…versus a team eager to put behind them the injustice of having-to-have-shared points with an undeserved Everton side last Monday.
Should make for a good Premier League clash at a compact ground!
Is our formation hurting us?
Regular readers will know that I have
raised an uncertain eyebrow in recent weeks / postings about Pep’s decision to go with 3 central defenders and
2 wingbacks. My biggest gripe is that it often leaves very attacking talent in
the form of Leroy Sane, Bernardo Silva and Raheem
Sterling on the bench…and that’s before the return of Ilkay Gundogan or
any possible signing of Alexis Sanchez or
similar-attacking player by the end of the summer transfer window!
And I know we have Benjamin
Mendy close to a return – a perfect player for this system I
would think – but in the meantime, Danilo
didn’t exactly look too comfortable going forward on the left in our first game
at Brighton and so for our home game opener;
our manager tried, as he did against West Ham in
pre-season, to use the attacking talent of Leroy Sane in a wing-back role. As
it did against The Hammers, it largely failed again against The Toffees…
I certainly don’t HATE 3-5-2 /
3-5-1-1 and, in fact, I think we do look very comfortable and very much ‘in
control’.
But not only do I think that the system shackles some of our attacking wingers when asked to perform the
half-defensive wing role (when they’re not sat on the bench that is) but in
some ways, we have 6 defenders on the pitch; when you consider the role Fernandinho is
being asked to play in-between the 3 central defenders and the 2, more advanced
midfielders.
And there’s another point. Why has
pre-season-impressive Yaya Toure been on the bench and not, instead, spraying
pinpoint-accurate balls around to his colleagues; as he is, in general, more on the ‘front foot’
than Fernandinho often is (no detriment meant towards the Brazilian
whatsoever)?
I
dunno…there’s a very long season ahead, of course, with 2 very talented players
yet to come into the reckoning. But it just doesn’t feel quite right at the moment…and that’s despite a very professional
‘job done’ at the Amex Stadium and another dominating and very high-spirited
performance against many odds on the night that we deserved to win at the
Etihad.
v
AFC Bournemouth
 |
| Vitality Stadium |
3-5-1-1:
____________________Aguero____________________
_____________________Jesus____________________
__________D.Silva_____________De Bruyne________
Fernandinho__________Toure_______________Danilo
________Otamendi___Kompany___Stones__________
____________________Ederson___________________
Subs:
Bravo,
Mendy, Mangala, Foden,
B. Silva, Sane,
Sterling.
Notable absences: Kyle Walker (suspended
for 1 game), Fabian Delph & Ilkay Gundogan on
their way back from injuries.
Little
time; no analysis, that’s it for this posting…
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted)
line-up?
If he picks Toure form
the start then I’m happy for him to go 3-5-1-1 again.
Result?
Will our hosts get their first goal of the season? Perhaps…but it’s a City win
for me and, therefore, a “not bad” 7 points from 9 start to the season.
Last
season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction:
Win
Result:
Win
Expected weather conditions during
the game: Beautiful for the match! 70 to 74F and mostly sunny means it’s a fab one for the fans, if not a little hot for the competing players…
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