Back on the horse and all that!

After a poor performance against Liverpool I would very much like to see Scolari have the balls to bench Anelka and start with Di Santo who, although not fantastic when he was on the park, did more in that 35 minutes than Anelka has in about the alstg 360!

Hell I would be happy to see Malouda, Anelka and Kalou all dropped and Di Santo, Sinclair and Belletti start.

I would like to bring in Ivanovic at right-back, play Bosingwa further up and switch Kalou over to the left or bring in Sinclair with Di Santo in the middle. Anelka and Malouda need to be dropped, preferably from a great height but failing that from the squad.

I would like to bring in Ivanovic at right-back, play Bosingwa further up and switch Kalou over to the left or bring in Sinclair with Di Santo in the middle. Anelka and Malouda need to be dropped, preferably from a great height but failing that from the squad.

I sadly, suspect that we will see the same XI. I would like to see Anelka play up front with Di Santo but i doubt that will happen. There is no point in playing him as a lone striker anymore, it doesnt work.

As for as Kalou and Malouda , what can we do ? I dont think Sinclair is the answer but he cant be any worse than one of those pair.

Anyone know when Joe is back ?

I would like to bring in Ivanovic at right-back, play Bosingwa further up and switch Kalou over to the left or bring in Sinclair with Di Santo in the middle.

I was thinking that earlier, even bring in Paulo at right back and push Bosingwa up as a winger. Hopefully Joe will be back, play him on the other wing with Di Santo or Kalou up the top, until Drogba comes back.

I do wonder what the point of bringing Paim in on loan was if he is going to get nowhere near the first team. HOw will we see if he is worth keeping?

And what happened to Mineiro - wasn't he 'like Makalele'

We need to up our game for sure. I know we have injuries but this team is still good without there injured stars.

If they play like they did today, Hull could well win on wednesday.

I sense a lot of anger in this thread. Makes me feel good that it's not just me.

As for dropping Anelka,Malouda and Kalou, that would be a logical move but for who? Joe is still out, Sinclair has showed nothing to suggest he is an improvement over either of our current wingers and while I hope to see Di Santo given more playing time I doubt he's ready to be a starter just yet. He needs to start a few domestic Cup matches and keep coming from the bench in the league.

Even if you are not sure about Di Santo as a starter there can be no denying that it would be impossible for him to offer less that Anelka, Malouda or Kaloi (and he offered more in his 40 minutes today than the three of them conbined did)

I don't see us making a lot of changes and nor do I think we should. We have limited alternatives and there is no way that Di Santo or Sinclair are ready to start matches.

The main change I would like to see is Belletti playing right in the midfield three and Deco moving forward. If Joe is fit, and there is a suggestion he will be, then he can come in too.

That will leave us with

-----------------------Cech

Bosingwa-----Ricky-------JT------------Cole

---------------------Mikel

-------Belletti------------------Lampard

--Cole-----------------------------------Deco

------------------Anelka

Subs: Carlo, Alex, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Malouda, Kalou, Di Santo

I'd like to see Scolari encourage them to carry on passing it and doing the things that have worked well for us this season. I know Hull have done well but if we want to see the sort of football that many have been crying out for we can't just chuck it all away after one poor result.

Even if you are not sure about Di Santo as a starter there can be no denying that it would be impossible for him to offer less that Anelka, Malouda or Kaloi (and he offered more in his 40 minutes today than the three of them conbined did)

Wrong thread I know, but I didn't see anything from Di Santo to suggest that he is the answer to any of our problems. All I know is that we were worse after he (and Belletti) came on - not that I'm saying that is his fault.

We were worse but I think that had far more to do with the change of formation. I don't think he was great when he came on but what he did do was provide us with a centre forward who actually got into the box and made himself available as an option to the player in possession. I am not convinced he is ready to be a first team regular either but at the moment we are short of options and when one of them (Anelka) is doing nothing surely it makes sense to at least try the other one.

I know what you mean Loz. But Anelka's lack of influence is mostly shown up against the tougher opposition. In some of the other matches he has done OK. He is effectively acting as Drogba's place holder and hopefully we will get the main man back again soon. I just don't want to see a knee jerk reaction off the back of today's result. Mostly we have played very well this season even with all the injuries. Although we didn't play well today I have seen us beat Liverpool without really playing any better.

