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What would you do? Keeping in mind we're away to Aston Villa on the Saturday, Dzeko not available.

Put out a full strength side and we're on a hiding to nothing, as even with a convincing win legs will be tired for the crucial away game on sat.
Mancini will probably want to rotate, fully expecting his team to do enough to win
Richards to play if fit, SWP if his loan deal hasn't been sorted. Tevez and Yaya I can see starting this game, bearing in mind that Silva and Dzeko should be firing on all cylinders by saturday.

Hart
Boateng - Kompany - Lescott - Zabba
Vieira - Milner
Johnson - Yaya - Jo
Tevez

Hart

Richards
Boyata
Lescott
Boateng

Milner
de Jong
Vieira
Johnson

Silva

Adebayor

Get Silva and de Jong off as soon as/if we take a 2 or more goal lead. Ade and Silva linked up brilliantly against Poznan a few months ago so if he's still here, play him.

Play the second string, including Given, with stars on The bench.

dazby wrote:Play the second string, including Given, with stars on The bench.

Whatever team we put out, it MUST be one that we are certain can take us through to the next round. Even considering that CL qualification is our main priority and our title challenge a reality, We should not allow ourselves to be ousted from a competition where winning so few games could give us our 1st trophy and act as a catalyst for more.

I would play whatever stars considered necessary and tell them to go and win the game as quickly as possible. Then with a win safe, bring on the 2nd string to complete the job and rest the stars.

First things first, we need a defence that can defend set-pieces properly, as that was Leicester's threat in the first game. Don't defend set-pieces and you're going out. So you need Lescott and Kompany at the back, with Richards and Kolarov alongside them for extra height. Yaya Toure's height will also be useful in the mix and Barry should be able to help out. But for fux sake, Bob, one of them at least has got to ATTACK THE BALL COMING INTO THE BOX. I'd nominate Richards for that.

Right, you now need to play some football to win the match, so I'd have Johnson, Tevez and Silva all in the team with Milner playing centrally where he appears to be at his most effective. Hart in goal as Given only has one tiny relative weakness and that is crosses. Have Barry and de Jong keeping the middle solid and you're there.

---------------------Hart
Richards - Kompany - Lescott - Kolarov
---------------Barry - de Jong
--Johnson---------Milner----------Silva
--------------------Tevez

Bench: Jo, Adebayor, SWP, Boyata, Given, Zaba, Old Pat

I don't think we need to put out our strongest 11. But I probably would ensure we have a strong back 4 to deal with Leicester's aerial threat.

Start Johnson again as he won't start against Villa and put Milner in centre-mid as that's his strongest position, with Vieira too - he'll be fine in this game. I'd probably start Silva and perhaps take him off at half-time to get his match fitness up before the weekend and possibly do the same with Dzeko too.

Mancini's business is becoming clear--he wants a squad that is big enough and good enough to allow him to rest players, cope with injuries, and still win all before him. You can sense his iron will--our Prince Machiavelli, and I am loving every minute of this. His team choices sometimes look eccentric, but they are in fact giving so-called "second string players" an opportunity to present their credentials.

Tokyo Blue wrote:First things first, we need a defence that can defend set-pieces properly, as that was Leicester's threat in the first game. Don't defend set-pieces and you're going out. So you need Lescott and Kompany at the back, with Richards and Kolarov alongside them for extra height. Yaya Toure's height will also be useful in the mix and Barry should be able to help out. But for fux sake, Bob, one of them at least has got to ATTACK THE BALL COMING INTO THE BOX. I'd nominate Richards for that.

Right, you now need to play some football to win the match, so I'd have Johnson, Tevez and Silva all in the team with Milner playing centrally where he appears to be at his most effective. Hart in goal as Given only has one tiny relative weakness and that is crosses. Have Barry and de Jong keeping the middle solid and you're there.

---------------------Hart
Richards - Kompany - Lescott - Kolarov
---------------Barry - de Jong
--Johnson---------Milner----------Silva
--------------------Tevez

Bench: Jo, Adebayor, SWP, Boyata, Given, Zaba, Old Pat

You mention Yaya but the seem to have left him out altogether. Oversight?

Best team available and that does NOT include Jo or SWP. I assume Kolo needs treatmenr, so:

Hart

A right back, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov,

AJ/Milner, Yaya, DeJong, Barry, Silva

Tevez

aaron bond wrote:I don't think we need to put out our strongest 11. But I probably would ensure we have a strong back 4 to deal with Leicester's aerial threat.

Start Johnson again as he won't start against Villa and put Milner in centre-mid as that's his strongest position, with Vieira too - he'll be fine in this game. I'd probably start Silva and perhaps take him off at half-time to get his match fitness up before the weekend and possibly do the same with Dzeko too.

Dzeko is not eligable

john@staustell wrote:Best team available and that does NOT include Jo or SWP. I assume Kolo needs treatmenr, so:

Hart

A right back, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov,

AJ/Milner, Yaya, DeJong, Barry, Silva

Tevez

Spot on that for me - lets get 3 ahead using our best squad then make changes - this is a potential bannana skin

mcfc1632 wrote:

john@staustell wrote:Best team available and that does NOT include Jo or SWP. I assume Kolo needs treatmenr, so:

Hart

A right back, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov,

AJ/Milner, Yaya, DeJong, Barry, Silva

Tevez

Spot on that for me - lets get 3 ahead using our best squad then make changes - this is a potential bannana skin

Where have you been you miserable bastard? Rest of these numpty's are amateur hour for a good handbag fight.

Poor Jerome isn't exactly in favour is he?

I can see him playing in this one either at right back or centre half.

Apparently the Yak is eligible. Not sure why but that worries me...

13021J wrote:Apparently the Yak is eligible. Not sure why but that worries me...

Didn't that transfer go through after the first leg? If so, he can't be eligible, just like Dzeko. This is effectively still the first game from a squad perspective.

We've got a lot of games to come and some may prove to be more important than others, but we're fairly secure in the top 4, haven;t got Europa commitments for a while, so we need to be serious about this competition. A large proportion of fans weren't alive when we won it last and many won't have been when we reached the final, so it'd be nice for them (me) to actually do something. Additionally, we need to increase the global fan base for revenue. The Champs League is the best way to do that, but since we're not in it, I suspect the FA Cup final stil has come kudos across the world, probably more than it does here and certainly more than the Europa.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Poor Jerome isn't exactly in favour is he?

I can see him playing in this one either at right back or centre half.

I shudder when I see him lining up to defend an inswinging corner into the box. He just stands in the same spot, doesn't track the flight of the ball or even track runners coming in front or behind him. He just stays planted to the same spot or moves after the horse has bolted. Scary stuff.