Our best starting 11 and squad until Jan?

[General]

Hopefully we're in a decent place in Jan to add strength.

https://www.lineup-builder.co.uk/lineups/6a9752004d0754a79b574141

If we get in Affengruber, then I think we've got a decent-ish squad that should have enough to survive in the PL. Getting in Larsson and keeping Tete will be crucial.

Now we've just got to see if Larsson and Shea can give the forwards the platform and space to perform and score enough goals.

If only we'd got a first choice RCB in to play Arbeloaball, and a proper RWB and RW - I have no issue with Tete and Castagne in fairness, and think they'll do a decent enough job. But it's clear those are the positions we needed and were looking for to push on and guarantee playing Arbeloa ball.

[JimmyConway]

Hopefully we're in a decent place in Jan to add strength.

https://www.lineup-builder.co.uk/lineups/6a9752004d0754a79b574141

If we get in Affengruber, then I think we've got a decent-ish squad that should have enough to survive in the PL. Getting in Larsson and keeping Tete will be crucial.

Now we've just got to see if Larsson and Shea can give the forwards the platform and space to perform and score enough goals.

If only we'd got a first choice RCB in to play Arbeloaball, and a proper RWB and RW - I have no issue with Tete and Castagne in fairness, and think they'll do a decent enough job. But it's clear those are the positions we needed and were looking for to push on and guarantee playing Arbeloa ball.

Decent team that and one I would not be disappointed with. My problem is manager might not see Iwobi & ESR as pressing type?

[fulhamfan]

we are pinning a lot of hope on Affengruber

[alfie]

we are pinning a lot of hope on Affengruber

The call day in day out was to get in a RCB, we now have one.

[ffcthereligion]

we are pinning a lot of hope on Affengruber

The call day in day out was to get in a RCB, we now have one.

I don't think the poster was complaining he was in my view just pointing out that our hopes are very much pinned on the new CB that very few of us know anything about. If he's not up to it trouble beckons

[Whitestone]

we are pinning a lot of hope on Affengruber

The call day in day out was to get in a RCB, we now have one.

We have but he certainly wasn't our first choice. His name only came to the fore late in the window after we failed to get our main targets over the line. Now he may turn out to be exactly the player we need. Let's hope so.

[demeant0r]

https://www.lineup-builder.co.uk/lineups/6a9829f6d1f785048cb27d7a

I don't really rate Palacios given what he's shown us. I'd put Kevin or Iwobi on the left.

[General]

https://www.lineup-builder.co.uk/lineups/6a9829f6d1f785048cb27d7a

I don't really rate Palacios given what he's shown us. I'd put Kevin or Iwobi on the left.

So you can flip the team, so the striker faces the top... also, Gonzalo is on there, if you can't find a players, you should be able to find them by putting their teams name in, it then comes up with all registered first team players. Gonzalo is under Real Madrid, put is just listed as Gonzalo. Affengruber is in there too, perhaps use full name to find him.

[General]

Hopefully we're in a decent place in Jan to add strength.

https://www.lineup-builder.co.uk/lineups/6a9752004d0754a79b574141

If we get in Affengruber, then I think we've got a decent-ish squad that should have enough to survive in the PL. Getting in Larsson and keeping Tete will be crucial.

Now we've just got to see if Larsson and Shea can give the forwards the platform and space to perform and score enough goals.

If only we'd got a first choice RCB in to play Arbeloaball, and a proper RWB and RW - I have no issue with Tete and Castagne in fairness, and think they'll do a decent enough job. But it's clear those are the positions we needed and were looking for to push on and guarantee playing Arbeloa ball.

Decent team that and one I would not be disappointed with. My problem is manager might not see Iwobi & ESR as pressing type?

I think it's an interesting one.. and a fair point. I'm kinda hoping that the Larsson and Charles double pivot in CM would make that less of an issue, and have them more on the front foot.

[demeant0r]

https://www.lineup-builder.co.uk/lineups/6a9829f6d1f785048cb27d7a

I don't really rate Palacios given what he's shown us. I'd put Kevin or Iwobi on the left.

