jcrawfor Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Moyes has built his squad. Over 8 years, he's brought in both established and potential talent, and while there have been some bad buys, DM has largely made strong signings and managed to do it spending a mere 20mil net. So, having spent those years building the club to what we can assume is his ideal what is his best starting XI, if indeed there is one? The more I try to pin down definitive Best XI the more I start to think there isn't one. there are a few players; Arteta, Baines, Howard, Jags, Felli, and Pienaar, who make every edition, but it's the others I can't figure out. Who is our best striker, right back, right winger, left-center back and attacking-mid/2nd striker. Hell, I really can't even say whether our current squad is better off playing DM's trademark 4-5-1 or switching to a more aggressive 4-4-2. Here are a few formations I've seen and liked, but again, which is best really depends on which players decide to show up. Howard Hibbert Heitinga Distin Baines Fellaini Anichebe Arteta Rodwell Pienaar Saha Howard Coleman Jagielka Heitinga Baines Fellaini Bily Arteta Osman Pienaar Saha Howard Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines Heitinga Bily Arteta Pienaar Yakubu Saha Howard Neville Jagielka Distin Baines Heitinga Bily Arteta Pienaar Fellaini Saha Those are a few of my thoughts, none of which really convince me that we have a definitive Best XI. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c1982 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I would like to see... .............Howard................. Coleman....Jags...Heitinga....Baines ........Fellaini...Rodwell.......... ....Arteta.....Cahill....Pienaar.... ...............Saha................. This is Brazil's system - Coleman and Baines would provide the most width - Arteta/Cahill/Pienaar would inter-change. Felli/Rodders - 1 breaks - 1 sits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I would like to see... .............Howard................. Coleman....Jags...Heitinga....Baines ........Fellaini...Rodwell.......... ....Arteta.....Cahill....Pienaar.... ...............Saha................. This is Brazil's system - Coleman and Baines would provide the most width - Arteta/Cahill/Pienaar would inter-change. Felli/Rodders - 1 breaks - 1 sits. That relies on Moyes being progressive in his tactical thinking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c1982 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 That relies on Moyes being progressive in his tactical thinking... We can dream!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillAct723 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I would like to see... .............Howard................. Coleman....Jags...Heitinga....Baines ........Fellaini...Rodwell.......... ....Arteta.....Cahill....Pienaar.... ...............Saha................. This is Brazil's system - Coleman and Baines would provide the most width - Arteta/Cahill/Pienaar would inter-change. Felli/Rodders - 1 breaks - 1 sits. I had written my own XI, but I kept coming back to this. I'm not sure how it would work in practice, but I sure like the way it looks. Here I come FIFA 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehitt Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I would like to see... .............Howard................. Coleman....Jags...Heitinga....Baines ........Fellaini...Rodwell.......... ....Arteta.....Cahill....Pienaar.... ...............Saha................. This is Brazil's system - Coleman and Baines would provide the most width - Arteta/Cahill/Pienaar would inter-change. Felli/Rodders - 1 breaks - 1 sits. i may get my head taken off for saying this but I'd rather bily instead of cahill..don't get me wrong because i love cahill but he just doesn't always do it for me. and i think bily has real potential I'd hope too that DM can find funds to bring in 1 more addition to the side to add some strength in dept ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeO Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 i may get my head taken off for saying this but I'd rather bily instead of cahill..bily has real potential He's a twenty-five year old full international who cost us the best part of £9m and he's played twenty-three times for us. I'd want more than "potential" from him by now, he's been largely anonymous with the excpeption of his debut against AEK and a few special goals. Not enough.....I'm losing hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holystove Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 He's a twenty-five year old full international who cost us the best part of £9m and he's played twenty-three times for us. I'd want more than "potential" from him by now, he's been largely anonymous with the excpeption of his debut against AEK and a few special goals. Not enough.....I'm losing hope. I think it's mostly a confidence issue. Give him a run of games at his favorite position and we'll see what he can do. Same had to happen for Fellaini... I have no idea what his very best position is, but I'd agree with pehitt. (and c1982's team). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaminfox Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 I say .................Howard............ Coleman..jags..heitinga....baines .................fellaini..................... ...........Arteta......rodwell......... Bily...................................Peinaar. ...............King/beckford............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 the fact we can have this thread puts a huge smile on my face! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeO Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 I think it's mostly a confidence issue. Give him a run of games at his favorite position and we'll see what he can do. Same had to happen for Fellaini... Fair point and I hope you're right but I always believed Fellaini would come good.....just don't get the same feeling about Bily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcopaulo Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 as long as he ain't used as a winger i think he will be great..sadly that's what he was bought for though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 as long as he ain't used as a winger i think he will be great..sadly that's what he was bought for though He's made for that inside forward position that our wingers take up coming in off the line. The real problem is he has to take on the opposition on that side on his own, and he's not pacy like that. He needs an attacking fullback outside him hugging the touchline which will occupy the opposing winger to allow Billy to float in that pocket in front of their fullback like Pienaar does with Baines. tl;dr? -> Get Coleman on and Billy will shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehitt Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 (edited) as long as he ain't used as a winger i think he will be great..sadly that's what he was bought for though If there's any truth in us signing this Izmailov lad though we could leave pienaar on the left ... Izmailov on the right and bily could play centre field this is using DM's system of having wide players and 1 up top btw! although i'd much rather c1982's line up Edited August 18, 2010 by pehitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrawfor Posted August 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 (edited) that formation c1982 posted looks, on paper, very nice. It's a wonder why DM doesn't give something like that a go. It even fits his defensive