What Is Your Best XI Going Into The New Season?

[Honey Honey]

Dubravka

Yedlin - Lascelles - Lejeune - Dummett

Kenedy - Diame - Shelvey - Ritchie

Perez

Muto

 

Basically last season's team plus Muto. Thanks for the investment Mike.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Lovren and Henderson won't play in the first match... so if you mean what's the best XI that can play without those two, swap out Lovren for Klavan/Gomez/Matip (I'd say Klavan's the next best there, but I think Klopp might still prefer Matip) and Henderson for... probably Milner/Gini/Lallana - my guess would be Milner or Gini, but no clue really.

Alison

Alexander-Arnold - Van Dijk - Lovren - Robertson

Fabinho

Henderson - Keita

Salah - Firmino - Mane

[LFCMadLad]

9 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Lovren and Henderson won't play in the first match... so if you mean what's the best XI that can play without those two, swap out Lovren for Klavan/Gomez/Matip (I'd say Klavan's the next best there, but I think Klopp might still prefer Matip) and Henderson for... probably Milner/Gini/Lallana - my guess would be Milner or Gini, but no clue really.

Alison

Alexander-Arnold - Van Dijk - Lovren - Robertson

Fabinho

Henderson - Keita

Salah - Firmino - Mane

I'd go with that but today Klopp has said that during training and in the U.S. Shaqiri has been the sharpest and best player, playing in the number 10 role, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him rotating with Hendo quite a bit with Keita and Fabinho just behind.

[Burning Gold]

31 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

I'd go with that but today Klopp has said that during training and in the U.S. Shaqiri has been the sharpest and best player, playing in the number 10 role, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him rotating with Hendo quite a bit with Keita and Fabinho just behind.

That might be an option if we need to switch things up and/or chase the game, but I worry it'd be a waste to limit Keita to that sort of role. Also, Firmino likes to drop into #10 positions; would having a full time 10 get in his way?

Also @Dr. Gonzo not Clyne? I rate Trent, but Clyne's still a quality right back. Definitely better defensively.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, Burning Gold said:

That might be an option if we need to switch things up and/or chase the game, but I worry it'd be a waste to limit Keita to that sort of role. Also, Firmino likes to drop into #10 positions; would having a full time 10 get in his way?

Also @Dr. Gonzo not Clyne? I rate Trent, but Clyne's still a quality right back. Definitely better defensively.

Clyne might be our best right back, but I think it's hard to say after he virtually missed all last year to injury. Whereas Trent finished the season very strong, and while I agree that Clyne's better defensively, Trent is much better going forward. It's probably better to have a more solid defender playing in defense (sounds so fucking obvious lol), but Trent also put in some good defensive displays last season - not as consistently as we'd expect from Clyne, but he's still young so that's not too surprising.

I would not be surprised if Clyne ends up being in our strongest lineup, but let's see how he does with a full pre-season and some competitive matches under his belt - it's hard to judge where he's at now given how long it's been since we've seen him fully fit and playing in a real match. Honestly, in my mind (if Clyne is the same sort of player he was pre-injury), they're probably about equal. So it's tight between the two of them.

[RandoEFC+]

Pickford

Coleman - Holgate - Gueye - Digne

Schneiderlin - Davies

Walcott - Sigurdsson - Richarlison

Tosun 

And yes I'd genuinely rather have Gueye at centre half instead of Keane or Jagielka. That midfield is also a mess. Schneiderlin is the worst and Davies isn't ready to be starting so hopefully we sign a defender and a new midfielder too to play besides Gueye.

[Storts]

Exactly the same as last season, if not slightly worse.

Only likely change I can see right now is a shift in formation, only one DM - Eriksen and Alli dropping deeper and Moura coming in out wide with Son and Kane up top. No Toby, No Dembele, No Rose though. 

[Stan]

Schmeichel

Pereira - Evans - Maguire - Chilwell

Ndidi - Silva

Gray - Maddison - Albrighton

Vardy

That won't be what you see next Friday though for the first game as Vardy/Maguire won't play.

Evans is injured and Gray likewise.

Iheanacho would come in for Vardy; Morgan and Benalouane for the two CBs; Diabate in for Gray.

Looks a bit weak going forward without Vardy and only Maddison as a real creative player.

 

[Cicero]

Probably this. 

Batshuayi

Hazard---------------------Pedro

Fabregas-----Kante

Jorginho

Emerson----Luiz---Rudiger---Azpilicueta

Courtois 

[Storts]

8 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Probably this. 

Batshuayi

Hazard---------------------Pedro

Fabregas-----Kante

Jorginho

Emerson----Luiz---Rudiger---Azpilicueta

Courtois 

 

You know as well as I do Alonso and Morata are going to be in there for Emerson and Batshuayi though  Surprised Fabregas is still in your best team too - and Luiz made it back in.

[Cicero]

3 minutes ago, Storts said:

 

You know as well as I do Alonso and Morata are going to be in there for Emerson and Batshuayi though  Surprised Fabregas is still in your best team too - and Luiz made it back in.

Christensen will probably get ahead over Luiz at some point. Alonso looks to be Ivanovic 2.0, where he could commit murder and still keep his place in the team. (I love puns) 

Morata can fuck off. 

Loftus-Cheek and Barkley have no end product. Least Cesc is good in possession and can deliver a final ball 

[Storts]

Just now, Cicero said:

Christensen will probably get ahead over Luiz at some point. Alonso looks to be Ivanovic 2.0, where he could possibly commit murder and still keep his place in the team. (I love puns) 

Morata can fuck off. 

