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21/22 Starting XI

LongtimerLurker

LongtimerLurker

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I'm sure everyone has their own image in their heads of what our ideal or best 11 will be come next campaign. Now assuming Lukaku is signed we will have an interesting conundrum with our attackers. 

Personally I like the 343/3241/3421/3412 whatever you want to call it, I suppose it varies depending on the personnel. Now the only 5 players I can realistically see starting whenever fit are Mount, Havertz, Kante, Rudiger and probably Lukaku based on the expenditure.

Rudi, Mount and Kante all have their specific role in the system Tuchel has been using and you can argue so does Jorginho who I have left out as a guaranteed starter purely for the fact he will need a rest at the start of the season and Kovacic can also interchange with him.

                             Mendy 

   James      Christensen        Rudiger

Pulisic      Kanté      Jorginho    Chillwell

              Havertz           Mount   

                          Lukaku  

My reasoning and theory: 

On paper I think this is our fittest lineup, Silva and Azpil will definitely provide much needed experience and will start often but, with age eventually catching up I think Reece and Andreas will deputise well and eventually make the positions their own.

Koundé may or may not be signed and then things may change in my own personal XI but for now that's my back line. 

Midfield pivot picks itself, Pulisic on the right I think will be a revelation him and CHO getting more game time as wing backs will be something I hope to see a lot of next season. TT likes his wing backs to run in behind alongside taking on players on the wing. These two can do this in abundance. 

Chilly B over CHO only to add some more defensive solidity and also allows the formation to sh*t to a back 4 at times with Reece and Ben as full backs. 

Mount as a forward can act as a third midfielder as can Havertz. My only issue is we lose the pace of Timo in my current line up but, again this is just my first take and things can change.

I would like to see Hakim and Timo get lots of game time but, I fear we may just be over stocked in attacking talent and one may leave. For me so many of our players are starters which is a good and a bad issue to have.

Playing with a back 4 slightly relieves this issue but, still leaves certain players wanting.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The potential back 4 lineups:

                    Mendy

James Kounde T.Silva Chilwell

                  Jorginho

            Kante       Mount

                  Havertz

            Lukaku   Werner

----------------------------------------

                           Mendy

Azpilicueta Kounde Christensen Chilwell

                   Jorginho Kovacic

   Ziyech            Mount         Pulisic

                          Lukaku

----------------------------------------

                  Mendy

James  T.Silva Rudiger  Chilwell

Ziyech  Kante Tchouameni  CHO

                    Havertz

                    Lukaku 

or          Lukaku Werner

 
LongtimerLurker said:
I'm sure everyone has their own image in their heads of what our ideal or best 11 will be come next campaign. Now assuming Lukaku is signed we will have an interesting conundrum with our attackers. 

Personally I like the 343/3241/3421/3412 whatever you want to call it, I suppose it varies depending on the personnel. Now the only 5 players I can realistically see starting whenever fit are Mount, Havertz, Kante, Rudiger and probably Lukaku based on the expenditure.

Rudi, Mount and Kante all have their specific role in the system Tuchel has been using and you can argue so does Jorginho who I have left out as a guaranteed starter purely for the fact he will need a rest at the start of the season and Kovacic can also interchange with him.

                             Mendy 

   James      Christensen        Rudiger

Pulisic      Kanté      Jorginho    Chillwell

              Havertz           Mount   

                          Lukaku  

My reasoning and theory: 

On paper I think this is our fittest lineup, Silva and Azpil will definitely provide much needed experience and will start often but, with age eventually catching up I think Reece and Andreas will deputise well and eventually make the positions their own.

Koundé may or may not be signed and then things may change in my own personal XI but for now that's my back line. 

Midfield pivot picks itself, Pulisic on the right I think will be a revelation him and CHO getting more game time as wing backs will be something I hope to see a lot of next season. TT likes his wing backs to run in behind alongside taking on players on the wing. These two can do this in abundance. 

Chilly B over CHO only to add some more defensive solidity and also allows the formation to sh*t to a back 4 at times with Reece and Ben as full backs. 

Mount as a forward can act as a third midfielder as can Havertz. My only issue is we lose the pace of Timo in my current line up but, again this is just my first take and things can change.

I would like to see Hakim and Timo get lots of game time but, I fear we may just be over stocked in attacking talent and one may leave. For me so many of our players are starters which is a good and a bad issue to have.

Playing with a back 4 slightly relieves this issue but, still leaves certain players wanting.
Click to expand...
Pulisic as a WB on his weaker foot? He will be running down blind alleys & getting hooked at half time if he is deployed as a WB

 
GK: Mendy, Kepa

RCB : Azpilicueta, James

CB: Christensen, Silva

LCB; Rudiger, Zouma

RWB: James, Azpilicueta, CHO

LWB: Chilwell, Emerson, Alonso

CM: Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic

AMR/RF: Havertz, Ziyech

AML/LF: Mount, Werner, Pulisic

Striker: Lukaku, Havertz(false9), Werner

We are overloaded with attacking talent in 3-4-3 formation. Pulisic and Ziyech should hope for a formation change, because they will struggle for gametime. In my opinion the few weaknesses in this team is the depth in central midfield, if we get a long term injury on Jorginho, Kante or Kovacic. It's the same problem we would have at LWB with a injury on Chilwell. I also think we could use a proper attacking RWB, unless CHO can make a drastic improvement, because in my opinion James and Azpilicueta are better suited for the RCB position. 

 
ducavis said:
Pulisic as a WB on his weaker foot? He will be running down blind alleys & getting hooked at half time if he is deployed as a WB
Click to expand...
How is he on his weaker foot, if he's on the right side that means he recieves the ball on his right foot and he plays like a traditional winger, where he looks to pass and cross the ball. If you were talking g about purely cutting inside on to his dominant foot then perhaps I could understand.