mantra, playing both fellaini and rodders as defensive mids while also playing to his lone striker model. I'd be really encouraged to see this side played in big games where the experience of the older players (arteta, pienaar, jags, saha) would be complemented by the youthful enthusiasm of rodwell, fellaini and coleman. That said, surely Coleman has to see some time on the pitch this year after playing so well in the Championship with Blackpool. If, BIG IF, the rumours of Izmailov come true then I think we'd have a clear-cut best XI in: Howard Coleman Jags Heitinga Baines Fellaini Rodwell Izmailov Arteta Pienaar Saha Edited August 19, 2010 by bluenoseyankee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peoman7 Posted August 19, 2010 Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 that formation c1982 posted looks, on paper, very nice. It's a wonder why DM doesn't give something like that a go. It even fits his defensive mantra, playing both fellaini and rodders as defensive mids while also playing to his lone striker model. I'd be really encouraged to see this side played in big games where the experience of the older players (arteta, pienaar, jags, saha) would be complemented by the youthful enthusiasm of rodwell, fellaini and coleman. That said, surely Coleman has to see some time on the pitch this year after playing so well in the Championship with Blackpool. If, BIG IF, the rumours of Izmailov come true then I think we'd have a clear-cut best XI in: Howard Coleman Jags Heitinga Baines Fellaini Rodwell Izmailov Arteta Pienaar Saha That looks a quality line-up BUT you cannot leave Tim out IMO. His goals have proven so valuable to us over time and he puts 110% in every game. He loves the club and will chase, battle and scrap for every ball just to see us do well. Surely you cannot take him out an established player who regularly scores for a player with no premier league experience (Izmailov). I would swap Izmailov for Tim and then move Mikel to were you put Izmailov, coleman can bomb up the wing allowing Mikel to drift in as he naturally does and pull the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiemaher85 Posted August 19, 2010 Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 My first choice starting line-up most weeks would be:- ----------Howard--------- Neville Jags Johnny Baines -------Felli--Arteta------ Pienaar---Rodwell------Bily ----------Saha------------- For me Coleman is still a little away from being ready for starting all the time and I think Nev offers more in terms of his leadership, at the moment. However i've chosen Rodders over Cahill as I think that for this season we should start to see a fazing out of Cahill from an automatic starting place. I think that Timmy will be better used as an impact player as our style of play is slowly changing now and having someone as static as him in that position is a hinderance. Rodwell will offer more in that spot this year IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn balor Posted August 19, 2010 Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 Saha is starting to wind me up. Not looked the same player since he signed that contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiemaher85 Posted August 19, 2010 Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 Saha is starting to wind me up. Not looked the same player since he signed that contract. He's turned in a few good performances pre-season, but it's true that he was arse after he signed the new contract, but that did coincide with getting injured and i'm not sure if he's been in top condition for awhile now. Hopefully he'll start getting back up to speed soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrawfor Posted August 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 That looks a quality line-up BUT you cannot leave Tim out IMO. His goals have proven so valuable to us over time and he puts 110% in every game. He loves the club and will chase, battle and scrap for every ball just to see us do well. Surely you cannot take him out an established player who regularly scores for a player with no premier league experience (Izmailov). I would swap Izmailov for Tim and then move Mikel to were you put Izmailov, coleman can bomb up the wing allowing Mikel to drift in as he naturally does and pull the strings. I would leave TC out. He's easily the hardest worker and knows how to score a goal, but I can't see him being more valuable than pace on the right. And we've seen how wasted Arteta is on the right, I'd like to see him never put there again. I could see TC being put in for Rodwell and moved behind the striker for games against lower-mid table teams where the hustle and harrying is needed. Room needs to be made for younger talent to develop and TC is probably the weakest midfield link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_E Posted August 20, 2010 Report Share Posted August 20, 2010 Howard Coleman Jagielka Heitinga Baines Arteta Fellaini Rodwell Anichebe Saha Pienaar I would play something like that against most teams. We should have a numerical advantage in midfield against teams playing with two up front so we should be able to control games. I also want to press really high up the pitch when not in possession. I think no one is disputing Howard is our first choice goalkeeper. Jags and Johnny are my preferred centre back pairing. Both are good defenders, and Johnny is very composed on the ball too. It's a shame though that both are rightfooted and rather small for a centre back. As I want to press high up the pitch, our defenders have to play a high line to prevent players between the lines getting too much space. That high line also helps dealing with our lack of stature. I would really like a tall, strong, leftfooted centre back that can pick a pass. Hopefully we can bring one in if we do sell Yobo. I remember a thread about Jan Vertonghen in the rumourama-section and I think he fits the bill perfectly. I'd play him as our left sided centre back with Distin as back up and Johnny and Jags can compete over who gets to play as the right sided centre back. I'd play Coleman and Baines as our full backs. They're both good going forward. When not in possession I want them to play very narrow to prevent through-balls between themselves and the centre backs which is probably a pass the opposition will be looking for considering our high defensive line. I'd start Fellaini in a deep, holding midfield role sitting in front of the defence. His aerial ability should also help cope with our lack of stature in the back. With Felli in front of Jagielka and Heitinga they can stay in position in stead of having to go out and compete in the air whe're they'll probably just lose out when the opposition plays hoof ball. I'd play Arteta, the playmaker, and Rodwell somewhat in front of him completing the triangle. When not in possession they should close the opposition down very high up the pitch. On the wings I'd go for Anichebe and Pienaar. Vic gives us a lot of strenght and depth on the right as well as some pace. Johnny should be able to feed him with some accurate long passes too. Pienaar plays on the left, so he can drift inside with Baines overlapping. I'd still go for Saha as our main striker. Despite not scoring for a while, he still has a good goalscoring record. He can hold the ball up well, he can shoot with both feet... However he's going to have to prove he can still score goals and is willing of closing the opposition down as he has a lot of competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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