So you can flip the team, so the striker faces the top... also, Gonzalo is on there, if you can't find a players, you should be able to find them by putting their teams name in, it then comes up with all registered first team players. Gonzalo is under Real Madrid, put is just listed as Gonzalo. Affengruber is in there too, perhaps use full name to find him.

I spent several minutes looking for Gonzalo and just gave up. It's not a very intuitive UI.

[Hatch007]

I would go with:

Leno
Castagne Affengruber Bassey Sess
Charles Larsson
Iwobi King Kevin
Garcia

Subs:
Lecomte Jedi Tete Palacios ESR Angel
Bobb Muniz Zepa

Tough call between Jedi and Sess. The latter gets my vote due to his superior crossing and goal threat.

[Bronaldinho]

I think King is unstoppable right now. AA wants to build around him too.

King played that RW role in pre-season so don't be surprised if he does that again, especially as the LW/RW play more like a 10 anyway.

When everyone is settled I feel like the best 11 is probably:

              Leno
Castagne Affengruber Bassey Robbo
            Berge
        Charles Larsson
  King.            Iwobi

          Gonzalo

[Thailand Mick]

Just watch extended highlights of the Rennes vs le mans game from the weekend. I cannot for the life of me see why we would buy Ait Boudlal let alone spend the money we were offering. He is a tall lanky player that doesn't seem to know how to sprint. You can watch short highlights of the game on YouTube and he seems to be playing LCB. The first clip he gives the ball away on the  wing. His next clip jogging back towards his goal he just stops instead of trying to cut out the cross from the wing maybe thinking it would be cut back but no one was there. Then he completely loses his man on the penalty spot who scores. Then from a corner which they concede a penalty for handball he doesn't have a clue where the balls gone and is looking in the opposite direction. I know people can have bad games but he looked shocking,I see he was criticised by his manager.

[bencher]

Just watch extended highlights of the Rennes vs le mans game from the weekend. I cannot for the life of me see why we would buy Ait Boudlal let alone spend the money we were offering. He is a tall lanky player that doesn't seem to know how to sprint. You can watch short highlights of the game on YouTube and he seems to be playing LCB. The first clip he gives the ball away on the  wing. His next clip jogging back towards his goal he just stops instead of trying to cut out the cross from the wing maybe thinking it would be cut back but no one was there. Then he completely loses his man on the penalty spot who scores. Then from a corner which they concede a penalty for handball he doesn't have a clue where the balls gone and is looking in the opposite direction. I know people can have bad games but he looked shocking,I see he was criticised by his manager.

He's a young player and was probably quite affected by all of the transfer shenanigans of will he / won't he. Nwaiwu also seems to have turned into Titus Bramble after his move went south. I guess it's a real heartbreaker not to become a Cottager.

[Coast94]

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

Another option may be King on the right and start Charles in the 8. It doesn't look like AA plays with traditional 'wingers', these act more like 'inside forwards' with width coming from the fullbacks.

[JimmyConway]

Until we get the balance of the midfield right and have so many options available now I personally think this will be key to how well we can defend or how well we attack. The style Arbeloa wants looks to me the two deeper midfielders will have to have pace so we can afford someone like ESR or Palacios if they play the No10 role. If you asked me now who is under threat the most from being a regular I would probably say Berge? 

[onecupsoon]

An unpopular opinion I'm sure but I'm struggling with having more than one of King, Palacios, Angel and Bobb on the pitch at any one time; especially if the wind is blowing.  Pretty much all opponents will be physical. That probably leaves King and ESR or Sess on current form for starters.

Iwobi, Kevin and Bobb have no form.  A question is: will they play themselves into form if picked? Also I'm not impressed with Zepa unless he is running at a very tired LB in the last 10 minutes, his time may come.

I think we are fine at the back, whichever way we choose to line-up our 8 options assuming we play them in their specialist positions.

Perhaps a marginal preference for:
Leno, Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson,
Berge, Larsson, Charles, ESR, King, Garcia

I can see Affengruber taking Andersen's place at some point.

