Let's have it then...

[dazby]

A lot of 4 2 3 1 there. AVT, I agree with yours.

[Crossie]

------------------Coton

Edghill----- Curle -----Vonk -----Phealan

Summerbee Filtcroft Lomas Beagrie

---------Rosler -----------Walsh

Dibble
Quinn
Ingram
Sheron

[dick dastardley]

hart

richards komps lescott zabba (when back)

AJ NDJ milner Silva (attacking wingers to supply our forwards)

tevez ballotelli

Dzeko maybe for Balo if we get some decent crosses in hes supposedly good in the air!!!

[Tokyo Blue]

--------------------Hart

Richards - Kompany - Lescott - Zabaleta

------------Milner - Yaya Toure

SWP ------------- Silva ---------- Johnson

-------------------Tevez

I don't see who else there is that could play wide on the right if you put Johnson on the left. Will Zabaleta be back for the Sunderland game?

I want to see players running beyond the ball and/or into space. Johnson and Tevez are the best we have got at this. No-one else seems willing to give Silva any options and this is why I think Milner and Toure are a better bet than de Jong, especially at home. We can go a long way to getting third, or even second, by winning all our home matches.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Don't give a shit about line ups at this stage. We need to start showing some fucking courage and backbone. Fucking gutless worms. All of them.

[Blue Blood]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

Spot on.

At this stage he hasn't got anything to fucking lose. He needs to get results. No amount of shitty draws will do it anymore. We need RESULTS in fucking league.

[Blue Blood]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

Spot on.

At this stage he hasn't got anything to fucking lose. He needs to get results. No amount of shitty draws will do it anymore. We need RESULTS in fucking league.

To beat Spurs to 4th we have got to show some bollocks, we look frankly cowardly at times these past few months.

The blame is placed squarely at the feet of Mancini imo.

I still believe this group of players are the group to win us something, I just feel we need a coach who plays "the city way" to do it though.

I'm fed up with the unattractive, boring football being played by some of the most talented footballers this club has ever had.

We can and should be so much better.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

Spot on.

At this stage he hasn't got anything to fucking lose. He needs to get results. No amount of shitty draws will do it anymore. We need RESULTS in fucking league.

To beat Spurs to 4th we have got to show some bollocks, we look frankly cowardly at times these past few months.

The blame is placed squarely at the feet of Mancini imo.

I still believe this group of players are the group to win us something, I believe we need a coach who plays "the city way" to do it though.

I'm fed up with the unattractive, boring football being played by some of the most talented footballers this club has ever had.

We can and should be so much better.

Like I've always said, I can deal with unattaractive football IF the results keep coming. However shit football and shit results is just unacceptable.

[Avalon]

[center]Hart
Micah Vince Lescott Zabba
AJ NDJ Milner Silva
Tevez Dzeko[/center]

I can change Tevez/Dzeko with Balotelli, depending on fitness. Milner/de Jong with Yaya/Barry, depending on fitness and availability. I'd instruct the wingers AJ and Silva to stop beating their man and instead whip the ball across. Dzeko and Balo got a nice amount of height. The ball can always drop for Tevez.
I'd also tell the team to wait with free kicks. I am getting pissed off with these "fast free kicks", only to see Lescott and Kompany getting peeved, because their height is a legitimate chance on goal.
We need more power on the wings though, so I'd be glad to get Bellamy back and provide some pace on the wings. I'd also tell AJ to stop trying to beat his man and cut into the box and instead cut inside and whip the ball into the box. Maybe switch between him and Silva for some variation. However, we definitely need something on the wings. Maybe go for Aguero, or Alexis Sanchez, or instead look for a winger in the EPL, we have a few run around here.

[Dubaimancityfan]

Everyone's got their own idea of why we've hit the skids a bit over the last six weeks. Thought it might be interesting to have a thread in which we're not arguing over the minutiae of Dzeko's ball control and heading ability or how many last chances to give Mad Mario.

For the sake of this thread

you've been recruited as the new manager.

You know the players, you know their strengths and weaknesses. How do you line up for the Sunderland game and what's your plan to get us moving again?

How much am I being paid ?

[Blue Blood]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

Spot on.

At this stage he hasn't got anything to fucking lose. He needs to get results. No amount of shitty draws will do it anymore. We need RESULTS in fucking league.

To beat Spurs to 4th we have got to show some bollocks, we look frankly cowardly at times these past few months.

The blame is placed squarely at the feet of Mancini imo.

I still believe this group of players are the group to win us something, I believe we need a coach who plays "the city way" to do it though.

I'm fed up with the unattractive, boring football being played by some of the most talented footballers this club has ever had.

We can and should be so much better.

Like I've always said, I can deal with unattaractive football IF the results keep coming. However shit football and shit results is just unacceptable.

TBH at first I said I could deal with the unattractive football if we were winning

BUT..

Is that really the city we want to see... not for me.

Give KK this team and we'd see a hell of a show!

[Mike J]

----------------------hart------------------------

micah------- kompany------ lescott-------kolarov


------------de jong------------ yaya--------------


AJ---------------------Tevez------------------ silva


------------------------ dzeko------------------------

first of all, get AJ back in the team. we miss him so fucking much its untrue. drop gareth, i like him but he looks fucked and is too slow. get yaya back in his proper position that made him a top class centre midfielder at barca. get the ball wide and actually put some fucking crosses into edin (who imo has to keep playing or he will never adjust.). get silva on the ball whenever possible. simple really lol.

