I'm sure it'll be a very flexible 4-4-2 and there will be a lot of rotation, especially in midfield. Chamberlain, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Cork, Hammond, De Ridder, Guly and Chaplow all deserve to play regularly. I won't bother predicting the lineup for the Leeds game, as there are so many different combinations which could work, but I'm sure over the season the midfield will be picked based on form. I'm just happy to see such healthy competition for places.
agree we cant get too hyped up about him, but i feel we wouldnt buy a player for a 'significant' fee unless he was able to get straight into the first team. so what i mean is he will at least get a starting berth - to begin with.
I think significant just means "more than what we paid for Bialkowski". I've seen figures quoted in the media between 500k and up to £2m, if we're paying £2m for a player and he turns out to be crap I'd be very disappointed, but then £500k is only half of what we signed Wayno for! I'll withhold judgement about Steve until January, and even then a full judgement is difficult - everyone thought Puncheon was the dog's bollocks for his first half season. However I'll admit some of his goals, skills and assists that we've seen look very exciting.
i imagine its definitely over £1m if what has been said has any ounce of truth - plus im sure it would be over £1m personally for a NPC to class something as significant. your point about wayno does have weight however!! therefore i agree we need to just let the lad have half a season to show us what he can do rather than expect to set the world alight then boo him for not scoring after 3 games or something :s
Can see us playing a 4-5-1; with someone like Hammond/Chaplow sitting in the pocket behind Cork and Spiderman in central midfield; Lallana and Oxo out wide and acting as inside forwards if needed with Lambert up front. You have Guli, De Ridder, Holmes, Forte as rotational players out wide for Lallana and Oxo.
Was Hammond captain on Saturday ? Also isn't that the first time this season him and Fonte have played in the same team together ? Yes midfield, as is all the squad, looking strong with options this season. Would like to keep Chambo though.
The beauty of it is that if one of the chosen ones is having a mare, spoilt for choice with a replacement, the 5 sub rule is a bit of a nuisance though.
We have plenty of options and I believe how we set it up is likely to reflect how we intend to approach the game. I don't think we'll be playing a conventional 442 with the attacking midfielders and attacking wingers in our squad. ...Cork...Hammond...Schneiderlin... Chamberlain.....Lambert......Lallana .........Cork...Hammond...... Chamberlain...Guly...Lallana .............Lambert............. Personnel changed as fit, but with those shapes.
