Our strongest 11 now we know our squad.

[Shane]

Surely we don’t need 6 midfielders in the match day squad? 

 

Skipp, Soumare, James, Ramsey, Page, Winks and we’ll have Hamza who can play there as well. 
 

Edited 2 September 2025 by Shane

[pmcla26]

2 minutes ago, Shane said:

Surely we don’t need 4 CM’s in the match day squad? Three of Skipp, Soumare, James & Winks should be enough and you have Page/Hamza who can play there as well. 

I;d rather have all 4. Soumare and Winks are playing for the same position/role and Skipp/James are playing for the other one. 

[The boy Linacre]

Its been said above but those insitu in the squad, need to decide what they want their next year/season to be.  Do they want to play and be committed or sit on their arses for the next 9 months, choice is theirs?

Best available possible team

                          Stolarcyk

Ricardo  Faes  Vestergaard  Thomas

                James  Winks

           Fatawu  Ramsey  Mavididi

                          Carranza

 

Hamza has been decent at right back this season, Okoli & Nelson can be relied on, like to see what VK has to offer again, at this level

He's pinned his colours on Soumare a bit, so he may be guaranteed a run, and has been better,

Monga absolutely impact 30 mins sub, and Daka gives you work rate and press last 20-30, Ayew has some quality and experience

 

So there is depth and that was crucial 2 years ago, better teams had subs that could be brought on that keep the level high/changed the game

 

[MaidstoneFox]

21 minutes ago, PaulW said:

Ao you would havw been happy with no signings then, and a few more out of the door as well?

I would have been happier with more sales, a few more on loan and a couple more coming in.

[Shane]

I hope Silko Thomas keeps his place on the bench. He’s looked decent in his cameos, good work rate off the ball and is quick and direct.

 

Edited 2 September 2025 by Shane

[STUHILL]

44 minutes ago, MancFox24 said:

If Faes doesn't go, he has to start.

Unpopular opinion, that I totally agree with. 
He is less exposed defensively at this level, and adds more in attack than our other options. 
 

I also think Winks should start too, if he is over his sulk and motivated to play his way into a good move in the next window or summer.

[Merchant_Banker]

3 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

Unpopular opinion, that I totally agree with. 
He is less exposed defensively at this level, and adds more in attack than our other options. 
 

I also think Winks should start too, if he is over his sulk and motivated to play his way into a good move in the next window or summer.

He hasn't started the last couple of games, so I am not sure the manager will change his mind. He may prefer Faes if he believes Vestergaard's lack of pace will be an issue, but probably on a game by game basis.

[jamfox]

1 hour ago, Scotch said:

I think a lot will depend on Winks and Faes and whether or not their attitude changes now the window has closed. There is no doubt that they are two of our better players in those respective positions but it will all depend on how they apply themselves. 

 

One is out of contract next year and will need to play for a decent move and the other has a WC squad to try and get into. 

 Faes , did got the hump when he got booed ( walking on!)  but he has since them got on with it, played well and celebrated with passion.  

[STUHILL]

2 hours ago, Merchant_Banker said:

He hasn't started the last couple of games, so I am not sure the manager will change his mind. He may prefer Faes if he believes Vestergaard's lack of pace will be an issue, but probably on a game by game basis.

He didn’t start due to his future being uncertain imo. The same with Winks. The Manager would have seen that both he and Winks had positive impacts from the bench. 
Unless either are keen on a move to Turkey or Saudi, then I suspect we may see them starting games soon. 

[Merchant_Banker]

1 minute ago, STUHILL said:

He didn’t start due to his future being uncertain imo. The same with Winks. The Manager would have seen that both he and Winks had positive impacts from the bench. 
Unless either are keen on a move to Turkey or Saudi, then I suspect we may see them starting games soon. 

I wouldn't be surprised either. I think having James in providing the energy and aggression in midfield would allow Winks more time to play his passing game, although Cifuentes does seem to like Soumare at the moment.

[jayfox26]

4 hours ago, Shane said:

I hope Silko Thomas keeps his place on the bench. He’s looked decent in his cameos, good work rate off the ball and is quick and direct.

 

Can't see it. We've added Carranza and Ramsey now into the attacking areas plus we have BDCR to come back and as much as he's not particularly rated by the fans, I'd imagine he's more likely to be on the bench than Silko. We probably should have loaned him out again 

[davieG]

I can't see any of the 3 additions starting against Oxford subbed on yeah but not straight in.

[Merchant_Banker]

Just now, davieG said:

I can't see any of the 3 additions starting against Oxford subbed on yeah but not straight in.

