BillyShears said:
JoeMercer'sWay said:
I think having a degree of flexibility is important however I don't think we can do that with such a dearth of quality as back-up(ie. Jo, SWP). I think 1 more central midfielder will open that up, and you have to remember our midfield back-up is Vieira, and MJ can't be relied on, so I really think we do need another midfielder regardless, but I'd rather see Barry and Milner become squad players where they may become more effective, than having to be relied on week in, week out.
Silva drifts like mad anyway, so where you stick him on a teamsheet doesn't really seem to mean much to him. However I think if you stuck Silva as the 3rd middle man with 2 behind you will a) lose Yaya's offensive ability, which I think no other team in the league can cope with and b) Silva won't be as strong defensively, and I think we'd lose shape and balance to the team.
It's interesting, I still believe we're one summer away from having a properly balanced squad.
I also believe AJ needs to do something to please Mancini and win his trust back, because something's not right there.
I see totally where you're coming from. The one place where I do disagree is on how best to use Silva. I'm absolutely convinced that if we want to get the best out of him, then he should be playing the role which Yaya places. I understand that Yaya's brute force has been a great asset in recent weeks, but Silva would create the same space in a totally different way. By allowing him to play that position, it means that when we do look to break, he will be the furthest forward central midfield player, and will have three attacking players to service - rather than the two he currently ends up trying to supply. It would also prevent the dire lack of width which we currently end up with because Silva is constantly drifting inside from his wide starting position.
I suppose it's why Mancini feels fullbacks are so important in his formation - because by playing SIlva one wing will inevitably have a massive hole in it when we attack...
I think we're going a bit off the point of the thread though. In terms of pace in the wide areas, we are severely lacking. When you look at top top clubs around Europe they have, all of them, at least two attacking players with blistering pace they can call upon...
I also see where you are coming from, but If we look at the top clubs you'll notice that Mancini's style isn't too dissimilar.
Barca-Pedro, Villa, Messi, all interchangeable, all cut inside, width mainly given by fullbacks, especially Dani Alves, but all able to beat fullbacks and jink past defenders.
Real-Ronaldo, Higuain, Ozil and Di Maria. Higuain figurehead, Ronaldo off the left, Ozil central and Di Maria right, they all interchange, all quick enough to beat their man but all more importantly skillful enough to beat their man.
Bayern-Gomez, Muller, Robben, Ribery. Again wingers who cut inside and pacy enough.
They're just a couple of examples. I get your point, but all our first choice attackers(Silva, Balotelli, Tevez) can interchange, beat their man and get those extra couple of yards, sometimes you don't need pure pace, just the ability to get a couple of yards on your marker.
Where I see an issue is bringing players to suit your system, because we won't take a risk on Ribery or Robben and other wingers who we could entice either aren't really proven at a top level or flexible enough, unless you have any concrete ideas?
The key for me is turning a bench of Vieira, SWP, Jo, Bridge, Lescott into a bench of Kolo/Luiz(young top class CB), new LB, one of the front 4 if we include Dzeko, Milner, Barry.
