Got to be Jay...but could be any of the others. Perhaps start with Lallana and Ramirez, then bring Davis on for Ramirez if we are ahead and need a bit of steadying.
Indeed, one of the reasons I would give Ramirez the starting nod is because I really like Davis as a sub. You can either bring him on to just sit with Morgan and Cork to solidify us, but you can also bring him in to play behind the striker to help us going forward, he brings a bit more versatility than a lot of our over options.
As Fran said, Lallana - Gaston - Rodriguez, then (hopefully) Davis can come on for Gaston later to consolidate our lead
Rodriguez, Davis, Lallana. Rodriguez is a definite as he is on great form. Davis/Ramirez to switch around depending on the opposition, but I think that the team looks more united with Davis and more solid in the middle. Lallana's looked at his best since his return from injury, no coincidence that it's coincided with a few wins. Between him and Puncheon for the other spot, and despite Puncheon having a good link up with Clyne I wouldn't replace Lallana with Puncheon as the team is currently settled and doing well.
Davis made two errors against Reading. One was a bad pass back to Luke Shaw which put Reading back on the attack, and one was passing to Frederici after being put through by Lambert. Apart from that he didn't put a foot wrong. There's a lot of the team coming into good form. It's a good headache for a manager to have. Glad I'm only watching.
Rodriguez - Gaston - Puncheon I think our best 3 players who can play in those positions are Rodriguez, Lallana, and Gaston, but no one plays the right wing defensively and offensively as well as puncheon.
Someone mentioned on another thread about a rumoured link with Flamini. How many midfielders do you need? It's hard enough to choose now
In normal circumstances I'd say we don't need another central midfielder, but for someone like Flamini I'd make an exception.
I'm not so sure, it's a tricky one. It'd be very hard, if not impossible to improve on Cork & Schneiderlin for a defensive midfielder, especially as they both have years until they peak (presumably). However, in terms of cover, should one of them get injured or suspended, JWP is the only player we could bring in, and even JWP, I'm not sure particularly suits the defensive midfielder role. Davis plays the attacking midfielder role so would not play in the '2' of our 4-2-3-1; I read an interview with JWP recently in which he said that it is he, Cork, and Schneiderlin who train as the defensive midfielders, not Davis. I personally don't feel comfortable relying upon only JWP as cover for Cork and Schneiderlin, and nor would I consider Chaplow or Hammond, especially as Chaplow's injured and Hammond is on loan. So, yeah, I think midfield is a position we need a new signing in, perhaps an experienced player to bring on in later stages of games, and who can act as cover, as well as teaching JWP, Cork, and Schneiderlin, with his experience. Someone like Flamini.
Considering Flamini is rather injury prone (I think) and going into his later years, I'd still regard Cork and Schneiderlin to be our regular central midfield pairing. However Flamini could be very useful for tricky away games as an alternative to Cork who perhaps is a bit lightweight when the game gets physical. Another alternative would be to play all three and drop the AMC. It'd definitely give us more versatility in what is already our strongest area of the pitch.
This has been over-discussed. But here goes; - based on form at start of season, I would go Lallana (l) Davis (m) Punch (r) Not the three I'd pick tomorrow. J Rod has hit some super form so he would have to take the left wing. Davis is tried and tested, and the more matches we can give Gaston to help him find his form for next season the better, so he can take the middle. On the right, it's a toss up between Punch and Lallana, Punch's form has dropped off a bit and Lallana has been injured.
