Davvo

not sure where you got that from. My point was that anything other than a 3 digit formation with a qualifying description, is pointless.Largely because just using additional digits, eg 4-2-3-1, doesn't succeed in making it any clearer how a team lines up, and ignores any fluidity during the match. I'd argue that Madrid team essentially lined up 4-4-2, with a deep holding midfielder (anchored in stone 5 metres ahead of his centre backs), and every f***** else license to do what the f*** they wanted.

sure as hell confused me

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All makes sense that, I think the use of anything other than 3 digits is merely an attempt at clarifying the make up of each line of 3, usually the midfield. So many teams play 4-5-1, but with slightly different nuances, such as Liverpool with 2 holding midfielders, and Arsenal with just 1. Stuff like 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-1-2-2-1 etc are just unnecessary and imply a lack of ability in the watcher to see the subtle variations being employed. Lines do become blurred when formations with 3 digits are mis-read by the likes of Gray however. A couple of years ago, both us and Chelsea would play 4-5-1. However, because they used 1 holder and 2 wide men, he'd label it 4-3-3, when it blatantly wasn't. With us it'd be 4-5-1 because of having 2 holders and no real winger. In reality both were 4-5-1, just one being more solid and the other a little more expansive. A true 4-3-3 would be something like City have employed on occasion this year, with 3 players playing as forwards, with very little defensive responsibility. Arsenal too on occasion are more 4-3-3 than their usual 4-5-1. A true 4-3-3 has forwards like Tevez and Robinho, not wingers like Duff and Robben, wingers make it an expansive 4-5-1. In essence, the use of a descriptive word such as expansive or solid, in conjunction with a 3 digit formation, is more useful and accurate than the creation of "MLNM".

Nah, just being financially prudent. If you have a job that pay's a salary plus bonus, you don't budget on the best possible bonus, you treat most of the potential bonus as gravy. Setting a budget that relies on us reaching the last 16 would be foolish.

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not if it means him playing for soddin england next week it doesn't.

This Loblaw caricature is really f***ing tiresome. Can we end him/her/it somehow. The s**** espoused from it's keyboard is really f***ing offending my eyes.

Rolls off the tongue that.

The variances in Johnson's price, added to the dismissal of the relevance of Pompey's inability to pay us for Crouch, make this argument a little too contrived for me. Not spending the reported 17 million on Johnson, and keeping Arbeloa (reported 4 million), would have left us with about 6 million for a striker.

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This is the thing for me, Pacheco doesn't get a chance for the first team, and Voronin doesn't turn out for the Ressies, so in reality who knows which is the better player ? The reserves looks a terrible standard to me, certainly way below Championship level. By adding 3 or 4 fringe first teamers to each game, maybe the standard would be raised and we'd get a better idea if the kids are as good as/better than the fringe 1st teamers or not. eg You could see Ayala alongside Skrtel or Krygiakos. Cavillieri too, it's bizarre he's not picking up sharpness in the ressies at every opportunity. I imagine the reasons are a combination of advice from the medical staff on freshness/potential injury, and the fact the standard is piss poor. The 2nd reason being a little chicken/egg conundrum.

spot on that. masch is more a makelele type for me(although still with differences), and you need to surround that type of player with plenty of creativity and talent. We haven't got a lot of that, and so the masch role starts to look more limited. I imagine his game will improve, and his use to the team will improve, when aquilani and stevie are back playing.

I don't think you're taking this seriously enough, when was the last time you read the Super Fan Charter ? And if there is one thread that needs locking during a match.......

If we win at Lyon, we still have a long way to go to qualify, even winning all 3 remaining games may not be enough. Noone's doubting that Lyon is more of a must win than Fulham was for the relevant competition's, and playing Torres at all suggests we didn't just bin the Fulham game off. The fact we're having to use players who aren't giving us all they've got is a worry though.

with good reason I suspect. The problem's we have are not the injury/illness to half a dozen or so players, but more the quality of their replacements. Of our 1st choice XI (and I'll omit Aquilani on the grounds he's never been available to start for us, you can add him if you like), only 3 were unable to start today. Of those that would have stepped in if fit, you could add Skrtel and Reira to the unavailable list. To include Cavilieri and Kelly is a bit of a stretch when complaining of available resources in my opinion. Torres and Benayoun started because we don't have an Owen or a Ji-Sung-Park, we have Babel, and he does not appear to have the manager's confidence (and appears to know it too).

And yet, in another thread, there will be dozens of people going spare at the lack of opportunities for youngsters off the bench.

Does making the knockout stages (an uphill task), earn more cash than actually making it into the competition next year ? I have no idea, I really don't. If it does, then I'm in agreement, if not, then I think this is short-sighted.

I think equally as pertinent is how was the missing ?£20million? going to be spent. I think there were some quotes from Rafa about spending 20+ on a player? Most so called sources have the money as being earmarked for Silva, would he help our striker shortage? Would any top striker come to us and either a) sit on the bench and wait for Torres to get hurt (Crouch didnt), or b) accept playing out wide or deeper. Rafa stated in the Tomkins interview that we don't have the funds to pay a top striker big money to keep him happy on the bench, so how do we/does he get round the striker issue? Torres is playing and training hurt according to Rafa, and yet we have no striker's injured. I have to agree with Kev that we have some squad imbalance, and I'm not sure the missing cash from the Summer would have solved it. Infact, I think it would have likely left us with 4 players vying for the wide left position rather than the current 3. That could be unfair, and maybe one of Babel/Reira was lined up for an exit with a forward coming in? I'm not sure, but Rafa/Tomkins releasing names of who he would have signed if he could might not be a bad idea in the grand scheme of things right now, surreptitiously of course. Those articles the press reluctantly stashed away on their hard drives last week, will likely get an airing this week, certainly if we lose in Lyon, so Rafa needs to show all his cards.

do we get a bonus point for that

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