Silva buoyed by Richarlison return

Richarlison has been missed, his reintroduction will give the whole team a boost.

Arsenal have got vulnerabilities as well as us, we can exploit them. Much will depend on how well we defend as I think there is a goal or two in this match for us.

You say it's a gamble to go with Mina on Sunday but it's a gamble to play Holgate again after the horror show he produced against West Ham and for me the lad is a bloody nightmare at the minute, let's players run past him at ease and against Arsenal that's one thing you do NOT want to do.

I'd go with Mina and Zouma and lay down the gauntlet to them, a true baptism of fire, you don't pay 㿀 odd million quid to protect players from games like this, if he's fit enough for that squad on Sunday he can get his ass on the pitch!

Richarlison should start in the middle with Bernard on the left, again give the fella the chance to shine and say to him “these are the venues that you need to showcase yourself”.

Playing things safe all the time with tried and tested failures gets us nowhere as we find out season after season.

It beggars belief, that we signed so many unfit players during the transfer window and yet, some posters on here at the end of the transfer window were, 'going to enjoy the moment' when we signed these players and wo betide any who would cast any negativity!

On Sunday, we will once again be reliant on the old 'tried and tested' choice of any two from the trio of Davies, Gana and Schneiderlin to be the 'engine room' of the team and yet, despite all evidence to the contrary, expect a positive result

We will still be no further on from seeing Gomes (we used to have our own deluge of long-term 'hammys' now we are importing them) or Mina and probably have only a further 'glimpse' of Bernard.

Its all well and good trying to narrow any criticism down to negativity on here but my questions are, when does positivity become delusional? When has a club ever signed so many players to 'improve' their team who are not ready to step into that team straight away?

To sum up, on another thread we have posters advocating Mina as our future captain. A player who doesn't speak English and hasn't played a game for us.

Should I despair, or am I just 'negative'?

3 centre backs - Holgate, Zouma and Mina. This provides cover for when the full backs get forward and also gives us the added height for set pieces with our lovely zonal marking. It also provides cover for any ‘rush of blood' moments like the last game from Holgate and Zouma.

2 wing backs - Kenny and Digne.

Here's where I think we should change.

3 midfielders (no number 10) - Davies, Gueye and Baines. Before I get shot down for this I think it could have a positive effect on the team in 2 ways.

Firstly - Baines is a defender, so will naturally take up defensive positions, he can also read a game fairly well. In this respect he's no worse than Schneiderlin. He won't play 30/40 yard passes, but he can ping 20 yard balls to feet and rarely loses it here. He's comfortable on the ball and is used to passing and moving - which Schneiderlin isn't. I don't see him, as a player, being any worse than Schneiderlin.

Secondly - Tom Davies has grown up an Everton fan. Now although he has played with Baines many a time, lining up with him in midfield would be like playing with the closest thing we've had to a hero in 10 years. Tom will up his game. In addition, we have a soft team - I think Baines could be the answer to this. I'm not saying Baines is a hard aggressive footballer - but he doesn't back down. With 3 big centre backs behind him and the effect I think that Baines in the centre will have on Davies and Kenny, I think we will have a core 6 players who will not back down from a skirmish and solve the soft centre we currently have.

Up front - Walcott and Richarlison. These 2 have pace and will occupy 3 Arsenal defenders all the time as they will be wary of their pace. In addition, they will naturally pull out to wider positions, giving defenders the headache of staying with them or not. When Arsenal attack it will be 8 on 7 in our favour as they won't leave Walcott and Richarlison, when we counter we have to hope that the wing backs and Davies get up to support them.

It won't be pretty, but this midfield 3 won't leave Arsenal alone and Arsenal won't be able to afford to leave our from two alone.

If it goes tits up, we can always bring on £92 million worth of talent (?) in Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson and Tosun.

Will we go for a battle or play and loose playing bad style, as is mainly the case after deadlock game crisis and eventual defeat?

So many times we have chucked it at Highbury and the Emirates.

Common Everton, do us all proud. Now is the time, no more BS, excuses, please fight, and play, win, and win away!

Now soon hopefully we will get strong. Common Everton! Now is the time.

Hope, and hope eternal..

Surely, this is the minim7m

Arsenal are always a tough ask even though they haven't been firing on all cylinders.

They have some class strikers and even if Everton's attack plays well, the defence is shaky enough to give the game away.

We can but hope Silva has cured those shakes at the back and that this game will produce something more than another poor performance

I agree playing Baines in Shneiderlin's position could be a master stroke because as you state at least he is pretty good at longer range passing and crossing. I have never been a fan of Schneiderlin because of his short sideways passing and his lack of any aggression. I fail to see what he brings to the team. I cannot believe that Silva has continued with playing both Shneiderlin and Gueye in the team. It has not worked for the last 3 managers and so let us put this partnership to bed for once and for all. While Gana is obviously limited as a footballer in terms of his skill set on the ball at least he does a great job of breaking up the opposition play and tracking players and so he gets my nod over Shneiderlin. Also I have been very disappointed with Sigurdsson this season and feel Bernard would make a much better no 10 taking on that diminutive role that Silva has for Citi. We now have some good players with speed and skill and so I am looking forward to seeing what they can do when they all get to play together. I am really excited to see how Silva will line the team up once Gomez is fit as well.

If we go to the Emirates on Sunday with 2 defensive midfielders I believe we will get killed. Let's have a go and get at them and so we need players who will run and chase every ball just like Richarlison has done in the first 3 games.

Given that Tite has recalled a lot of the WC squad that he rested for the games in the USA, that's quite a compliment to Richarlison.

Facing Arsenal could be too risky and too soon for Kenny. Go with a veteran against top teams as always.

Richarleson in for DCL is the only change I can see happening though Cenk must be looking over his shoulder.

It is worrying the amount of chances other teams are having against us. I don't think we have enough grafters in the team. We have lots of individual ability but off the ball lots of them are a liability.

I would play Baines right-back at the Emirates and play midfielders in midfield, not strikers, and also retain Tosun upfront.

Give Mina his debut if fit, the sooner he is involved, the better it is for the player. We never get anything from the top Clubs away so let's hope we at least see a performance that can be built upon.

All the more so when you remember three things:

* He hasn't been playing for his club in recent weeks due to the suspension;

* There is a lot of quality competition for his position in the Brazilian squad;

* He wasn't in the original squad that played recently in The States, only getting called up when another forward withdrew with injury.

This implies he has leap-frogged over quite a number of good players to retain his place. Tite the manager doesn't give out 'charity caps'. He obviously liked what he saw at close quarters.

We've not had a solid back four for at least 3 seasons. Last season was abysmal and there's no sign of the defence being any more resilient this season.