11 days to work with the majority of the squad should be enough. For me James starts and possibly Ramsey, Ayew might start over Carranza. Given that Ramsey is still coming back from injury I hope that Page will still get plenty of miutes.

[Stadt]

Stolarcyzk

 

Ricardo

Okoli

Nelson (by the the end of the season)

Thomas

 

Skipp

James

 

Monga (by the end of the season)

Ramsey

Fatawu

 

Carranza

[davieG]

3 minutes ago, Merchant_Banker said:

11 days to work with the majority of the squad should be enough. For me James starts and possibly Ramsey, Ayew might start over Carranza. Given that Ramsey is still coming back from injury I hope that Page will still get plenty of miutes.

I think he may want to stick to the team that have won the last 2 games without conceding, credit where credit is due unless there's a tactical reason for change but as it's Oxford who are on 4 0 1 3  @ 4-7 GD I shouldn't think he'd need to change tactics.

[Twitcher]

Impossible to say. They could be three shockers. Let's face it, it's happened before.

[DJW1]

15 hours ago, jayfox26 said:

Assuming everyone is fit, what do we think is our strongest 11 this season? I'd say certain positions are nailed on when fit, like Stolarczyk, Fatawu, Ricardo but it could be argued every other position is up for grabs. Of course with the amount of games we'll have, the team will change slightly from game to game.

 

For me using Marti's 4-2-3-1

 

Stolarczyk,.Ricardo, Okoli, Vestergaard, Thomas, James, Soumare, Ramsey, Fatawu, Mavididi, Carranza (hoping he's good as we don't want.Daka or Ayew starting regularly). 

 

Next 11 Begovic, Hamza, Nelson, Faes, kristiansen Winks, Skipp, Page, Ayew, Monga, Daka

 

I've gone with Mavi as starter over Monga as I feel Monga can offer so much more off the bench against tiring defences as we saw against Birmingham. Winks could be a challenge for Soumare if he gets his head sorted and gives his all. Same could also be said for Faes as we know he's good at this level but his relationship with the fans seems an issue. 

Your second XI is a decent team at this level, except for Daka. We have depth in the squad but I'm not sure we have sufficient quality to go up

[FoxesFan100]

7 hours ago, EnderbyFox said:

 

Monga has been class as a super sub so far so i'd probably go with this. 

This is the team I’d go with too, I think this is the starting lineup for Oxford (assuming all are fit). 

 

Possibly Hamza for Ricardo, still think he’ll need a bit more time to be fully fit. 

[jayfox26]

10 minutes ago, DJW1 said:

Your second XI is a decent team at this level, except for Daka. We have depth in the squad but I'm not sure we have sufficient quality to go up

I think as a fanbase, we are understandably cautious as things haven't been great for us recently but the standard in the championship genuinely is pretty poor. The biggest concern is striker and we are all hoping carranza turns out well as we know Daka and Ayew won't be scoring loads. We do have plenty of goals in the team though and I'd expect Fatawu, Mavididi and James to score a fair few so rather than us relying on one player to score 20 plus, I'd imagine the goals will get shared across the team.

[whoareyaaa]

6 hours ago, Shane said:

Surely we don’t need 6 midfielders in the match day squad? 

 

Skipp, Soumare, James, Ramsey, Page, Winks and we’ll have Hamza who can play there as well. 
 

3 will more than likely start though. so not that bad ? 

 

We are not aware of what's happening with Winks either... I think Hamza is now a RB with Ricardo.

Edited 2 September 2025 by whoareyaaa

[whoareyaaa]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

I can't see any of the 3 additions starting against Oxford subbed on yeah but not straight in.

James or Ramsey may start over Page, Carrzana over Ayew although more likely sub him on and Ayew starts.

Edited 2 September 2025 by whoareyaaa

[whoareyaaa]

7 hours ago, EnderbyFox said:

 

Monga has been class as a super sub so far so i'd probably go with this. 

Like the look of that.

[Scotch]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

I can't see any of the 3 additions starting against Oxford subbed on yeah but not straight in.

The fact the game is almost 2 weeks away, I don't think that will matter. Maybe for James who will be away with Wales. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

58 minutes ago, Twitcher said:

Impossible to say. They could be three shockers. Let's face it, it's happened before.

2 of them have had decent spells already in this league despite their age. Carranza is the biggest risk. 

[davieG]

1 minute ago, Scotch said:

The fact the game is almost 2 weeks away, I don't think that will matter. Maybe for James who will be away with Wales. 

I'm thinking more about the players who have won the last to games giving their all to keep a clean sheet as well as a win. Do they deserve to be replaced straight off?