442 anyone?

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Sergio is better with a partner.
Ian gets some game time.
Many teams are playing 442 so we won't get over run.
It can work with one of David or Yaya in the midfield.
We look no more secure with our 'hard working' players in the side than with Yaya and Dave, we just look shite going forward.
Goals change games, let's go back to smashing teams.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Sergio is better with a partner.
Ian gets some game time.
Many teams are playing 442 so we won't get over run.
It can work with one of David or Yaya in the midfield.
We look no more secure with our 'hard working' players in the side than with Yaya and Dave, we just look shite going forward.
Goals change games, let's go back to smashing teams.

Hard to disagree with any of that.

[sheblue]

Every striker is better with a partner.
Its the people behind them, and who plays there, thats the problem we have.

[Nigels Tackle]

if winning games means dropping merlin and yaya then so be it...

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

if winning games means dropping merlin and yaya then so be it...

You don't drop your best players.

[DoomMerchant]

if winning games means dropping merlin and yaya then so be it...

You don't drop your best players.

I don't think it's an "and" I just think right now on current form and perhaps never again can you play them together.

Cheers

[Tokyo Blue]

if winning games means dropping merlin and yaya then so be it...

You don't drop your best players.

You do if you're a better team without them.

Remember the days of Kinkladze? I loved watching him play but the three years we spent trying to accommodate him somewhere into our formation saw us drop two divisions.

The team is the most important thing here. I don't think any of us should ever lose sight of that, however much we love certain individual players. It doesn't meant they will never play. It means you do what is right for the team on a game by game basis.

That central midfield two needs to be only Delph, Fernando or Fernandinho if we play 4-4-2. No-one else we have got has the work-rate to compete. I'd say we need one more like that in the squad.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

if winning games means dropping merlin and yaya then so be it...

You don't drop your best players.

You do if you're a better team without them.

Remember the days of Kinkladze? I loved watching him play but the three years we spent trying to accommodate him somewhere into our formation saw us drop two divisions.

The team is the most important thing here. I don't think any of us should ever lose sight of that, however much we love certain individual players. It doesn't meant they will never play. It means you do what is right for the team on a game by game basis.

That central midfield two needs to be only Delph, Fernando or Fernandinho if we play 4-4-2. No-one else we have got has the work-rate to compete. I'd say we need one more like that in the squad.

Are you seriously suggesting having either of Delph or Fernando ahead of Silva.?
That's fine if you don't want to score many goals.

[Tokyo Blue]

if winning games means dropping merlin and yaya then so be it...

You don't drop your best players.

You do if you're a better team without them.

Remember the days of Kinkladze? I loved watching him play but the three years we spent trying to accommodate him somewhere into our formation saw us drop two divisions.

The team is the most important thing here. I don't think any of us should ever lose sight of that, however much we love certain individual players. It doesn't meant they will never play. It means you do what is right for the team on a game by game basis.

That central midfield two needs to be only Delph, Fernando or Fernandinho if we play 4-4-2. No-one else we have got has the work-rate to compete. I'd say we need one more like that in the squad.

Are you seriously suggesting having either of Delph or Fernando ahead of Silva.?
That's fine if you don't want to score many goals.

Are you seriously suggesting playing Silva as one of the central midfield two in a 4-4-2?

Here's an idea for you. Take the trouble to actually read what people write.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I'm seriously suggesting that he is a better bet than Fernando in particular and that our supposed 'hard working' midfielders don't make us any better defensively and I have been for months.
I have an idea for you. Follow your own advice!

[Dameerto]

If Silva played in a 4-4-2 he would be the second of the '2' (or should be) - I'd prefer to see Silva and Nacho sharing that spot - Silva could also cover out wide but he's not nearly as creative and he tends to drift inside anyway (which can leave the fullback exposed).

[Spurge]

If Silva played in a 4-4-2 he would be the second of the '2' (or should be) - I'd prefer to see Silva and Nacho sharing that spot - Silva could also cover out wide but he's not nearly as creative and he tends to drift inside anyway (which can leave the fullback exposed).

In the game under Mancini when we beat spurs 5-1 away silva played in a 442 with yaya and Barry I think and with nasri. He ran his bollocks off that day as he did in the 6-1 at the swamp that season.
I don't think Silva has the same level of fitness nowadays to play in a 4 man midfield and provide the level of defensive cover necessary.

[Tokyo Blue]

I'm seriously suggesting that he is a better bet than Fernando in particular and that our supposed 'hard working' midfielders don't make us any better defensively and I have been for months.
I have an idea for you. Follow your own advice!

Repeating something numerous times doesn't make it right.

As Spurge has said, you need at least one very defensive player in the middle for a 4-4-2 to work, i.e. Gaz Barry.

