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Meant to include Eriksen instead of Lamela, changed it now ochbye:Lamela ineligible on yellows??
[formation=4231, Lloris, Walker, Alderwierald, Verts, Rose, Dier, Alli, Son, Dembele, Eriksen, Kane][/formation]
You can probably switch Dembele and Alli around, Alli gets everywhere.
Hope Bentaleb is back, his energy would make him a strong impact sub, he is like Alli in that respect.
West Ham will now doubt look at our vulnerability to crosses after the arse game and play Carroll in the later stages so we will need to press high to prevent crosses.
The plus side of Bentalab being back is that Poch can leave Dier and Alli at home when we go to Azerbaijan later that week and we've still got a midfield 2 of Mason and Bentalab (the 2 that most of us thought would be the 1st choice for the season)
They all offer a slightly different skill set.
Mason: passing range
Alli: energy and unpredictability
Dier: solid reliable defensive contribution
Bentaleb: beast mode like Dembele, strong, quick and energetic.
Against tough teams I would love to see Dier and Bentaleb in the middle with Alli pushed forward.
I think Ali and Bentaleb are very similar players, both box to box high energy players. Remember Bentaleb hasn't really partnered Dier for a full game yet I think.??
It's still early days for Ali, but his worst game for us was against Anderlecht where he was pushed higher up the pitch. Haven't seem enough of him to say that his performance was an off day or he didn't know the position, my gut says the latter.
Being greedy an additional Dier like defensive player would be a great addition.
But to have different options within the engine room is satisfying, looking forward to see how it unfolds.
The thing that gives me confidence right now is our ability to concede possession/territory to teams that would normally sit deep against us. You can see this happen during games, rather than push the oppo to the edge of their box and sit in the "semi-circle of doom" and have us pass sideways from touchline to touchline, we drop deep and play out from the keeper and between our defenders looking to draw teams onto us. Whilst the micro penis supporters get all twitchy with this it is working to great effect. It also means we are not often countered successfully.Personally, I'd bring Mason in for Lamela and slot Dembele on the right. Payet being out is a massive plus, it's obvious he's their best player and everything goes through him.
They will be up for this, it's their cup final but it's not going to be a walk in the park. West Ham away form against the big boys is very very good, we can't underestimate them like we did last season.
Was Harry Roberts but here we go .
SouthStand Billy is our friend ,is our friend ,is our friend .
He hates Pikeys .
and repeat .