Bailey

I like Joel as a keeper, not so keen with the ball at his feet mind you! Saying that Howard has been kicking crap lately as well.

Very cringeworthy! I also like the fact that he doesnt really highlight any of Cleverley's strengths, he just says that he works hard in training!

And part of the reason he is inconsistent is because of his decision making. His runs are fantastic when they come off but when they dont he struggles to get into the game. I wouldnt want to take away his attacking intent but sometimes he just has to look up and assess the situation better. That way he would become more consistent and have an even bigger impact on the teams performance.

Im not saying he isnt a quality player! He would be one of the first names on my team sheet but I dont think he is irreplaceable either. There are lots of players in PL that can score quality goals or free kicks but I'm more interested in their contribution to the team's performance because that will ultimately decide whether we do well or dont do well. Mirallas definitely contributed to the team but I do think he has the ability to contribute a lot more.

Haha no, it was because they were crap then too (Carrick at CB for instance!) and we were at home. I actually think the worst Utd display was in the 3-3 draw. They were horrendous defensively in that game and I was really gutted that we didnt win.

We should be looking to finish as high as we possibly can IMO regardless of whether we can win it. If by some magic we got to the semi finals it would be a huge boost to the country and if you asked me who I would rather have in that type of game, especially given the relative inexperience at international level of the CB's, I would go with Cole who has been there and done it. Cole isnt as good as he used to be but you can rely on him in the big games. Shaw hasnt even played a competitive international yet and his time will come.

Like most footballers he has a flaw, not really a criticism of him its more like pointing out a weakness and suggesting that your opinion of him is probably slightly higher than some of the rest of us think. I do agree that his directness in attack is an asset on some occasions, but its also true that it is a weakness. I actually think that technically Drenthe was a better player but he had far more issues that just being a bit greedy!

I think that is ultimately what leads to his downfall because he is not the cleverest footballer you will ever see whether it be mistiming his runs, not playing an easy pass or trying to dribble through about 6 players.

Very true! I have liked the look of Caulker too. I do/did rate both Smalling and Jones but they really are going backwards now... They need to go to a stable club and play week in week out instead of getting shuffled from midfield to RB to the bench etc.

I would take Cole as well tbh... Cole was pretty good from what I saw against Denmark and his stats coming out of the game were superior. Shaw is the future that's for sure but Hodgson has left it too late to get the experience into him IMO.

They were shite then as well

I would worry that it would end up being a very narrow formation as you would effectively have 6 players all crammed through the middle. Would be lots of room for Baines and Clyne to get forward though! Im not sure what I would do at the moment. Rooney has been really disappointing of late and I would be more inclined to play with Lallana/Ox behind Sturridge with Sterling/Townsend on one wing and the other one of Ox/Lallana on the opposite wing with Gerrard and Barry/Carrick deep.

He has shown that he can step in and play though so its not really an issue. I think he reads the game better than any of our other CB's and he is positionally excellent. Him and Distin would make a good pairing. I certainly wouldnt be disappointed if Stones was picked though, I really rate him and I would love to see him take his chance.

It depends on when you expect CL football. IMO spending that amount of money on 1 or 2 players would be very risky and as its been pointed out buying ready made 'superstars' simply wont come here because of the wages. All good footballers start somewhere and generally move on to a bigger club for not that much before going on to really make a name for themselves. We HAVE to go that way and build for the future so that in 2/3 years time the squad can have the potential to win the league, let alone qualify for the CL. Benteke cost Villa £7mil, RVP £2.75mil, Marseille paid £3.3 mil for Drogba etc etc. You may end up paying money on players who dont make the grade but we do that now anyway on slightly older players. With a good youth system and astute purchases we can definitely compete without the need for pissing millions up the wall on wages and transfer fees.

I would probably go Distin & Alcaraz myself on the assumption that the latter is fit enough.

Tbh I was never a fan of Neville being captain on the pitch. When shit hit the fan he was one of the first to hide.

I think its going to be a really entertaining game. We just need to make sure we take our chances because that has been our downfall. It couls go either way but as long as we go there and play our game im confident we can at least take it back to Goodison.

Whilst I like a player that has that determination to get himself on the score sheet I think he could have had a fair few more assists had he looked up and picked a pass. Like a lot of players in his position, I think he just needs to work on getting that balance between shooting and passing right and if he did, he would take his game to another level.

I wouldnt disagree that them two could work nicely together. I certainly think it has a bit more scope that the Mirallas/Lukaku partnership. I would still start Osman behind the big man though and chuck Naismith into the game if we needed him later on.

We dont even know the ins and outs of the deal. We might not even be paying that much... It would be an understatement to say its worked out badly but I'm not sure how one poor loan signing can be one of the worst deals the club has made. Just a slight over-exaggeration!

Absolutely spot on!

Seems odd Given there will onky be a couple more games of the season by then? Would have thought Kone would be pushing for a return as well by that stage?

I wouldnt put Naismith on my teamsheet for any big games if everyone was fit (unlike Park) and tbh its an awful comparison. Like I have said before Naismith is our Chicharito. He does what we need him to do but he cant be relied upon to take the club forward as our main striker. Miguel, would you have Naismith as a straight replacement for Barkley/Osman as an advanced midfielder or have him alongside Lukaku?

Chances created are lower but clear cut chances are up which is most important. That was from an article about 3 games ago. though

Surely the whole point of the OP is that he should be starting alongside Lukaku? I did also mention this in the very next sentence of my post.