You think SIlva is better defensively than Fernando? Really? Much as I love him, please point out to me a match where I can see Big Dave winning loads of headers at corners, blocking loads of shots and generally protecting the back four, Beckenbauer-style. I'd love to see that. I'd suggest that I need to take LSD to do so. And these days the same can be said of Yaya unfortunately. Delph we haven't seen enough of, but he does look as though he can get up and down the pitch from what I have seen of him at Villa and in his limited time for us. Silva in midfield in a 4-4-2 is a colossal waste of talent. He needs to be around the opponents' box causing trouble, playing as the second striker, not trying to defend our goal.

So we are looking at your four-man midfield as Sterling - Silva - Yaya (the undroppable legend) - Navas then, with two strikers in front of them? Interesting. I reckon that midfield is far too lightweight and would get physically steamrollered out of sight by most teams in the premier league and many in the championship, especially as Yaya can't be arsed 80% of the time, but who knows? You might be right.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

The back four doesn't look anymore protected with two defensive midfielders in the side

We have a lot of possession, have a central midfield of the the Two Ferns or Fern and Delph and moves break down while we try to move it around to find a way through. They don't have the vision or guile of Yaya or Silva. That's when we are even more vulnerable to the counter attack. With our attacking players in, they open up defences eventually. They keep possession, they move the defence around and we score goals.
I'm prepared to accept that one tackling midfield is useful but Yaya and Silva should still play and when at home to teams who are coming to sit, organise and defend, two strikers is just fine and dandy.

Furthermore, when you have a player like Aguero, you should set up to get the best out of him, and he is undoubtedly better with a strike partner.

Being too negative is killing us this season.

[Tokyo Blue]

The back four doesn't look anymore protected with two defensive midfielders in the side

We have a lot of possession, have a central midfield of the the Two Ferns or Fern and Delph and moves break down while we try to move it around to find a way through. They don't have the vision or guile of Yaya or Silva. That's when we are even more vulnerable to the counter attack. With our attacking players in, they open up defences eventually. They keep possession, they move the defence around and we score goals.
I'm prepared to accept that one tackling midfield is useful but Yaya and Silva should still play and when at home to teams who are coming to sit, organise and defend, two strikers is just fine and dandy.

Furthermore, when you have a player like Aguero, you should set up to get the best out of him, and he is undoubtedly better with a strike partner.

Being too negative is killing us this season.

Ideally, we should be setting up to get the best out of everyone. Clearly this is not happening for whatever reason as we are behind where we should be.

I think we lack width on both sides. It is hard to have width and Silva and Yaya and two strikers and a solid defence in the same team. Something has to go somewhere. I can't solve the problem.

[Wonderwall]

The back four doesn't look anymore protected with two defensive midfielders in the side

We have a lot of possession, have a central midfield of the the Two Ferns or Fern and Delph and moves break down while we try to move it around to find a way through. They don't have the vision or guile of Yaya or Silva. That's when we are even more vulnerable to the counter attack. With our attacking players in, they open up defences eventually. They keep possession, they move the defence around and we score goals.
I'm prepared to accept that one tackling midfield is useful but Yaya and Silva should still play and when at home to teams who are coming to sit, organise and defend, two strikers is just fine and dandy.

Furthermore, when you have a player like Aguero, you should set up to get the best out of him, and he is undoubtedly better with a strike partner.

Being too negative is killing us this season.

If we set up with a midfield of Navas KDB silva and sterling with Nacho and Sergio up front, we would get mullered or win 10-9

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

The back four doesn't look anymore protected with two defensive midfielders in the side

We have a lot of possession, have a central midfield of the the Two Ferns or Fern and Delph and moves break down while we try to move it around to find a way through. They don't have the vision or guile of Yaya or Silva. That's when we are even more vulnerable to the counter attack. With our attacking players in, they open up defences eventually. They keep possession, they move the defence around and we score goals.
I'm prepared to accept that one tackling midfield is useful but Yaya and Silva should still play and when at home to teams who are coming to sit, organise and defend, two strikers is just fine and dandy.

Furthermore, when you have a player like Aguero, you should set up to get the best out of him, and he is undoubtedly better with a strike partner.

Being too negative is killing us this season.

If we set up with a midfield of Navas KDB silva and sterling with Nacho and Sergio up front, we would get mullered or win 10-9

Yaya would be in every time for me for his attacking prowess. 13- 9

[Slim]

I think we need to consider playing Silva as a second striker.

Sadly the overall picture I think is that Pellers doesn't know how to get 4-3-3 to work in this league, he can work with 4-4-2 but its tendancy to expose the midfield is not suited to the pace of this league. Struggle through this season, hope Pep gets the sack early.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I think we need to consider playing Silva as a second striker.

Sadly the overall picture I think is that Pellers doesn't know how to get 4-3-3 to work in this league, he can work with 4-4-2 but its tendancy to expose the midfield is not suited to the pace of this league. Struggle through this season, hope Pep gets the sack early.

Silva just cannot fill that role IMO......he just doesn't have that "shoot from anywhere near the box" mentality , if he did he would score shed loads.

[iwasthere2012]

That was a penalty again, even though Kun still got his shot away.
You've got to love the commentators.
If thst was outside the box, it's a foul everytime.
YCNMIU