Season 23 Week 11 processing...

Welcome everybody to the mid point of the season, week 11.

Jamie's Schlake orders are first out of the bag today.

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the starting lineup as does Xavi and Jamie looks to offload a few interesting players including the Bender brothers.

Rich's Leicester are next up and a huge signing for him this week as he agrees to take Eden Hazard on loan from Real Madrid for the rest of the season and if that goes through then it will be a huge deal for all the Leicester fans.

Matt's Barcelona are next and it looks like Barca may be thinking about signing a certain Belgian centre back at some time in the future, with a scout dispatched to London this week.

Rob's Inter Milan are next with a swap deal slated for later this week that could see M'Baye Niang moving to Inter and Javier Pastore going to Feyenoord.

a few interesting moves this week... dont think anyone can say that the transfer market is stagnant anymore

Rich's Birmingham are next and it's all change at Brum this week as Rich switches to a rather unusual 442 fast tactic with Van Persie leading the line.

Thanks for the Fanzine Rich I will enjoy reading that later.

Ben's Plymouth are next with Anleka recalled to the side in place of Ireland and Aguero on the bench for the first time as Plymouth go back to three up front this week. Looks like Hitzisperger is surplus to requirements and is listed at £6millions.

And Lyon make a substantial investment in trying to win the race to sign Arouca from Santos.

didnt think you could play 442 fast?. Unless its BW, AM, DL, DR, TM, ST... is that possible Paul?, if it is I like it!

nice to see that Dan back at Plymouth again this week... thats two weeks running... mind you, doesnt surprise me that Ben has quit...obviously the Plymouth fans hounded him out after the Rooney deal..

Tom's Charlton are next, with a few changes to the side this week for the game at home to Watford, with Sturridge in for Shawcross as Charlton too return to a front three in an attempt to pierce Watford's sturdy defence.

Rich@Leicester wrote:

nice to see that Dan back at Plymouth again this week... thats two weeks running... mind you, doesnt surprise me that Ben has quit...obviously the Plymouth fans hounded him out after the Rooney deal..

Have had to hire security guards to keep the baying Plymouth fans off my back. Changing my name to Dan has also helped throw them off the scent!

Rich@Leicester wrote:

didnt think you could play 442 fast?. Unless its BW, AM, DL, DR, TM, ST... is that possible Paul?, if it is I like it!

each of the tactical systems has an optimal setup and optimally FAS is a 433 formation that develops the ball quickly from back to front up the middle of the park. The typical flow would be GK -> CB -> AM -> TM. If you place other players on the pitch then the flow can be slowed down, so playing AM and PM will slow play down and turns FAS into MIX really cos the flow is now GK CB AM PM TM so it takes longer to develop attacks and you lose the advantage of playing FAS over playing MIX. But if you swap your AM for a PM then you keep the speedy flow of FAS but lose the defensive qualities of your AM and you put in a PM who may well do his own thing as he would in MIX. This is the playmaker's role, to control the flow of the ball and try to optimise who gets possession.

So yes you can play these unorthodox systems and the success or failure of them depends entirely on the players you select.

Phil's Arsenal are next with the Gunners moving to the fast tactic this week for their game at Maine Road, where Wayne Rooney will get the chance to inflict more damage on Man City this season. He'll be joined in attack by Fernando Torres so City's weak defence could be in for a torrid afternoon. Looks like Maine Road may be the place to be today for goals. Gael Givet is listed.

Quite a few bids already for Mohamed Diame.

Iain's Real Madrid are next with Messi returning to take David Silva's targetman role despite Silva's hatful of goals recently, he drops to dynamo, and Falcao makes his debut up top where he will partner Benzema for Real's game at Sociedad.

Looks like Hazard will be joining Leicester later in the week and David De Gea will be joining Lyon on loan as well.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Rich's Birmingham are next and it's all change at Brum this week as Rich switches to a rather unusual 442 fast tactic with Van Persie leading the line.

Thanks for the Fanzine Rich I will enjoy reading that later.

Get the new issue today, should be interesting, updates on Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Rooney(who is learning French, make of that what you will) and Mourinho.

A few people chasing Kondogbia this week despite the fact that he signed for Boca last week.

Rich@Birmingham wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Rich's Birmingham are next and it's all change at Brum this week as Rich switches to a rather unusual 442 fast tactic with Van Persie leading the line.

Thanks for the Fanzine Rich I will enjoy reading that later.

Get the new issue today, should be interesting, updates on Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Rooney(who is learning French, make of that what you will) and Mourinho.

I can see why you would want to sign Lewandowski he seems a good prospect but why would you sell Rooney ? surely he is still your best player ?

Will's Fulham are next with Super Mario set to partner Andy Carroll up front in the absense of the injured Robben for the game at Blackburn.

Feyenoord confirm the Pastore Niang deal.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Rich@Birmingham wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Rich's Birmingham are next and it's all change at Brum this week as Rich switches to a rather unusual 442 fast tactic with Van Persie leading the line.

Thanks for the Fanzine Rich I will enjoy reading that later.

Get the new issue today, should be interesting, updates on Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Rooney(who is learning French, make of that what you will) and Mourinho.

I can see why you would want to sign Lewandowski he seems a good prospect but why would you sell Rooney ? surely he is still your best player ?

Personally I think he'll sign a new deal but if he doesn't then this summer is the time to sell to maximise the fee we'd get.

Wayne Rooney goes missing against the very best. Discuss.

Yet he's still the best player I've ever seen live.

Jamie's Watford are next and with a huge game at Charlton to look forward too, Jamie has made a few team changes. Three changes are enforced following injuries to Enrique, Garcia and McGeady so in come Traore, Jones and Diaby and i'm excited to see Phil Jones get a game. Ba drops to the bench as Watford go with one upfront and Dembele and Diaby on the flanks. This should be a cracking game and i'm excited to see how it pans out later.

No orders this week from Mark's Newcastle or Gazza's Chelsea. Still time for the postman to deliver them though, although Mark seems to be very busy still, so i'm not expecting any orders from him.

Right i'm going to start processing the dealings now.