How do we compete currently? (1st XI vs top 6)

[lukespurs7]

With a few weeks to go until the start of the season I wanted to see how our 1st XI Is shaping up against the other top5. I know there will be more signings which may effect the below and also some players aren't in the right positions but the below is a rough guess based on each of the top 6's strongest XI's.

While other factors should obviously be considered such as how well these players work as a team, the strength of each manager and experience of each squad as well as the strength in depth it does give us a good indication of where we are perhaps a bit weak still.

Many of the other top teams have had years of spending big bucks and paying big wages to big name players who we couldn't attract or afford so hopefully our new strategy based on youth can do its best to bridge that quality gap in time without having to spend hundreds of millions.

Top6 1st XI Comparison:

GK:
Courtious 1
De Gea 2
Lloris 3
Hart 4
Cech 5
Mignolet 6

We compete well here and on their day the top 5 on this list are pretty similar.

RB:
Ivanovic 1
Zabaleta 2
Clyne 3
Monreal 4
Tripper 5
Darmian 6 * unknown in PL

Hard to call this one as Darmain is unknown and if Tripper steps up he could be a top top player but realistically we will be slightly lacking in this area vs say Clyne Ivanovic and Zabaleta for example.

CB pairings:
Terry & Cahill 1
Mertsrsacker & Koscielney 2
Vertongthen & Alderwield 3
Kompany & Mangala 4
Rojo & Smalling 5
Skrtel & Lovren 6

Again this is hard to predict but hopefully Jan and Toby can use their experience at Ajax and with Belgium to form a solid partnership, based on their experience together and attributes I would say we should compete well here and Toby was a very astute and much needed quality signing in this area.

LB:
Rose 1
Azpiliqueta 2
Shaw 3
Kolarov 4
Bellerin 5
Monreo 6

Some may disagree but I genuinely think we have the best LB in the league which considering some of the abuse Rose got a few seasons ago is a credit to him and Potch, for me none of the others mentioned were as consistent as him last year except perhaps Aspilelequeta or whatever his name is but arguably he had far less to do that Rose who for me was outstanding pretty much every game I saw.

CM1:
Fabregas 1
Ramsey 2
Toure 3
Bentaleb 4
Blind 5
Henderson 6

Don't think we compete too badly here as Bentaleb is young and is an incredible talent, Toure is ageing and only really Cesc and Ramsey would be firmly ahead of him for me. Hard to compare as all quite different players.

CM2:
Matic 1
Milner 2
Schniderlin 3
Fernandiniho 4
Coquelin 5
Mason 6

As much as I like Mason and think it's great to promote youth and that he had a fantastic break through season for me he is a level below the 5 above and this makes a huge difference. Imagine if we swapped him for Modric in this list we'd go from 6th to 1/2nd. So either we give Mason one more season to see if we can continue to improve OR we sign a CM of real quality which is what I hope we do and let Mason and Ali develop alongside this player and Bentaleb.

RWF:
Hazard 1
Sanchez 2
Sterling 3
Schweinstiger 4
Ferminiho 5
Lamela 6

This is where we really lack, and again it's a tale of 2 choices, do we let Lamela have another season as he does show a lot of promise especially towards the end of last season and hope he can score more goals and be more of a constant threat,if not we need to sign a new player in this position as we are way behind and it hurts us. We shall see, again Potchs call...

CAM:
Silva 1
Coutiniho 2
Eriksen 3
Ozil 4
Mata 5
Oscar 6

Some quality players here, if Eriksen was more consistent he'd be world class but apart from Silva Id not personally swap him for any of the others.

LWF:
Walcott 1
Navas 2
Depay 3
Chadli 4
Willian 5
Lallana 6

I'm not Chadlis biggest fan and never have been but he proves me wrong each season and most games he comes up with the goods + he's had a tough time off the field last year. He scored 10 goals and while he's MABYE not as exciting and pacey as some of the others here, he certainly offers a real threat and seems to pop up with goals at crucial times. Again could do with being more consistent but certainly making that LWF spot his own and no immediate need for us to improve here if he can keep up and even improve his current form.

