Sandro a doubt for Hajduk visit

Give Rooney and Scneiderlin a rest before Monday and just go balls out for goals.

I also wonder if we should be giving Niasse a chance - we're obviously not going to shift him easily, especially if he's not playing and he could surely be a different option from the bench whilst we're searching for strikers

Pickford
Kenny Williams Keane Baines
Gana Davies
Lookman Klaassen Mirallas
Calvert-Lewin

Rooney to come off bench if necessary!

I could have possibly understood no coverage of that one, because I think most people have heard of Hajduk, if only for the wrong reasons, but nevertheless a higher profile than Rozumberok.

I know we are not media darlings, but with the player's we have signed, and hopefully Siggy paraded in front of the fans, there would have been genuine interest.

Baffling!

If Sandro doesn't make it then I would like Koeman to give Lookman some decent game time in as I think the lad has genuine class about him and is very quick to boot which would not make the team look so slow getting the ball up through or over the top for him to chase onto. Genuine pace with technical ability scares the s**t out of defenders!

As for Sandro, just one game into the season and already the injuries starting. Players loaned out that shouldn't have been and replacing last seasons goal machine with .

Still at least the Bramley Moore Dock update will be on 1st September.

I assume the deadline for Europa registration is long past and Sigurdsson won't be eligible tomorrow.

You say he should be given a decent run out well I think 23 and 35 league games in 2 seasons for a paltry 8 goals to me suggests that he has been given plenty of chances. And the stats show his goal return is very poor. Playing someone with such a poor goals return is the reason why for the past 2 seasons our goal returns from everybody other than Lukaku has been diabolical. And unless we remedy this quickly our chances of challenging breaking into the top 6 are slim.

Calvert-Lewin
Rooney, Klaassen, Schneiderlin, Gana, Davies
Baines, Keane, Jagielka, Martina
Pickford

Subs: Mirallas, Williams, Lookman, Kenny.

If DCL does play up top which looks the better fit for him given the 2nd half against Stoke and grabbing the only goal against Ruzomberok at their place then the better fit to replace Sandro would be in my opinion is Lookman.

Two reasons for this firstly as Brian @ 19 has pointed out that Mirallas has had plenty of game time over the past two seasons with a poor goal return. Secondly Lookman played plenty of minutes with DCL in the U20 World Cup so their understanding of each others natural game is going to be much better which would benefit the team more.

I hope I am eating humble pie tomorrow when I tune in to hopefully watch the game to see Koeman is going for broke but I just think the natural defender in him will be to play it safe and go for KITAP1 ALA Dreary Dave...

I agree, and I'm hoping there's something going on in the background that we aren't yet aware of; surely there is? We're massively short of firepower and it will really start to show fast as we get into the season.

I don't think koeman will go down this route, I'd also like to see Niasse on the bench, we need goal scorers he's surely worth a crack, again this is unlikely. We desperately need different variations instead of signing players who play the no.10 role. There's a lot of games to play so other players need to be given opportunities.

DCL may become a star but he's very raw currently. Rooney is not a frontline striker as I see it.

Who, nobody knows. And I agree with others we should have enough firepower (just) to handle this first leg.

Stek, Williams, Holgate, Kenny, Besic, Klaassen, Lookman

Sigurdsson in
Blind in
Dolberg in

Instead, we dump him out on the wing, start him from the bench, or hook him off before anyone else after 60 minutes.

As we remain without a main striker, and have Sandro doubtful, why not play Calvert-Lewin up top (not on the wing again Koeman, for god's sake...), with Mirallas, and the the default setting of Klaassen, Rooney, Gueye and Schneiderlin across the midfield?

Mirallas is not a winger, and neither is DCL, so play them in their proper positions and give the Hajduk defenders something to think about and get some much-needed movement up front.

After the pain of earlier pre-season friendlies, the broadcast on Facebook of the Sevilla game was excellent. I think a move to just using existing platforms, rather than trying to put together their own video platform on the website, is a much better approach.

Koeman's 11 in a 4-5-1:
Pickford (GK)
Martina (RB/CB/LB)
Keane (RCB)
Jags (LCB)
Baines (LB)
Schneiderlin (DM)
Gueye (DM)
DCL (RM)
Mirallas/Sandro (LM)
Klaassen (ACM)
Rooney (CF)

Bench:
Stek (GK)
Holgate (RB/CB)
Besic (MF)/Mirallas (LCF)
Davies (MF)
Lookman (LW/RW/ST)

The 11 I'd go for as a interchangable 4-4-2 or 4-3-3:
Pickford (GK)
Kenny (RB)
Keane (RCB)
Jags (LCB)
Baines (LB)
Gueye (DM)
Davies (RM)
Klaassen (LM)
Rooney (ACM/ST)
DCL (RCF)
Sandro/Lookman (LCF)

Bench:
Stek (GK)
Holgate (CB)
Martina (RB/CB/LB)
Besic (MF)
Lookman/Mirallas (ACM/LCF)

No room in my squad for Schneiderlin ATM as I think he is so out of form, looks lethargic with virtually no forward pass being played by him in any of the games I've seen him play slowing play down that goes through him. Besic gets picked in Schnieds place as he brings more energy, better in the air and more creativity going forward and can cover a number of positions.

