Everton vs Crystal Palace

Same team that started Wolfsburg for me unless perhaps you rest Barry for Gibson or Besic or maybe bring in Distin ideally for Jags but more likely for Stones.

If theyÂ’re up for it IÂ’d start the same XI who have back to back wins to keep it going.

Toffees 2-0; Mirallas and Baines (penalty) to score for us.

We could easily swap out four or five players and still be a quality side. Besic or Gibson in midfield. Atsu, EtoÂ’o or Kone up front. Oviedo or Distin in defence. Seriously I would not be unhappy with any of them.

Now IÂ’m not saying that weÂ’re quite at the squad depth of say Man City or Chelsea but wow it is really starting to feel like weÂ’ve got some momentum. And if... no, when we beat Palace tomorrow, weÂ’ll be 2 points off top four. And above the scum (Ha, ha, ha... West Ham 3-1 Liverpool) going into the Derby next week.

And what a week. Three away games in a week with so much on the line. But, if we can come through them unscathed, well the skyÂ’s the limit.

Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts.

I donÂ’t understand this constant hankering for Besic across these forums. (This is not a dig at anyone in particular, rather just an observation on a general trait.) IÂ’d like to see him in less important games, but I think ToffeeWebers are hankering for the idea of Besic, rather than the reality. He is not better than McCarthy or Barry, and putting him in place of either will only weaken our defensive game which is weak enough at the moment already.

Besic should not play wide, as he is not a wide player, and Naismith has the other position nailed at the moment. Give him a start in the Carling Cup, and in the less important Europa League games, but letÂ’s keep the best for the Premier League.

Of all the lads on the bench, Gibbo is my main worry. Obviously off the pace and ring rusty right now, his natural attacking game doesnÂ’t fit him into our present set-up. It will be interesting to see how Martinez uses him. He does like people who can open up a defence.

Swap Ossy for Kevin and Gibbo for Barry 68 mins. We should be 2-0 up by then...

I rarely understand the clamour for rotation, especially early on - these guys are super fit, mainly young professional athletes, they can play 3 x 90 minute games in 8 days without a problem.
Rotation for rotation’s sake and keeping players ’fresh’ generally doesn’t work well – look at our friends across the park – total disaster yesterday.

I donÂ’t buy the protection from injury argument either, most injuries tend to occur when players are coming back in after a spell on the sidelines or in training.

One of our strengths in recent years as a team and club was consistency of personnel. The time to rotate is when players are out of form/confidence or looking shattered. If we can have a team like this thatÂ’s winning games well...

Howard
Coleman - Jagielka - Stones - Baines
Mirallas - Gibson - McCarthy - McGeady
Naismith - Lukaku

And still have the likes of EtoÂ’o, Atsu and Besic plus Gibson and Distin as options to come from the bench (okay and Osman), then we should be happy to reflect on how well weÂ’ve come.

Plus we still have Barkley, Pienaar, Oviedo and Kone to come back into this reckoning. Actually our second 11 isn’t too shabby – not good enough for top 6 of course, but could stay up in the Premier League and have a run in the cups...

Robles
Hibbert - Distin - Alcaraz - Oviedo
Atsu - Gibson - Besic - Pienaar
EtoÂ’o - Kone

And thatÂ’s not to mention the youth options. IÂ’d love to see given a chance in the Carling Cup or Europa League and one or two of these will surely step up...

Stanek, Browning, Garbutt, Kennedy, Hope, Galloway, Lundstram, Long, McAleny, Henen, Grant and Junior.

What’s my point again? I think it’s that the future is genuinely bright (even if we’ve thrown away at least 4 points from the opening 3 games – again) and Martinez will have a lot of genuine options, but we still shouldn’t mess with the first team when they’re winning – let others earn their way in.

I wouldnÂ’t be too surprised to see him put in somewhere .

How to second-guess a Premier Leaguie manager nowadays though is almost impossible, so who knows!

One thing I will say, though, is if Roberto doesnÂ’t trust his Â’squad playersÂ’ enough to give them a go at home to Palace, itÂ’s a wonder where and when he will give any of them a go unless forced through injury.

Oh IÂ’m forever blowing bubbles da da dee dum da.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Stones Baines
McGeady Gibson McCarthy Pienaar
Naismith EtoÂ’o

SUBS: Robles Alcaraz Oviedo Besic Atsu Lukaku Kone

This team should be enough to beat them 2-0

For the Carling Cup, I would go with:

Robles
Hibbert Stones Alcaraz Oviedo
Atsu Gibson Besic Pienaar
Osman
Kone

IÂ’m more curious to know who he will send to Russia three days before the Man Utd game. Will he rest 5 players here and hope for a draw?

