Bailey

Plus I wouldn't listen to Cotto too much as he changes his mind week in week out. McGeady was his MOTM against Leicester. Talk about hero to zero.

Of course it counts. He wasn't that unfit to do himself justice. On the whole last season he did ok. He made mistakes but he created chances and that is exactly what you get from him.

Strong sides for both teams. It will be interesting to see how McGeady does, more than likely on the right.

He does put in the odd tough tackle but it's more mistimed than malicious. He wants to win the ball and leave a mark as opposed to just leave a mark.

My thoughts exactly. I think it's ridiculous that I fund Scottish students with my taxes yet I'm lumbered in debt.

Good luck to the fella, I hope he makes a good career for himself and also that we have a decent sell on fee!

. But how much better are those teams in pot 2 compared to pot 3. Sure some are bigger names but I would rather face Inter than Besiktas for example.

When you look at Spurs big aggressive central midfield it highlights why I would like to see Besic and McCarthy starting either side of Barry, especially while Barkley is out. The opposition aren't great but they aren't being given the opportunity either.

I'm not sure it will make a great deal of difference on the whole.

We are pretty similar teams but they just have more depth, which given all comps, will be an asset for them. It will be interesting to see how they do on the back foot this weekend but they look strong on the front foot.

Just watching Spurs for the first time this season and they are looking pretty decent. Very much like Soton last season with the high press but with better players and a lot of strength in depth. They have been turned over a couple of times early but they have snuffed the attack out easily enough. I think they are going to be a tough nut to crack this season.

Yeh you're right. As soon as he starts playing for the Utd reserves the media will call for him to start. Baines took a lot of unfair stick at the WC when he was the only person who gave a shit at one stage. Regarding the Chambers comments, he deserved a chance last season so I'm glad he has been included but I do think your right Paddock in that he wouldn't have been picked if he hadn't moved.

Its really difficult to pick a captain IMO. Only Hart is realistically guarenteed a place as the other GK's are poor. Personally I would have given it to Baines as there isnt a LB at his level in England and he has the experience to do it. Cahill and Jagielka wont be playing as soon as Stones and Chambers start playing regularly. Wilshere, Henderson, Ox, Sterling are all too inexperienced and not really captain material which leaves Sturridge or Rooney and Woy has made it pretty clear that he wont ever be dropped regardless of form.

That is Stones in a nutshell and its definitely the way we will be looking to play. As I have said before, Stones will be gunning for Jagielka's place if he keeps making these errors especially as the 'extra' games start coming thick and fast shortly with the League Cup and Europa Cup.

That would be bizarre! Although a good move for Welbeck because he would probably play a similar role to Rodrigues last season providing Pochettino sets his Spurs team up the same way.

and Naismith ran himself offside... Dont just give half a story Haf! You seem to enjoy doing it with Lukaku!

I think we may just be over reacting a little! Jags and Distin were both very good in the first 60 mins against Arsenal. Dont also forget it was Jagielka's well read interception that led to Lukaku playing in Naismith for our second goal. At that point Arsenal hadnt had a shot on target and hadnt really threatened to. They let themselves down in the end but it doesnt mean they are now past it. Distin had his best season at the club by far last season with the least defensive fuck ups I have ever seen from him at any club. There is certainly nothing with Baines and Coleman either (albeit Coleman will always have a lapse of concentration in him, because, to put it politely, he isnt the sharpest tool in the box). Jags isnt in the form of his career, I will grant you that. He was hit and miss last season and he has started this season the same. He strikes me as the type of player that makes a mistake and can then make another few more to compound his original error and when its backs to the wall, he doesnt stand up and be counted as well as he should. He had a couple of games last season where I thought he was really going to step up but it kind of fizzled out in the end through injury. When he is on top form however, he is our best defender. In front of the back 4 I do think we have a bit of a problem, especially based on the personnel used in the last 2 games. I have no worries with Barry, Coleman, Pienaar and Naismith along with Mirallas for the most part. I do have concerns about Osman and McGeady though. Osman will try but isnt physically able to do the job anymore IMO and should only be used in a Barkley type role, and I doubt McGeady's commitment to the cause. Sometimes I have seen him get back but not really do the job he was supposed to and others I have seen him not give a toss when he was meant to (Arsenal springs to mind). When you have both in the team and both on the same side of the pitch, you have a huge weakness, especially in an open game. In terms of our pressing game, when we get stuck in and press high up the pitch I truly believe we can beat anyone. When we step off the gas and sit deeper the individual flaws of each player become more apparent and any individual errors have a greater effect. The problem is that its difficult to maintain that level for 90 mins and only a few teams can keep up that intensity. Against Leicester we sat back almost straight away in the second half but at least against Arsenal we kept it up for another 15-20 minutes before falling off the cliff. Interestingly it was straight after the second sub (McGeady for Lukaku) that the majority of Arsenal's chances created came (4 out of 10).

That is quite possibly the worst England squad ever. Although I can't think of many other players that would deserve a call up either.

Yeh exactly, it really is a good opportunity for Europe and Silverware. Given the draw and the probability of winning, I would rather we focussed on the League Cup rather than the FA Cup.

Or we were just waiting to find out what other teams were doing what and where before committing to anything. I actually think we played some pretty decent teams so I dont think that is an issue and if we wanted more games then Im sure we could have easily sorted that out as well. The impression I get is that we didnt want too many games off the back of a WC when we were anticipating quite a few first teamers not being available until later in the pre-season. We would only be playing our bench/reserves/kids if we added more fixtures in at the start of the pre-season campaign which wouldnt make the slightest of difference now to anyone other than Coleman, McCarthy, Distin and Naismith who are probably the fittest currently anyway. We arent the only team looking tired at the end of games and Arsenal werent exactly spring chickens until they scored their first goal either. Leicester were but then again I bet they didnt have very many players at the WC. None us of really know what is going on fitness wise but I cant believe for one minute that its because of who or how many games we played in preseason.

5 all premier league ties as well.

I can't believe for one second that Martinez being in Brazil had any effect whatsoever on our preseason. The teams he would have wanted to play would have been known by the end of last season.

He isn't at the same level he used to be and he doesn't command his area like he used to either. Still a very good keeper but not at the very highest level now. Still arguably better than Howard I suppose but it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other for me. I'm still not convinced by De Gea in terms of his command of his area or his anticipation off his line. He is probably the best shot stopper in the league though. I have never really seen much of Begovic. I think he is a steady keeper without doing anything flashy and I don't know he would cope at a big club playing possession football. He might thrive, I just haven't seen him. For Vorm I thought he was excellent when he first came over, the perfect keeper for a team like Swansea but I don't know what's happened to him recently.

Don't forget that Lukaku has 2 assists (well played a big part in 2 of our goals this season) so I would hardly call him out of form. My reasoning would be that Naismith couldn't have created the two goals that Lukaku did but Lukaku could have finished off the two chances Naismith did. I wouldn't want to drop him from the team but my pick would be Lukaku if it was one of the other.

You obviously didnt watch last night because Hernandez was dreadful as he is practically every time he starts a game.