ST:
Ageuro 1
Costa 2
Rooney 3
Sturridge 4
Kane 5
Giroud 6

Some may put Kane above Rooney and Sturridge based on last season but not for me. Both of them have proven themselves on a longer basis. IF and it's a fairly big if Kane can come close to his form last year and stay fit we'll have a great player on our hands and it's so sweet he's English and one of our own however I think as many people have pointed out he's not an unknown in his 2nd season so it'll be much tougher. For me we need to sell Soldado and Ade and bring in one striker of real quality and experience who will fight with Kane for the n.o1 spot but primarily will be used as a sub and in other competitions.
If he's happy with that Llorente would seem ideal and perhaps be someone Kane can actually learn from and continue his development with + if Kane goes off the boil or gets injured for any length of time which are both more than likely then it is imperative we have someone of real quality who can adequately fill his boots.

Overall ratings: (lowest is best)
Defence:
1st CHELSEA 5
2nd Tottenham 12
3rd Man.City 14
4th/5th Man.U / Arsenal 16
6th Liverpool 21

Some may disagree with this but on an individual basis I actually think with the new signings and keeping Lloris we compete very well here, but we shall see.

Midfield:
1st Man.City 13
2nd/3rd Chelsea/Arsenal 14
4th Man.U 20
5th Liverpool 21
6th Tottenham 23

CM and RWF let us down hugely here and either Mason and Lamela need to step up or we need to replace them otherwise this will cost us.

Strikers:
1st Man.City 1
2nd Chelsea 2
3rd Man.U 3
4th Liverpool 4
5th Tottenham 5
6th Arsenal 6

We need a back-up for Kane of real quality otherwise we're screwed.

OVERALL 1st XI:
1st: Chelsea 21
2nd: Man.City 28
3rd: Arsenal 36
4th: Tottenham 38
5th: Man.U 39
6th: Liverpool 46

So by my reckoning we have around the 4th strongest squad and if we address CM/RWF And back-up ST positions then with our current crop of talented youngsters I'm optimistic we will compete well this season.

I still anticipate we will come 5th but you never know and hopefully we can win a trophy this year!!

Thoughts on this? Agree/disagree? Where are our strengths and weaknesses and what other factors would you consider in how well we may compete this coming season.

COYS!!

 

[Spurrific]

Some of those rankings are awful. Monreal isn't a right-back. Lloris is the best in the league regardless of the media narrative for the other two. Schweinsteiger is not a right wing forward, he'll be in CM with Schneiderlin/Herrera. Coutinho above Ozil, Eriksen, and Mata is the most ludicrous thing I've read on here in a while. Also Milner in CM is not on the same planet as Schneiderlin. Also, Kane > everyone.

 

[THFC_SWE]

I don't think Schweinsteiger will play at the wing. He will problably play as a central midfielder replacing an injury prone Carrick. Blind will problably play as wing back, the same as he did last season.

 

[CJMurray]

So much WTF.

You've got the Arsenal full backs the wrong way round.
Schweinsteiger as RWF?
Milner over Schneiderlin?
Coutinho and Eriksen ahead of Ozil and Mata?
Think Bentelab should be in CM2 and Mason in CM1 as Bentaleb is the more defensive one.
Hazard and Sanchez should be LWF and Walcott RWF.

 

[aliyid]

Nice work and some decent thought gone into that I like it, however I think direct like for like comparisons can be tough and it's always going to be hard to judge the strength of one team vs another.

One of the main things that I think a lot of people lose focus on is that out of a 38 game season only 8 of those games are against the top 4 so we don't need to worry too much about matching these teams man for man (considering the stupid money that they throw around). The main focus should be ensuring that we have enough creativity to win the remaining 30 games where we have a better team we just need to consistently go out and prove it.

Consistency is key and over the years we've had a few too many players who blow hot and cold (Lamella, Dembelle, Paulinho, etc...). It looks like we're finally targetting solid performers rather that glamour names so will be interesting to see how this season pans out.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Interesting read. You've put more into evaluating the shitty teams closest to us than I would.
Clearly pinpoints the 1 position we must focus on, in alignment with what the club is doing.
But Scweinsteiger as RWF? How did you get there?

