Eto'o and Distin back for Thursday

I love it when a plan comes together!!!!

Who'd be a Manager eh?

However, looking at the run of fixtures I think we do need to start rotating the squad and we do on paper have good cover in certain positions.

Besic and Gibson should be given the opportunity in Centre Mid, Atsu wide left instead of Mirallas and Eto'o upfront to give Rom more time to nurse his niggles.

Would also rotate Baines as he has put in a lot of miles for club and country and Garbutt with Oviedo as sub can provide decent cover.

I would leave Howard, Coleman, Stones, Nais and McGeady in the team as I don't fancy their replacements.

Howard
Coleman Stones Jagielka Baines
Barry
Besic McCarthy
Mirallas Naismith
Lukaku

Howard (surely a keeper can’t get fatigued?)
Coleman Stones Distin Garbutt
Gibson Besic
Osman Naismith Atsu
Eto’o

I think that should be strong enough? Yet give enough players a rest.

I would not be surprised if the rest of the team is unchanged though.I know it will be 2 games a week but as people are nearing full fitness we can do it.

Winning stops players feeling tired!

I'd play the strongest side we have with only very little tinkering, knowing we can bring off 3 players if the game is looking good for us.

I'd certainly give Besic his first start and rest Barry or McCarthy. Difficult to say who to change up front, if Eto is fit then he could give Rom a break if his toe could do with a bit of rest. Then again Rom would hopefully be chomping at the bit to play in the first EL game, especially after scoring and am not sure if Eto will have 90 mins in him. Personally would start Rom and take him off after an hour. Would leave the defence as is, Distin can start against Palace for one of Stones or Jags.

Wolfsburg are no mugs so just the one change for me. The game is at home so no travel involved, those who play will have almost three days to recover before the game on Sunday. Would then give a few a rest for the Swansea game (would like to win it but at the end of the day the league cup is the least of the ones we want and we need the players fresh for the derby).

The EL game has been scheduled for this Thursday a long time now which meant we were going to be playing on the Sunday.

I think we’ll see changes in midfield though. I think Barry will either be rested Thursday or Sunday to keep him fresh ahead of the two big games against Liverpool & Man Utd. The Swansea game ahead of that we could see even more changes, maybe even Kone might make the squad for that one.

If we go all out for the Euro title, I think we can forget a high finish in the Prem. the extra games will start to tell on the squad when we get to the final 1/4 of the league season and that's not mentioning injuries.

We had an example on Sunday why the top 4 continues to be out of our reach,
Utd mullered QPR, why, because they have spent an absolute fortune to bring 4 or 5 world class players into their squad, and it didn't half show!

Distin not so much. I’m a firm believer that centre back is not a position you want to be rotating or changing every match unless you absolutely have to. Stones/Jagielka partnership looked a hell of a lot more solid than the Distin/Jagielka one so why break it up after keeping your first clean sheet?! To do so would be utter stupidity.

Wolfsburg (Home, Thursday, 18th)

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines
McCarthy Barry
Mirallas Naismith McGeady
Lukaku

SUBS: Robles, Stones, Oviedo, Gibson, Besic, Osman, Eto
(Oviedo, Osman, Eto)

Crystal Palace (Home, Sunday, 21st)

Howard
Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Baines
Gibson Barry
Mirallas Naismith Atsu
Eto

SUBS: Robles, Distin, McCarthy, Besic, Osman, Lukaku, Kone
(Besic, Kone, Osman)

Swansea (Away, Tuesday, 23rd)

Robles
Hibbert Stones Alcaraz Oviedo
Besic McCarthy
McGeady Osman Atsu
Kone

SUBS: Howard, Jagielka, Coleman, Baines, Mirallas, Lukaku, Naismith
(Mirallas, Lukaku, Naismith)

Liverpool (Away, 27th, Saturday)

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Stones Baines
McCarthy Barry
Mirallas Naismith McGeady
Lukaku

SUBS: Robles, Distin, Oviedo, Atsu, Besic, Eto, Osman
(Atsu, Eto, Osman)

If we win 3 of these (Wolfsburg, Palace & Liverpool) and lose 1 (Swansea), I will be a happy man!

Finally, slightly off topic, regarding RS fans. Was on the train back from West Brom which pulled into lime st. about 7.40pm, probably less than 25 minutes after their game finished. The queue for the London virgin train was enormous, full of RS. About 75-100 blues let rip with "Never felt more like singing the blues". The pinkies weren't very happy with this. There was a strong police presence in the station who rounded us all up and actually escorted us out the station. There were loads of pinkies on the concourse as well and even more outside. So much for staying till the end when your team is only losing 1-0!!!

