G Richards

Stevie on the right, Riera left, Xabi and Mascherano in the middle. Keane and Kuyt up top. Tighten the defence and we have a decent chance. The problem is, I can't see them not scoring the way they are playing, so we'll need two - a tall order - if we want the win. It will be a good game, and if we can do it without Torres (even if there's a chance he can make it I'd rather he carried on with the fitness work, rather than force it) it would be massive.

What a fantastic find this thread is. My football education has gone up several notches, many thanks to those who made that possible. It is clear we are pressing on towards level three football, and that all levels of the club are coming on very well.

If given a straight choice, I would rather have Torres in our side than Messi.

£10M is too much, as he is not from the top bracket. It is possible he could kick on as he is only young. If we achieve anything like his valuation, it will be via player swaps, with both clubs setting their own value on the player to suit. We will not get £10M cash.

In many things in life it is prudent to wait and see. This is no different. How is it possible to make a judgement now? Rafa is our man for next season. A good summer and hope renewed - what's to say we don't extend our lead to 20-18?

I'd prefer to be on top after 34 games in order to say '4 games from being champions'. Swapping results around gives a false impression of how close we are, since we can't be sure how the other teams would have responded in other games. As it stands we are a good team, and it is not difficult to see how we could mount a strong challenge next season with some good business this summer, coupled with carrying on the form we have shown since we've consistently played 4-2-3-1.

The referee came out in the media after he had looked at it again and confirmed that it was a penalty and that he felt he made the right decision. It was his call to make. He did it in real time and he'd do it again. Arsenal have no case. If the ref said "I made an error there" then Arsenal would have their hard luck story (but still no semi final). As it stands, the ref went to the trouble of speaking out after the match to confirm he had looked again and he was happy with the decision. Get over it Arsenal!

In the first two parts of the 'trilogy', both Arsenal goals have come from set pieces. Beautiful game indeed. Lumping it up to Adebayor is not beyond them either. Both of these aspects to their play are often overlooked. Of course they also play good football. No one denies that. But let's not go overboard with it, as they can be direct and they do have one or two cloggers in their ranks (with Flamini being the worst culprit on either side in the two games thus far). I think I read in the Sunday Times earlier today about Menotti (Argentina manager in 1978). At the time Brazil thought they should have won the world cup because they played the better football. Menotti's response? "Let them have their moral victory. We will have the actual victory." (or something to that effect!)

Same team as first leg. Come out fast, pressing all over pitch. High tempo, early goal. That's the ideal. If this happens then Arsenal will come looking for it that bit more, and the chance of picking them off on the break increases.

Reina Rafinha Carra Agger Aurelio Mascherano Lucas Bentley Gerrard Babel Torres

Very good!

If money is fairly tight I'd be happy with a £20M budget, plus whatever we can get from player sales. (I would have thought we could comfortably double the £20M budget that way). I'd would buy two players to improve the first eleven: Agbonlahor Young striker, could play on the right of the three behind Torres, fast, eye for goal, could fill in for Torres if he is injured. Alves He could offer the width we need, and if he bombs forward it is not a problem since we have two holding midfielders.

Agbonlahor was mentioned earlier in the thread. I think he would be perfect on the right of the three behind Torres. He would cost a fair bit (depending on contract situation) but he is fast, has an eye for goal, and looks to have a big future. He's a Villa boy and might not even want to leave, but at some point he will question whether or not Aston Villa can break into the Champions League, and where his career might best be served. We have a few players that could well be of interest to Villa in order to do the deal, including Carson, Crouch and Riise.

It might be that Stevie can move to the right of the three behond Torres and then we could bring in a player like Diego or Aguero. Both would be hugely expensive though. Agree that Agbonlahor would be very good for the right side though.

I'd rather not pick and choose. Instead, I'd like Rafa to send the boys out to win all the games. If we win the first three and the players are then tired, we can rotate/hang on/whatever. I wouldn't like the players to be fresh and ready to go for the last two of these five games, having fielded a weaker side - and lost - in the first three.

I can't see a place in our midfield for Diaby, while Wes Brown would offer useful cover at either right back or centre back.

