who do you guys think will be a great stand-in for jelavic as it seems he may be out for some time. I think Hernandez needs somebody along side, to free him up abit! ....i'm not really sure who I would like to see along side him, there is alot of people who feel jela is good at holding the ball, I fail to agree, as I think he loses the ball too much, he is great in front of goal though, pressuring defences and incepting passes!....I think I would play Ince up front with hernandez, ince would be able to pick hernandez out with his range of passing and hernandez likewise!
Aluko & Ince both need to step up now and prove themselves....If Ince had scored that chance against QPR in the first game of the season I reckon he would have played a lot more...fine margins.
I can see Ben Arfa getting an extended run now behind Hernandez. If not he'll be wondering what was the point of coming to City.
All the mags reckon he's better on the right drifting into midfield...but I can see it being him who steps up.
Yeah I think he's better suited to the right, I would give livemore a rest of this one, not saying he's played badly but he has played alot of games lately! I'd play Ben Arfa in livermore's position and Incey up front! switch it around if it isn't working! I'm not sure what position Ramirez was playing in against Arsenal, but I wasn't impressed at all, lost the ball a hell of alot!
That's all very well if you're playing a flat back four, but as we saw on Saturday (when he and Robertson kept getting in each other's way) throwing a winger out on the touchline somewhat messes things up when you play a wing-back system. I think we need to give him a free role behind a striker (as he started out on Saturday before Brucey moved him wide).
I think we should just go 4-2-3-1 McG Elmo Chester Dawson Robertson Huddlestone Diame Ben Arfa Ramirez Brady (or Ince/Aluko) Hernandez Best formation to suit the players we have and get the best players on the pitch.
I like this! If it doesn't work with hernandez up front on his own, could always change it. I think Ramirez could start up front!
I disagree - Elmo and Robertson are both ideally suited to the wing-back role and unsuited to playing full-back (or at least stymied by it). We have three centre-halves who all deserve inclusion, and Chester in particular is better as one of three than he is as one of two. Then there's Diame, our goalscoring dynamo. In the formation you've got there, he'd have to spend a lot of time minding the back door - he'd struggle to break forward and score goals like Saturday's without risking leaving us wide open at the back. I'll admit that line-up would suit the three you've put behind Hernandez. But the defensive downside is too much.
Goals goals goals. It's time for a more cavalier attitude - just look at our squad and the talent available! HBA, Ince and Aluko all like to drift inside rather than play wide so you need to Elmo/Robbo type to support and give width. Brady not so much admittedly but he can play that way too if you need him to. One of the central midfielders has to drive forward and support and that would be Diames job. I don't know if you remember under Barmby how outnumbered we got due to the two holding midfielders sitting back and holding rather than giving support to the attackers. Chester is quality whether he's in a back 4 or back 3. Davies hasnt been in that majestic form since about 3/4 of the way into last season. Chester and Dawson out shine him currently. This isn't a ramshackle bunch that needs to keep it tight and disciplined in order to scrape enough points to survive, this is a team full of genuine top quality attacking talent. Why keep them shackled? Let the shackles off and allow them to play, they're as good a squad of players as any outside of the top 6 or 7, and they could outscore most teams in my opinion. Just look how Southampton have been doing the last year and a bit, sure they are better but not that much better, gotta roll the dice and take a chance, never ask the questions never get the answers. I'd start against Liverpool this weekend, judging by how poor their back 4 apparently is at present.
We've got a thing of taking successful wingers and moving them up front. Aluko, Ince, now Ben Arfa. Like tuckin says, wingers don't really suit our wingback formation so that's probably why.
It's why I suggest putting them in a 4-2-3-1 but using them more as wide forwards, the way that suits 3 of the 4 best, as you would in a more traditional 4-3-3, with the fullbacks charging on similar to wing backs offering the width at the touch line. I think their attacking flair is limited in a 3-5-2 without the intelligent numbers forward with them. Now Jela is out I see no reason to stuck with the 3-5-2, I personally don't think Davies offers as much at the back as the likes of Ramirez and HBA do going forward. No disrespect to Davies there, he's just dropped off his shining form and the attacking options we have are far too good not to be utilised.
We've plenty of options as already said Ince, Aluko, Brady & Ben Arfa can all play supporting striker
We'll miss him, he's the 7th most clinical striker in the prem http://talksport.com/football/premi...clinical-attackers-so-far-season-141020119762
I think Ince with his pace and work rate would be the best choice to partner Hernandez up front...and put more pressure on defences than Aluko who is less direct or Ben Arfa who has all the skills but is more suited to a deeper role in the hole. Ramirez was very poor against Arsenal and looked slow and gave away the ball too much.
I thought he gave the ball away way too much and at crucial times! I'll be fair to the guy and put it down to lack of match fitness. There was one time when Diame fought hard to get the ball, gave it to ramirez and he just lost it. I think I would of swapped Ben Arfa into Ramirez's position, atleast Ben Arfa was holding the ball but in the wrong area!
