Ah yes aside from keeper. Our best 11 has NEVER played together, Our first choice 11 last Season - not a single game. Its a big problem IMO.
tbh i've not seen much evidence that Emery has decided on his first 11 though that may change this season . i would argue that it is probably more realistic to talk about a first 14 these days as rotation will mean certain players who may not be first 11 will still end up with getting on for 30 appearances in all comps these days .
Well the biggest annoyance for me with Emery is he is constantly changing the teams shape. (We had two wins with a 4-3-3 then he swiftly goes and changes to a 4-4-2 diamond for the Liverpool match.) He reminds me of Benitez in that way. Hopefully that will change if he ever gets a fully fit squad. Bellerin is cleearly our best rightback - I would argue he's our most under-rated player also. Tierney - just moved to us for £25 Million. He's young and full of promise - Monreal is close to retirement and Kolasinac is not really a fullback. Fair to say unless Tierney turns out to be a disaster those are our first choice. One thing that has been super important to Emery's sides in the past is fullbacks. People can argue Ozil and Torreira would fit in our best 11 but I'm not sure Emery really likes them.
the Benitez reference struck a chord as both appear prone to tinkering for little discernible reason .
The one silver lining to our loss (which was kind of expected anyway) is that both Utd and Spurs dropped points at home, where they were expected to get all 3
i would say the silver lining this time is at least it looked like all your players tried for 90 mins unlike a few other visits in recent years.
Away to pool doesn't really matter apart from fans pride. Brutal truth is that city and pool will be a minimum of 12 points better than the rest. The other 2 CL spots are any bodies at the moment. Most of the contenders have been far from convincing. I fancy Arsenal to beat spurs which would give them a decent start in the quest for a CL spot
If we can beat the Spuds on Sunday it will give us some early distance between us and them as I see them as one of the other challengers for top 4 along with us, Utd and Chelsea. Also we'll be able to give them **** on here for it
If we have a good run early on, we could put some distance between us and the rest of the chasing pack. Utd, Chelsea and Sp*rs don't look good so far. Great opportunity to establish ourselves in the race for the top 4 if we are consistent.
-----------------------Leno-------------------------- Bellerin---Sokratis----Hol/Lui--------Tierney ----------Torreira----------Xhaka----------------- -------------------Ceballos------------------------- ----Pepe--------Lacazette------Aubama------ Ozil is probably the biggest question mark - ability wise he easily makes our 'best 11' but for effectiveness he's probably lost his place to the Spaniard. There's an argument for Guendouzi in there too.
If everyone were playing at their best I would go with -----------------------Leno-------------------------- --Bellerin---Luiz----Holding--------Tierney ----------Torreira----------Willock-------------- ---------------------Ozil*------------------------- ----Pepe--------Lacazette------Aubama------ I put a * on Ozil as I still want to see more of Ceballos. I like what I have seen but I know the best of Ozil which I think is probably past now. But if in some way he could produce that quality he would be ridiculous in a team like this. But in reality Ceballos is probably the right choice. For me we need the energy of Willock and Torreira in MF. Xhaka is too slow for my liking. I would like to see Luiz and Holding together.
Err your best 11's has never played together in fact includes a player who has never played for you another 2 or 3 who have played a handful of games combined plus a player who may not recover from his long term injury. You might want to wait a while before deciding on your best 11.
i'm sorry but have you really watched that much of Tierney , Pepe , Ceballos (sp) but more importantly it isn't the individual players talents but the blend of them that produces your "best" 11 .
It is all assumption. It's too early to know what our actual best 11 is as a unit. We can only go by individual talent right now. But yes you are right it is how the blend which remains to be seen. I have seen a lot of Tierney. And I really rate him highly. I have seen a lot of Pepe too. Ceballos is the only one I cannot definitively call. But the little I have seen from the last youth tournament Spain won and the games he's played in preseason and against Palace, I like what I've seen.