But, let's not pretend this young man doesn't have an amazing weak foot. The guy is comfortable with both feet so I'm not really sure what you mean here?

 
Any chance an admin could update the title, I don't know how I've managed managed put last season  😂😂

 
I think we will start off with the back 3 formation.

Like others have mentioned the only area where we look light is in the midfield.

with kounde potentially joining this is the team I expect to be the first 11 depending on form/injuries 

mendy 

azbi silva rudiger 

james kante jorginho chillwell 

Mount 

havertz lukaku 

subs: kepa, kounde, pulisic,Werner, kovacic,alonso,ziyech 

 
LongtimerLurker said:
How is he on his weaker foot, if he's on the right side that means he recieves the ball on his right foot and he plays like a traditional winger, where he looks to pass and cross the ball. If you were talking g about purely cutting inside on to his dominant foot then perhaps I could understand.

But, let's not pretend this young man doesn't have an amazing weak foot. The guy is comfortable with both feet so I'm not really sure what you mean here?
Click to expand...
Did you watch him on the right last season? He looked bang average, only looked better when he played on the left. I don’t think the 3-4-3 suits him, but that is another issue.

 
ducavis said:
Did you watch him on the right last season? He looked bang average, only looked better when he played on the left. I don’t think the 3-4-3 suits him, but that is another issue.
Click to expand...
He and his father have admitted one area he can improve on is his pressing and work rate off the ball. Tuchel has said that experimenting with him there during pre season could be a one of or for some of us a more realistic way of getting him more regular minutes.

The more adaptable the players the more play time they will get. Reece for example shouldn't worry too much since he can play in 2 different positions (cb and rwb). Now assuming we keep the 3atb I would agree with you that Christian looks better in the front 2 or 3.

However, there is nothing to say he can't improve in pre season and adapt to the new role Tuchel may see more fitting for him. With the way TT likes his wing backs to play CHO and Pulisic are arguably tailor made for that style. Direct running at players, running behind and a goal threat from the wing that isn't our predominant strikers.

 
comtrend said:
GK: Mendy, Kepa

RCB : Azpilicueta, James

CB: Christensen, Silva

LCB; Rudiger, Zouma

RWB: James, Azpilicueta, CHO

LWB: Chilwell, Emerson, Alonso

CM: Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic

AMR/RF: Havertz, Ziyech

AML/LF: Mount, Werner, Pulisic

Striker: Lukaku, Havertz(false9), Werner

We are overloaded with attacking talent in 3-4-3 formation. Pulisic and Ziyech should hope for a formation change, because they will struggle for gametime. In my opinion the few weaknesses in this team is the depth in central midfield, if we get a long term injury on Jorginho, Kante or Kovacic. It's the same problem we would have at LWB with a injury on Chilwell. I also think we could use a proper attacking RWB, unless CHO can make a drastic improvement, because in my opinion James and Azpilicueta are better suited for the RCB position. 
Click to expand...
I tend to agree with this side, but would add the following.  CHO would also be utliized in RF, or preferably LF, providing he consistently shows end product.  Also, the core of that team should remain largely consistent week to week, with perhaps 3 changes game to game.  Not the same three, but opposition dependent.  Silva and defenders rotate, Kova, Jorginho and Kante split playing time 33% each (maybe more Kante), and same upfront.  We have to effectively rotate without disrupting rhythm of team - too many games, and used to our advantage, the tough games against so called lesser sides will have a more rested team to face.

 
The 4231 that was trialed early last season but, failed due to injuries would be an interesting one. Really have no idea which way Thomas will go.

Wednesday will be a good indication of how he plans to set us up this season. Again he's known as a manager that likes to tinker and we cant read too much into it one way or the other.

If he were to start with a back 4 for example that would definitely be a curveball for Emery I would assume.

I think TT will have 2 maybe 3 formations in his head that he would like to alternate between for this season.

I thought that was how Frank was going to succeed with us by switching between 433, 4231 and 343. Sadly nearer to the end of his tenure he remained rigid and it was one of the reasons that ultimately cost him his job.

With how flexible this squad is we could see any formation really. As far as Wednesday I will expect 343 for the super cup.

The biggest question for me is does he start James and or Ben since they had longer seasons and lest pre season time. However, they rarely featured in the Euros. Should be intriguing, I expect Jorginho gets a break and Kova and Kante are the pivot. Back 3 I think will be Azpil, Rudi and either Silva or Andreas.

If CHO and Pulisic don't start at wb I don't think they will play up top. I envision Ziyech and Werner either side of Havertz. Even if Lukaku gets signed in time to feature in the squad, I suspect he will be on the bench

 
Fabulous squad we have now ...  we can genuinely put out two teams that could win the league ...

image.png   image.png

Puts in perspective the challenge that Anjorin, Ampadu and Emerson have to get any playing time !

 
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