Loftus-Cheek and Barkley have no end product. Least Cesc is good in possession and can deliver a final ball 

You should be having Christensen in there early doors I think - got to look to the future as much as you are playing in the present, and Luiz is not a long term solution, to be honest i'm not even sure he's a short term solution. I've never really rated Alonso, so I sympathise with you completely - but I would be shocked if he wasn't first choice. Morata will be ahead of Bats no doubt too - you don't spend that sort of money on someone to give up on them after a year. 

Think Reuben Loftus-Cheek can be slowly phased in for Cesc as the season goes on - Barkley is just not going to make it at Chelsea 

[Cicero]

3 minutes ago, Storts said:

You should be having Christensen in there early doors I think - got to look to the future as much as you are playing in the present, and Luiz is not a long term solution, to be honest i'm not even sure he's a short term solution. I've never really rated Alonso, so I sympathise with you completely - but I would be shocked if he wasn't first choice. Morata will be ahead of Bats no doubt too - you don't spend that sort of money on someone to give up on them after a year. 

Think Reuben Loftus-Cheek can be slowly phased in for Cesc as the season goes on - Barkley is just not going to make it at Chelsea 

We'll see. To be honest I'm clueless on this matter with all the circulation around the club. 

Price tag means nothing. If Morata continues to not deliver, he will be benched. Just like the end of last season. The whiney twat had his chance to go back to Italy and didn't take it. 

[Stan]

I saw highlights of Morata vs Arsenal the other day . Just wow. what was wrong with him?

[Bluewolf]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

I saw highlights of Morata vs Arsenal the other day . Just wow. what was wrong with him?

He just seems like a square peg trying to force himself into a round hole.. does not seem settled or with any confidence at all, not getting chances is one thing but getting them and blowing them is another... I was reading that his missus has just had a baby I think and thought maybe that was playing on his mind a bit and being a distraction but he was the same after the baby was born... We just seem to curse some strikers that come to us.. Shevchenko was another one

[Stan]

13 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

He just seems like a square peg trying to force himself into a round hole.. does not seem settled or with any confidence at all, not getting chances is one thing but getting them and blowing them is another... I was reading that his missus has just had a baby I think and thought maybe that was playing on his mind a bit and being a distraction but he was the same after the baby was born... We just seem to curse some strikers that come to us.. Shevchenko was another one

you guys need to give Batshuayi more time. 

I'd have thought Morata would flourish under the way Sarri plays. Maybe he still will but the signs aren't good so far based on how Wednesday's performance went! 

[Bluewolf]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

you guys need to give Batshuayi more time. 

I'd have thought Morata would flourish under the way Sarri plays. Maybe he still will but the signs aren't good so far based on how Wednesday's performance went! 

Lets see how things go this season then we will have a better idea of whats what.... 

[Cicero]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

you guys need to give Batshuayi more time. 

I'd have thought Morata would flourish under the way Sarri plays. Maybe he still will but the signs aren't good so far based on how Wednesday's performance went! 

With Morata, he strives on delivery. Not really in the same elk as Aguero or Kane, given they are terrific footballers and can create their own chances. Morata's goals are always served to him. 

That is my main worry. Batshuayi on the other hand looks to be the better finisher. 

[Cicero]

23 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

We just seem to curse some strikers that come to us.. Shevchenko was another one

It's the #9. It's a curse. And Morata believes it himself given he's just changed it to #29 

[Eco]

Have listened to some Pompey matches this preseason, and since they match is televised here in the States I'm very excited. Not to mention they have ex-Atlanta United player Antone Walkes on their squad. 

Anyways, expect them to line up as follows:

MacGillivray

Thompson ---- Whatmough ---- Clarke ---- Brown

Evans --- Walkes --- Naylor --- Curtis

Pitman --- Chaplin

[carefreeluke]

There's also a mental / confidence issue there with Morata. Whilst when you have strikers in the sort of form he's demonstrating at the moment it can be quite easy to put it down to confidence and the mental side of the game but with Morata it genuinely is I believe a big factor. There have been various snippets over the years from players and managers talking about Morata and from Morata himself that clearly highlight the significance of this area in relation to his performance. 

As I've mentioned numerous times on here as well, I'm not a big fan of how Morata conducts himself on the pitch as well in terms of behaviour, body language, and general off the ball actions. This an area which I cannot quite believe he hasn't been called up on by fans and the media so far. Morata's always moaning or contesting something. If something's not going his way, you'll know about it and this is an area of his game in which the big bulky centre backs of the Premier League started to play on. Whilst this was perhaps celebrated (by some people) with our former striker, Diego Costa, there was however this belief with him that that was who he was, Costa needs that in his game and there's no way he'd change from doing that. Despite what others may say I was never worried about Costa's antics or (despite one or two moments), I was never worried about Costa getting sent off. Costa knew how to look after himself and with the centre backs it was a lot of time more than an even battle.

With Morata everything is just insignificant and petty for me and when things are going badly the two opposition centre backs will take it on turns to rub him up the wrong way and pick on him. There were numerous occasions last season where Morata's skill and quality was too much for some defenders and he'd often get one over on these centre backs this way and there'd be no antics for the most part from him. Whereas if Costa's on fire or not playing well, there'd be something going on with him at all times. That's who he is. If you were to sit down Diego Costa and tell him to change with all the persuasion in the world, he wouldn't. With Morata the bad antics, the moaning and the frustration come from a direct consequence of him not playing well. Morata needs to channel that energy into good energy and work on that mental side of the game. This is not a case that Costa was far more physical and more of a presence compared to Morata, it's just one striker (Costa) had a much better mental state (yes apart from his craziness) when it came to playing football. Morata doesn't need to bulk up or anything of the sort, he just needs to start using the quality and skill he has a lot more often to get the better of these Premier League defenders. Football is played with the mind and this is the area in which Morata needs to improve the most.