The Mail Bag
You thought 6-1 was bad!
Comments (17)
Just been doing some research in regards to the AFCON (running from the 10th to 31th in January) and our relevant fixtures.
Firstly assuming they are fit and available to play, the following players will be representing their respective countries; Yobo, Pienaar, Yak and quite possibly Anichebe. The first group matches take place on the 10th and, assuming the players are already in Africa preparing, that means we will be with out all four players for the return fixture against Arsenal!... (Visions of Hibbert at CB.... Jo falling over whilst warming up... Coleman shaking in a corner with flashbacks of Benfica...)
Hang on, it won't be that bad, as long as we have no more serious injuries (I hope!). Given the news of prolonged injury spells for Jags and Arteta the most likely line up will be;
Howard
Neville Neill Distin Baines
Cahill Rodwell Heitinga Bily
Saha Fellaini
Subs: Jo Hibbert Gosling Osman
Mix and match however you like depending on injuries and form... An OK team.
We will continue to be without those four players for the home game against Man City (16th) and, given that both Nigeria and South Africa are decent sides, they will both go through to the next round meaning we go without for the home game against Sunderland (27th).
If, by some horror twist of fate, both teams reach the final, we go without for the away v Wigan (30th) then when they return possibly quite tired we have the derby on the 6th (Feb).
The point of this letter is we need to sign some players Day One in January. This squad will already be exhausted after the Christmas fixtures coupled with some European games, assuming we get through (blessing in disguise if we don't?).
Hmmm, what are the chances of letting Senderos come to us before the Arsenal game?
Alex Campbell, Posted 16/11/2009 at 20:38:22
Comments
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
Line Up
Howard
Neill Heitinga Distin Baines
Neville
Pienaar Fellaini/Rodwell Bily
Cahill
King Louis
Bench:
Osman
Hibbert
Sanderos?
Jo
Rodwell/Fellaini ?
Agard
An Other
> South Africa have been given a guest pass to the AFCON. The AFCON board felt sorry for them as they were not even playing in their continental cup in the same year as hosting the world showpiece.
> Anichebe, Jagielka and Arteta have all now been ruled out until February, at the very earliest.
> Everton have been given a guarantee, by some higher footballing authority, that no further injuries will be sustained this season due to a terribly unfortunate injury spell already bestowed upon them.
How’s about getting the next 6 out of the way first... Utd (a), Hull (a), Shite (h), Athens (a), Spurs (h), Chelsea (a). Now that could be really bad.
Maybe (if the gods smile on us) DK will be turned down and BK does one after finding £80 million in his desk to give Moyesy for players.
Now that would give everyone a boost (Except Dooddy maybe)
You can worry yourselves to death about all this, but you could take another view:
Last season we played all of December and January with no recognised forward players and we drew with Arsenal ( should have won ), drew twice at Anfield, won the replay and drew with Chelsea whilst winning against Man City, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Hull and Macclesfield - P 10 W6 D4 L1 9 by a penalty at Manure ). We also won the next 2 fixtures after that as well.
On the other hand, if you think January is bad,look at who we have to play in Feb 2010 - Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Man Utd.
However, as last season proved, you often have nothing to fear, but fear itself. FFS - the only game you should be worrying about now is the next one.
- Hi, Sue!
All I’m saying is if we sign Senderos, it shows negativity once again! And the worst thing is, Moyes will more likely do that than buy a centre mid as well.
".........given that both Nigeria and South Africa are decent sides ..."
South Africa are definitely NOT a decent side.... in fact they are a bloody shambles - currently ranked 85th in the world, alongside such greats as Cuba - and the fact they didn’t qualify for AFCON speaks volumes. The recent appointment of Carlos Alberto Pereira leaves Bafana Bafana with about 7 months to pull their collective finger out or face the biggest host nation embarrassment of all time.
Just for the record like.
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
1 Posted 17/11/2009 at 05:15:36
Report abuse