Team for Crystal Palace

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

                                 Leno
Castagne    Andersen       Bassey      Robinson
                      Charles       Berge
            Bobb       Smith Rowe       Kevin
                                Garcia

Subs:
Lecomte
Tete
Affengruber
Larsson
King
Iwobi
Sessegnon
Palacios
Muniz

This is what I'd go with. If Larsson and Affengruber are ready to play I'd be tempted to throw them in, but I think it's probably too soon given they'll have only been in the country since yesterday. But I would at least have them on the bench.

Smith Rowe, Kevin and Charles in, Iwobi, Palacios and King out. But all three to potentially come off the bench.

[twang]

Definitely can't bench King as he's our biggest threat.

Leno
Castagne - Affengruber - Bassey - Sessegnon
Berge - Charles
Iwobi - King - Kevin
Garcia

Sess and Kevin is the only combo down the left that has proven any kind of chemistry. Charles next to Berge so that Iwobi can go back to an attacking position where he can focus on creating. Affengruber straight in, there's no point in carry on with Andersen in this system. Zepa first attacking sub if change is needed.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

Definitely can't bench King as he's our biggest threat.

Leno
Castagne - Affengruber - Bassey - Sessegnon
Berge - Charles
Iwobi - King - Kevin
Garcia

Sess and Kevin is the only combo down the left that has proven any kind of chemistry. Charles next to Berge so that Iwobi can go back to an attacking position where he can focus on creating. Affengruber straight in, there's no point in carry on with Andersen in this system. Zepa first attacking sub if change is needed.

I was torn on King but he looked outmuscled against Sunderland and Palace tend to be quite a physical team as well. Smith Rowe has a good record against them and was in good form against Wimbledon so I think he should at least play 60 minutes.

[General]

Leno
Castagne    Andersen       Bassey      Robinson
                      Charles       Berge
            Bobb       Smith Rowe       Kevin
                                Garcia

Subs:
Lecomte
Tete
Affengruber
Larsson
King
Iwobi
Sessegnon
Palacios
Muniz

This is what I'd go with. If Larsson and Affengruber are ready to play I'd be tempted to throw them in, but I think it's probably too soon given they'll have only been in the country since yesterday. But I would at least have them on the bench.

Smith Rowe, Kevin and Charles in, Iwobi, Palacios and King out. But all three to potentially come off the bench.

That for me is our strongest (though perhaps not perfect) team at the moment in terms of getting the balance right. I'd perhaps just switch Bobb for Iwobi as Iwobi carries more of a goal threat, and put Kevin on the right wing instead, with Iwobi playing on the left with Robinson as they seem to have a good understanding with one another. I know people will complain that ESR can be off the pace at times, but he carries a much more real goal threat.

Long term I'd consider switching out Berge for Larsson, and consider giving Sess a run in the side on Left Wing, just because he's one of the few players on our books who seems to have that natural instinct in front of goal, but that can be dependent on whether or not we find a better balance and goal threat without that needing to happen.

Going through this squad though, it's now apparent that we really need to figure out where the goals come from, and our priority in the next windows has to be on the wings at the least with some quality and peace of mind in the final third to find the right ball and balance showmanship with final product (relevant to Bobb and Kevin). Perhaps that also includes a RB.

But give we've got our two new CMs in on six year contracts, the aim must be to give Garcia the best platform possible to put the ball in the back of the net, because he clearly knows how to.

I'd also be curious to see how Garcia and Muniz play together and see if that could work.

[General]

Definitely can't bench King as he's our biggest threat.

Leno
Castagne - Affengruber - Bassey - Sessegnon
Berge - Charles
Iwobi - King - Kevin
Garcia

Sess and Kevin is the only combo down the left that has proven any kind of chemistry. Charles next to Berge so that Iwobi can go back to an attacking position where he can focus on creating. Affengruber straight in, there's no point in carry on with Andersen in this system. Zepa first attacking sub if change is needed.

Think that's more just a result of how we play. He should be our biggest threat, but whilst he gets in to better positions, his decision making and final ball in those positions still lacks that quality. He could be brilliant once he gets that bit figured out, but with two losses and a new manager, we need to just make sure that quality is there at the moment. Give Arbeloa time to work on it in training, develop his ability and confidence perhaps with cameos in the game and in cup matches. He's 19 still, so young and with bags of potential, which is exciting, but he's not quite there yet and we need him to be. His goal against Chelsea, whilst great to see, was a bit of a weak shot and poor gking from Sanchez, so there was a bit of luck to it.

