The new season cometh closer!
The Australian foray has, I believe, brought a clear message about what the first team is likely to look like when the new season kicks off. Gerrard made it possible to assess that by selecting the team he did in the first half of the Manchester United match, a half which saw some downgrade performances compared with the players that came out for the second half.
The two teams were a bit chalk and cheese, impact-wise, and I got the feeling that we were looking at a mid-table team first half and a top-8 (potential top-6) team in the second half. One major enlightenment for me was how Bailey came on and seemed to replicate his performance last season against Everton, even to that last minute corner.
So, to be brutal, I feel that the following players from last season should be sitting on the bench in the new season: Konsa, Mings, J.Ramsey, Coutinho, Luiz, Ings. I keep McGinn in place purely because of his match commitment level and also as the new captain. I suspect Nakamba is on his way out, as also El Ghazi.
So, here's my first choice starting team (of course, not taking into account any further signings), chosen because of their match impact:
Martinez
Cash, Chambers, Carlos, Digne;
McGinn, Kamara,
Bailey, Buendia,
Archer, Watkins.
Anyhow, that's me feelings!
UTV!
