Dave & Kev

[DoomMerchant]

I believe it's a changing of the guard.

The team that won us the first few titles is running on fumes, duct tape and reputation only for the most part. Including Kompany. And Kun.

We need a major shift to the new crew who are going to win us the next several pots.

I think sterling and Kevin will be among them.

I'd bench Yaya and Silva for a while and play Kevin in Silvas spot with Raheem and Navas on the wings and fern and yorkie Fabs with Kun up top. That's your 4-2-3-1.

Silva and Yaya off the bench? Not a bad couple players to make a difference.

Cheers

[bigblue]

They can't play together away from home. Just like Yaya as part of a two man midfield. Some things just don't work no matter how much you want them to. Playing KDB and Silva together away is one of these things

Anyone can play together, you just need the right system. If Xavi and Inestia can play together, Dave and Kev can as well. Its just up to the manager to find the system and the players to get their heads screwed on right and put in a true performance.

Then again Silva recently came back from an injury and Kev is in his 1st season with a new team (without training with us during preseason), so some patience may be ok. But they (especially Kev) need a bit more graft than what we saw yesterday

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I believe it's a changing of the guard.

The team that won us the first few titles is running on fumes, duct tape and reputation only for the most part. Including Kompany. And Kun.

We need a major shift to the new crew who are going to win us the next several pots.

I think sterling and Kevin will be among them.

I'd bench Yaya and Silva for a while and play Kevin in Silvas spot with Raheem and Navas on the wings and fern and yorkie Fabs with Kun up top. That's your 4-2-3-1.

Silva and Yaya off the bench? Not a bad couple players to make a difference.

Cheers

Leave Dave on the bench? Are you nutz? The problem with the line up you propose is that they won't keep the ball.
Dave Silva is our best player, with the possible exception of Aguero. You don't leave a player of that quality on the bench.

[bigblue]

I believe it's a changing of the guard.

The team that won us the first few titles is running on fumes, duct tape and reputation only for the most part. Including Kompany. And Kun.

We need a major shift to the new crew who are going to win us the next several pots.

I think sterling and Kevin will be among them.

I'd bench Yaya and Silva for a while and play Kevin in Silvas spot with Raheem and Navas on the wings and fern and yorkie Fabs with Kun up top. That's your 4-2-3-1.

Silva and Yaya off the bench? Not a bad couple players to make a difference.

Cheers

Leave Dave on the bench? Are you nutz? The problem with the line up you propose is that they won't keep the ball.
Dave Silva is our best player, with the possible exception of Aguero. You don't leave a player of that quality on the bench.

I don't think it's a bad idea at all by Doomie and agree with the changing of the guard thing. Silva has been looking lost recently, while Kev seems to lack the cojones for away games.

But while Komps is held together by bubblegum and paperclips, Aguero looks like hes very close to top form again.

[Cocacolajojo1]

Kelechi's introduction definitely won us the point. Interesting to see how much space he found himself in between the lines, this has always been Silva's speciality yet yesterday he was anonymous, is it a case of Silva being more closely marked or does he just not have it in him anymore to find that space?

Half jokingly, half serious, I think that our attack (and defence might be added) suffers from players not knowing where to be. Some posters highlighted the lack of organization at the end of our first season with Pellegrini and it has not gotten better. Because of this it's pretty hard for him or anyone really to get into a proper flow. I also think he's playing lightly injured and should be rested. I'd say the same with Kev.

IMO that's why Sterling and Navas work better formationwise. They have had as little instruction about positioning as anyone else I suspect but they have it ingrained in them to run back and forth, back and forth.

Honestly, can anyone see any type of organization in our team anymore? Joe Hart knows he's the goalkeeper because he's got a different colour on his shirt but otherwise? Sometimes we have no central midfielders, sometimes we have 4. People running into each others' tracks on several occassions. We might be kicking into gear but fuck knows where we are supposed to be heading. The manager and his staff are clearly failing in communicating to players what they are supposed to do. Or they are failing in that they aren't bothered telling their players any more.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

He was excellent all the way back at the . . . . Crystal Palace game!
Sure he had an off day yesterday but that doesn't mean you drop him.
I guarantee the line up suggested would have virtually no ball retention.
You put pace up front and Yaya and Silva will find passes during the course of 90 minutes.

