Nailed on starting XI v Blackburn injuries permitting.
Howard
Neville
Jagielka
Distin
Baines
Bilyaletdinov
Arteta
Rodwell
Pienaar
Cahill
Saha
Alternating between a 4-4-2 with Cahill as an out and out striker (as we saw yesterday v CD Everton) and a 4-5-1 with Cahill dropping into the midfield.
And yes, you may bookmark this post if you wish.
The bench is the best part, and will leave people guessing, but I'm pretty sure this will be the XI v Blackburn.
I will gladly bookmark your post, to show you later how wrong you were. There's no chance that Moyes will start Rodwell playing deep alongside Arteta, as Rodwell over last 12 months didn't show anything that he deserve a chance to play at that position in difficult game like at Blackburb. Osman shows more competetive spirit and better ability, as well as willingness to get dirty in midfield, if Rodwell and Cahill would have to start together, it would be Cahill playing deep and Rodwell playing behind the striker.
But Rodwell will be on the bench, with Fellaini/Neville/Osman/Heitinga starting alongside Arteta, with Fellaini being my surprising pick.
1. Jags was rushed back because we needed Heit to beef up the midfield in Fellaini's absence. Arteta came back ealier than expected because we were becoming over-reliant on Pienaar to make things happen for us. In the case of Jags in particular, he wanted to come back to push for a World Cup place. With Arteta we needed a push for Europe. If he had a relapse he would have the summer to recover. We have no such problems now. What would be the sense in putting Fella in before he was ready and jeopardising his progress? Moyes rarely does 'horses for courses'. The only modification I can think of him making to his team out of respect to the opposition was when he played Jags at rightback away at Stoke. If Cahill, Neville and Arteta aren't big enough to handle Blackburn, then why not play a matchfit Rodwell rather than a half-fit Fellaini?
2. How much football has Anichebe played recently? It's looking dubious that he'll be ready for the start of the season. Osman and Bily both have a tendency to be anonymous, especially against physical teams. Throwing Gueye in would give us an element of surprise. He's looked no worse than any of the alternatives that you have suggested. If he wasn't in consideration for a starting place, then he would have only had as much game time over the summer as Baxter, Silva or even Vaughan.
3. Beckford scored a brace against Preston and walked away with the Man of the Match award against Everton Chile. Saha has scored a solitary goal. What else has he done that has stood out? How can you even argue that point? Saha may be more experienced, but he hasn't scored a league goal since March. Moyes might include him to begin with for his hold up play, I think it's only a matter of time though before Beckford does the Marcus Bent job (with goals, hopefully) upfront by himself.
4. Anichebe is a forward who has been utilised as a wide player. If you're starting with Anichebe on the wing and Saha upfront, then why not have Beckford and Vaughan on the bench? Would you rather have three midfielders and just one striker in reserve? When we've been chasing the game Moyes has gambled on 4-3-3. We already have a packed midfield. Are we likely to substitute three of those players for like-for-like replacements?
1. Fair enough, but that's why Fellaini will play against Blackburn, because Heitinga's fitness will be even lower, and in that kind of game we need his physical presence. He will be used more sporadically in games after Blackburn. But we need him against Big Sam's team and (hopefully) Moyes will be determined to start the season with a bang.
2. I have no idea why are you continuing a topic about Gueye starting at Ewood Park, he will be happy to see himself on the bench. And Anichebe didn't miss much of the preseason, he missed last 2 games, after being used frequently in earlier ones, he also barely missed any practice sessions. Also, it's nice to point out that Ossie and Billy have a tendency to be anonymous, too bad we can't say that about Gueye... ooops, it's because he never played a Premiership game. And according to you he will start at Blackburn, good luck with that.
3. Beckford has bigger chance, but Saha when he was playing, he was good enough to win a starting XI spot for the start of the season. Again, Beckford will be happy enough to be a bench player, but difference to Gueye is that, he actually can have a chance to get some minutes in later stages of the game. He got rest last night, but he will play against Wolfsburg and he will start at Ewood Park.
4. Anichebe is no longer a forward, with the way you are explaining it, somebody could think Anichebe was playing all that time as RM despite being a forward during practices. No, he was a centre forward in the past who was converted in to wide midfielder and now it's his no1 position.
