sam the drummer said:
Will Boateng definitely be back? What about Bridge?
-------------Hart----------------
-Boateng--Toure--Kompany--Lescott-
---------Yaya---Barry-----------
-Johnson-----Silva------Milner----
-----------Tevez----------------
Almost, Tevez dropping back into the space occupied by Silva is something I would worry about. So assuming Boetang is fit, and based on what we have seen so far - I'd like to see this......
--------------Hart----------------
-Boateng--Toure--Kompany--Lescott-
-----Yaya----Milner---Barry-----------
--Johnson----------------Silva----
--------------Tevez----------------
I don't think it really matters
too much how the midfield 3 line up, but I would say it should be as a 3, rather than the 2 at the base that we have seen up to now.
If Mancini is serious about Silva needing time to adjust to the English game, the same should apply to YaYa Toure. I'd be happy to start mad dawg nigel in there at his expense for now. Yaya has shown a nice range of passing, a surprising burst of pace and an ability to be part of the short sharp passing triangles that Mancini wants. On the down side he has also displayed a tendancy to go missing at times as the game passes him by, and he has started both home games like an asthmatic ant.
Milner got a bit too cute at times in the 2nd half yesterday, but over the piece, he has been the most impressive of the midfielders, I'd let him play centrally, confident in the knowledge he has the smarts and pace to burst beyond Tevez.
Let Silva loose now, but let him loose from the left flank, the position he most regularly has stood out at for both Valencia and Spain.
The 4-
2-3-1 bit of the formation worked wonders against Liverpool, but not against Sunderland (I'm talking balance of play in the 2nd half) or Blackburn (parked the bus then kicked the passengers). We should see a lot of the ball in this game, so the danger is we end up one-paced when in position again.