 

[mpickard2087]

I appreciate the effort, there is a bit wrong with some of the positions. I also think some of the ratings are generous, and for us done out of hope rather than anything based in reality (Trippier, Jan/Toby partnership).

 

[DiscoD1882]

Tough crowd. And its all about personal opinion. i think you watch your team more and have a better understanding of your own team so you are likely to score your boys higher. But im sure if we saw this on another teams forum we would snigger at it.

 

[barry]

Do people actually think ozil is all that. I think he's gash. Such a lazy player.

 

[faze_coys]

 

[lukespurs7]

Some of those rankings are awful. Monreal isn't a right-back. Lloris is the best in the league regardless of the media narrative for the other two. Schweinsteiger is not a right wing forward, he'll be in CM with Schneiderlin/Herrera. Coutinho above Ozil, Eriksen, and Mata is the most ludicrous thing I've read on here in a while. Also Milner in CM is not on the same planet as Schneiderlin. Also, Kane > everyone.

Entitled to your opinion but mabye read when I write not all players are in correct positions as this is a rough guess at each teams best XI.

As for Lloris as I said the top 5 are all pretty similar really, his kicking is shite and he does make the occasionally error like the rest but on his day Hart,Courtious and De Gea are also world class, you can't really deny that and it's difficult to say Lloris is outright better as much as we like him I saw games last season where nothing could get past Hart or De Gea.

And did you not see Coutiniho last season he was absolutely class, Mata and Ozil went hiding far more often. Coutiniho won many games for L-pool. And as a player comparison Milner is more proven than Schneiderlin and was outstanding for Man.City in the league and Champions League so hard to say Scheniderlin is better.

 

[Spurrific]

Entitled to your opinion but mabye read when I write not all players are in correct positions as this is a rough guess at each teams best XI.

As for Lloris as I said the top 5 are all pretty similar really, his kicking is shite and he does make the occasionally error like the rest but on his day Hart,Courtious and De Gea are also world class, you can't really deny that and it's difficult to say Lloris is outright better as much as we like him I saw games last season where nothing could get past Hart or De Gea.

And did you not see Coutiniho last season he was absolutely class, Mata and Ozil went hiding far more often. Coutiniho won many games for L-pool. And as a player comparison Milner is more proven than Schneiderlin and was outstanding for Man.City in the league and Champions League so hard to say Scheniderlin is better.

I did see Coutinho last season, I watched him have a few decent games and then become one of the most overrated players in the league. Milner has been a squad player for a good few years for Man City - how is he more proven than a pivotal premier league performer for Southampton?

With regards to the first paragraph, you think Blind is better than Herrera? Also, Henderson is much better than Blind, and I'd have him above Bentaleb currently too.

 

[lukespurs7]

With a few weeks to go until the start of the season I wanted to see how our 1st XI Is shaping up against the other top5. I know there will be more signings which may effect the below and also some players aren't in the right positions but the below is a rough guess based on each of the top 6's strongest XI's.

While other factors should obviously be considered such as how well these players work as a team, the strength of each manager and experience of each squad as well as the strength in depth it does give us a good indication of where we are perhaps a bit weak still.

Many of the other top teams have had years of spending big bucks and paying big wages to big name players who we couldn't attract or afford so hopefully our new strategy based on youth can do its best to bridge that quality gap in time without having to spend hundreds of millions.

Top6 1st XI Comparison:

GK:
Courtious 1
De Gea 2
Lloris 3
Hart 4
Cech 5
Mignolet 6

We compete well here and on their day the top 5 on this list are pretty similar.

RB:
Ivanovic 1
Zabaleta 2
Clyne 3
Monreal 4
Tripper 5
Darmian 6 * unknown in PL

Hard to call this one as Darmain is unknown and if Tripper steps up he could be a top top player but realistically we will be slightly lacking in this area vs say Clyne Ivanovic and Zabaleta for example.

CB pairings:
Terry & Cahill 1
Mertsrsacker & Koscielney 2
Vertongthen & Alderwield 3
Kompany & Mangala 4
Rojo & Smalling 5
Skrtel & Lovren 6

Again this is hard to predict but hopefully Jan and Toby can use their experience at Ajax and with Belgium to form a solid partnership, based on their experience together and attributes I would say we should compete well here and Toby was a very astute and much needed quality signing in this area.

