Your clubs new look Starting XI

Has your club manager improved your team over the summer transfer window? well lets see.

What was your teams best starting XI last season or the first XI that played the most games?

What is you best XI now after the transfer window?

Has your manager improved the team?

E.g.

Man Utd 05/06

- - - - - - - - - Van der Sar - - - - - - - - -

Neville - Ferdinand - Brown - Silvestre

Ronaldo - - O'Shea - - Giggs - - - Park

- - - - - - - - Rooney - - Ruud - - - - - - -


Man Utd 05/06

- - - - - - - - Van der Sar - - - - - - - - -

Neville - Ferdinand - Brown - Heinze

Ronaldo - Carrick - - Scholes - Giggs

- - - - - - - Rooney - - Saha - - - - - - -


Improved? Yes but good enough to win the league? i am not sure.

The first team is excellent, its just the squad depth that worries me.

05/06

- - - - - - - - - - - Reina
Finnan - Carragher - Hyypia - Riise
Gerrard - Alonso - Sissoko - Kewell
- - - - - Crouch - Cisse/Mori/Fowler

06/07

- - - - - - - - - - - Reina
Finnan - Carragher - Hyypia/Agger - Riise
Gerrard - Alonso - Sissoko - Gonzalez
- - - - - - - Kuyt - Bellamy

Improved? Yes, slighty. The major difference will be upfront obviously, but also the quality of the reserves.

We can now put Aurelio in at leftback. We have natural width in Pennant on the right. Crouch and Fowler on the bench. Zenden is a good central midfielder nowadays... and of course, Kewell is getting back to form. And, of course, there's Luis.

Instead of having 12-13 players who could play in the first team. There's now 17-18 that could fit in and we'd not drop a level in quality. Atleast not a significant drop.

Parks Lives wrote:The first team is excellent, its just the squad depth that worries me.

The centre midfield still lacks bite IMHO - on paper atleast. Do you think you'll end up playing O'Shea there against the better sides - if just to add defensive stability?

Bolton 05/06

------------------Jussi

O'Brien---N'Gotty----Haim---Gardner

--------Faye----Nolan--Speed

---Okocha------------------Stelios
----------------Davies

Bolton06/07:

---------------Jussi

O'Brien---Meité---Haim-----Gardner

-------Campo----Nolan---Speed/Faye

-Diouf/Vaz Té-------------------Stelios/Davies
-----------------Anelka


For me the defence still looks slightly shaky.

west ham 05/06

---------------hislop-----------------------

scaloni----ferdinand----gabbidon----konchesky

benayoun----mullins----reo-coker----etherington

---------------harewood------ashton

bench/other starters-walker,collins,fletcher,zamora,sheringham




west ham 06/07 (this is the team for villa) (etherington,ashton & paintsil all injured)

----------------------carroll-------------

mears----ferdinand----gabbidon----konchesky

bowyer----mascherano----reo-coker----benayoun

------------------harewood----tevez

bench: green,collins,mullins,zamora,cole

even with injuries to 3 of our starters we still have a strong enough team and a better bench. our squad has been strenghtened completely and im looking forward to the season ahead

Newcastle United 05/06

-----------------Given--------------
Carr--Bramble--Boumsong--Babayaro
Solano--Parker--Emre--N'Zogbia
----------Shearer--Ameobi-------

3 of our first teamers were out for nearly the whole season.

ROEDERS Newcastle United 06/07

---------------Given-------------
Carr--Taylor*--Moore--Bernard
Solano--Parker--Emre--Duff
---------Martins--Ameobi-------

*If Tweedle's to be believed Taylor is just lacking in fitness.

MY XI

--------------Given---------------
Ramage--Taylor--Moore--Bernard
Milner--Parker--N'Zogbia--Duff
-------Martins--Ameobi--------


Big improvments there in my opinion.

Obispo wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:The first team is excellent, its just the squad depth that worries me.

The centre midfield still lacks bite IMHO - on paper atleast. Do you think you'll end up playing O'Shea there against the better sides - if just to add defensive stability?

