Martinez: No decision over trio for Saturday

REALLY, you know what I mean — and no-one has said they are only 20 mins fit.

Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry; Pienaar, Barkley, Osman; Naismith – with Lukaku and Mirallas featuring as subs from the bench.

On another note, there is a possibility that Del Boy will be allowed out on loan but it seems that Seville will be his destination rather than Merseyside.

IÂ’ve got a sneaking feeling he may play a 3-4-2-1 formation of
Howard
Jagielka, Stones, Distin
Besic, Barry, McCarthy, Baines
Barkley, Mirallas
Lukaku.
Subs:
Robles, Garbutt, Gibson, Pienaar, Naismith, McGeady, Osman

Professional footballers, paid an obscene five figure salary to kick a football competitively for 90 minutes once or twice a week, who might not be fit for the start of the season?

WTF?

Lukaku and Mirallas maintained their fitness at the World Cup, where, to be fair, they werenÂ’t over used anyway.

For there to be any question whatsoever of them not being in contention for the opening game – where we need to get off to a better start than last year – is beyond the bounds of my comprehension.

And ought to be beyond everyoneÂ’s, Evertonian or otherwise.

Absolute nonsense that does not endear one to the game and those overpaid prima donnas who populate it nowadays.

Newly-promoted Leicester, away, for the opening game is tough fixture. We need both of them and there should be no reason other than injury, why they may not be available

How on earth can they not Â’be readyÂ’?

More evidence that the gap between the the real world and the fantasy one we allow footballers to live in shows no signs of narrowing...

ItÂ’s completely absurd.

I doubt they will as fit as those who have played in our pre-season programme, but they should be able to play some part.

Hopefully this is all smoke and mirrors, and the whole squad is raring to go. I’m like a big kid waiting for this season to start - and the missus is already moaning about too much footy!

Leicester will also know this is just mind games but it creates that doubt in your mind where you aren't 100% certain of the team so you have hope. Then, only hours before kick-off, the Everton teamsheet is announced with Lukaku up front and Mirallas out wide and Leicester heads will drop a little.

Even Coleman who has had an injury will probably start; at this point you know if you are fit enough to play Saturday.

Just mind games.

I reckon we may see:

Howard
Stones Jagielka Distin Baines
McCarthy Barry
Besic Barkley Pienaar
Naismith

Subs
Robles
Coleman
Garbutt
Gibson
Osman
Mirallas
Lukaku

Why train in such appalling conditions without protection. No wonder they get hamstring problems. They all looked frozen solid.

Frankly if they don't make the starting line up, it won't say much for our club's professionalism.

Coleman is a different matter, hamstrings need caution. If there is any doubt, don't risk him. It is his possible absence that makes me realise we need a right back in; Hibbert is not remotely the answer and Stones didn't exactly fill me with confidence last season – his positional sense looked a bit challenged, to put it mildly.

Papers reporting that Kone is up for sale. If so, that is going to be our biggest turkey signing since Krøldrup. I hope we have someone lined up as backup.

Because if its Hibbert you are talking about he would be lucky to get in to a championship side, that goes for Osman to...

I know the old school approach says they are only playing 90 minutes of football, why do they need a rest?

But sports science has moved on a million miles and if the view is the two players need more time, I would trust the manager to do the best thing in the longer term interest of the season, however frustrating that may be.

Think this will be the line up. (think it is also what Greg O'Keefe said in the Echo webchat thing earlier) If we were playing at home I would have probably said McGeady rather than Osman. Doubt Atsu will be in contention this week, so Pienaar it is.

Lukaku will probably get 35 mins, Mirallas the same (providing they are needed) I think Naismith has had a decent pre season. I don't think the lineup will strike fear into the opposition defenders but you know that Osman and Naismith will give 100%. Hopefully against players such as Wes Morgan and Ritchie de Leat, who maybe will get distracted by the euphoria of their premier league bows (hopefully anyway) there know-how will shine through.

