I really do not think it's an absurd thing to consider a 4-4-2 type formation or its similar variants. Yes we loathed the way we used Dzeko and Aguero in many games where we should have been tighter in midfield but we also saw the way Negredo and Aguero tore the EPL to shreds together. So in my opinion, the deciding factor whether it would work or not is the personnel available for this system. Moreover, as exciting as our attack is right now, we have only managed 60 odd goals so far whilst we scored over 100 in 2013/14 largely because we had 2 upfront. Defence was nothing special but we outscored everyone and went ahead to win. I know Jesus was not involved for much of the campaign but are we saying we should go into a new season without making provision for injuries or whatever it is that could make us loose the services of any one key player in that attacking line? I know that 2 attackers this summer is a bit of a stretch considering that we have other areas that need urgent fixing and the fact that we have world class mids who would be made redundant should we sign 2 forwards, but we need one more attacker in our starting 11.
Maldeika's post below highlights the reason why Silva is not Alcantara (not in terms of ability but function) and so for the sake of balance and the need to play to our strenghts, I wouldn't recommend a 4-4-2 type system not because it's bad but for the reasons given above
Of course it's possible to use 442 & with the right signinsg, it would be easy to adapt this squad to play it. Even under Pep, I could imagine for instance, if Unal had a good pre season, Pep thinking he could sometimes switch to a kind of 442 with him involved & I could imagine it being a real threat to play against.
But this is the transfer forum & half the talk on it, is about signing players then finding ways to shoehorn them into bizarre, unlikely formations, with everyone playing out of position, (unlikely includes 442 if you are Guardiola) & it's as if Manuel Pellegrini has come back.
This window surely, at last, we will at least try to sign players who actually fit into a plan for a balanced team formation, not so we can play wingers at fullback & have one player in midfield & an army of strikers.
If we sign two attackers, one will surely be to replace Aguero should he leave. The other requirement, I would imagine, is an alternative to Sane & Sterling, should they lose form or get injured (we don't want Navas there).
I would imagine if we sign Mbappe, it's simply because we want that player, come what may, & not as a plan to shoehorn him into a team. Then we will be looking to move someone on, to balance it, not play all of them in the same team.
