**********Guaita********

Clyne**Andersen**Guehi**Schlupp

**Gallagher**Hughes**Eze*******

****Olise***Edouard***Wilf*****

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

That's a waste of Eze, in my opinion. And harsh on Macca who's been a legend for us and started the season immensely. How can you possibly put Hughes in there ahead of him without seeing a minute of him playing.

This is precisely my preferred XI and system too.

Although I am swayed a bit by sprites point about Hughes v McArthur, I disagree with him when he argues that Eze is wasted as one of the midfield three. The opposite is true in my opinion, he's wasted on the wing, and developed noticeably when playing in midfield at the end of last season.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (01 Sep 2021 10.11pm)

Sorry, you misunderstood me. Definitely not a winger, but I want him number 10 not on the left of midfield.

————— Guaita. —————-

Clyne - Tompkins - Gueye - Mitchell
———— McArthur ———-
Gallagher - Schlupp
Eze ————————- Wilf
—————- Benteke —————

I’ll reserve judgement on Eduard and Olise until they’ve played in the prem but both excite me. Hughes looks to be a good signing but I’m a big fan of Jeff and directness from midfield. I like Andersen too but feel that when Tompkins is fit he’s out best CB. Got to say the squad looks strong with lots of options. Once the team click, we could be a real handful.

Edited by Goal Machine (01 Sep 2021 10.56pm)

I'd usually agree, and in fact I often make a similar point to those who suggest various youth players be selected for the first team, or making optimistic predictions about Fergusons ability.

In this instance I confess to picking my best XI based partly on what I hope Hughes, Olise and Edouard will do for us, but I've also considered what they did for their former teams, the hit and miss performances of the players they would replace (Ayew and benteke in particular), the better tactical fit my XI seems to have over the current XI, and finally, the younger average age (and therfore potential for growth and longevity) my XI offers.