The injury news all week has concerned Kyle Walker, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe, all of whom were reportedly struggling with hamstring issues. AVB has now confirmed that Lennon at least is fit and he expects all three to be available so that would seem the justify any conspiracy theorists who thought it was all a smokescreen to avoid a meaningless international friendly.
“Most of the England boys who were carrying heavy legs have done one more recovery session,” Andre said.
“They were struggling. Lennon had a scan, but he’s okay. I think all three will be up for selection.”
AVB’s words also suggested that Emmanuel Adebayor would keep his place in the side ahead of Defoe.
“I suggest to make the most – we can use individual’s motivations and that is why we used Adebayor also in the game versus City last week. These are things that you have to count on,” he added.
“Hopefully it can have a positive effect but it can have a negative effect. Last year he scored from the penalty spot and had a good game and this is the type of revolt and motivation for matches like this.”
It all points to an unchanged side to the one that started the Manchester City game but what’s your view?
Friedel/Lloris
Walker Gallas Vertonghen Naughton
Sandro Huddlestone
Lennon Adebayor Bale
Defoe
——————–Lloris——————-
Walker—Gallas—–Caulker——-Vertonghen
———–Sandro—–Huddlestone
Lennon————————Bale——-
————Ade—————-
—————-Defoe—————–
——————–Friedel————————
Walker – Gallas- Caulker – Vertongen
——————————————————–
————–Sandro—Carroll——————-
————————Sig————————-
Lennon—————————————Bale
————————Ade————————–
Explanantion:
Friedel – safe pair of hands & experienced
Unchanged backline
Sandro is a machine – 1st on the team sheet for me. Huddlestone – I am trying to find a way to exclude him, and I still fail to see what he does. He is not a Defensive midfielder (he can’t put a tackle in), he is not a creative midfielder by any stretch of the imagination, he is not a box-to-box midfielder & does not retain the ball very well.
I choose Tom Carroll over him for this game. Against Arsenal, we need passers & players comfortable in possession.
Sig – can sit in front. He looked good against Chelsea & needs time to adjust. He has certainly looked alot brighter than Clint has.
Lennon, Bale & Ade are automatic choices for me. Defoe is a goal threat & should certainly play a part if we are chasing the game though.
If Ade is to blossom as the lone striker, he needs more support from Bale & Lennon – something he didn’t get too much at City.
Friedel
Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton
Sandro, Sigurdsson
Lennon, Adebayor, Bale
Defoe
I will choose Brad over Hugo Horton any day of the week. Also, we need Naughton back in the team, otherwise risk Vertonghen being ripped apart again. I think Sigurdsson really needs to be given a proper run out, plus Adebayor over The Invisible Yank. Apart from two tap ins, Dempsey has done absolutely nothing to deserve continually being picked.
——————–Friedel————————
Walker – Caulker – Vertongen – Naughton
——————————————————–
————–Sandro—Carroll——————-
————————Bale————————-
Lennon—————————————Sig
————————Defoe————————–
Without Bale against Chelsea Sig had a superb second half on the left after doing an awful in the VDV role in the first half. Give bale a free role and get him running at the awful arsenal centre back pairing. Gallas is a pile of s##t and should not be in the team( very slow and spreads panic through the team!!). As much as I love the hudd he just hasn’t lookd anywhere near the pace since comming back.
If AVB hasn’t been on the hotseat yet, he has to be sitting on it right now. Just look at his results so far at Chelski and then here. OMG!!!! 5-2 again. We might have dominated at the beginning, but I hate it that we still can’t score more goals. Should have been 2-0 before Ade stabbed us in the back. I don’t take too much from this, but at 10 man, we should have just defended harder.