Of course they would be fit enough to start the game. They haven't gone three stone overweight and struggle to get up a flight of stairs. The calculation about whether it is best to start them is in terms of a long term programme of fitness designed to keep them performing at their peak over a period of ten months.

This is why we have squads and rotation. You could play the same 11 for 50-60 games in your season, they wouldn't die or drop dead or go on strike, but after a while they'd start losing, because the opposition are all also highly trained, highly paid professional athletes, and if they've been getting the right rest to allow the bodies to replenish and heal while yours haven't they're going to be better.

The issue here is whether they are at the same level of fitness as some of the other members of our squad, and of the Leicester players they will be playing against. The answer may well be no, and if it is, that is because they were assigned an extended rest period after the World Cup, which followed on pretty closely from last season. This rest period was intended to make them able to play at a high level for the next ten months, and one game might have to be sacrificed in order for that to happen.

I expect them both to play, but not the full 90 minutes, and then I expect them both to play against Arsenal and Chelsea as well. One scenario is they play as subs against Leicester, start but don't finish against Arsenal and complete the 90 against Chelsea.

Our team should go there with a total togetherness and play for each and every team mate.

That means coming of the pitch knowing you have given everything for the cause. If we do this the results should take care of them selves and if they donÂ’t then they can still hold there heads up high and we can still be proud also. Come on Everton, prove those so called no all critics wrong.

It is easy to sit here as armchair experts. I am pretty sure that Everton don't employ hoards of conditioning coaches and sports scientists just to make the club look good. I think Wenger has said the same thing about his world cup winning players. He said that if he throws them into the mix straight away he is running the risk of at least one of them pulling up injured by October. I would hazard a guess that this was also Pellegrini's thinking in his squad selection last weekend.

You also have to consider that with Lukaku's age he has to be given the optimum time in order to recuperate. At 21 he is still developing physically.

Nobody said anything specific about how long any of the three lads can play. The 20 minutes I mentioned is just an example.

My general point stands.

The later was pretty much played in every game last season, so I don't think luck has much to do with it.

Personally I think we've got a crock on our hands here but we might as well see if we can get him on the field given I can't see anyone else taking him on at the moment. Hopefully he was insured to an adequate degree….

That's fine for squads who actually possess a realistic back up. We haven't, unless you count Naismith, which most of us don't.

That means we have to cut our cloth accordingly and make it a goal to have them both fit for the first games, which are ones we should be prioritising to win to get some momentum.

Regardless what Arsenal or Man City do, with their rather more ample squads, we needed to do what Chelsea did with Hazard.

Phil, players need 40 days between seasons, not games.

There no point in having sports fitness professionals if your then going to ignore what they and the tests are telling you.

Do you think Martinez would prefer them to play 90 mins, of course he would, his future depends on getting the best results.

This match is a difficult game to start with, for the reasons made already in the thread, if it was at Goodison I'd be confident, but there are few if any easy away games in the Premier League.

I would respectfully suggest that you have not a shred of evidence for that.

Could you name any other top Premier League side either would get a start for? Because they are not good enough for Everton.

Firstly, they may not be required if things go well and secondly they will hopefully come on at a time when the other team is tiring. I know the game on Sat will be tough and we would love to get off to a winning start but you have to look at the bigger (longer term) picture, not just one match.

Try telling that to Gordon West, Tommy Wright, Sandy Brown, Howard Kendall, Brian Labone, Colin Harvey, Jimmy Husband, Alan Ball, Joe Royle, John Hurst and Johnny Morrissey – who with just the support of Tommy Jackson, Alan Whittle and Roger Kenyon, played the lot in 1969-70 and stormed to the league title.

How can anyone countenance modern-day footballers not being fit enough to start the season? And not because they're injured, but because they're not 'ready'? The poor dears.

And they're only paid how much...? Life's a bitch in the (so called) Premier League isn't it?

But in fairness, we speculate unknowingly don't we? Roberto may well be playing games. And hopefully they'll both be in the starting line-up for tomorrow's too!