoshi Targett Reed Davis JWP Juanmi Long Pelle Bench: Gazza, Soares, McCarthy (Caulker if available), Wanyama, Rodriguez, Mane, Tadic With Bertrand out we are weak at full-back in terms of depth so I don't see any reason to play Cedric and Martina should be capable, especially given the balance of the tie. Likewise we currently have no cover for Wanyama. We should be able to protect a three goal lead without him and I can't see us not-scoring based on Arnhem having a couple of clowns at the back; this effectively means we should have a five goal lead. Mane is our best player and can be on the bench if needed. Ideally we would take a centre back and Targett off at half-time if things are going well. I assume Davis and Pelle will both play at Newcastle so one of those can also come off (probably Davis, as he is likely to get through a lot more running than Pelle).

Indeed, which is why Mane, IMO is a ridiculously good each way (1/4 odds in top 4) bet for Premier League top scorer at 100-1. He could get 15 goals f'sure.

How on earth can anyone not think Mane was man of the match? Yes, Big Vic bullied some Chelsea reserves but Mane was on a different level to the rest of the players.

Nice to be back at SMS and up against a very accommodating opponent. My ratings: Stek - 7 - only called upon once but made a good save. Excellent kicking. Potentially at least as good as Forster IMO Soares - 7 - some excellent forward runs. Don't know if he can defend but if he can he will be excellent. Yoshida - 6 - poor ball out led to their only chance in the second half but other than that, solid. Fonte - 6 - as per Yoshida but his poor ball in the first half didn't lead to anything. Targett - 6 - very solid and got clobbered a couple of times. Ref didn't seem to like him much! Wanyama - 8 - dominant. Won loads of duels. Typical display. Classie - 5 - pretty poor in possession to be honest but he has been through a whirlwind week or so and could probably do with a bit of time to acclimitise without too much pressure. If it's a minor injury it could be a blessing in disguise. Davis - 6 - lots of good endeavour and did a job in a number of roles. Tadic - 7 - looks sharper and fitter. Good game. Mane - 9 - too good for them but, probably, too good for us. A £30million player. Pelle - 4 - absolutely awful for 90 minutes of the match but stuck it away when it counted. Long - 7 - such a nuisance to play against. Effective. Juanmi - 7 - looks technically very good and great composure to set Long up. Looks an absolute bargain. Reed n/a - not on long enough.

Isaiah Brown is a good player. Could be a handful. That said, we should make sure they don't get in too many decent offensive positions.

"It's" Dumbass.

DickCochius I know I shouldn't but....

No, I think they feel they are well stocked in midfield or they would have pursued Schneiderlin more vigorously. I agree that both Benzema and Lewandowski would do very well in the Premier League. The top of the league should be a lot more interesting this coming year any way.

Agreed. Dividends were never intended to be subsitutes for salaries/payments for work performed and there are lots of wholly unimpressive contractors throughout the land taking home far more than their talent commands through use of "service company" tax avoidance structures.

She's tainted by the whiff of Balls though.

No doubt that statistically a clean sheet is worth more than a goal. But I am starting from the assumption that we will score a lot of goals, not that everything is equal and we will score and concede an average number of goals. Teams that score 60 goals rarely finish lower than 6th. On the assumption that we will score 60 goals the value of a clean sheet is reduced. Score once in a match and a clean sheet is important. Score twice and not conceding more than once is important. If we score the number of goals I have posited I reckon we'll finish fifth or sixth, unless we have a complete calamity at the back.

Did you pay the £1 booking fee mate? DISGRACE! This wasn't charged when we were in the 1969/70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. They're having you for a MUG! I bet they plan to charge any prestigious and lucrative European home matches as Category A - just you watch - and this didn't happen last year. Scandalous.

I was in Portsmouth today. Historic dockyards and then Gunwharf briefly. I saw as many Chelsea shirts (one) as Skate shirts.