I think Naughton could play RB, Gallas could play RB but personally I feel the centre back partnership is crucial to a sound defensive performance so ideally I want to see Verts stay as CB and grow in confidence as a leader at the back.
Livermore can fill in at RB. He played there against Cheltenham in the FA Cup and played really well there (albeit it was Cheltenham). Think he covered a bit at RB in the EL as well as featuring at CB. PLUS there's Smith and Byrne who are available if we're really short on options.
That's who I couldn't remember Adam Smith,kind of been forgotten. Didn't he make a sub appearance last season? It will be a fantastic atmosphere at the Lane on Thursdayand if we put out a strong team, the opposition will think twice about trying to pinch the points.
As I commented in another place: Much as I support the idea of squad rotation, surely the players aren't tired yet? Off the back of our first win (not to mention our best performance) I'd be thinking about playing the same starting eleven, and keep things rolling. I guess, though, Lloris has to start. But if Ade is not fully fit, then I'd wait until the Cup game next week to start him. I'd like to see Bale dropped, too, not for rotation purposes but because of form. Trouble is, I don't think we can play Townsend AND Lennon in our front three. We could get away with Townsend, Defoe and Dempsey, maybe, but I'd rather not make too many changes. Anything less than a win against Lazio means we go into QPR with today's buzz dampened. Not worth the risk - play the current first team.
How about Naughton at right back, Dawson and Caulker in the centre and Vertongen at left back. Need to evaluate this as an option and would give Dawson and Caulker some game time. And give Walker a break he looks like he needs?
Not that I can find, Notso. I'm following it on Twitter. It's 7-2 now. Hat-trick for Mason, including a penalty and goals for Ceballos, Obika, Byrne and Parrett. Walker's turned up to watch the 2nd half too, apparently.
Klose is saying we offered £15m for him and Hernanes in the summer. Whilst there was a brief mention of Hernanes late last season, we signed Sigurdsson who plays in the same role. As for Klose, I doubt we made a bid - Levy wouldn't sanction a move for a 34 year-old player with zero resale value, and with Harry gone it's unlikely that any experienced pro would be brought in for one season.
Are players really going to get sharpness back playing Carlisle? I agree with you about continuity but we currently have only started 15 different players and that's including VDV who's been sold and Benny and Kaboul who are injured. An injury in virtually any area of our line up means we will have to bring in someone who's only played a handful of minutes for us, if they've played at all. As much as I don't want to see the Europa League treated as a reserve competition I'd rather we drop points against Lazio than QPR so that's the one I'd make the changes for.
It's over now, so that's probably a good idea! Parrett and Carroll sounds like a bit of a lightweight central pairing, but it's hard to argue with the scoreline.
regardless of how well Lazio have done so far, I'd us to use the players who haven't played much yet. it's by far out hardest game in the group, but we need to test our players, especially the younger ones too. A bit like the point Boss has made about Carroll. he did well last season and deserves a change again. I'd like to see: Lloris walker Daws Caulker Naughton Livermore Hudd Dempsey Sig Townsend Ade I'd even be happy to throw Carroll in there somewhere, or perhaps take out sig, move dempsey into sig's role and play lennon on the right. (or even Falque!) keeping players fresh this season is a must, especailly if we want CL football and want to take this comp seriously as well. I'm very much of the opinion of giving the "fringe" and youth players a run at the earliest stage possible, so the word "fringe player" doesn't exist. Instead, we have a squad of players hungry to play, knowing that they are likely to get a game each week. whether that's EPL, EL, COC, or FAcup.
Giving some of the youngsters (such as Carroll, Townsend and Smith) a brief run out in the final 5-10 minutes of a game we're out of sight in is certainly a worthwhile idea, as it gets them big match practice and there's little pressure on them so they can play their natural game - but giving them 90 minutes at the start of the season at the Stadio Olimpico is probably a bad idea. The only U21 player that should be considered for a starting place at the moment is Caulker (yes, I just found out that Naughton is 23 as well...)
Naughton came in yesterday and did OK. And it's the performance against QPR that I'm most worried about anyway. People seem to think that we're back on track because we beat Reading. If we lose against Lazio, we'll be in much less shape psychologically to play QPR. We're four games into our season, let's have a couple of games on the trot with the same eleven before we start rotating.
I'd go for: -----------------Lloris Walker - Dawson - Vert - Naughton ----------Sandro----Dembele -----------------Siggy------------- Dempsey-------Ade--------Bale---- With Thud coming on for Dembele, Townsend for Bale and possibly Livermore or Carrol for Siggy or Sandro or Caulker coming on for Verts at the end. (give or take a bit depending on performance, cards injuries etc) I think Continuity will be really important for the likes of the Sandro - Dembele partnership, and Verts in defence, and Siggy getting more support, with Ade, Dempsey, Dawson, Thud getting more time. I've left Galas out as he will need a rest being older, and Daws has played in the Champs league and needs game time. Lloris obviously will need time to settle as well.
If we weren't in the Europa League we wouldn't even be having this conversation cos we'd agree I'd field the same side against QPR too but I see the Lazio game as a good opportunity to make a couple of changes. I don't think our players are that fragile that they'll fall apart over losing to Lazio, especially if some of them haven't even played. Besides there will be pressure on us to beat QPR regardless of the result against Lazio. Our internationals could end up playing 5 games in 16 days if they play against Lazio and QPR, to me that's a bigger problem. There's also the problems an injury could cause, say one of our centrebacks picks up a knock in one of the games, we're then forced to throw in a player who hasn't featured in a competitive game for over a month(much longer in Dawson's case). The same could be said for several other positions which leaves us vulnerable. I don't see what's wrong with giving experienced players like Lloris, Dawson, Dempsey and Ade a go. You're right that the Reading performance doesn't mean we're at our best but surely that's further reason to give some other players a chance?
-----------------Lloris Walker - Dawson - Vert - Naughton ----------Sandro----Dembele -----------------Siggy------------- Dempsey-------Ade--------Bale---- is a side I like very much. I don't know the extent of Bale's injury, but obviouslyno point in risking him, so then play Lennon or Townsend. I'm desperate for us to win a trophy and to me these days the Europa is more prestigious than the FA Cup, so that's the one I want to win the most. It's vital we beat Lazio, so a strong, strong team should be played. We can switch things around a bit for QPR. But we have suficient recovery time, given both games are at home.
Anyone got an idea how close Parker is to a return or what Livermore's injury is? I wouldn't mind seeing one of them partnering Huddlestone against Lazio, if they're up to it.
I thought Parker was expected back around the time of the international break in October but he might be back sooner. Livermore's injured? When did this happen?
