Marveaux

I'd go

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That or Santon at LB and Raylor up at RM.

 

My only fear if we went 4-5-1 with Cabaye, Tiote and Guthrie in midfield is that we may have the mentality that we're going to sit and fend off wave after wave of attack for 90mins and hope to get a 0-0 (but end up losing 1-0).

If we go 4-4-2 then I think we have a chance as they haven't looked convinving v Wolves and Everton recently. We might as well get at them and play as we have done for much of the season.

The 'middle ground' option is to drop Best and Guthre, have Cabaye and Tiote in CM, Ben Arfa in CAM and Ba upfront on his own and Santon on the right. I don't think Pardew will change it that much though.

Harsh as it is, I'd be tempted to go 4-4-2 and drop Danny.

 

What about the sub bench. Who would you have there?

 

If best is fit he has to start for me like. Right wing is the only position that should be tinkered with due to injuries. Keep a winning team together. Introduce HBA with 20 mins or so to go. Last thing we need to do is start messing with a formation that has been doing the business so far this season.

 

Surely Perchinho has the versatility to fill the right midfield berth

 

This ^

 

I think the issue with the three man midfield is the same as always, you have to be ridiculously disciplined otherwise you start to get the 'its alright, someone else will pick him up' mentality, making you more defensively suspect than if you only had the two. I'd love to see it work, but with Cabaye still relatively new to the team and Guthrie unfamiliar to defensive midfield work I'd be wary of trying it for the first time against City. Stick with 4 4 2, Tiote and Cabaye middle, Santon right wing if Obers not fit.

Sorry Danny, but thems the breaks...

 

The reason why I think we should play Ben Arfa instead of Best is because if we are going to get anything out of this match then we are going to need something special which Ben Arfa is more likely to produce than Best. And yeah I agree that Ben Arfa should not be on the wing.

 

Can't beleive how many people would drop Best. He's the workhorse which makes out front line viable. We are weaker every time he comes off

 

Something like

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Ba is a good finisher but I don't think he'll be useful without a strike partner and with only long balls to feed on. So I'd play Best if he's fit or Shola cos he'll have something to prove .
Also playing Santon on the right isn't a bad idea cos he's also a defensive player and can help us to pack the midfield but then our substitute bench will be even weaker cos we'll only have Perch ...
So I'd prefer we play Guthrie in the middle and Benny on the right. With technical players like Benny and Jonas we'll be able to win a few freekicks and when you have Ryan 'Over the Wall' Taylor in your team you never know what can happen.
And finally we should play Cabs in an AM position and tell him and Guthrie to shoot on sight ...

 

I miss Obertan.

 

He's looked poor recently and been substituted the last three home games. This might be to do with his injury, but seeing as he's seemingly still carrying it I don't think resting him is as unbelievable as you think. Plus I already justified why in the post you quoted, far too much hoofing against Everton for little result.

 

I agree with what you said but against City you can't expect to see much of the ball ...

 

Not sure he's looked poor but he needs a goal. His hold up play is as good as anthing the league I'd say.

 

Which is why it makes sense to try to pass from the back as we had been doing well rather than kick long at an off colour Best to avoid just giving them possession. On form he's great (though far better with the ball at his feet) but against Everton he barely won a header and kept standing offside. If he's fit he's useful, but tactically I wouldn't want to see that long ball again, and Ben Arfas presence would discourage it.

 

I'd go with this

 

i agree with this

 

Some strange suggestions in this...

We're either gonna stay as 4-4-2 or go for our usual plan B as 4-4-1-1. Pardew obviously doesnt like changing the shape of the team, why suddenly believe we're gonna go 4-3-3?

As for Santon or Taylor in midfield, its just not gonna happen for the exact same reason as above. He wont unsettle players by switching their positions around unless its a right winger to the left and vice versa.

He also seems to refuse playing Ben Arfa out wide, so he either goes against one of his own rules there or plays Sammy from the start...

I doubt Best will play due to injury, so i'll probbaly go with a 4-4-2 with Demba and Shola. (unfortunetly)

 

So Santon can't play right wing, but we can move Jonas there and play Sammy Ameobi? That seems a lot more disruptive to me and puts a load of pressure on Ryan Taylor, which simply staying as is with Santon coming in for Ober does not.

Otherwise I agree with you, the suggestions of dropping Ba are astounding.

 

I must have been watching different matches to other people because I think Leon Best has been class the past few games, always puts a shift in. Ba takes the plaudits because he puts them away but he does next to nothing else. If you look at the statistics the other parts of Best's game - winning headers, running the channels, bullying defenders - has been invaluable to us. I wouldn't want to drop Best but is he going to make it for Man City anyway? I'm not so sure.