Plymouth Gooner wrote:A squad capable of competing on all four fronts, a squad capable of competing with the likes of Barca and Real, a squad where nobody is guaranteed a starting place. I put players in positions for the sake of showing how strong the squad would be but none of the players bar the keeper and Van Persie would be guaranteed ther place. Forget who deserves a starting spot, whose development it might effect, who shouldn't be dropped, this would be a squad, there wouldn't be a BEST XI. There are so many combinations of starting XIs that the team would change every week.
Szczesny
Fabianski
Sagna--Koscielny--Vermaelen--Gibbs
(Koscielny)--Mertesacker--VERTONGHEN--Santos
Song--M'VILA
(Wilshere)--Arteta
PRINCE-BOETANG
(Wilshere)/Chamberlain
Wilshere------------------PODOLSKI
Walcott-----------------------Gervinho
Van Persie
(Podolski)
Squad players: (all but Park would be given the option of going out on loan):
Jenkinson, Bartley, Miquel, Coquelin, Frimpong, Ramsey, Lansbury, Miyaichi, Park
None of the CBs would be guaranteed a starting place and they'd be rotated. The same goes for Gibbs and Santos. If Sagna was unavailable then Koscielny would be used as cover. Against lesser teams we don't need to DMs so either Arteta or Wilshere would come in. I put Wilshere on the right, a position he has regularly played in the youth team and reserves, because he is simply a better player than Walcott and Gervinho IMO. In reality he'd rotate with the midfield taking the DM spot against lesser teams or take Boetang's place with Chamberlain, Walcott or Gervinho playing on the right. Up front, I'd use Podolski to cover RVP as we'd have plenty of cover on the wings.
The best bit for me would be having such a physical midfield again, we'd be back to the Petit/Vieira days!!!
Even Real Madrid and Barcelona do not chop and change their
core unless there are injuries, form issues or when the players need to be rested. Its nice to rotate the first eleven once in a while to keep the players fresh but chopping and changing unnecessarily for the heck off it will be prove to be detrimental. The core of your team should not change as long as they are fit and fresh. Healthy competition for spots is fine but if there is too much chopping and changing, nervousness wil creep in to the players which may not allow them to perform to the best of their ability. There is a rumor that Fabianski will leave on loan next season so we need to resolve our GK situation too. now coming to the individual issues
1] GK situation still far from being resolved. Szczesny hasn't done enough this season to make the No 1 shirt his won this season. Rumor is that Fabianski will leave on loan, Almunia will leave. Wenger needs to sort it out asap.
2] Wilshere is not a WF ffs. He is a CM/AM . Playing him on the flanks is a royal waste of his talent plus we will not be able to get the best out of him.
3] LB situation too looks dicey with Santos is an utter liability while defending, lazy as hell to track back. We need an out and out LB like Baines imo.
4] RB situation, no back-up to sagna but i am not too fussed as we have players who can cover him. Jenkinson should be sent on loan or be made third choice.
5] We need a CAM , i am not too sure of Boateng and its highly unlikely he would be here anyways. The source of the rumor is too dodgy.
6] M'vila would be great to have but should come along with and not instead of a CAM.
Our first priority should be to get a quality CAM.7] Vertonghen i am not sure,, if we need him cos he is mainly a CB who can play LB. i woul have loved to have him if it was the other way around. We have Djourou who has had an extension and he is competent as a 4th choice CB.