It’s been a January of prospective change so far, with much talk being about not whether there will be players leaving, but when and to whom. And, you know, the occasional talk about voodoo, pilgrimages in Africa, Ross Barkley sulking because his mate left and owning the city by August.
All in a week’s work for Sam’s Snides.
That all came from a rather comical AGM in which the actual important points were lost and buried far underneath Moshiri letting loose and managing to make half the City’s collective head fall off in what must be at least the 4th time in the space of a month. That’s incredibly impressive.
We’re now headed down south with a new striker on board and we’ll probably pick up Walcott while we’re down there (my opinion on that one: a bit unnecessary unless he fully Victor Moses’ himself and plays left-back).
Anyway, here’s my team.
GK - Jordan Pickford
It seems ages ago that Liverpool mistake doesn’t it.
I think you’d all forgotten about it until now.
RB - Jonjoe Kenny
With Coleman not yet fully being cleared, Kenny keeps his place.
CB - Mason Holgate
Only natural that our best available centre-back starts an centre-back, isn’t it?
No more messing around with the central pairing, we need to establish some stability and that starts with playing our two best in the middle.
CB - Ashley Williams
Keane has proven to be far too error prone and Jagielka is losing a few steps.
Williams has looked a much better defender since Allardyce’s arrival and he starts once again.
LB - Cuco Martina
Just sign one.
RM - Aaron Lennon
Lennon starts as we revert back to a four-man midfield with two up top.
The 4-3-2-1 that we have been playing for what seems like 20 years now hasn’t worked, and especially not recently, so it’s time for a change.
CM - James McCarthy
McCarthy has made a shock return to the Everton first team fold since returning from yet another injury and perhaps even more shockingly, he’s looked really, really good.
He’s not afraid to put his body on the line even now and seems to be making a push to be Everton’s number one defensive midfielder once again.
That competition can only serve to benefit Allardyce.
CM - Davy Klaassen
Rooney hasn’t been good recently and against a youthful side like Tottenham, it’s not an opportunity for him to turn it around.
And I’m still persisting with my Klaassen wish.
LM - Gylfi Sigurdsson
We’re going to need the best from Sigurdsson if we even want to stand a chance at Wembley.
However, with a new striker on board as a target for service, who knows what he could produce.
ST - Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Even with the arrival of Cenk Tosun, I’m not ready to drop DCL just yet, so he plays in a two up top.
His work rate is too important and he’s at his best playing in a two, as seen with Oumar Niasse earlier on in the season (think Bournemouth).
ST- Cenk Tosun
He simply has to start.
We’ve gone far too long without a proper Romelu Lukaku replacement and if everything is to be believed, Tosun is the man.
With service from Sigurdsson, we could be looking at a real hit, judging on his goal record also.