Starting 11?

[Tottino]

What do you think the starting 11 will be?

[Ronaldo07]

i think the real question is who starts on the bench? we all probably know the first 11 but the bench is really competitive too now when everyones fit..

Howard
Brown
O'shea
Phil Neville
Giggs
Park
Fortune
Richardson
Kleberson
Miller
Kleberson
Ole (when hes back)
Smith/Fletcher
Saha
Rossi (maybe)
Pique (maybe)
Jones (maybe)

don't forget, most of these guys are internationals (or want to get into the international squad), so there pride will be burnt if they don't even make the bench in WC year, i know theres alot of games but still..

[Father Ted]

There is no set starting 11. The formations are constantly changing so you cannot really predict a set 11.

[Mac_Howard]

Assuming a 100% fit squad I think you can pencil in nine of the eleven at this point in time - VDS, Neville, Ferdinand, Heinze, Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo, Rooney and RvN. One of the other two would come from Silvestre or Brown and the last one depends on whether we're playing 4-4-2 (Giggs) or 4-3-3 (Fletcher).

[johno]

There is no set starting 11. The formations are constantly changing so you cannot really predict a set 11.

yeah... the more pressing question for me, is what formation will we play (the most).

The 433 is a good balanced formation and plays to the strength's of Ronaldo who will be free of defensive responsibility and to Scholes who has less work to do defensively. We also had good success in it last year and it also seems to help Keano. The downside is that one of Ronaldo, Giggs or Rooney will have to be played out of position (in either Fletcher or Scholes' spot) or not at all. Rooney might blossom alongside Scholes and Keane, but if we're going to play him that deep we might as well not play 3 CMs and just play a 442.

The 442 would be best for Rooney. He'd be able to create and come from deep, in the middle of the field and his scoring and his threat to the defence will make room for Giggs, Ronaldo and Ruud who will have less attention on them as Rooney winds up to let one go. Ronaldo's lack of defensive prowess will be noted in this, however there's a reason we've got Gary Neville. The threat of having 2 wingers AND Rooney with Scholes able to supply them would be potent on offense... a bit weaker in the midfield and we might conceede more chances but VDS should help keep a lot of them out and our offensive output would really be improved, we would not need so many clean sheets.

I'd actually like to see a bit of a hybrid.

--------------------Ruud
------------------------<Rooney>
Ronaldo------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>
-----------Scholes----Fletcher
------------------Keane
Heinze----Brown------Ferdinand---Gary
-----------------VDS

This is similar to our 433 from last year. The idea being that Rooney only goes wide when we wants the space or feels like it. Ronaldo will essentially play both wings, however since Gary is one of our most consistent crossers, Ronaldo can spend most time creating width on the left while Gary does it on the right with the help of Rooney occasionally.

Heinze is strong enough to handle the Left Flank all by himself. Ronaldo allowed to roam and be creative he acts almost like a second support striker, when he cuts in from the left he can shoot with his right foot which is more effective.

I'd like to see this.

with Smith, Saha, Park/Giggs, Silvestre/O'Shea and Howard on the bench.

[mhtwins113]

we'd need madrid type wingbacks to pull off such a hybrid imo. heinze might well be fit for such a formation with his engine, but neville im not so sure. id love for us to buy cicinho and implement johno's idea because that would be the catalyst to it truly thriving. that boy is really cafu jr. otherwise i generally agree that it would utilize a lot of our strengths well.

[bigtoga]

i think the real question is who starts on the bench?Is that really a different question than the one he asked? I mean, if you pick the starting 11, the rest will be on the bench so your question is answered lol. That's like saying "Forget his question - the question you should all be asking is 'Who will be on the field when the first half starts?'"There is no set starting 11. The formations are constantly changing so you cannot really predict a set 11.No doubt - the Fergie from the last three years has shown at least one thing: a willingness to try players out in different positions. Many times we'll stick to a consistent formation but the players will move around. I'd guess that we'll play more 4-4-2s in the EPL and go to the 4-5-1 in Europe. The variations of where Rooney and Giggs will play probably be hardest to predict since you know Al wants both of them to play a lot of minutes. Whether Rossi makes the team will also have an impact on formations since if he makes the team and Saha stays, Al may try to push Saha and Giggs into a rotation on the left wing. He did it towards the end last year and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen a bit more.

We have so many forwards that Al's trying to get them on the pitch at the same time so that we can score some ********ing goals :)