Bench would include Sess for utility, Muniz to replace or join Garcia if we are chasing the game. A wee one or two and the back-up defenders.

[Lordedmundo]

I think King is unstoppable right now. AA wants to build around him too.

King played that RW role in pre-season so don't be surprised if he does that again, especially as the LW/RW play more like a 10 anyway.

When everyone is settled I feel like the best 11 is probably:

              Leno
Castagne Affengruber Bassey Robbo
            Berge
        Charles Larsson
  King.            Iwobi

          Gonzalo

Yes - that is definitely the strongest 11 in my opinion. Specifically, we have three specialist central midfielders who I feel could dominate that area of the pitch against most teams outside of the top six and give plenty of protection and cover to the defence.

King, Gonzalo and Iwobi offer the most goal threat of any combination that we have. But we will need a lot from Bobb, Kevin and ESR off the bench. 

I think Sess is also a good wildcard option if we need more attacking/goal threat..

[General]

An unpopular opinion I'm sure but I'm struggling with having more than one of King, Palacios, Angel and Bobb on the pitch at any one time; especially if the wind is blowing.  Pretty much all opponents will be physical. That probably leaves King and ESR or Sess on current form for starters.

Iwobi, Kevin and Bobb have no form.  A question is: will they play themselves into form if picked? Also I'm not impressed with Zepa unless he is running at a very tired LB in the last 10 minutes, his time may come.

I think we are fine at the back, whichever way we choose to line-up our 8 options assuming we play them in their specialist positions.

Perhaps a marginal preference for:
Leno, Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson,
Berge, Larsson, Charles, ESR, King, Garcia

I can see Affengruber taking Andersen's place at some point.

Bench would include Sess for utility, Muniz to replace or join Garcia if we are chasing the game. A wee one or two and the back-up defenders.

Yeah, that played into my thinking too. Balance is to be had re how Arbeloa can develop them all and give them time to help them build awareness and confidence to step into the first team picture, but I downgrade King, Angel, and Palacios atm because of it and also their unknown entity when it comes to goals and end product.

Don't get me wrong, we can all see King's undoubted potential and talent, especially given he's 19, and there is a very fine balance between holding him back and using him as a squad player for cups and as a sub vs starting, but a lot of good opportunities are coming his way and he's not quite there yet with his final ball, clinical edge and decision making when in those positions.

Angel, I'm treating him as an academy prospect. Very much one on the bench/maybe starting cup games, but he's diminuitive and the least experienced in mens football out of all of our signings, so it tracks.

ESR, whilst he seems to divide opinion, has that quality and proven ability to score and compete at PL level, which given how light we are in those positions and with a genuine goalscoring threat is something we need. He looked sharp in preseason and I think he and Garcia think similarly due to their footballing education and Real and Arsenal - a lot more focused on give and goes, that makes me think they'll be better suited in the first instance. And with Larsson and Charles in midfield, I'm hoping there's a bit more dynamism from our midfield which will give a more solid base for players like ESR to shine.

I think Iwobi is more of a predictable player, and perhaps not as dynamic as Arbeloa would want, I think he slows the game down quite a bit at times, but he is technically proficient and a goal threat, why he gets the nod ahead of Bobb.

I expect under Arbeloa, that the three behind Garcia will move around that front line quite a lot, with Iwobi moving to the left and Kevin on the right, or ESR switching too.

Three CM's when we seem to be dominating games with possession, may be a bit of overkill?

[Jim©]

Seems that Palacios has been made the whipping boy after those first two Prem games.
Personally think he's been quite tidy, didn't do much wrong but didn't set the world alight either. Streets ahead (performance wise) of Iwobi and Leno thus far (add in Cuenca after his horror show v CFC).

I've no idea how Berge, Larsson, Charles (and Reed/Iwobi) will fill two spots in the side.
Then there's Angel, Palacios, Bobb, Kevin, King, ESR, Iwobi, Zepa, Sess all vying for 3 spots.
Only clear, nailed on starters I see are Castagne (deserves it, he's in great form), Bassey and Garcia.
Exciting times.