Haha. All your points are pretty bang on.

I'll dwell on the Edouard.

PV wants them to work harder. Pretty sure he's said that more than once.

It is worth remembering he has won a World Cup, Premier League more than once, Euros and all that other great stuff. He knows the standard required to be elite level. Our players, frankly - as promising and well-intentioned they are - do not.

I get the impression Zaha had a bit of a kick up the arse, maybe some tough talking from a former footballer with a better playing CV. Zaha has never played for a manager, or with players, who were better than him. I know he gets a lot of stick these days, but I think he's been effective lately, as if a penny has dropped. The flaws will never go away, but the focus can sharpen, and with that, greater output.

Perhaps Edouard is in that place on the naughty step right now. A place of tough love. He's simply not doing what the manager wants, even if we cant quite see what those faults specifically are. When he fixes whatever that issue is, he will be back.

Eze I am worried about. I don't recall a hint of anything from him. I miss the effortless glide he had in him, the perfect balance, the Pacman-esg float through the lines of midfield. Hopefully it's just natural that he's still on a long journey back. Hopefully he just needs time.

Maybe next season will be his year. With Gallagher gone, and Ayew likely phased out - a la Benteke & Milivojevic - the midfield will need to be adjusted with a vacancy or two on offer. We used to be told from QPR that he was better centrally. Maybe there's a way that we can still have stability in midfield, with Zaha left, Olise right, and Eze central. Perhaps Hughes and Kouyaté behind, or maybe a youthful Vieira reincarnation.

But unless he can find his spark, Eze won't be in the 11.

Sometimes you can have too many options and that can lead to appearing indecisive.
I was reading an interview with Gerrard, who has just restored Ings to the team at the expense of the talented Buendia.
He talked of the problems of trying to pair Ings with Watkins, and the need to adapt tactics and change shape on a game by game basis.
Traore was frequently left out at Wolves prior to his move to Barcelona.
The old adage of never change a winning team has all but disappeared with managers attempting to utilise bloated squads and outfox opposition coaches with unexpected selections.
The days of Arsenal or Liverpool winning the league using only 15 players over the course of a season are gone.
I think we’ll see Vieira continue to shuffle the pack in attacking areas with only Zaha as an almost certain starter.

At least we’ve got a pack to shuffle now. We were only saying the other night, our bench always looks really strong these days, where as the last few seasons, once you get passed the eleven on the pitch, we didn’t have a lot else, we’ve got a bit of strength in depth now

I'm surprised you didn't tell us about when Villa won the league with 14 players.

Red and Blue Army!

Eamon "Chic" Deacy was a regular here - until his recent demise. A local footballing hero. [Link]

Red and Blue Army!