Shak

Suarez.

I'd have him back and stick Santon on the right, that'd be the sex. Would depend on his wage demands though, imagine he got a decent wage hike when he went there.

At least it means Liverpool are losing.

Disciples FFS. Crucifixion would be too good for him.

It'd be pretty quickly cease to be part of the game if they started handing out bans.

I'd go with. Harper Perch --- Taylor --- Williamson --- Santon Anita --- Jonas Ben Arfa ------ Cabaye --------- Marveaux Ba Toss up between Ba and Cisse for the starting spot up front, gave the nod to Demba as he's been better so far this year. Think the extra man in midfield would be useful, especially with how Fellaini likes to drift off the front and play in the hole. We've also really struggled to link midfield to attack when playing 4-4-2 this year and we'll get no joy humping it long at Ba and Cisse with Everton's CB's. Also having a striker like Ba or Cisse on the bench would give us a real option to change it around the hour mark. Don't expect that though, Ba and Cisse will start together up top. Hopefully Pardew has pulled his finger out in these last couple of weeks and we serve up something a lot better than we've managed thus far this year.

Such a pile of shite, this game.

Sterling looks fucking baffled when Rodgers starts having a go at him.

Aye. I'd actually drop Cisse for the Everton game with Ba central and Marv out left.

You'd swear people were advocating playing a 2-5-3. Actually think we look defensively very solid in a 4-3-3, we have that extra man in the middle and our wide forwards do get back and protect the fullbacks. Not a dig at you btw Zaius, just reckon if that's Pardew's logic for not playing 4-3-3 then he's off his face.

Krul Anita Colo Saylor Santon Tiote Jonas Ben Arfa Cabaye Marveaux Ba Is what I'd go for. Assuming Tiote is fit of course. If he's not then stick Bigi in there instead of him. Think Cisse's been absolutely shite thus far, didn't actually see the Villa game but sounds like he was no better in that. Ba's looked slightly better from what I've seen so I'd start him. Put an extra man in midfield and play a system that actually suits our players. Depending on how the game is going you can then introduce Cisse after 60 minutes when Ba starts to fade or else shove Demba out wide and take off Marveaux or a midfielder if we're chasing the game. Think the break has come at a good time for us, hope Pardew sorts his shit out and has us up for this one.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Demba on the bench after playing 90 minutes on Thursday actually. Of course the most likely players to come in for him would be Obertan and Marveaux who also played a full game, so maybe not.

I'm sure his wages will be reasonable!!

Aye, couldn't have gone a whole lot better. Beat Villa tomorrow and it'll be a nice couple of weeks before the Everton game.

Went with 6th. Think the top three will separate from the pack. My feeling is Arsenal will claim 4th, but if they struggle 4th is wide open with Spurs, Liverpool, Everton, us and maybe a surprise package having some sort of shot.

Always thought it was five hours. Immediately ashamed of that.

Always thought it was five hours.

Dunno, we can always play the 4-3-3 which means we can get away with just having one striker on the pitch. If Pardew was hellbent on playing 4-4-2 every game then I'd agree, but don't think he is.

Wouldn't worry mate, doubt anyone will come near the thread again after my fucking essay. Good post btw. Only positive regarding Simpson this year is that he'll essentially be playing for his next contract so he'll have a lot of incentive to perform. Then once he leaves surely our hand will be forced in terms of bringing in a RB next summer. Unless we sign him to an extension.

Aye, now that we've failed to land another striker we should be going towards a 4-3-3 more often. I'm not sure what Ba's situation is or what Pardew has promised him, but he really needs to be a team player and play out left when asked to. He should still get games centrally when we go 4-4-2, and if he can dislodge Cisse as the starting central striker in a 4-3-3 then more power to him. Tiote Anita Cabaye Ben Arfa Marveaux Cisse Is something I really want to see at some point. Rotate those 6 along with Ba and Jonas and we should really be able to play some good football. Lot of flexibility there with Ba, Jonas and Marveaux being so versatile. I think the fact that we didn't sign another striker will actually help us here. Perfect excuse to rotate Ba and Cisse with our heavy fixture schedule. Marveaux and Arfa both look like they've got goals in them as well so plenty of firepower even with one striker up top. Aye, I dare say Obertan would benefit from playing a bit more advanced too. Sammy looks a good fit as a wide player in 4-3-3 too. Missed the game against Atromitos btw, what formation did we play?