Thats going to be the big test I suppose. Should have a better chance to analyse them against Celtic and Arsenal and also a chance to see how Carrick and O'Shea works against Spurs.

I still fail to see how Scholes and Carrick can be worse than Scholes and Smith or Scholes and Fletcher which still had us in the top 2 before Scholes got his eye problem.

Some games he may play Scholes, Carrick and O'Shea or Fletcher as well, maybe when Giggs gets one of his hamstring pulls.

Obispo wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:The first team is excellent, its just the squad depth that worries me.

The centre midfield still lacks bite IMHO - on paper atleast. Do you think you'll end up playing O'Shea there against the better sides - if just to add defensive stability?

Yep against Better sides it will be

Neville----Rio----Brown----Heinze

-----------Carrick---O'shea-------

Ronaldo--------Rooney------Giggs

------------------Saha-------------

Arsenal 05/06

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Lauren-------Campbell---------Toure-------Cole-

--Ljungberg------Cesc----------Gilberto------Reyes---

------------------van Persie---Henry--------------------


Arsenal 06/07

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

Last seasons squad doesn't really count for much as many spent the season either on the treatment table or sufferered serious losses in form like Sol Campbell. Yesterday I was fairly depressed by our dealings this summer. But now looking at the new seassons team/squad I am a lot more optimistic. By bringing in two big players in Gallas and Baptista we have more experience and muscle, they are two excellent players too.

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

Parks Lives wrote:

Obispo wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:The first team is excellent, its just the squad depth that worries me.

The centre midfield still lacks bite IMHO - on paper atleast. Do you think you'll end up playing O'Shea there against the better sides - if just to add defensive stability?

Thats going to be the big test I suppose. Should have a better chance to analyse them against Celtic and Arsenal and also a chance to see how Carrick and O'Shea works against Spurs.

I still fail to see how Scholes and Carrick can be worse than Scholes and Smith or Scholes and Fletcher which still had us in the top 2 before Scholes got his eye problem.

Some games he may play Scholes, Carrick and O'Shea or Fletcher as well, maybe when Giggs gets one of his hamstring pulls.

You need someone in you midfield to win the ball back. Not sure how good Carrick is at doing this. When Scholes tries to win the ball back, it = yellow card. Although Giggs is not bad at tackling.

Parks Lives wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

If. So many cooks though.

Im still not sure who's going to be in our starting 11

Parks Lives wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

That reminds me of the team i did on the arsenal thread. Hey wait...

It is the team i did on the arsenal thread, copied and pasted

Parks Lives wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

Hopefully it can do - We also have the likes of Ljungberg, Hleb and Adebayor to call upon if a different option is needed. Senderos and Djourou are progressing, so things are at least coming together for us.

Batman wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:

Obispo wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:The first team is excellent, its just the squad depth that worries me.

The centre midfield still lacks bite IMHO - on paper atleast. Do you think you'll end up playing O'Shea there against the better sides - if just to add defensive stability?

Thats going to be the big test I suppose. Should have a better chance to analyse them against Celtic and Arsenal and also a chance to see how Carrick and O'Shea works against Spurs.

I still fail to see how Scholes and Carrick can be worse than Scholes and Smith or Scholes and Fletcher which still had us in the top 2 before Scholes got his eye problem.

Some games he may play Scholes, Carrick and O'Shea or Fletcher as well, maybe when Giggs gets one of his hamstring pulls.

You need someone in you midfield to win the ball back. Not sure how good Carrick is at doing this. When Scholes tries to win the ball back, it = yellow card. Although Giggs is not bad at tackling.

I agree, however it has to be tried. It looked good vs Porto.

Just the though of starting O'Shea in front of Scholes makes me want to

gallas just made arsenal a hell of a better side.

i think without him their defence would've made them have an even bigger 4th place test (though i think they've got one anyway)

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

That reminds me of the team i did on the arsenal thread. Hey wait...

