KaKa

Agree 100% 442 yes 433/451 yes. I fear the worst with 351. Can't say I blame you as we would only have 9 outfield players with a 3-5-1.

Wayne Bridge? Leighton Baines? Both left-backs who started off as wingers.

Interesting to note that Brazil won the 2002 world cup with the 3-5-2 in which Edmilson featured as one of the three centre backs.

Part of the reason he is buying more experienced players, as they will not struggle as much to adjust. Kieron Dyer will be interesting though, there are rumours Sam wants to try him out as an attacking right-back. As you say though he would also work as one of the three central midfielders (with an attacking MF role). The three central midfielders in a 3-5-2 can either consist of 1 DM and 2 AMs or 2DMs and 1 AM, this will probably change depending on who we are playing. Sam has emphasized that he wants Barton tog et him goals so Barton will be first choice AM I would imagine.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I would not be surprised to see us go for Mikael Silvestre to play as the left-sided centre back in the back three. I've heard some rumours but not ITK or anything.

I've been saying this for ages, but I got shut down ... glad to have you on board sir! Something to add to your post. You make a very good point about the centre backs on the outside of the back three being players who can play both centre-back and right-back. This is important because on counter attacks when our wing backs are caught out of position these players will need to slide accross to cover the oppositions wingers who seek to exploit this space. This will leave a gap in our defence which will then be filled in by a defensive midfielder. It is no surprise then that Sam wants tall defensive midfielders who can also play in defence i.e. Edmilson.

Why is he really good? What type of player is he?

Milner is a good player but he needs to be brought along a bit slower. I think it would do him a world of good to have a more experienced player ahead of him who he could take over from in a couple of seasons. I think people forget he is only 20 which explains his inconsistency. I definitely don't think he should be in our first team next season. I understand why a few people don't rate him as when he is bad he is sooooooo unbelievably frustrating to watch.

Bolton fans are angry about this but at the end of the day these are people Sam recruited so if they want to leave with him why are they so surprised?

This doesn't make sense to me. He is only 20! Why the hell has he handed in a transfer request? He should be in agreement with the club to go out on loan somewhere which he has never done. Somewhere where he will be guaranteed first team football and then from his loan period we can determine whether or not we want to keep him.

Personally, I really hope it works out for Arsenal and I'm sure it will. Arsenal's struggles last season were down to the loss of Van Persie more than anything. Van Persie had already scored 11 league goals by about halfway through the season! Henry's attitude last season was disgusting. Moody and half hearted the whole time and having a go at the Arsenal youngsters even during games. It will be very satisfying to see Arsenal do even better without him.

Versatility is sexy.

Hyypia will be captain ...

Tottenham surprise me, because their weak point is their midfield and they still haven't improved it. Still no left-sided player and their central midfield partnership is miles away from the top four teams. I don't think they will finish fourth.

Not another freakin' strip tease please!

Actually, he's fairly pacey. His acceleration isn't all that, but he seems to easily keep up with strikers considered to be very fast. He's good enough to play in the Premiership, but maybe not in a side challenging for the top 4. I wouldn't mind him as a squad player. The Times mentions that he is also a defensive midfielder. Does he play in this position regularly? Do you think it's possible that we might therefore be looking at him to play DM?

Yup I think that is indeed the case. The clause only kicks in if we do not qualify for Europe.

So anyone know what he is like as a defensive midfileder then?

I wouldn't bet on it sounds like we want him, and to be honest he'll have signed this time next week Na, i reckon this one is dead in the water now, especially after a fee is being talked about. But you never know, the fee's, injuries and the player himself just all adds up to a big no for me. I can't believe were pursuing this anymore. Hmmm ... not so sure it's dead though especially as the player is happy to come to us and apparently Sam was very impressed by him as an individual and not just a footballer. Well probably end up paying £1million or something.

The Times:

The Tines:

Spain vs. Uruguay should be interesting.

Thanks for the hookup just made my day mate. Quality.

Is this on TV in the UK?