Fully interchangeable.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

This has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. And it is a new aspect to our team that I hadn't quite forseen.
Last season if Nige, Silva or Tevez were missing we missed them badly and didn't tick so well. However this season Carlito has barely figured and the attack has been superb still. When he did play this week, at the expense of the league's top scorer, we still looked the same. Nige has not really been missed. Add to this that Clichy was surprisingly replaced at Bolton by Kolorov...No change. Richards out for Mad Frasnk at Spurs...No change. Barry and Milner were creative at Bolton, but then the midfield was changed the week after and got even better.
It seems to me that we are becoming a well oiled machine where we don't rely on any one player. We have so many options now that we don't have to be too concerned if a perceived star is out. It will be interesting to see how we cope without Big Dave but I suspect that with Nasri on board now, that even without a player who I rate above all the others, we'll still be just fine and dandy.

Or maybe we're just playing well at the minute so everyone looks good.

[john@staustell]

Thank God you got it off your mind Piccs :-)

I know what you mean, but there were times on Saturday when I thought we will struggle without both Barry and DeJong against anyone half-decent.

[dazby]

What you're writing is that we've ...... G E L L E D.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

What you're writing is that we've ...... G E L L E D.

No I think it's more than that.
I can't remember seeing us ever not miss players. It doesn't seem to matter who pulls on the shirt.

[Slim]

I fucking love the fact that the front 4 all switch within the game, Dzeko on the right and Aguero at the point, they have no idea where we are coming from and if we run into issues, a quick switch and bam! deal with this. I truly believe our attack is unplayable at the moment.

[dazby]

I think an injury to Joe would have us in a lot of strife.

[Slim]

I think an injury to Joe would have us in a lot of strife.

It is an issue, but only as much as Pantomime is completely unproven, would be nice to see him in a LC match.

[feedthegreek]

i think the movement all round the pitch is amazing,
which is leading us to creating easy chances for us to score,
and so far the strikers have been clinical.

[brite blu sky]

tbh it has been on the cards for a while. imo Bob has been quietly building this kind of system both in using players in different roles and obviously in the training. There is more to it than that though, generally City have acquired players who are capable beyond set positions. Most if not all of our players can also play the roles 'next to' their usual ones, that means in games players can move around and the covering player will be pretty much as good. Shape discipline is also a factor so there is always someone nearby or where they should be to contain or provide an option for a pass.

It also is the reason why we should no longer be looking at a first 11 concept.. it is basically out of the window; gone. We will just play slightly differently depending on the players. You could say that about any team of course.. but this is different and we know it. That is perhaps why the comparisons to Spanish systems are being bandied around. Bob has instigated, developed and is refining that kind of approach to football.

I rekon we will see significant improvements this season in the capacities of the English players, namely Milner, AJ and Barry. All the press speculation about those players losing out simply shows their complete lack of understanding of what is going on at City under Mancini, the pundits and a large number of fans are just stuck in the English old school mentality.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

i think the movement all round the pitch is amazing,
which is leading us to creating easy chances for us to score,
and so far the strikers have been clinical.

I am not sure Bob would agree about clinical in the Wigan game! Aguero maybe but he had his off day against Notlob. But with the number of quality chances being created and the variety of potential goalscorers it's looking better than we could have dreamed a few years back.

[feedthegreek]

i think the movement all round the pitch is amazing,
which is leading us to creating easy chances for us to score,
and so far the strikers have been clinical.

I am not sure Bob would agree about clinical in the Wigan game! Aguero maybe but he had his off day against Notlob. But with the number of quality chances being created and the variety of potential goalscorers it's looking better than we could have dreamed a few years back.

the chances we missed on sat were by richards lescott, except the penalty miss by tevez.i dont remember many missed chances
by the strikers. aguero is an assasin.

[Esky]

Agree with most of that in principle. When we've a dip in form / play sides with the capacity and desire to attack us though, De Jong and Barry will be as invaluable as ever. We've been cavalier and destroyed most of the sides we've played - won't always be like that though.

[brite blu sky]

i think the movement all round the pitch is amazing,
which is leading us to creating easy chances for us to score,
and so far the strikers have been clinical.

I am not sure Bob would agree about clinical in the Wigan game! Aguero maybe but he had his off day against Notlob. But with the number of quality chances being created and the variety of potential goalscorers it's looking better than we could have dreamed a few years back.

the chances we missed on sat were by richards lescott, except the penalty miss by tevez.i dont remember many missed chances
by the strikers. aguero is an assasin.

depends who your classing as a striker, but Aguero shot wide a couple, AJ also and played it straight at the keeper with his golden chance, Silva shot wide at least twice, Tevez also wide at least twice.. I'd say about 9times then in total just from them.

just post international break cobwebs blowing off.

[Dameerto]

It's been a part of Bob's plan since he took over - versatility. It's one reason he loves Zabs so much, he can fill in almost anywhere. I'm struggling to think of a recent signing that can't fill more more than one role. Even Dzeko can play out wide when asked to swap with one of our midgets during a game.

[Ted Hughes]

tbh it has been on the cards for a while. imo Bob has been quietly building this kind of system both in using players in different roles and obviously in the training. There is more to it than that though, generally City have acquired players who are capable beyond set positions. Most if not all of our players can also play the roles 'next to' their usual ones, that means in games players can move around and the covering player will be pretty much as good. Shape discipline is also a factor so there is always someone nearby or where they should be to contain or provide an option for a pass.

It also is the reason why we should no longer be looking at a first 11 concept.. it is basically out of the window; gone. We will just play slightly differently depending on the players. You could say that about any team of course.. but this is different and we know it. That is perhaps why the comparisons to Spanish systems are being bandied around. Bob has instigated, developed and is refining that kind of approach to football.

I rekon we will see significant improvements this season in the capacities of the English players, namely Milner, AJ and Barry. All the press speculation about those players losing out simply shows their complete lack of understanding of what is going on at City under Mancini, the pundits and a large number of fans are just stuck in the English old school mentality.

Speaking of which, it was interesting to see Neil Warnock attempting a similar idea with SWP & Co for QPR last night. Not something one would expect of him.

[brite blu sky]

I was only able to see the first half of that game but i suspect that QPR got into a groove even more in the second half. It looked like a bloody good game from what i saw.

It is surprising from such a manager.. but then i suspect that a lot of managers have viewed the style of the Spanish national team and Barca and seen how effective it is and pondered the idea of what aspects or how much of it could be introduced to their teams. They would quickly realise the scope of changing players mentality and years of upbringing means it is a long term dream more than anything else. That said with both Spain and Barca winning everything in football the model to aim at is there for all to see.
Maybe with City and Mancini showing the way it can be brought into English football, it has sparked a bit of a fashion to at least try. Players too all see that and must think about it in relation to their own game and team.
Perhaps Warnock feels that having brought in a better level of players they can have a stab at seeing what they can do while they are all fresh and new.. set the tone if you like.

I think it goes without saying though that if City bring a Spanish style possession football to the Prem and are successful with it, it will spark a fashion and desire to emulate it in whatever way managers and players can.