Great post
@Todd. Valencia on the wing and Basian fecking off is definitely the way forward.
LVG should also drop De Gea and go back to Romero.
FFS
Okay, since apparently nobody is capable of thinking outside the box I guess now I have to explain myself.
1. Anyone who can't see that Blind is not cut out to be a CB is just delusional. He has been at fault for many of the goals we've given up, including the one on Wednesday. Citing our good defensive record as proof that Blind is a good CB is just dumb...has anyone not considered the fact that we haven't given up many goals because most of the teams we've had to play so far have been shit?
2. Nobody seemed to notice that I still wanted Blind on the field, at LB. Anyone consider why this is? Obviously not. With Alexis probably lining up on the left for Arsenal we want our best wide defender, i.e. Darmian, at RB...so who are you gonna put at LB? Young? He's not a proper defender. Everyone seems to forget that the only reason we're having to even think about things like this is because Shaw got his leg snapped in half. We're just trying to do the best with what we have in the back line, and given that Darmian needs to be on the right for this match (at least I hope LVG can see that), our best bet would be to put Blind at LB, where he did well last season at times, and bring in Rojo or Jones to play alongside Smalling.
3. Yes, Bastian is our best midfield option, but he played a hard match mid-week, and LVG doesn't seem to want to overplay him. Also consider our EPL record with Carrick in the starting eleven and the fact that most of the Caf has been screaming for Herrera to get a match and he played well against Arsenal last season? If we can grab a lead I'd love to see Schweiny come on at the hour mark and boss the midfield, but recent history and results have shown that Carrick from the start is a recipe for success for us.
4. Nobody seemed to notice that I still want Mata on the field, where he should've been playing all along for us, in the hole. He has been a creative and dangerous player for us so far, everyone is right about that, but haven't any of you noticed that he seems to do the most damage when he drifts to the middle anyway? I'd like someone to explain to me the benefit of Mata playing out wide rather than playing in a central attacking position? His crosses haven't been all that great from out wide and he certainly can't beat a man down the line...with Darmian (or whichever player is at RB) likely having his hands tied with Alexis I'd like to see a player that can use the touchline going forward to keep the game open.
5. Bringing Mata into the middle would also solve the uncomfortable problem we have now with Rooney having become rather useless. He's drifting too far back consistently, he hasn't really created any chances for Martial or for himself and with Martial consistently looking dangerous up front I don't think we can drop him and put Rooney in a 9, so I feel that Mata would give us more at the 10 than Rooney is.
Now you can all attack me some more.