It is the team i did on the arsenal thread, copied and pasted

Okay guys Crouching takes the credit for this team

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:

----------------------carroll-------------

mears----ferdinand----gabbidon----konchesky

bowyer----mascherano----reo-coker----benayoun

------------------harewood----tevez

bench: green,collins,mullins,zamora,cole

even with injuries to 3 of our starters we still have a strong enough team and a better bench. our squad has been strenghtened completely and im looking forward to the season ahead

i bet you ARE!!!...very cool ...be great to see west ham doing well...

Carrick will sit deep we will rely on Giggs and Scholes experience to track back...

against big teams though O'shea will be the one asigned to track players and win the ball with Carrick pushing on a bit trying to keep posession which we rarely have done against the other big 4 teams apart from Arsenal.

It's debatable how good O'shea actually is at this though sometimes he can just loose concentration completely and we get punished like against Benfica both goals were his fault. I would prefer Fletcher there myself as at least he has the energy and awareness/positioning even if he is weak on the ball.....

Cesc-Fab wrote:

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

That reminds me of the team i did on the arsenal thread. Hey wait...

It is the team i did on the arsenal thread, copied and pasted

Okay guys Crouching takes the credit for this team

No Hleb who cost £10m? i think RVP will get dropped

thank god we have got west ham out of the way early on ...

i really like that arsenal side.... attacking pace and skill in abundance... baptista should add a bit of much needed directness to them

Until Clichy gets back, wenger may be tempted to play Gallas at left back -not sure how well this would go down

Hoyte anf Flamini haven't looked too good there though.

Man, can't beleive we got Gallas, a real class player

Baptista is more interesting though - will he go straight in the team?

We've been after him for about two years now so I'm sure Wenger has a vision of how he'll fit in our team.

And I suspect its something like a 4-3-3

italian_hammer(DEANO!) wrote:



west ham 06/07

------------------harewood----tevez

I still can't quite belive it.

For me that is the best side we can put out, although as we know many first teams are dependant on form. Wenger over the course of the season will have a rotation plan - For example Ljungberg plays more away from home as he has good pressing qualities and suits a compressed midfield better.

One of our biggest mistakes last season was assuming that Hleb would be a £10 million player in his first season, hopefully he can show why we paid this money for him this season.

COTR wrote:thank god we have got west ham out of the way early on ...

i really like that arsenal side.... attacking pace and skill in abundance... baptista should add a bit of much needed directness to them

@ COTR-revenge finally to come at upton park me thinks

as for arsenal im disappointed as i thought they'd actually finish out of the top 4 this season, and then they suddenly pull baptista and gallas out of the hat

@ hysen- if deano wasnt injured it would be ashton and tevez which is actually a fantastic strike force

Tweedledum wrote:Man, can't beleive we got Gallas, a real class player

Toure and Gallas has the potential to be like the Campbell - Toure partnership of 03/04 - simply awesome. I am very happy in signing Gallas.

Cesc-Fab wrote:For me that is the best side we can put out, although as we know many first teams are dependant on form. Wenger over the course of the season will have a rotation plan - For example Ljungberg plays more away from home as he has good pressing qualities and suits a compressed midfield better.

One of our biggest mistakes last season was assuming that Hleb would be a £10 million player in his first season, hopefully he can show why we paid this money for him this season.

i honestly dont think so...after seeing him often for stuttgart i never understood why arsenal bought him..simply not good enough.

Batman wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

Crouching Tiger wrote:

Parks Lives wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:

-----------------------Lehmann----------------------

--Eboue-------Gallas---------Toure-------Clichy-

-----------------Gilberto-----Fagregas------------

--------Van Persie------Baptista------Rosicky---

---------------------------Henry--------------------

If they all click thats one of the best first teams in the league.

That reminds me of the team i did on the arsenal thread. Hey wait...

It is the team i did on the arsenal thread, copied and pasted

Okay guys Crouching takes the credit for this team

No Hleb who cost £10m? i think RVP will get dropped

I fear that too. Arsene and Arsenal already have shown they'll play a costly player first. They'll choose to bench the financially expendable RVP, than playing him and benching Hleb, resulting in a (severe) drop in Hleb's re-sale value.


If that happens, I want RVP out in January!!!!