Instead , in front of those two it will be the usual alternates of Rooney, Mirallas, Calvert-Lewin, Sandro, Davies with a bit of Lookman thrown in. I think Klaassen will be the odd man out once Sigurdsson is match fit.

Not a great fan of the comp. I admit, because if were not careful we will find ourselves falling between two stools.
It will impinge on our League performances if we pick our top players for both Europa and the League.

Depends where you personally rate them, but its London to an onion that we wont do brilliant in both!

Can anyone say they've actually seen Besic with a run of games under his belt for us? No is the answer to that being as he has been seriously unlucky with some serious long term injuries.

Schneiderlin is currently bang out of form so why not try Besic in his place and give him a chance to prove whether he has a future, if he doesn't play well in the next few games get shot in this transfer window.

Let Schneiderlin earn his place back by working harder and finding some form.

Another reason and dynamic is that Besic being Serbian would be extra keen to get one over the Croatians which should not be underestimated.

Mike @ 39 Besic has played CB for a number of teams in the past so must despite his height have a good spring in his step much like Timmy Cahill did despite only being a similar height.

As for Schneiderlin "working harder"... against Stoke he had the best all-round defensive performance of any midfielder in the Prem, with five tackles, six interceptions and eight recoveries. Certainly a bit out of form right now, but there's no lack of industry.

You might be right, but I would prefer to see him get a run in the side, before I could give such a view. I'm not sure if this will ever happen, but for me at least, I do see some things in Besic, that I like to see in a football player.

Onto Schniederlin, who looks like he's playing in 2nd gear? I like him, the starting positions that he takes up show real intelligence, and I love the way he creeps up on his opponents blind-side to easily disposses them, but he does seem very laboured when he's in possession of the football at the minute?

Mike, I promised you a present when you arrived in England, don't curse me I haven't forgot, and as soon as I bump into this Everton legend, your surprise will be on its way. Honest, I've got 3 year old twins, and they run me into the ground, bear with me mate! And give Mohamed a chance!!!

From what I've seen of Schneiderlin this season he generally patrols an area 5-10 yards in front of the defenders, rarely goes over the halfway line and mops up with interceptions or tackles usually from all the running around and pressing from either Gueye or Davies but hasn't showed any endeavor going forward.

Whose to say Besic could not do exactly what Morgan is doing ATM without being given the chance to prove himself. Morgan to date has been all slow sideways or backwards passes, putting other players under pressure by playing the safe ball,hence the very slow
and ponderous play. Besic distribution from what I have seen in the games he has played is generally him trying to be positive so why not see what he can do in the current team (not judging how he played in the Martinez systems) before passing judgement.

The lad is 24 has over 3 years on his current contract so all I am saying is let's see what he could bring to the current team instead of judging his previous displays under a totally different manager and system. He was after all trying to play as a defensive midfielder under Martinez where he was always generally chasing back or shadows which is where his "proclivity" to slide into challenges has happened.

If Besic doesn't cut the mustard when given a fair crack to show what he can bring to the team he's surplus to requirements and be sent on loan or sold and I'll happily admit I was wrong about him.

(sarcasm)

Tony #49, a man with three-year-old twins has absolutely no apologies to make. I'll be honoured by any gift you're kind enough to bestow, and if it has to wait until your kids are off to university, that's fine with me.

I'm fine with benching Schnei until his passing game returns... Davies can start in his place, or drop Klaassen back and start Lookman outside. If healthy, Macca would be vastly preferred. But I have no use for Besic. His very first touch as a Blue cost me a $20 bet, and I've seen nothing from him since to change my mind. Maybe if he'd been involved in just one goal... nah.

Besic isn't Serbian he is Bosnian. I'm sure if he's political he might be riled up to play Serbia rather than their Croatian foes. Plus he was actually born in Germany so he may not give a crap about Balkan politics anyway.

My statement about Schneiderlin is based on my observations of him playing in the last three competitive games this season, your comments are based on his stats from one game which are not the whole story on a players performance to date.

Shneids slowed the game down when in possession so much on Saturday and played many poor sidewards or backwards passes to team mates putting them under pressure to the point where they either got tackled or passes from them got intercepted against Stoke he was forced to go and try and win the ball back enhancing his stats when he did, that doesn't mean he performed well.

Hope you win your $20 back...

When it comes to football being as tribal as it is and they certainly love their footie with a passion in the Balkans playing against neighboring nationalities teams can sometimes bring something extra out of players, not always for the best granted but sometimes it can bring something special.