[ffcthereligion]

             Leno

Castagne affengruber Bassey Robinson

       Charles Larsson

     Bobb   King   Iwobi

           Gonzalo

Subs: lecomte, tete, Cuenca, sess, palacios, ESR, angel, Kevin, Muniz

New signings straight in please!

No point having Andersen or Berge on the bench. They are both surplus to requirements in this squad and should be discarded for whatever we can get for them IMO. ESR is pretty close to that too for me. Would rather give Zepa a chance than waste any more time with him. He offers something different.

[Coast94]

Leno
Castagne, Affengruber, Bassey, Robinson
Berge, Charles
Bobb, King, Iwobi
Gonzalo

Lecomte, Tete, Andersen, Sessegnon, Larsson, Palacios, ESR, Kevin, Muniz

[Moltobueno]

Leno
Castagne, Affengruber, Bassey, Robinson
Berge, Charles
Bobb, King, Iwobi
Gonzalo

Lecomte, Tete, Andersen, Sessegnon, Larsson, Palacios, ESR, Kevin, Muniz

Agree with this but I'd like to see Zepa on the bench aswell

[Southcoastffc]

I'd be very surprised if AA starts Affengruber just 3 days after he joins.  Similarly, I'd be surprised if he benches Palacios, whom he very obviously rates highly.  So, I imagine Andersen will start

Leno

Castagne
Andersen
Bassey
Robinson/Sess (I can't decided who he'll plump for)

Berge
Charles

Bobb
King
Palacios

Garcia

[KentFulham]

Time to drop AR again, Sess in, he works better with Kevin, and there is much more of a goal threat that having AR on

[Chi_FFC]

Leno
Castagne    Andersen       Bassey      Robinson
                      Charles       Berge
            Bobb       Smith Rowe       Kevin
                                Garcia

Iwobi for Kevin but otherwise that's probably what I'd go with.

[Thailand Mick]

         Leno
Tim Affengruber Bassey Sess
        Charles
Bobb King Larsson kevin
        Garcia

[KentFulham]

Leno
Tim Affengruber Bassey Sess
        Charles
Bobb King Larsson kevin
        Garcia

Looks good to me, Adds much more goal threats

[Angus Telford]

Leno

Castagne affengruber Bassey Robinson

       Charles Larsson

     Bobb   King   Iwobi

           Gonzalo

Subs: lecomte, tete, Cuenca, sess, palacios, ESR, angel, Kevin, Muniz

New signings straight in please!

No point having Andersen or Berge on the bench. They are both surplus to requirements in this squad and should be discarded for whatever we can get for them IMO. ESR is pretty close to that too for me. Would rather give Zepa a chance than waste any more time with him. He offers something different.

I could agree with your starting XI but certainly not the take on Anderson, ESR or Berge.

If Silva can recycle Tim 'Zimmerframe' Ream into a solid PL defender, then AA can make a decent backup CB out of Anderson, who remains a quality CB on most metrics.

ESR is also quality and interchangeable with King based on form/fitness IMO.

Berge, again don't give a to&& about him not having some hypercomplex esoteric combination of attributes that "suit Arbeloa's style", he's a top quality CM and should either be starting or rotated with Charles and Larsson based on form and fitness week by week over the season.

[FFC007]

I'd ditch Leno for starters... has gone totally off the boil and is a liability.

[Hatch007]

So you'd start Lecomte against Palace?

[Fulham 1879]

              Leno
Castagne Andersen Bassey Robinson
          Charles Reed
        Zepa King Iwobi
              Garcia
Marginal preference for Reed over Berge. At least Reed puts it about a bit. Once Larsson gets his feet under the table then he plays instead. Toss up between Iwobi and Palacios. Just gave Iwobi the nod as the player with most assists last season.

[F(f)CUK]

If any of the new signings start it will demonstrate how naive our manager is. Particularly Affengruber has to bed in and understand the way that we play.

Would be harsh on Cuenca if he is dropped from the bench. Could only see Larsson making the bench of the 3. That could be harsh on Berge or Charles, or possibly Iwobi.

I always understood Silva's reluctance to introduce players quickly. He always said that he wanted the new players to at least know the names of the people in the team.

[WindyCity]

Definitely can't bench King as he's our biggest threat.

Agreed.  Sure, he's gonna get muscled off the ball on occasion, but he has been our best (and seemingly only) scoring threat so far in first two games.  Should be starter until he shows he can't perform at level, it's his spot to lose, at present.

[Colton F.C.]

              Leno
Castagne Andersen Bassey Robinson
          Charles Berge
        Zepa King Sessegnon
              Garcia