AlbanyNYToffee

No, will revisit my answer on Christmas 2015.

IMO anyone who is more focused on Europa League right now is crazy. This team is in serious danger of being relegated. Sure we are having success in Europa league and its fun to watch and a trophy would be unbelievable but it will mean next to nothing if we are relegated. Safety first - top priority by miles and miles.

Stoke 0 - 1 Everton

 

Lukaku

Personal views moving forward:

• Barry subbed due to injury/tightness please dont give RM credit for taking him off. He never would
• I thought the formation was a great plan to start but lennon had to come on for a DM. Game was dying for a tactical switch. That sub cost us the game.
• Mirallas is not fully fit. His ankle is still bothering him although noone would admit to it.
• Very few times have i seen a striker on an island like Lukaku is. I give him absolutely no blame for most of what is happening. He has to work too hard to get opportunities and i think he is gassed when they come to him hence his lack of finishing. Not making excuses just saying he is far from the biggest problem.
• Ross Barkley is currently the worst player in a blue shirt. He brings absolutely nothing to the team.
• Kone is not and never will be the answer. He really isnt good and wont help us tangibly moving foward.
• Garbutt has a great future
• Which leads to my last point and it pains me to say it. This squad needs a major overhaul in the summer. I mean MAJOR.

1. We need the following before player sales: 1 GK, 1 flexible back RB/CB combo, 1 DM, 2 wingers, 1 striker
2. The following players need to go: McGeady, Kone, Mirallas, Distin, Barry. Mirallas because we will need money to buy new players. Atsu and Lennon go back to parent clubs as well. Certainly Atsu will, i suppose we could buy Lennon but i dont see him as a difference maker.
3. With all that we need to purchase: 1 GK, 2 defenders, 2 DM, 5 wingers, 3 strikers. That is going to be very difficult.

I regret to say that the light at the end of the tunnel is, in all probability, a train coming in the opposite direction!

Fantastic assessment, spot on

Arsenal 0 - 1 Everton

Lukaku

Should be a wild match. They won't sit back so we should play open just like europe. We'll be confident they not so much.

 

Robles

Coleman stones jags baines

McCarthy Gibson barry

Naisy Mirallas

Lukaku

Love it - though we all know howard will start

WHAT THE FUCK! Don't get me wrong this is brilliant but it really just makes me more upset. Young Boys are better than 6-7 PL teams; why do we look like relegation fodder in the PL and world beaters in the EL. This is horrendously frustrating.

Get Rom and Naisy off at half. Kone and Barkley on. They are too important moving forward

Won't be able to post again before the draw so here's what it will look like:

15 potential opponents: Zenit, Dinamo Moscow, Ajax, Fiorentina, Villareal, Sevilla, Inter, Kiev, Besiktas, Club Brugge, Napoli, Dnipro, Wolfsburg, Bilbao/Torino, Roma/Feyenoord

My thoughts:

Best case: Kiev, Besiktas, Club Brugge

Not bad: Zenit, DMoscow, Dnipro, Fiorentina, Torino

Not good: Ajax, Villareal, Sevilla, Inter

Really not good: Napoli, Wolfsburg, Roma

Who do you want to see??

Cant believe im about to say this but i actually love that setup. Perfect 4-3-2-1 formation. Naismith and Mirallas will tuck inside more and run off lukaku and i cant see young boys getting through mccarthy barry and gibson.

Round of 16 update through end of russian games and 80' of early games:

 

Through: Zenit, Dinamo Moscow

Through barring epic collapse: Everton, Club Brugge, Ajax, Napoli, Fiorentina, Villareal

Looks good: Wolfsburg, Dnipro,

TBD: Liverpool/Besiktas, Sevilla/Monch, Celtic/Inter, Kiev/Guingamp, Bilbao/Torino, Roma/Feyenoord

 

Eliminated: Anderlecht, PSV, Young Boys, Aab, Legia, Trabzonspor, Tottenham, Salzburg