He has managed them for a year already Championship doesn't count, it's a piece of piss.

Allardyce started well for us too, it'll go tits up for him once he grows hungry and begins to consume his players though.

Aye, now that we've failed to land another striker we should be going towards a 4-3-3 more often. I'm not sure what Ba's situation is or what Pardew has promised him, but he really needs to be a team player and play out left when asked to. He should still get games centrally when we go 4-4-2, and if he can dislodge Cisse as the starting central striker in a 4-3-3 then more power to him. Tiote Anita Cabaye Ben Arfa Marveaux Cisse Is something I really want to see at some point. Rotate those 6 along with Ba and Jonas and we should really be able to play some good football. Lot of flexibility there with Ba, Jonas and Marveaux being so versatile.

I feared the worst when I saw you'd replied.

I'm disappointed we didn't sign Debuchy, had we just done that then I'd have considered it a good window. The fact that we went into the summer with RB clearly our weakest position and haven't improved it is frustrating, very much so. All in all though I think we've improved the first team squad. Guthrie and Best were the only players of any significance we lost. Amalfitano looks like he's been brought in as a replacement for Guthrie, and while we haven't replaced Best directly I think we'll get by without him. We have Shola, Cisse and Ba and while it doesn't seem that the 4-3-3 is Pardew's favored formation at this point, he's certainly willing to use it so as long as one of those is fit we should be able to field a team without playing players out of position. The addition of Anita pleases me. I can see why some were perplexed by it when we have Tiote and Cabaye already, but after years of seeing us suffer one dimensional footballers like Geremi, Butt, Smith, Nolan etc in the center of the park I'm delighted to have genuine quality depth there. Any two of Tiote, Cabaye and Anita should provide us with a very good engine room in the middle of the park, we shouldn't get overrun in the middle that often. It also should see us playing 4-3-3 more often, which can only be a good thing IMO. One thing I am excited about is potentially seeing some of the youngsters break through and establishing themselves as options in the first team. The squad is pretty thin in terms of senior players but what we do have for the first time in my time as a fan is a number of young prospects who might actually amount to something. Tavernier, Good, Ferguson, Abeid, Bigirimana, Sammy, Vuckic, Campbell come to mind off the top of my head, and there are others too. What's the point in amassing all this young talent if there's no scope for them to break into the first team squad? It looks like they'll get their chance this year, and while I really hope we don't treat the Europa League as a reserve team competition I'm excited to see these players develop. I don't think any of our rivals have really strengthened that much either tbh. Spurs have signed a very good keeper and improved there, no doubt about it. But while Vertonghen, Dembele, Sigurdsson and Dempsey are quality players they've lost a lot too. Modric was their best player, he's gone. King was easily their best defender when fit, he's gone. Van Der Vaart was a big player for them too, if either Dempsey or Sigurdsson can replace what he gave them they'll be doing well. Arsenal are similar, people were calling them a one man team last year and now they've lost that man as well as one of their starting CM's. Cazorla looks a quality addition but Van Persie is a monumental loss for them, with Wenger in charge they'll be OK but I'd be surprised if they're much improved. Everton have done some good business but they've also lost their best young prospect in the process. Liverpool have improved in midfield but I'm still not sure where their goals are going to come from. Could the window have been better? Absolutely. But I still look at our squad and am excited by our prospects for the year. We've got a genuinely world class talent in Ben Arfa in our team, the best defender I've ever seen in a Newcastle shirt in Colo, the best group of CM's we've had at the club in yonks, a host of exciting young prospects, two absolutely lethal strikers and lots and lots more. Considering where we were only a few years ago that's pretty amazing, and while I do wish we'd splashed out for Debuchy I'm not going to let it spoil some of the great work we've done in getting the squad to this point. We will have to make some more positive moves over the next few years and show some more ambition to keep some of our star players, but as the board showed with the signing of Cisse they're not afraid to spend some money when they feel the deal is right for the club. Here's hoping for a good performance and a win against Villa tomorrow, howay the lads.