Central midfield on sat

[Huyton_Red]

Alonso is struggling to be fit, gerrard will be playing on an artificial pitch in russia tonight as captain of england in a huge game so injuries/severe fatigue are a real possibility, mascerano is playing tonight in south america so is as good as ruled out for Saturday and sissoko is in an awful spell of form where he cant pass to another player from even two or three yards.

 

There is a realy possibility we may be going to goodison with sissoko and levia in central midfield saturday morning

[Stevie H]

There is a realy possibility we may be going to goodison with sissoko and levia in central midfield saturday morning

there isn't.

 

[honourablegeorge]

Alonso will be fit. He'll break Phil Neville's ankle inside the first fifteen seconds. Neville will be sent off for it.

[fred milne]

I reckon Rafa will go with Alonso and Sissoko on Saturday.

[Andy Mac]

Doesn't matter if we're even left with those two because

 

 

Whooooaaaoooaaaoooh, you've got the worst midfield in the world,

Cos Carsley's a slaphead, Neville's an inbred, and Cahill's a f***in arsehoooooooole.

[Rimbeux]

I thought Argentina played Tue?

 

 

Aye, theny won two nil. Messi and Millito scored. Masch played, Tevez played. Wonder how many will play for their clubs this weekend?

Edited October 17, 2007 by Rimbeux

[honourablegeorge]

Pretty glad Carra retired from that International lark - given how tired he's looked lately, and Terry's injury, he'd have been playing. Two weeks rest will have done him the power fo good.

[Guest Kaizer]

I thought Argentina played Tue?

 

The won 2-0 after goals from Messi and Milito.

[Gomez]

I reckon Rafa will go with Alonso and Sissoko on Saturday.

 

Gerrard will not be rested for the derby, unless he is crocked he will play.

[Cobs]

Gerrard will not be rested for the derby, unless he is crocked he will play.

'course he will

 

 

he's playing this arvo at 4pm

 

 

he'll be home by midnight - two full days rest and he'll be sharp as cheesy string come Saturday morning

[fred milne]

Gerrard will not be rested for the derby, unless he is crocked he will play.

He might well do at RM or behind a lone striker. I just think rightly or wrongly Rafa will prefer the fresh legs of Alonso and Sissoko in CM.

[Rimbeux]

He might well do at RM or behind a lone striker. I just think rightly or wrongly Rafa will prefer the fresh legs of Alonso and Sissoko in CM.

 

Xabi has only just started jogging again. I know he did it for Juve 2005, but there are other fit players to choose here

[Stevie H]

He might well do at RM or behind a lone striker. I just think rightly or wrongly Rafa will prefer the fresh legs of Alonso and Sissoko in CM.

think xabi's a bit of a gamble in a kick'n'rush fest like saturday will be. although the irony is of course that he's our most likely to actually get the ball down and play it.

[Huyton_Red]

'course he will

he's playing this arvo at 4pm

he'll be home by midnight - two full days rest and he'll be sharp as cheesy string come Saturday morning

 

I dont think he will be rested on saturday, I am just a bit worried about him getting injured, I was also reading an article on the artificial pitches yesterday where players where talking about being really, really sore for three days after playing on them

 

I dont think alonso will be fit enough to play saturday, it is to heavy a game to rush someone back for

[Gomez]

'course he will

he's playing this arvo at 4pm

he'll be home by midnight - two full days rest and he'll be sharp as cheesy string come Saturday morning

 

He clearly won't be fresh, but we can't rest all the players who are playing midweek. He'll play unless he gets injured tonight.

[fred milne]

Xabi has only just started jogging again. I know he did it for Juve 2005, but there are other fit players to choose here

But he's the only one who can play with Sissoko, who I think is nailed on to start - partly because he will have fresh legs and partly because Rafa will value his aggression in this fixture.

[Falconhoof]

Gerrard and Alonso

[Rimbeux]

I dont think he will be rested on saturday, I am just a bit worried about him getting injured, I was also reading an article on the artificial pitches yesterday where players where talking about being really, really sore for three days after playing on them

 

I dont think alonso will be fit enough to play saturday, it is to heavy a game to rush someone back for

 

 

The great evil of the pitch. I've played regularly on them (5 or 7 a side though), I think a fair few clubs have them for winter training. PL pitches are also pretty hard underneath compared to a park pitches.

[fred milne]

Its pretty brutal but I can see Rafa starting with something like this:

 

Reina

Finnan Carragher Hyypia Arbeloa

Pennant Alonso Sissoko Riise

Gerrard

Kuyt

 

With Benayoun, Babel and Torres to come on after 60 minutes if we need a spark.

Edited October 17, 2007 by fred milne

[Cobs]

He clearly won't be fresh,

 

why not?

 

he's had a full summer off, we're into mid October now and he's played what 10,11 times so far this season?

 

Game on Wednesday arvo, two days complete rest and then another game on Saturday lunchtime - why wont he be fresh?

 

 

 

getting a bit tired of these ready made excuses tbh -

 

 

"ahhhhhhhhhh he's in poor form - it's cos he's rotated too much so he can't build up an understanding with his team mates", "ahhhhhhhhhh he's in poor form - it's cos he's not match sharp cops he's not played enough, he needs a run of games" "ahhhhhhh he's in poor form - it's cos he's tired cos he's had to play for a 2nd time in 4 days"

[Stevie H]

reckon everton fans are saying the same about lescott?

[honourablegeorge]

Drop Pennant from that lot, and put Gerrard right, Babel off Kuyt.

[Rimbeux]

But he's the only one who can play with Sissoko, who I think is nailed on to start - partly because he will have fresh legs and partly because Rafa will value his aggression in this fixture.

 

 

It depends if the team is being selected on quality or time since last game I suppose. I think Momo played on the weekend. I know what you mean about agression, but it's also an easy trap to fall into, trying to beat so called agressive sides at their own game, not trying to impose your extra quality on them, and thereby reducing the odds of the contest.

[Knox_Harrington]

think xabi's a bit of a gamble in a kick'n'rush fest like saturday will be. although the irony is of course that he's our most likely to actually get the ball down and play it.

It needn't be kick 'n' rush.

Its pretty brutal but I can see Rafa starting with something like this:

 

Reina

Finnan Carragher Hyypia Arbeloa

Pennant Alonso Sissoko Riise

Gerrard

Kuyt

 

With Benayoun, Babel and Torres to come on after 60 minutes if we need a spark.

You're killing me here, Fred.

reckon everton fans are saying the same about lescott?

Every Blue I've spoken to doesn't want Lescott playing for England.

It depends if the team is being selected on quality or time since last game I suppose. I think Momo played on the weekend. I know what you mean about agression, but it's also an easy trap to fall into, trying to beat so called agressive sides at their own game, not trying to impose your extra quality on them, and thereby reducing the odds of the contest.

We've gone to Goodison three times under the manager. We've played football once, we've won once. We've got to go there to out play them. If Alonso can play he should. The Ukrainians murdered them simply with triangles. We can do likewise. We can't get drawn in.

[Rimbeux]

reckon everton fans are saying the same about lescott?

 

 

I think we're all going on previous experience and trying to get into the thought process of the manager.