Well, it’s international break time…again.
Just what our players needed in an already-congested season that has been squashed together so tightly that some legs are already starting to buckle.
At least the officials have taken the sensible decision to keep the 5-subs rule in place to help a little. What do you mean, “Oh no they haven’t”? It’s not panto season JUST yet.
So, I just thought I’d have a little play and imagine that we have all players fit; seeing what, in my opinion, our strongest formations would look like…with a little, “what if” at the end.
The standard…‘ish.
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (3-6-1):
____________________Aguero____________________
__Sterling_______________________________Silva__
_____________Foden_______De Bruyne___________
____________________Rodri_____________________
Ake_____________________________________Walker
____________Laporte________Dias________________
___________________Ederson___________________
Subs: Steffen, Cancelo, Stones, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Torres, Jesus.
This, I think, is pretty much what we see from Pep in most ‘starting 11s’. It is, as is always the case with Guardiola’s side, a very fluid 11…hence the rather long-sounding formations that I’ve used as the header.
And, for anyone who might wonder what the bracketed formation is all about, whenever our manager wants to switch it up an attacking gear and really push the wingbacks on; this formation gives him / us the option of then-dropping Rodders back as a 3rd, central defender in-between Aymeric & Ruben. I think it’s a system that works well, for the most part, and this is my personal strongest 11 in it.
I think a lot of City fans would question my inclusion of Nathan as our left-wing back; possibly pointing out the fact that he’s not the kind of raiding left-wing back we otherwise have at the club. I get that.
But for me, until we get someone in that position who can do both jobs equally well, or there abouts, then I believe that for a left-wing back, defence has to be the main priority in that role. That’s what I’d be asking for if I was manager.
This, I believe, is the strongest defence we can muster.
Notable losers / absentees?
- In a fully-fit squad scenario such as this, Benjamin Mendy gets no-where near my match-day squad.
- The afore mentioned Joao, who has looked better in recent games even in his less-favourable left-hand-side-role, drops to the bench. But for me, and like Benjamin, he’s basically a secondary winger with instructions to defend whenever possible and that shifts Nathan ahead of him ‘in my approach’.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko, under my reign, would probably reaffirm his desire to move on soon to get more ‘game time’ elsewhere. I like him but with his more-natural position of left-sided midfield / left wing being occupied by such talent; he’s just not going to get in my match-day squad when everyone is fully fit and otherwise available. I like the fact that he’s adapted quite well to the left-wing back position and thankfully he was able to do that! But he’s just not ‘quite there’ and he’d be better, I think, giving his talents to another club who, I’m sure, would appreciate him even more.
- Ilkay, at the moment and in good form, might feel a little aggrieved being on the bench if I was ‘the boss’. But I just think that with a run of games in partnership with Kevin [rather than being in & out of ‘the 11’] that Phil will get better & better alongside De Bruyne and in his far-more-dangerous, central midfield role. An ‘on fire Phil’, at least, gives us SO much energy, pace and attacking threat that I just can’t find it within myself to leave him out of this one.
- Fans of Riyad aren’t going to be happy with me at all! For me, Bernardo gets ahead of the Algerian every-single time! With his erratic form that often includes ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ performances even during the 90-minutes of a match, Mahrez probably makes a far better bench-game-changer anyway and if it wasn’t for the recent signing of Ferran Torres; he would make my 7 on the side. However, I just look at the still-slightly-raw talent of Ferran and his excites me more. I get the feeling that one of the first to come knocking on my office door would be a certain Mr Mahrez…
- Gabriel, who might spend some of his time on the side Googling Sergio’s age.
- And…no Academy players, aside from Phil of course.
The defensive posture…
Fluid 4-6-0 / 4-2-3-1 / 3-7-0:
______________________________________________
_____________________Jesus____________________
__Sterling _______________________________Silva__
___________________De Bruyne__________________
___________Gundogan_______Rodri______________
Cancelo__________________________________Walker
____________Laporte_________Dias______________
___________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Steffen, Ake, Stones, Fernandinho, Foden, Torres, Aguero.
Not often…but Pep has gone with something like this from time to time. Indeed, as far as putting in 2 defence-minded midfielders, he did so in our last outing v Liverpool.
But he has also been known for using a ‘false number 9’ too; preferring to have more players marauding from deep and I believe that these personnel would be better suited to it.
Notable losers / absentees?
