The big FA Cup reply against Manchester United is coming up but also West Ham have what is a must win game against struggling QPR in the Premier League; so what team should we put out against Manchester United? Should we go for the win to try to get through or do we concentrate on the league?
We need to make sure that we have a team that is fit enough and has enough quality to beat QPR but also give Manchester United a good game and maybe, just maybe pull off yet another cup upset against the Red Devils.
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To start off I think that we should definitely play Jussi Jaaskelainen in goal as he is by far our best goalkeeper and although the experience could be good for Spiegel, it can usually unsettle a defence having a new goalkeeper.
To the defence, now I find this fairly hard as with George McCartney, Joey O’Brien and James Collins we can’t afford any more injuries at the back and so I think that we should play a slightly weakened defensive line. Last year Guy Demel had quite a few injury problems and so I don’t believe that we should risk him by playing him against Man United. We only have two recognised centre backs and so in honesty we don’t have much of a choice and need to play James Tomkins and Winston Reid. Then there are not many players who can fill the left back slot as McCartney is injured and O’Brien the man who has been filling in of late is also injured and so we do not have many choices in this position either. Apart from Demel I think that we have to play our strongest available defence ad I would play Jordan Spence, James Tomkins, Winston Reid and Dan Potts.
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The midfield is a key aspect of the game against Manchester United as with a weaker defence than we would like they need protection against a strike force and midfield that has unlocked many defences throughout the season.
I would go with defensive minded players who sit in front of the defence and offer them help, I think that we should start Alou Diarra and Gary O’Neil, others may not agree but I think that Diarra has been improving recently and in the first leg of the cup tie he helped to keep the opposition fairly quiet and should have a chance to try to replicate that performance and O’Neill is a player who gives everything for the team every time he steps on the pitch for us and we are going to need this if we are going to keep the opposition quiet at Old Trafford.
I would have normally said to play Mohamed Diame but with him only just returning from injury I don’t think that we should risk him as he will be important for the QPR game so I would play Jack Collison as the attacking midfielder.
I feel that Kevin Nolan has looked a bit leggy recently and if we push him too hard I think that we could end up with our top goal scorer getting injured and we can’t afford that in the long run and Collison is a player with class who will work hard to prove himself to Sam Allardyce, another player who could do a great job in attacking midfield is Joe Cole but with him just coming into a team where he plays regularly I don’t think that we should risk him as he could be a key player not only against QPR but for the whole season and we can’t afford for him to get injured in the cup.
My two wingers would be Matt Taylor and Matt Jarvis as this year they have shown they are very hard working and they can both deliver good balls and if we are to overcome United at Old Trafford we need players who can create a chance out of nothing and I feel both players are capable of this. Jarvis may not have shown his full attacking capabilities yet but he has shown that he can put in a shift so I would put him in ahead of Ricardo Vaz Te who is just coming back from injury and in my eyes has showed a bit of a lack of desire lately.
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Who we play up front is possibly the toughest dilemma as if we are to beat the Red Devils then we need a striker who will work hard the whole game to help out the team and who will take a chance if they are given it.
Carlton Cole has been given a lot of chances and hasn’t done enough and despite the fact that he works hard I don’t think he deserves the call and I wouldn’t play any of the two new boys as they may not be familiarised with the rest of the team and so I don’t think we can risk them being on a different wavelength to everybody else in such a big game.
That leaves Elliott Lee, a player who hasn’t played for the first team once and it may be the FA Cup dreamer in me that is saying this but I think that we should go with him. I know that it would be a risk because if it doesn’t work out it would be a bad start to his first team career but it could be the best possible start for him and if he was to get injured we would still have a lot of options for the QPR game.
The team that I would play is, Jaakselainen, Spence, Tomkins, Reid, Potts, Diarra, O’Neill, Jarvis, Collison, Taylor and Lee.
No no no no too many young players and if we lose badly their moral will spiral downwards we need abit more in the midfield bit more pace thats y we shouldn’t gave Benayouan back to chelsea he would’ve been perfect tor this game anyway
We didn’t give Benayoun back, he was injuired and his 6 month contract expired. We might get him for free in the summer? On the Elliot Lee front, is Tombides or Hall not closer to a first team start than Lee?
Elliot Lee will crumble under the presser of playing Old Trafford im afraid. Carlton will start and hopefully with service from Taylor and Jarvis he will grab us a goal. I would have a bench of Diame, Cole, Speigal, VaZ Te, Paulista and Moncur.
Paulista is not available, i would push Tomkins RB and play Demel LB got to be better than young Potts atm
Jussi
Tomkins, Diarra, Reid, Demel
Noble
Cole, Nolan, Diame, Jarvis
Cole
Subs
Speigle, Vaz te, Spence, Potts, Taylor, Collison, Lee
Mate, Tomkins is useless at RB. Spence has shown time and time again when given the chance he is quality. Give him a chance at RB and stick Taylor LB.
Tomkins is rubbish at RB. Spence deserves his chance at last.
Jussi, Spence, Tomkins, Reid, Taylor, Collison, Diarra, Noble, J.Cole and Vaz Te and CC up top 4-4-2. Strong team but no need to risk Diame. Experimenting with 4-4-2 in the cup would be good and rest Nolan and Jarvis as they have been ineffective lately.
We have signed 2 new strikers and we are in an injury crisis yet haven’t recalled Hall or Morrison from their loans despite them being far closer to PL standard than Potts is. I don’t understand Big Sams thinking sometimes and we have just got hammered by Sunderland could have been 5 nil so playing a load of youngsters to go out and get hammered by Utd won’t do us any good, may as well go for a bit and if we get beat at least we tried to play a bit of football to win rather than football not to lose like usual. Need to start playing 4-4-2 especially with all these strikers on our books who haven’t joined to sit on the bench.
if we keep it under five with this team i will be happy.