LB:
Rose 1
Azpiliqueta 2
Shaw 3
Kolarov 4
Bellerin 5
Monreo 6

Some may disagree but I genuinely think we have the best LB in the league which considering some of the abuse Rose got a few seasons ago is a credit to him and Potch, for me none of the others mentioned were as consistent as him last year except perhaps Aspilelequeta or whatever his name is but arguably he had far less to do that Rose who for me was outstanding pretty much every game I saw.

CM1:
Fabregas 1
Ramsey 2
Toure 3
Bentaleb 4
Blind 5
Henderson 6

Don't think we compete too badly here as Bentaleb is young and is an incredible talent, Toure is ageing and only really Cesc and Ramsey would be firmly ahead of him for me. Hard to compare as all quite different players.

CM2:
Matic 1
Milner 2
Schniderlin 3
Fernandiniho 4
Coquelin 5
Mason 6

As much as I like Mason and think it's great to promote youth and that he had a fantastic break through season for me he is a level below the 5 above and this makes a huge difference. Imagine if we swapped him for Modric in this list we'd go from 6th to 1/2nd. So either we give Mason one more season to see if we can continue to improve OR we sign a CM of real quality which is what I hope we do and let Mason and Ali develop alongside this player and Bentaleb.

RWF:
Hazard 1
Sanchez 2
Sterling 3
Schweinstiger 4
Ferminiho 5
Lamela 6

This is where we really lack, and again it's a tale of 2 choices, do we let Lamela have another season as he does show a lot of promise especially towards the end of last season and hope he can score more goals and be more of a constant threat,if not we need to sign a new player in this position as we are way behind and it hurts us. We shall see, again Potchs call...

CAM:
Silva 1
Coutiniho 2
Eriksen 3
Ozil 4
Mata 5
Oscar 6

Some quality players here, if Eriksen was more consistent he'd be world class but apart from Silva Id not personally swap him for any of the others.

LWF:
Walcott 1
Navas 2
Depay 3
Chadli 4
Willian 5
Lallana 6

I'm not Chadlis biggest fan and never have been but he proves me wrong each season and most games he comes up with the goods + he's had a tough time off the field last year. He scored 10 goals and while he's MABYE not as exciting and pacey as some of the others here, he certainly offers a real threat and seems to pop up with goals at crucial times. Again could do with being more consistent but certainly making that LWF spot his own and no immediate need for us to improve here if he can keep up and even improve his current form.

ST:
Ageuro 1
Costa 2
Rooney 3
Sturridge 4
Kane 5
Giroud 6

Some may put Kane above Rooney and Sturridge based on last season but not for me. Both of them have proven themselves on a longer basis. IF and it's a fairly big if Kane can come close to his form last year and stay fit we'll have a great player on our hands and it's so sweet he's English and one of our own however I think as many people have pointed out he's not an unknown in his 2nd season so it'll be much tougher. For me we need to sell Soldado and Ade and bring in one striker of real quality and experience who will fight with Kane for the n.o1 spot but primarily will be used as a sub and in other competitions.
If he's happy with that Llorente would seem ideal and perhaps be someone Kane can actually learn from and continue his development with + if Kane goes off the boil or gets injured for any length of time which are both more than likely then it is imperative we have someone of real quality who can adequately fill his boots.

Overall ratings: (lowest is best)
Defence:
1st CHELSEA 5
2nd Tottenham 12
3rd Man.City 14
4th/5th Man.U / Arsenal 16
6th Liverpool 21

Some may disagree with this but on an individual basis I actually think with the new signings and keeping Lloris we compete very well here, but we shall see.

Midfield:
1st Man.City 13
2nd/3rd Chelsea/Arsenal 14
4th Man.U 20
5th Liverpool 21
6th Tottenham 23

CM and RWF let us down hugely here and either Mason and Lamela need to step up or we need to replace them otherwise this will cost us.

Strikers:
1st Man.City 1
2nd Chelsea 2
3rd Man.U 3
4th Liverpool 4
5th Tottenham 5
6th Arsenal 6

We need a back-up for Kane of real quality otherwise we're screwed.