[30yeargloryhunter]

Will be interesting to see where it heads with de Bruyne and Silva as it really ain't working at the moment. Think either should be middle of a three behind Aguero with navas and sterling wide. Never been convinced by Silva wide and I'm not by de Bruyne. Reality is that if do have these two in then need two sitting midfielders because both aren't the best going back. Not sure we have squad right at all at moment as need more bite in midfield.

[30yeargloryhunter]

On another note if we get Guardiola will be interesting what happens wth these two as I guess he will expect bit more effort defensively

[Tokyo Blue]

He was excellent all the way back at the . . . . Crystal Palace game!
Sure he had an off day yesterday but that doesn't mean you drop him.
I guarantee the line up suggested would have virtually no ball retention.
You put pace up front and Yaya and Silva will find passes during the course of 90 minutes.

How are you going to do that?

[iwasthere2012]

After watching The Brown disappear in big games I have begun to wonder about Maureen's assertions that his character is suspect. Could be something in it.

Unfortunately I've been thinking this for the last couple of months, but have been reluctant to say it.
There is no doubting his skill and vision and what he can do for the team. But no less than the arguments against playing Yaya, although we all know what he is capable of, if he is causing more problems than gains within a team structure, is it worth it.
The same should go for everyone....Silva, Sterling, Yaya.... if the team perform better without them, don't shoehorn them in.

KDB wasn't any worse than Silva yesterday, but by and large, Ive not been impressed with his workrate in difficult away games.
I can see why he'd drive Maureen mad.

[nottsblue]

They can't play together away from home. Just like Yaya as part of a two man midfield. Some things just don't work no matter how much you want them to. Playing KDB and Silva together away is one of these things

Anyone can play together, you just need the right system. If Xavi and Inestia can play together, Dave and Kev can as well. Its just up to the manager to find the system and the players to get their heads screwed on right and put in a true performance.

Then again Silva recently came back from an injury and Kev is in his 1st season with a new team (without training with us during preseason), so some patience may be ok. But they (especially Kev) need a bit more graft than what we saw yesterday

Xavi and Iniesta both work harder off the ball and press hard to get it back. I am not saying they can't play together per se, just in tough away games. Neither Silva nor KDB have defensive duties or tracking back high on their list of attributes. That's not why we bought them or play them in their respective positions. But, sometimes, away from home, as a team you need to sacrifice a little flair and panache for hard graft.

As it goes I think we may have seen the best of Silva and KDB is his natural replacement. Not advocating selling Silva for one minute, but I do think his star is on the wane and like Yaya, his game time will need to be managed accordingly otherwise he will just get burnt out

[Foreverinbluedreams]

They can't play together away from home. Just like Yaya as part of a two man midfield. Some things just don't work no matter how much you want them to. Playing KDB and Silva together away is one of these things

Anyone can play together, you just need the right system. If Xavi and Inestia can play together, Dave and Kev can as well. Its just up to the manager to find the system and the players to get their heads screwed on right and put in a true performance.

Then again Silva recently came back from an injury and Kev is in his 1st season with a new team (without training with us during preseason), so some patience may be ok. But they (especially Kev) need a bit more graft than what we saw yesterday

Xavi and Iniesta both work harder off the ball and press hard to get it back. I am not saying they can't play together per se, just in tough away games. Neither Silva nor KDB have defensive duties or tracking back high on their list of attributes. That's not why we bought them or play them in their respective positions. But, sometimes, away from home, as a team you need to sacrifice a little flair and panache for hard graft.

