Wanderer and Mancio know their football. Understanding City's problem strictly in terms of Formation, is quite frankly elementary.
1) The "we need width" crew don't get it. Speed of play will improve with time, and not a change of formation.
2) We don't need world class players in every position
3) Adam Johnson does not improve wide play. Frankly he seldom crosses the ball in. So I don't get the clamor for his inclusion.
4) Silva wide, reduces his effectiveness (which is his decision making and speed at which he does it)
5) Tevez's selfishness is a big part of why we fail to break teams down.
6) Kolo Toure's decisions in the back is the second biggest problem we have after Tevez's selfishness. He holds on to the ball pretending he is looking for someone to move, and often gets into trouble, or ending up hoofing it. A smart defender should release the ball quickly to the midfielders coz they are the ones with the better passing and decision making skills.
7) Gelling will make us a better team longterm.
And finally, in my opinion
Tevez, Kolo Toure and Barry probably need to go. We need players who make quicker decisions on the ball. These 3 don't. Neither does Adam Johnson, but since he is a bench player, it is okay. But for a starter, you just can't be that poor with your decision making. Tevez gets away with it because of his skill, but overall it kills our attacking instincts. Kolo Toure makes it hard on himself, and his teammates when he dallies on the ball. As the other team close out his options forcing him to hoof or force a bad pass.
Barry isn't as bad as the above 2, but his decisions are not great, and sadly we already have one CM in De Jong who is also limited. Having 2 of them, reduces the intelligence and attack mindedness that differentiates the good teams from the great ones. De Jong we can accommodate for what he brings defensively, but Barry is more a jack of all trades and master of none. Kinda like Zabaletta, and he too should be a backup.
Thus
............................Hart..................................
Boateng......Kompany.........?..............Kolarov
...........................De Jong....................................
..............Yaya..............................?......................
................................Silva...................................
...................Dzeko................?............................
This is how I presently see our team and its needs in the first 11. Now none of the players in the "question mark" have to be great individual players, just good team players, and we will be golden.
And if the current players can adjust and become better team players, then great