OVERALL 1st XI:
1st: Chelsea 21
2nd: Man.City 28
3rd: Arsenal 36
4th: Tottenham 38
5th: Man.U 39
6th: Liverpool 46

So by my reckoning we have around the 4th strongest squad and if we address CM/RWF And back-up ST positions then with our current crop of talented youngsters I'm optimistic we will compete well this season.

I still anticipate we will come 5th but you never know and hopefully we can win a trophy this year!!

Thoughts on this? Agree/disagree? Where are our strengths and weaknesses and what other factors would you consider in how well we may compete this coming season.

COYS!!

Just to clarify again I know not all the positions are 100% spot on for example Schweinstiger RWF or Walcott LWF as for the Arsenal full-backs I don't give a shit which one is RB or LB to be honest,but it's not so much the point of exact correct positions rather comparing the quality of the top 6's best XI which I think I've don't fairly accurately and highlighted our flaws.

 

[lukespurs7]

I did see Coutinho last season, I watched him have a few decent games and then become one of the most overrated players in the league. Milner has been a squad player for a good few years for Man City - how is he more proven than a pivotal premier league performer for Southampton?

With regards to the first paragraph, you think Blind is better than Herrera? Also, Henderson is much better than Blind, and I'd have him above Bentaleb currently too.

Agree to disagree on that one then mate and also Milner was playing up front when city had no strikers and was starting away to Barca so hardly think he was a squad player last year! Playing a fairly important role for a team who came 2nd and went far in the CL is for me more
Impressive than having a good season in CM for a team that came top7.

Blind and Herrara are different players, I couldve picked either to be fair and it was hard to call the CM's not going to fight that one.

 

[Disconosebleed]

As of right now I would say we have the sixth best squad in the league, with our rivals from last season Liverpool and United improving significantly while we have (thus far) stood still. We're probably further away from the top four than we have been in a long time, although I would say that we're also more cemented in the top six with Southampton losing a couple of important players. I fully expect Everton to improve on last season and probably push for a top six spot as well, so unless we bring in a couple of very good players, repeating our fifth place from last year is the best we can hope for and even that would be a push IMO.

That said, every year one of the top sides underperform - it was Liverpool last year, United the year before, Arsenal before that - so there's likely to be an opening in the top four IF we can perform above expectations.

I would be very surprised if, come the end of the transfer window, we are on paper one of the four best squads in the league. We'll need to overperform to do so. But that has been the case most years, even the years we finished in the top four we shouldn't have been there on paper.

 

[cliff jones]

interesting post mate, think its already generating good debate. see youve got a few of the im always right brigade barking loudly.

i like the idea of comparing on the basis of partnerships or departments in each team.

fbs, cbs, cms, forwards, striker/s.

our main problem is giving the ball away, with the forwards, perhaps more than the dms and fbs guilty of misplaced passes leading to turnovers, breakaways etc..

the other teams listed are all much, much better at keeping the ball high up the pitch.

and much better at set pieces at both ends

mourinho has of course spotted this, hence keeping it tight in the final in the expectation we would make a mistake. we didnt defend the set pieces and that was that.

your analysis shows rwf, harry competition and dm in that order imo need to be sorted sooner, not after stoke!

 

[lukespurs7]

interesting post mate, think its already generating good debate. see youve got a few of the im always right brigade barking loudly.

i like the idea of comparing on the basis of partnerships or departments in each team.

fbs, cbs, cms, forwards, striker/s.

our main problem is giving the ball away, with the forwards, perhaps more than the dms and fbs guilty of misplaced passes leading to turnovers, breakaways etc..

the other teams listed are all much, much better at keeping the ball high up the pitch.

and much better at set pieces at both ends

mourinho has of course spotted this, hence keeping it tight in the final in the expectation we would make a mistake. we didnt defend the set pieces and that was that.

your analysis shows rwf, harry competition and dm in that order imo need to be sorted sooner, not after stoke!