ARSENAL LINE-UP POS No Name SH SG G A OF FD FC SV YC RC

G

13 David Ospina - - - - - - - - - -

D

3 Kieran Gibbs - - - - - 1 - - - -

D

4 Per Mertesacker - - - - - - - - - -

D

6 Laurent Koscielny - - - - - - - - - -

D

39 Hector Bellerin - - - - - - 1 - - -

M

11 Mesut Özil - - - - - 1 - - - -

M

17 Alexis Sánchez 1 - - - - 1 - - - -

M

19 Santi Cazorla - - - - - - - - - -

M

23 Danny Welbeck 1 - - - - 2 1 - - -

M

34 Francis Coquelin - - - - - - 1 - 1 -

F

12 Olivier Giroud 3 - - - - 1 2 - - - SUBSTITUTES POS No Name SH SG G A OF FD FC SV YC RC

G

1 Wojciech Szczesny - - - - - - - - - -

D

5 Gabriel Paulista - - - - - - - - - -

D

18 Nacho Monreal - - - - - - - - - -

M

7 Tomas Rosicky - - - - - - - - - -

M

14 Theo Walcott - - - - - - - - - -

M

15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - - - - - - - - - -

M

21 Calum Chambers

 

Basically full strength starting XI for Champions League today. Perhaps a hangover on Sunday? Or Arsene may rest a few with the form we are in?

this may or may not be the popular opinion but i think the first person that needs to be replaced is naismith. i like the guy, hard nosed player, but he just doesn't have good enough skill to be playing that position. he constantly makes poor touches and is not a creator in the slightest.

Im with you to an extent. I think naismith should be 2nd option at striker. Start some games and spell lukaku after 70 mins in others. However when injuries pile up, as they have, ill take naismith out wide over mcgeady and many others.

Doesnt matter if Barry is suspended or not - unfortunately RM writes his name down every game he is eligible

 

Prediction:

Howard

Coleman Alcaraz Jags Oviedo

Besic Barry

Naismith Barkley Mirallas

Kone

 

Hoping for:

Joel

Coleman Alcaraz Jags Garbutt

Gibson Barry

Mirallas Osman Oviedo

Kone

We need a consistently good goalkeeper. Howard's ship has well sailed.

 

If Barkley is worth £50m I am worth £100m.

 

Atsu is not a footballer.

 

When we get a corner we should just kick it out for a throw in to them and move on to the next incredible moment

Spot on mostly. Howard abysmal; Barkley (in this form) worthless - truly shocking how far he has fallen; Really hate Atsu - minimal difference on offense and absolutely no defense - doesnt care about winning; we havent had an effective corner in weeks

Looking ahead as i always tend to do. The Round of 16 looks rough!

 

Best case: Club Brugge, winner of Torino/Bilbao, winner of Guingamp/Kiev

 

Not good: Ajax/Legia, Anderlecht/DMoscow, Dnipro, Villareal/Salzburg, PSV/Zenit, Celtic/Inter

 

Yikes: Sevilla/Monch, Wolfsburg/Sporting, Napoli, Roma/Feyenoord, Liverpool/Besiktas, Tottenham/Fiorentina

 

Most of stronger teams in position to advance (Sevilla, Ajax, Villareal, Inter, Wolfsburg, Liverpool)

Brilliant result, can really go after Leicester now and rest a few for the return leg.

 

Gibson, Garbutt, Alcaraz, Atsu, Kone should all start 2nd leg IMO

Not bad so far. Draw the shite, lose in dying moments against Chelsea, smack young boys. Lets keep it going

Rom was unplayable tonight. Believing/thinking/saying he should have had 5 goals is a horrible reason to overlook how great his performance was. Completely and utterly unplayable.

 

If only we saw that more often. I would take that every 3rd or 4th game but this year its been few and far between.

Haven't liked Martinez substitutions most of the year but alcaraz for mccarthy is brilliant. really well done

Kone not travelling because he cant play on the artifical surface. Fully fit and prepared for Sundays PL game

Interesting. Looks to be

 

Howard

Coleman stones jags Oviedo

McCarthy barry

Atsu Barkley/Naisy Mirallas

Lukaku

Would love to agree with you but i think we have seen numerous times this year RM is willing to start Naisy and Barkley together.

Travelling squad: Howard, Robles, Griffiths, Alcaraz, Browning, C.Duffus, Coleman, Gibson, Jagielka, Stones, Lukaku, Naismith, Oviedo, Mirallas, McCarthy, Garbutt, Barkley, Besic, Barry, Atsu.

Everton 2 - 1 Leicester

 

Coleman