So their form is not terrific but if we underestimate them and play a weakened side we will regret it. If Roberto has it in mind to play Robles, Alcaraz, Gibson and others we will come unstuck.

Kevin De Bruyne is a great player and he put both Mirallas and Lukaku to shame at the World Cup for Belguim. De Bruyne alone will be a handful but add to that an experienced striker like Ivica Olic and that's a dangerous team to play against.

And you know Nicklas Bendtner is bound to come back and haunt an English team. Roberto has to take Wolfsburg seriously and play his best side.

If our game was down for Wednesday, does anyone know why it would be moved forward so that we have about 50 hours recovery from the Palace game?

We need to see if Besic is nearly ready for the big time and well, Wolfsburg is a big test.

Atsu should also start with Mirallas on the bench other than that maybe just Eto'o ahead of Rom but I wouldn't mess with too much.

Good goal by Diame.

Would have thought Martinez would have been more interested in him than Cleverley??

Osman on the bench could be a key player if he is needed with 30 minutes to go. He has done well each time he has been brought on. He is no longer a 90-minute player at Premier League pace but his cameo appearances have made a difference.

I would not be looking further than the Wolfsburg game at the moment.

We all hope that clean bills of health remain with all players so that RM can have a full compliment to work with for the months ahead. Nothing worse than having some key players going down ahead of important games.

One may say that all clubs have this dilemma but the ’’poorer’’ clubs just don’t have the depth to cope; however, I believe Everton finally have a better depth than they have had for years.

Class preview of this match over on GOT

I foolishly said to my lad when I heard that Ludo Razgd had managed to equalise that there was still a few minutes for the dodgy penalty... should have kept my big mouth shut. Hopefully that's their massive slice of luck for September used up.

I'd like a last minute Steven Gerrard own goal to make it LFC 0 EFC 3, a week on Saturday please.

Southall
Gidman Higgins Hurst HHinchcliffe
Ball Kendall Young
Lineker Dean Latchford

Subs: Howard, Stevens, Baines, Steven, Sheedy.

Or is that too controversial ?

We must start well in this and at home to one of the better teams too many changes might be counter productive.

Lawson
Sergeant B Wright McNaughton McLaughlin
Telfer Buckley Bernard Connolly
Pearson Smallman

I will actually be in Scotland then, but should still be able to get some sort of viewing opportunity if it's on any of the recognised ITV2, 3 or 4.

Thanks in anticipation!

I just hope we set up for this one properly, as although they have experienced similar results to our own, I think that belies their true potential, and on the day they can be a force to be reckoned with, they also have some very good players. I am looking forward to it, but must admit with trepidation, our defence still worries me on occasions.

I’d personally like to have a good look at Gibbo, Garbutt, Atsu and Eto’o who will hopefully all play a part in the coming weeks. It’d also be great to see Oviedo back in the squad, and finally get a proper look at Kone. I just hope the usual suspects aren’t crocked before they’ve had a chance to make an impact.

Good point mate, but as I was born there, I should get Dual Nationality Status, and I can get Foreign Channels (English) on my laptop. :-)

Duncan#46

Thanks mate, I just hope they don't let us down, as I will have a tartan horde looking on too, after I have 'bulled Everton up, as the team to watch' but then again it is US the team that will always surprise you or let you down in equal measures.

The defence still has my bum squeaking under my kilt!

I think the wings are important in this game so I would definitely play Baines and Coleman and I would have Besic man-marking De Bruyne. That would leave SuperKev free to add to his goal tally.

I would concentrate on building up a good lead in the first leg and then put out a defensive side in the second leg.

Also, it isn't two legs but a league system.

We need to be fully focused to get anything out of the match. Any mishaps in defence will be punished without fail. Apart from 3 or 4 teams in the EPL, this lot are in a different department. I hope Roberto has everybody properly prepared or else we could be in for a shock.

Also Warnock and Palace worry me. They will be set up to nick a goal and make us chase the game. We must not let this happen.

On a positive note we have the strongest squad we have had for many, many years and Eto'o looks very, very dangerous.

I wasn't demeaning the quality of Wolfsburg – just pointing out their main threat and the need for RM to put out a strong side, especially on the flanks.