Great post and especially agree with the giving the ball away in the final 3rd!!! Lamela was especially guilty of this earlier in the season as are Eriksen and Chadli and our CM's at times. This leads to us needs to do far more defending that we should need to, something CHELSEA are extremely good at limiting.

Do you think this is an individual
Issue or down to the balance of the team,tactics and way we're set-up?

 

[beats1]

Top6 1st XI Comparison:

GK:
Courtious 1
De Gea 2
Lloris 3
Hart 4
Cech 5
Mignolet 6

RB:
Ivanovic 1
Zabaleta 2
Clyne 3
Monreal 4
Tripper 5
Darmian 6 * unknown in PL

CB pairings:
Terry & Cahill 1
Mertsrsacker & Koscielney 2
Vertongthen & Alderwield 3
Kompany & Mangala 4
Rojo & Smalling 5
Skrtel & Lovren 6

LB:
Rose 1
Azpiliqueta 2
Shaw 3
Kolarov 4
Bellerin 5
Monreo 6

CM1:
Fabregas 1
Ramsey 2
Toure 3
Bentaleb 4
Blind 5
Henderson 6

CM2:
Matic 1
Milner 2
Schniderlin 3
Fernandiniho 4
Coquelin 5
Mason 6

RWF:
Hazard 1
Sanchez 2
Sterling 3
Schweinstiger 4
Ferminiho 5
Lamela 6

CAM:
Silva 1
Coutiniho 2
Eriksen 3
Ozil 4
Mata 5
Oscar 6

LWF:
Walcott 1
Navas 2
Depay 3
Chadli 4
Willian 5
Lallana 6

ST:
Ageuro 1
Costa 2
Rooney 3
Sturridge 4
Kane 5
Giroud 6

Overall ratings: (lowest is best)
Defence:
1st CHELSEA 5
2nd Tottenham 12
3rd Man.City 14
4th/5th Man.U / Arsenal 16
6th Liverpool 21

Midfield:
1st Man.City 13
2nd/3rd Chelsea/Arsenal 14
4th Man.U 20
5th Liverpool 21
6th Tottenham 23

Strikers:
1st Man.City 1
2nd Chelsea 2
3rd Man.U 3
4th Liverpool 4
5th Tottenham 5
6th Arsenal 6

OVERALL 1st XI:
1st: Chelsea 21
2nd: Man.City 28
3rd: Arsenal 36
4th: Tottenham 38
5th: Man.U 39
6th: Liverpool 46

COYS!!

I find a lot of stuff wrong with this post, firstly its something that is abit of fun and I understand that but your decision making isn't consistent imo

So for example you say that Chadli deserve a high rating due to the amount of goals he got but then with the striker you have Rooney above Kane. Rooney hasn't got 20 goals in 3 seasons and has only got 20 goals or more twice in his career. He is good striker imo, then you have Costa second who got the same amount of goals as Kane and has only been a top striker for 3 seasons. Then Giroud who has been one of the best strikers last season for goals per mins ratio

Then there is Walcott, a guy who has achieved nothing in over a year and even then he hasn't been consistent enough.

Anyway here is my version since I am bored
Top6 1st XI Comparison:

GK:
Courtious 1
De Gea 1
Lloris 1
Hart 2
Cech 3
Mignolet 4

I actually think Courtois is overrated by players aren't noticing his flaws and taking advantage

RB:
Ivanovic 1
Zabaleta 2
Clyne 3
Bellerin 4
Tripper 4
Darmian 4 * unknown in PL

The bottom 3 have to prove they are ready, ballerin perhaps slightly edges it

CB pairings:
Terry & Cahill 1
Kompany & Demichelis 2
Mertsrsacker & Koscielney 2
Vertongthen & Alderwield 3
Rojo & Smalling 4
Skrtel & Sakho 5

I think Man City and Arsenal have flaws but the others are worse. Ours is very high considering the amount of goals we shipped however Rojo and Smalling don't look comfortable and De Gea saved their arses a lot. Also I think our players suffer because of the system and for example arsenal are better than Kompany and co. because of the way they defend and not necessarily because of the players. I actually think Terry and Cahill are only the best because of Mourinho, cahill was horrific at times last season.

