Lloris, Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton, Huddlestone, Sigurdsson, Sandro, Lennon, Townsend and Defoe Cudicini, Gallas, Dempsey, Smith, Falque, Livermore and Parrett Strong line up
Good line up there, remarkable similar for once to the on I posted on here the other day! Somewhat telling possibly that Dawson can't even get on the bench? Slightly disappointed not to see Carroll on the bench but apart from that I'm happy.
Five maybe six players strong enough to be called 'first choice' in a game that we 'have' to win in order to stand a real chance of progressing - which is AVB's quoted preference.
Ade injured again? Ffs. I'm getting worried about the "he'll only have 1 good season" jibes from you-know-who fans now
I said strong enough to be considered 'first choice' Naughton is second choice right-back playing as a third choice left back Huddlestone is now a towards the end of the game sub Townsend is another, younger version of Livermore - heart in right place, but you don't play football with your heart Siggy is a second choice midfielder who we got on the cheap 'at the right time' Lloris is a first choice keeper playing the second string role... for now Caulker is a talent, no doubt, but he's third choice in the centre of defence (don't get me wrong, BLOODY good player) Walker is in dire need of a rest Then again probably Sandro, Verts et al are the same The bench is awful. Dempsey isn't ever going to do it for us, and benchng him will kill his confidence, can see him being remembered for that goal against utd just like Danny Rose and Bentley are for the goals against L'Arse Livermore... god-awful (see Townsend above) Cud & Gallas, should've been pastured last year Falque, Smith & Parrett are youngsters who need the experience and can't fault AVB for trying to keep them involved
All first team squad players with 5 of our first choice players and a further 5 of our first 11 injured it's about as much as we could've hoped for.
I don't disagree with that, I'm just saying its not 'strong' its the best we could hope for. And its not a winning team, its a poor score draw team at best
What I'm really hoping from this game is that Gylfi can use it to make CAM his own. I really think he has the ability, but needs the confidence.
Yeah... probably at another club. He won't get past Walker unless there's a Routledge/Lennon situation in the near future.