We can’t under-estimate palace like the last time. We need to kick start our league campaign with 3 points – that means setting the tempo from the off instead of looking to rescue a point right at the death.

This thinking is in no small part influenced by the RS recent form. I canÂ’t remember a better opportunity for us to go to Anfield and get a win. Having said that, they never play badly against us so we will need our best 11 to do it, and they will need to be at their peak. Surely our boys will be as keen as we are to avenge the disaster last season?

We need to keep the momentum going after a couple of wins and can make more changes against the Swans.

Interesting to hear Van Gaal say he would rather be playing in Europe mid-week, and I agree. It can give you momentum, and your team can gel more quickly than just training for matches.

IsnÂ’t it great knowing we are highly unlikely to see a 0-0 while Bobby is in charge? Goals are the name of the game, and I think we will see plenty every time we play. Exciting times ahead.

As a result and based on current league form, I think next SaturdayÂ’s lunchtime game would be a perfect opportunity to give the fringe/younger players a start....

On the squad, we should always play our strongest team. Now sometimes that will mean changing because a player is fatigued, but we should always put our strongest team on the pitch. I donÂ’t subscribe to resting players, they are professionals who earn a fortune. When they play two, three games a week, they do less training, so they should be able to cope.

Brian (#32) — Class.

Anyone know the reason? If not, can you ToffeeWeb persons find out?

He cant mess with much, maybe EtoÂ’o and Atsu for Lukaku and McGeady. Gotta mark Bolassie and Gayle and stop free kicks; they donÂ’t have much more to offer at all.

BTW Colin #36 I think it’s because of the Sky that kicks off @ 4pm – sup with the devil and all that.

YouÂ’re telling me, it throws my whole supper bar curry and chips & my arse routine out.

If I start getting the turtleÂ’s head about 5:00pm, IÂ’ll put my foot through my season ticket and send Greg Dyke (or Kenwright or... someone) the bill!

Plenty of teams have experienced a drop in form after Euro matches, so IÂ’m not expecting a stellar performance, I think we should win, but it might be a struggle!

Probably Roberto will want to go with the same team, but on the other hand as has already been mentioned we now have a extremely strong squad so if he wants/has to change it, it wont weaken the team much, if at all.

I see Warnock when asked of his opinion on Martinez, said that he thought RobertoÂ’s next job will be Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Goes to show what people within the game think of Martinez, and thereÂ’s still fans on here giving him grief !

I wish people would recognize how much Gareth Barry brings to the team with his intelligent reading of the game.

Our defensive weakness starts with not holding the ball up top and I look at McGeady and Rom as our two biggest culprits.

Against Palace, we need to watch out for being hit on the break, so I would look for ball retention and patience up front.

I think EtoÂ’o deserves a starting role and would link well with Naismith.

No Barry?? is he injured or do you just not rate him?

We have to address these facts before we can say we have the Â’completeÂ’ team and can compete with the best in the game. As for crowing about events across the park, I wouldnÂ’t start Â’singing the BluesÂ’ just yet, lads, thereÂ’s nothing like baiting a wounded lion in its den to get it to react. I think we will still get the points today though.

In an often over-hyped Premier League, it is nevertheless true that any team on their day is capable of beating any other. I may be mistaken but was it not Crystal Palace who blew a very in-form LiverpoolÂ’s title chances apart not too long ago? Have we developed such a consistent "all conquering" level of performance that we can think of "rotating" on a whim?

In addition, I am still at a loss as to fathom out why Darren Gibson seems to arouse such confidence, at times bordering on accolades. I am just not sure how much one can actually trust him physically (as his career record shows). As such, I would much prefer to see him introduced quite late in games when a situation warranted it; in games such as the Swansea fixture, a competition where there may well be instances of a little less than 100% commitment by some players or clubs; or in Europa League games if and when the result may not be vital.

Palace will give Everton a very thorough examination in a number of areas – it should be the strongest possible XI that is examined,

On today’s game, I don’t think it’ll be pretty and I expect them to park the proverbial. That said, we should have enough about us to turn them over. I don’t think it’ll be anything like the last time we played them. An early goal and we’re in business – a great opportunity to make it another great weekend.

IÂ’ve heard a little whisper that EtoÂ’o is starting. I wonder who in place of... Can anyone enlighten me?

Make of that what you will! IÂ’m still working it out.