[Mike J]

Well for starters id drop Kollers and either put Boateng left back (his world cup role) or play Barry there......I love Zabba to bits but i really dont like him on the left...
Id rest Yaya or play him till he looks knackered then replace him with Milner.
Milner is half the player when hes wide, so id play him centre MF.Hes tenacious and grafts hard,plus hes more attack minded than Barry.
AJ a deffo starter on the right wing.

My team would be

--------------------------------------Hart
Richards ----------Komps-----------Lescott--------------Barry 0r Boateng

AJ-----------------Milner---------De Jong -------------------Silva
-------------------------------------Tevez
-------------------------------------Dzeko

So have we all now been conned into thinking that playing wingers on the wrong wing is the future. How the fuck does Dzeko figure in a formation where there is still no width as AJ has to cut in ever time to make a pass

he can cut in all he wants imo, he's got a top strike on him and he wins us a shit load of penalties when he runs with the ball into the box.

mancini needs to free us up a bit and have a go at teams. if it doesnt change i simply dont want him here anymore whether we get 4th or not.

[Ted Hughes]

I think it's more about attitude & the old chestnut about getting the team to 'gel'. Most of the formations mentioned on here could be attacking or defensive, it's down to the players within them & the attitude with which they are sent out.

Imo we have an unbalanced attack & that's the biggest reason we struggle; we haven't bought a bunch of players who compliment each other naturally in an attacking sense. They are having to work at an understanding rather than it happening naturally & Bob isn't giving them much help so far from what I can see. If it clicks, they are a talented bunch & brilliant in flashes so can beat anybody. When it doesn't, they look impotent. Next season we need more attacking options who are more suited to each other & we need to be able to switch from tippy tappy to crosses, direct ball & power & back again. Meanwhile lets hope Bob can get them to 'gel' & get top 4 as formations alone won't hack it.

We need to be much better going forward next season or we'll be in a bad way.

The other top 5 teams + Liverpool will be much stronger next season.

[Slim]

It's about balance, how many fucking times do I have to go over this?

5 central midfielders(Vieira, Milner, Barry, Yaya, deJong)

1 central attacking midfielder(Silva)

2 right wingers(Johnson, SWP)

4 strikers(Tevez, Jo, Balotelli, Dzeko)

We are trying to play a 4-3-3 and in EVERY SINGLE 4-3-3/4-5-1 EVER PLAYED, one of the three midfielders has to be the playmaker. Lampard, Gerrard, Iniesta, Fabregas, Modric...even we did it with Elano and Ireland.

And in our current setup it's Yaya? Square peg.
Balotelli on the right wing?
Silva on the left wing?
Milner on the right wing?
Kolarov on the left wing?
I even have my doubts about playing Johnson on the right and certainly wouldn't in a 4-4-2 as some are suggesting(fucktards).

We need an entire new left wing, cover for the right wing(I sadly think that SWP is on the bubble of done), options at left back and cover at centrehalf(maybe)

If we set up for a 4-4-1-1 this....
Hart/Given
Richards/Zabaleta--Kompany/Boateng--Lescott/Boyata--Kolarov/******
Johnson/******--de Jong/Yaya--Milner/Barry--******/*******
Silva/Tevez
Tevez/Dzeko/Balotelli

4-3-3 and we're going to need a wide forward, I know we've been over this but to put it quickly and move on, Petrov=Left Wing/Bellamy=Wide Forward. It's great when we can get one player for both role but not always possible.

Hart/Given
Richards/Zabaleta--Kompany/Boateng--Lescott/Boyata--Kolarov/******
Yaya/Barry--de Jong/MJohnson
Johnson/******--Silva/******--******/******
Tevez/Balotelli

In short, we don't have the personnel and when people laugh about signing Larsson, you can all suck my fucking balls, cause none of you got how unbalanced and close to collapse this squad was...oh look, only 2 months on and you are all complaining about the same fucking things. And now you know why you are all fucktards.

[Dameerto]

We need to get Tevez playing off of Dzeko and we need to get Tevez used to the idea of playing off Dzeko because the guy is an absolute assist-machine in waiting.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

First Put Johnson on the proper side. Left wing, attack the byline, cross the bloody ball. It's really simple.
Then decide if Dzeko is your man, or if you trust Balo or not. But one of them to pair up with Tevez.
Leave Vince and Joleon as the centre half pairing. Micah and Zabs are our best two full backs. Nige has to play, as does Silva. Barry is slow and useless, leaving a choice of Yaya or Milner as the other central midfielder.
Sorted, pass me the FA Cup please.

[avoidconfusion]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

Spot on.

At this stage he hasn't got anything to fucking lose. He needs to get results. No amount of shitty draws will do it anymore. We need RESULTS in fucking league.

Problem I see now is that Mancini is so petrified and scared of losing now that "taking risks" and dropping 1 or better yet 2 of our 3 DMFs will probably be the last thing on his agenda because he will see it as making the team more vulnerable.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

All that needs to change to see us play better is the managers defensive mentality.

Sadly it's built deep deep in him and won't be changing anytime soon, which for me will end up being Mancini's downfall.

Bobby should drop a DM and play two up top.... but he won't.

Spot on.

At this stage he hasn't got anything to fucking lose. He needs to get results. No amount of shitty draws will do it anymore. We need RESULTS in fucking league.

Problem I see now is that Mancini is so petrified and scared of losing now that "taking risks" and dropping 1 or better yet 2 of our 3 DMFs will probably be the last thing on his agenda because he will see it as making the team more vulnerable.

Sadly you're almost certainly right.