I didn't think he played particularly well but I don't want to get on his case at all, you're right its just not his game. Some strikers thrive with their back to goal, some like the ball in front of them.

how about dropping kolarov for saturday and playing barry there instead....serves two purposes -no kolarov in defence and no barry in midfield!!!

He hasn't the pace to play that sort of game. He's a box striker, and needs the service to be effective. As someone said earlier, playing your wide men on the wrong flanks doesn't lead to lots of crosses into the box, they are more likely to cut inside on to their natural foot. This is pretty simple stuff, and why Mancini can't see it is a loss to me.

What fucked us over was having so many full backs out. I think by Christmas Mancini had lost faith in Kolarov's defensive qualities, and instead wanted to play him further up the pitch. If Zabs had been available and not having to cover RB, I reckon he'd play left back every game. Kolarov and AJ on the wings should by rights provide enough ammunition for Edin to score a hatfull.

Because Nani would rape him down the flank, he'd have a ten yard head start by the time Barry had shifted his fat arse 180 degrees.
Do me a favour love:rolleyes:

But again you've got a natural left footer on the right flank, ergo zero crosses. When Mancini has played Kolarov on the wing, the results have been very hit and miss. I think Kolarov's best position would be elsewhere, hopefully with us recouping most of what we paid for him.

AJ was devastating on the right against Sunderland though. If we've got someone half decent on the left with a good delivery, I think there's definitely an arguement for keeping Johnson on the right.

I agree, but with Tevez and Mario up front, crosses in to the box were not required. If we are going to give Edin a fair crack of the whip, we need to give him the service he needs.

aj on the left, silva on the right? ballbag and flipper up front?

Might as well, what have we got to loose??

All I can think of at the moment is how I'm going to get from Wembley to my car after the match without twating one of the gurning Surrey reds. I'm really worried about Saturday.

Am I the only one who thinks Edin had a really good first half yesterday? Bearing in mind they were all over us and service was basically non-existant, he held the ball up really well and showed some really good skill. Calling him slow is unfair, he was never going to be the kind of attacker that skins defenders, that's not his game and not what helped him score so many goals in Germany and for his national team. Granted didn't do much second half but he wasn't our worst player by a long way yesterday.

His second touch is a tackle...just not good enough

Not true though, I saw at least 3 instances in the first half when he controlled a long ball on his chest despite pressure from the defender behind, brought it down, shielded it, before laying it off for a team mate.

Am I the only one who thinks Edin had a really good first half yesterday? Bearing in mind they were all over us and service was basically non-existant, he held the ball up really well and showed some really good skill. Calling him slow is unfair, he was never going to be the kind of attacker that skins defenders, that's not his game and not what helped him score so many goals in Germany and for his national team. Granted didn't do much second half but he wasn't our worst player by a long way yesterday.

What fucked us over was having so many full backs out. I think by Christmas Mancini had lost faith in Kolarov's defensive qualities, and instead wanted to play him further up the pitch. If Zabs had been available and not having to cover RB, I reckon he'd play left back every game. Kolarov and AJ on the wings should by rights provide enough ammunition for Edin to score a hatfull.

actually like this

leave boyata at right back if richards isn't fit

play zabs lb and kolarov on the left and aj on the right with silva behind who ever

play de jong and milner in centre mid

there you go , a decent team

aj on the left, silva on the right? ballbag and flipper up front?

nope, i'd concur with that tbh. as i keep on saying, he didn't have any one close enough to benefit from his hold up play. he chest the ball down to his feet every time really quite well. having balo on the wing is a pointless exercise.

one would hope.

hmmm promising... who up front?

silva as the point of a midfield trio of silva, de jong and milner, aj switching wings to keep the fuckers off balance, and balo and dzeko up front.

this means you have de jong and milner clattering people and playing the ball forward to any of four attackers, who link up beween themselves. milner can pile forward onto either wing unoccupied by aj to offer the option of flinging the ball over and switching side of attack. silva, aj, balo and dzeko can play the ball amongst themselves on the ground or use aj for crosses. balo can float around dzeko and actually provide an outlet for dzeko when he's bringing down long balls or holding it up.