My thoughts on Yaya -
Yaya has been exceptional over the last two seasons, not for the highlight reel moments, but for his ability to be the controller of the side. Even last season, despite not hitting the heights of 11/12, his role changed slightly and his authority in the game became even more prominent. Yaya is our midfield, Barry, too, has been exceptional, especially in 12/13, but without Yaya we'd crumble, not defensively, not offensively, but in terms of making the transition between defence and attack.
Yaya is the man who comfortably receives the ball with his back to play, which is vital when trying to build from the back. You'll notice that when Barry and Garcia are the midfield pairing we struggle to build properly, because when the CBs play the ball forward neither of the aforementioned midfielders want to receive the ball with their back to play and take a risk, they'll usually just keep the ball moving, usually back to the man who played it. With Yaya, it's different, he's a genuine controller, he has the ability to turn on the ball and play a decisive pass between the lines in the blink of an eye. That's so crucial, the modern day 'controller' is a vital player in every top side in Europe, and Yaya is ours. The vision and execution in his passing is what makes him so key to the side, and he cannot be replaced by any other player in our squad.
For me, he's not under pressure. Pellegrini will be fully aware of what he does for the side, and he'll know that a Yaya--Fernandinho double pivot is the way forward for our side, it's perfectly balanced, and even if Yaya does slowly decline and lose his legs, his role as the controller will still be relevant, there are so many great controllers in world football who are much more immobile than Yaya (see Xavi & Pirlo). Sure, we won't see as many of the surges forward or the ferocious tussles in midfield, but we'll still have one of the world's best midfielders on our hands.
As much as it pains me to say it, if we're using a proactive approach I think we could really do with signing Gundogan next season, he's the perfect replacement for Yaya. Sell Yaya to Monaco, pocket £30m, then replace him with Gundogan. It'll kill me to see Yaya leave the club, but I think it'd be best for the club if we cash in on him at the end of next season and look towards the future, before the future signs for somebody else.
-- Thu Jul 18, 2013 2:00 pm --
My thoughts on Navas' use and impact on the side -
So much hype surrounding this guy entirely based upon a couple of five minute cameos at a friendly tournament. "We need width in our team", erm no, that's what Zabaleta is there for, essentially because our wide players play as 'interiores' and allow us to control possession in the opponent's third. If we play touchline hugging players like Navas, it restricts our ability to hold the ball in central areas and renders both his and Zabaleta's roles useless.
Hypothetically, if we took the same 4231 team that we had last season with Aguero as a lone forward and Tevez in behind, but played Navas RW instead of Silva/Milner, this guy would not have made a difference. He can beat a man and cross, so what? We never have anybody in the box to cross to.
However, I'm a big fan of variety in a side, and this man adds something different to the squad, but let's not pretend that the touchline hugging winger is what this side has been lacking in the past. What we've lacked is quick transitions and penetration when camped in the opponent's third, and the only reason we lacked penetration is because we were so slow to move the ball that the opponent had time to park a 10 man brick wall in front of us. Pellegrini needs to inject pace into our transitions, and that's where Navas (and Fernandinho) can help us.