CL - Liverpool. We thrash AC Milan in the decider. (Part of me wants to beat Man Utd in Moscow, but there would be too much trouble - Lyons can knock them out at Old Trafford). Prem - since we can't, and out of the likely options, Arsenal. FA Cup - Portsmouth (and if it has to be a 'big' team, Chelsea, meaning Man Utd win nothing). Carling Cup - Spurs already in the bag 4th in Prem - Liverpool. The higher we finish the better. Finishing fifth and bumping Everton with a CL win would be seet, but that aside, I'd rather we finished as high as possible. UEFA Cup - don't care other than not Everton. Bayern Munich probably.

I think Xabi will be off in the summer. He is a very good player but if we sell we can use the funds to strengthen a weaker area of the team. I see Lucas as his replacement, and Mascherano as Sissoko's replacement. While Xabi has been injured and hasn't got his best form back yet, I'd say that he is a better player than Lucas, but if we keep both then it is likely that Lucas won't develop as he might. If we play a midfield two, then Lucas is young enough to do a bit of bench time behind Stevie and Mascher. But as the Inter game showed, all three are effective together and that could grow. The need for a fourth central midfielder is still there, but I'd be inclined to recall Guthrie or promote Spearing. Why spend good money for what would likely only be a bit part player? Sign less quantity and higher quality, and promote our youngsters to fill the squad out.

I'm not sure about Johnson. He is a good prospect at around the same level as Lucas. For my money we already have central midfield more than covered. If Xabi is going to go, then we shold use the money to strengthen further in weak areas of the team. The same applies for any fee we might get if Crouch is to go. If we are left with Gerrard, Mascher and Lucas, then if a fourth central midfield option was required, then I'd recall Guthrie. Granted, he's not of the standard of the others, but I'm not sure the fourth choice central midfielder would play all that much anyway. We need some width and a top notch partner for Torres. If we spent all our cash on just two top, top players, who would both improve our first eleven, then bring it on. Even if we sell several players to fund one top player, bring it on! the squad could do with reducing in size anyhow, to something like 16-17 top players, with the numbers made up by young players who progress. That's the way forward for us in my view.

I would sell Xabi. I think Atletico were interested, so I'd try to do a deal where Aguero came this way. I think Aguero behind Torres would be fantastic. (Four strikers for next season: Torres, Aguero, Babel, Crouch - sell Kuyt and Voronin and put money towards one world clas winger, don't care who). We'd still have Stevie, Mascher and Lucas as out three main central midfielders, and rather than spending more money on that position, I'd recall Guthrie as the fourth choice.

The small club thing was fair comment for two reasons: 1. If you defend at all costs you are showing yourself to be a small club with modest ambitions 2. It was a decent retort for all this 'people's club' nonsense

We're doing OK so far. The three draws took the shine off things a bit, but then in many ways, if that has revised expectations, enabling us to stay in touch at the top while we quietly go about our business, then that's not bad thing. We've had one bad result as we really should have been able to beat Birmingham at home. Still, that's not the end of the world. We'll have a much better idea of where we stand after the next four games. If we are no worse off than a similar position to now (ie 4 points off the top) then we are poised for a real good go for the title this season.

I've got quite a lot of time for Coppell. At least he sets up his team to try and play so you get something of a spectacle. Much better than the likes of Bruce (and a good many other managers) who simply put 10 men behind the ball when they play us.

I think we'll finish first. Chelsea will be third or fourth, depending on how much Arsenal fade. Man Utd will steadily improve but I don't think they can rely on Saha, and without him they don't look to have a cutting edge. We will have a tough few games coming up, especially with Alonso and Agger out injured. If after 10/11 games we are right in there, then I think we'll build on that and do really well and win no.19. I expect the defence will be strengthened in January too.

The team looked far too static. It was almost like watching England playing rugby! Gerrard, Torres and Babel all add something to the mix that makes picking up wins at places like Pompey more likely if they start. On the face of it, two points dropped. But given that Pompey should have won, I will concede that it is a point gained. We're still going well. 2 international games and the CL resuming, with an early Prem kick off sandwiched in between. Never ideal. Hopefully a good win against Brum next weekend will get us back on track.