Once explained, I don’t think Phil would have much of an issue stepping aside so that this formation can be deployed whenever necessary and likewise, Nathan. However…
- …I’m not sure defensive midfielder, Fernandinho, would be very happy with me; especially as he is now our new Skipper! But I just think that, alongside Rodders who I know some fans have question marks about; Ilkay gives us a bit more mobility and would link-up better with the more advanced midfielders / wingers. I really like Fernandinho and I most-certainly give him the award for the most improved player [over the years] of the current squad. But he’s 35-½ years of age now and although, sometimes, he surprises me with strong-looking, energetic performances; I can also, all-too-often, see that his legs just won’t allow him to keep up with younger, pacier attackers. It’s a player / teammate choice, of course, but I did question the decision making in my own head when the Brazilian was chosen to be our new Captain; when it was likely that he’d be spending at least half the season not-actually on the pitch.
- Sergio might disagree with me but, in this formation, I just think Gabriel ‘has the legs’ and has more fluidity for this formation. That’s why the Argentine has to take a seat on the side for this one.
ATACK!
4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Aguero____________________
Sterling__________________________________Torres
_________Foden____De Bruyne____Silva___________
Ake_____________________________________Walker
____________Laporte_________Dias_______________
___________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Steffen, Cancelo, Stones, Fernandinho, Rodri, Mahrez, Jesus.
You might score, but we’ll score a lot more.
Imagine if our manager - who isn’t someone who doesn’t like to attack, of course - was to be SO bold as to go with something like this?!
There’s no fluidity about this one – it’s a straight-forward, attacking 5 behind 1 striker or, in other words, 6 players out of the 11 whose sole purpose is to aim for the opposition’s goal!
It’s got energy aplenty too from the 5 behind our all-time goal-scorer so, for me, there’s enough ‘in there’ to retrieve the ball from our opponents.
This is where my management style and Pep’s would differ and is why, I think, we’ll never see anything like this from the Spaniard, as the wing-backs would have to largely stay as defenders. Well…you can’t have all that attacking flare on the pitch and not ask your defenders to ‘stay put’ and defend, can you?
I really like the look of this 11 & formation and with the season the way it has largely been so far, then…WHY NOT?!
Notable losers / absentees?
- All the defensive midfielders. At least Fernandinho & Rodri get on the bench for when we finally take our foot off the accelerator and, “defend”, our 8-1 lead but Ilkay doesn’t even make the bench for this one. It’s only because Fernandinho, for all I’ve said about the veteran midfielder, is more defensive than the German and that might be needed at some point in this-particular scenario should we look too exposed. Riyad, on the other hand, IS in ‘the 7’ and I’ve done that simply for a different attacking option; should an attacking style-change be needed at some point.
Biggest winners across all formations / 100% inclusion?
· Ederson
· Aymeric Laporte
· Ruben Dias
· Kyle Walker
· Kevin De Bruyne
· Bernardo Silva
· Raheem Sterling
Big inclusion also from…
- Nathan Ake
- Rodri
- Phil Foden
- Ferran Torres
- Sergio Aguero
I think that shows who our core players are at the moment, from my perspective at least.
And, lastly…
…what we might look like if we were to sign 2 players in January who, once again, have been linked with us in recent days; including the survivors & victims in our squad in ‘my world’ should that happen.
Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Aguero____________________
__Sterling_______________________________Messi__
___________De Bruyne_______Silva_______________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Alaba____________________________________Walker
____________Laporte__________Dias_______________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Steffen, Ake, Stones, Fernandinho, Foden, Torres,
Jesus.
New left-wing back, new right-sided attacker. Now that improves us a lot!
But there would be some upset players too, as notable absences come in the form of…
- Joao Cancelo, who wouldn’t even make my bench in this line-up / scenario.
- Benjamin Mendy, of course.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko.
- Ilkay Gundogan, as I would put Fernandinho on the bench as direct cover-replacement for Rodri at the moment in this scenario and despite Ilkay’s good form.
- Phil Foden moves to the side who, in my rankings, falls just behind Bernardo Silva at the moment.
- Riyad Mahrez who, for me, would be now 4th choice on the right-hand-side behind Messi, Torres & Silva.
- Torres himself takes a step back to allow the, now-ex-Barcelona man, in.
- Gabriel Jesus cements his customary position on the bench.
- All Academy players apart from Phil.
Don’t forget, this is ‘everyone fit’ and so, of course, others would get their chance at some stage over a long & busy season…
I quite enjoyed that.
Thank you for taking the time to read and, as always, I would appreciate any constructive comments / opinions.
Take care and I’m hoping to be back with a pre-Spurs blog-posting next week.
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| Lionel Messi |
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