“gjh ¿ I like Zayette, but as a midfielder. To be fair he has done a great stopgap role at CB, but MF is where his pace and head is. So what shape do you play to accommodate him? I prefer 4-4-2 but fully realise that 4-5-1 is sometimes the way, we need to look at what we have and try to make a silk purse ¿ not easy. Phil (Hull) would like to see Marney given a crack at RB, I have my doubts but I can see his logic. I would like to see KZ given a run, either on a wing or, if all else fails, then turn him into a striker ¿ the finish on that goal he scored was instinctive and sublime! Strange things happen in football and boy do we need strange right now! We have tried common sense and predictable, we have tried PB Puzzlers, now we need to try and get a bit of shape from round pegs in square holes! All a bit daft really, because what we need more than anything is for our players to play at the top of their potential.”

“Watched Lyon put on a great display of defending last night away to a rampant Real Madrid,who have been scoring for fun this season.They used a 4-1-4-1 set up and after the initial onslaught and Ronaldo,s early goal,they gradually reduced Madrid to a team devoid of all ideas how to break them down.Every time Ronaldo broke wide,he faced three defenders and when they tried to come through the middle,it was like the m62 in rush hour.Systems like this can be made to work and bring away results,but only if your defence knows how to defend properly and thats our big weakness.We only have to win the mini league against teams of our own ability levels to stay up,but even these sides have the players who will capitalise on bad defending.”

“Some interesting posts today.
Alan, Washington; No KZ?? Think he has some pace & sticks a foot in. Holding mf for me. Think KK deserves a chance at lcb as on sat he got pulled into the middle by lack of mf cover. Athough his left side trips did us no favours , this shouldn't happen at cb.
Ric; Singling out 3 players - one of whom didn't even play last week - doesn't help the logic of your argument. Most of the team could be pilloried after Everton, especially the keeper (so-called!)”

“I agree with KK at LCB, but Dawson back at LB fills me with dread. Leadership is paramount to any team and KK can offer that in Gardner¿s absence. Midfield was led by Bullard in November, but I thought Olofinjana teamed up with him real well and was under-rated by many on here. Olofinjana was a threat going forward and, for me, must be included with Bullard. Against Arsenal I think we just need to play 4-4-2:

BM
SM, SM, KK, AD (reluctantly!)
CG, SO, JB, SH
AV0H, JA

We need pace and the ability to attack as it is the only way to unsettle Arsenal, parking the coach just won¿t work!
Give it a crack, but don¿t expect wonders!”

“Bloody hell-well thats cheered me up,nice to have such optimism as always.”