LB:
Rose 1
Azpiliqueta 1
Monreal 2
Clichy 3
Shaw 4
Moreno 4

Moreno isn't a bad LB and out of all of the positions I there really isn't much between and this is the closest group of players.

DM1:
Schniederlin 1
Matic 1
Bentaleb 2
Fernandinho 2
Lucas 3
Coquelin 4

Now Bentaleb should be on this list but we don't have a DM. Lucas been demoted a place for injury issues

CM2:
Fabregas 1
Henderson 2
Schweinsteiger 3
Ramsey 3
Fernandinho 4
Mason 5

Ramsey would have been top the season before but had a poor year last season. Schweinsteiger is low because it is unknown if he can handle the PL after a poor season in the bundesliga. Mason is last but that doesn't mean he is very bad, the rest are really good.

LWF:
Hazard 1
Sanchez 2
Sterling 3
Depay 3
Firmino 3
Chadli 3

I actually think I being too kind on Sterling but he is PL proven. Depay and Firmino are unproven in the PL whilst Sterling is better than Chadli but then he doesn't get enough assists or goals. I actually think it should be Chadli last as the rest have a lot more potential but then that would be unfair to a player who has got 16 goals and assists in the PL

CAM:
Toure 1
Eriksen 2
Mata 2
Coutinho 3
Oscar 3
Ozil 4

The best AM is probably Fabregas but he is counted as a CM.

RWF:
Silva 1
Milner 2
Di Maria 3
Willian 4
Walcott 4
Lamela 4

Harsh on Willian who works hard for the team but he needs to do more as he hasn't

ST:
Ageuro 1
Costa 2
Rooney 2
Sturridge 2
Kane 2
Giroud 2

Rooney and kane have the most to prove(as one hasn't been a striker for a while and the other needs to do it on their second season, whilst the other 3 are on par with the other 2 because of their injury record)

Overall ratings: (lowest is best)
Back 5:
1st CHELSEA 4
2nd Man.City 7
3rd Arsenal 11
4th Tottenham 9 +4 for corporation tax(for lack of organisation)
4th Man.U 13
6th Liverpool 16

Midfield:
1st Chelsea 10
2nd Man.City 11
3rd Man.U 12
4th Liverpool 13
5th Arsenal 17 (they are better than his but inexperience of Coquelin and inconsistency of Walcott and Ozil hurts them)
6th Tottenham 16 + 2 for night tax (for overworking ourselves and looking tired)

OVERALL 1st XI with taxes:
1st: Chelsea 16
2nd: Man.City 19
3rd: Man Yoo 27
4th Arsenal 30
5th: Liverpool 31
6th: Tottenham 27 + 6 in taxes = 33

If we can sort out our tax issues on our day, we can compete with Liverpool and Arsenal and expose their failings but over a season with their better squads and issues paying tax Liverpool and Arsenal are better(liverpool have 10 strikers and Arsenal have better midfield options)

 

[eddiev14]

A few mistakes with positions but it's a nice idea and just sort of reconfirms that we've sorted the defence and now need to strengthen in central midfield, on the wings and up front.

Which we knew anyway, but it's nice to have the comparison confirm that.

It does seem unlikely we'll get four new signings though. I guess it just depends how many of the dross and hangers-on we can sell before good old Danny-Boy gets his poker face on for deadline day!

 

[Spurrific]

interesting post mate, think its already generating good debate. see youve got a few of the im always right brigade barking loudly.

i like the idea of comparing on the basis of partnerships or departments in each team.

fbs, cbs, cms, forwards, striker/s.

our main problem is giving the ball away, with the forwards, perhaps more than the dms and fbs guilty of misplaced passes leading to turnovers, breakaways etc..

the other teams listed are all much, much better at keeping the ball high up the pitch.

and much better at set pieces at both ends

mourinho has of course spotted this, hence keeping it tight in the final in the expectation we would make a mistake. we didnt defend the set pieces and that was that.

your analysis shows rwf, harry competition and dm in that order imo need to be sorted sooner, not after stoke!

Oh, grow the fuck up. People are allowed to argue against something if they think it's wrong. No forum is going to be everyone nodding in agreement. Some sad cry babies on this site whenever they see a disagreement.