Team for Stoke

[Assassin]

Maybe we will just go with a 3 - 5 - 2 formation from the start. With Johnson, Carra and Insua at the back

[FatTony]

All the reports I've read on Ayala have been poor. I'm not saying he'll never be good, but that it may be just too early at the moment. Same could be said of Kelly too though, but drastic measures I suppose....

[Rich]

One thing is our squad is thread bare Can't remember a time where we had so few options.

[Scratch]

{The masses} - Rafa needs to bring through some of the young players, we don't need to buy a reserve string cover, we have some talented youngsters!!!

------Skrtel out for two weeks, Agger out TBA------

{The masses} - We have no serious cover at the back, and our youngsters aren't good enough, we should never have let Sami go, and when we did why didn't we buy experienced cover...oh, the mighty Stoke will cause us all sorts of problems...oh woe is us...



Slight exaggeration purely for effect

[Baracus]

Maybe we will just go with a 3 - 5 - 2 formation from the start. With Johnson, Carra and Insua at the back

I was thinking something along this line.

But our biggest concern against the oppostion is set-piece opportunities we give them. Throw-in's and Corner's. We look short in the height department.

[Assassin]

I was thinking something along this line.

But our biggest concern against the oppostion is set-piece opportunities we give them. Throw-in's and Corner's. We look short in the height department.

Gerrard and Lucas are good headers of the ball

[S-RED]

Reina
Mascherano- Johnson - Carragher - Insua
Lucas - Gerrard
Kuyt - Beni
Babel/Voro/NGog (toss a coin) & Torres

[Assassin]

Reina
Johnson - Carragher - Insua
Lucas - Mascherano
Kuyt - Gerrard - Dossena
Benayoun - Torres

[The_weatherman]

Seems to me we are all just trying to come up with a new way of lining up

[Baracus]

Gerrard and Lucas are good headers of the ball

I'm not suggesting that they are not. Just the Lack of height in our team against ours. I could well be wrong, its just perception. I can't be arsed checking the stats thou.

[Assassin]

The stripes just make them look taller

[dww]

Gerrard and Lucas are good headers of the ball

They are but they are both better at attacking headers and neither is the sort of imposing presence that say Drogba is for Chelsea and on top of that we lack the Sami/Terry/Vidic sort of player who dominates the air defensively and can be relied on to command the first ball most of the time. In general we do seem a weaker aerial team in the last few years.

[Kenneth]

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that We should play like this as an attacking 6:

Kuyt Gerrard Macherano Yossi

####Voronin
#########Torres

[red g]

does nobody expect a recall for Riera?

[Mattshark]

does nobody expect a recall for Riera?

If he is back, I would.