Back on the horse and all that!

After a poor performance against Liverpool I would very much like to see Scolari have the balls to bench Anelka and start with Di Santo who, although not fantastic when he was on the park, did more in that 35 minutes than Anelka has in about the alstg 360!

Hell I would be happy to see Malouda, Anelka and Kalou all dropped and Di Santo, Sinclair and Belletti start.

spot on ;)

I doubt we'll push Boswinga up any further, he hasn't exactly been putting in great crosses lately, so to put him into a position where he has to cross more would be foolish.

Pretty much we'll start the game with the same XI, but Id love us to change Malouda and Anelka out for Sinclair and FDS respectively.

Yeah agree with you there mac his crossing over the last couple of games has been rather poor, he's great at getting up there but we seriously need some consistency with the crosses, and they need to be low Anelka wins f*ck all in the air his hearts not in it at the moment. I doubt Scolari will drop Anelka, although I too would love to see a start from Di Santo, he looks up for it and his first touch today was quite good, looked a threat for the short time we had him up there.

I'd like to see Beletti get a start in midfield with Lamps, but I don't think Deco is as effective on the left we need him in the center.. I still think Sinclair is trying to hard to impress, when he gets a few more minutes under his belt he'll start to feel more confident, he needs a few half hour appearances not 5 minutes.

I do wonder what the point of bringing Paim in on loan was if he is going to get nowhere near the first team. HOw will we see if he is worth keeping?

He's maturing in an oak barrel

And what happened to Mineiro - wasn't he 'like Makalele'

Not fit enough apparently

we should thrash them:

cech

bossie

terry

carvalho

a.cole

mikel

deco

lampard

belletti

di santo

anelka

subs

carlo

alex

ivanovic

sinclair

kalou

malouda

paulo

I expect to see free flowing football..and thrash hull city

we always seem to play better away for some reason (possibly the unbeaten home record)

hull will be tricky they are playing well at the moment and are full of confidence

we will win but i dont think it will be comfortable

I just wish our injured players would come back.

Hull is gonna be tough, but if we can't overcome them then we are in a little trouble until we get back to full strength.

I hope Pool was just a little setback and we dont start going downhill.

Win win win win & PLAY UP POMPEY!!!!!

Hull looks like a attacking team from the highlight shows I wathced, this should give us some space to play football. I'm hoping for a few changes, need to give those non performers a kick in the backside -_- Im going for a 2:0 win, anything less than a win will make us a joke.

I would like to see one of the front three dropped and replaced by Di Santo on the assumption that J Cole is not fit to start.

Of the three I think the team would be best served by giving Malouda a rest, letting Anelka play up front on the left, where he is comfortable, and Kalou on the right. The disadvantage of that is that however bad Kalou's shooting with his right foot is, its worse with his left.

Di Santo is not up to being the starting target man, but there are few other choices and at least he will be a target.

Boswinga is doing fine, his crossing isn't perfect but some are excellent. It was just immpossible for him to get past the fullback out there on Sunday, particularly as Kalou has been coming more from the left and so needs to work on the interplay. We do miss Ballack but no point crying about that.

A good test of team spirit, I think we can win.

We played worse on Sunday not because of Di Santo but because of Belletti, he is not a central midfielder and it was a very long shot expecting much from him in that position two games in a row. He has like 1 to 2 goals a season in him. Its Lampard and Deco that have to help with the goals.

I went to see Hull at WBA on Saturday (as stated else where) a decent team, high in morale, strong and physical and a decent keeper, but talk about slow.

So pace will win this game, straight through the middle.

We have to play with 2 up front until DD returns.

--------------Cech------------

Bossy--Carvalho--Terry--A.Cole

----Belletti----Mikel---Lampard--

--------------Deco-------------

----------Kalou----Di Santo----

Carlo, Alex, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Sinclair, Malouda, Anelka.

Edited October 28, 200817 yr by coco

Hull themselves believe to be the top favourites. Delusions of grandeur, arise!

Na there it is, everyone's turning megalomaniac when they play Chelsea. Hey again.

Edited October 28, 200817 yr by Kerry