As it goes I think we may have seen the best of Silva and KDB is his natural replacement. Not advocating selling Silva for one minute, but I do think his star is on the wane and like Yaya, his game time will need to be managed accordingly otherwise he will just get burnt out

I think this is bang on the money. I wouldn't mind seeing Silva having a reduced role if it meant that KDB was played centrally, it seems like a natural progression to me.

This is also the reason why I struggle with the Yaya situation, we can all see that he's on the wane but the problem is we have no one that has the vision, guile and passing ability in our other three centre mids that can provide these things in his absence, I appreciate that we tried to address this last summer but we failed and its biting us on the arse now.

[bigblue]

To be fair to Silva, he puts in way more defensive work than Kev. Just think back to the goal he created midweek by winning the ball back

Also doesn't help the Kev has a bit of the Nasri bitch face about him

[iwasthere2012]

I believe it's a changing of the guard.

The team that won us the first few titles is running on fumes, duct tape and reputation only for the most part. Including Kompany. And Kun.

We need a major shift to the new crew who are going to win us the next several pots.

I think sterling and Kevin will be among them.

I'd bench Yaya and Silva for a while and play Kevin in Silvas spot with Raheem and Navas on the wings and fern and yorkie Fabs with Kun up top. That's your 4-2-3-1.

Silva and Yaya off the bench? Not a bad couple players to make a difference.

Cheers

Leave Dave on the bench? Are you nutz? The problem with the line up you propose is that they won't keep the ball.
Dave Silva is our best player, with the possible exception of Aguero. You don't leave a player of that quality on the bench.

I think it is a sensible suggestion. That's not something you say too often about Doomie, so embrace it.
Regarding Silva. There should be nobody beyond dropping, in this squad. And that is what it would be....dropping.
Two world class players for every position is what we are aiming for. If Kev is in competition with Dave for one position, so be it.
Personally I'd have Dave everytime, but I've never seen him give the ball sway as much as he has in the last month.
If dropping him would give him the kick up the arse he needs to get himself going again, so be it.
Same goes for Kev. Same goes for Yaya.
If it means they are all in competition for one or two places, good.
Work your arse off and you'll retain your place.

[Saul Goodman]

Oh and the commontator said kdb has been involved in every single game since he arrived. He even said early he couldn't play every match at high quality. Give the lad a rest I say.

Thatll never happen. The Sevilla match solidified that.
As someone said on here earlier, Pellegrini plays the best individuals, not mecessarily the best combination of players

[blues2win]

Both of them are very good players playing poorly. Is Tintin being overplayed? He's not used to the intensity and sheer amount of games in this part of the year. With Silva you worry about his ankle. Is he playing with an injury? Ideally you'd leave them both out for a couple of matches. Get Delph and Fernandinho in. Sterling Navas and Yaya ( freed from defensive duties) offer us creativity. Aguero and Kelechi if necessary can bang them in.

[PrezIke]

The benefit of playing Sterling and Navas is the balance it brings to the team as has been said but it's also their defensive qualities and pace that helps a lot as well. Both help out defensively much better than either KDB or Silva.

We have the numbers and quality in midfield to be able to rotate the squad and give the likes of Yaya/Silva especially the rests they need but we don't seem to do it or at least not well. Iheanacho for me has been massively underused. Didn't Pellers say at some point that he isn't a lone front man type player? He is probably right so he can and should have been used as anything from a wide player in a front 3 to a number 10 second striker role.

Yesterday he came on and seemed to sit behind Kun and immediately had an impact finding space and linking well. It's just crazy to see him on the bench when out of form players get picked because of their reputation.

I hear you, Doug. You make some valid points, but the reputation issue may also relate to fears about the impact dropping certain players would have on the back room, as well as those players' confidence. Silva and KDB have carried us this season at times, and we hardly bought KDB to rotate with Silva, if we want one of Navas and Sterling on which seemed to be when we played best with either Silva or KDB in the no. 10.

Iheanacho, I suspect (and hope) will get more chances very soon because it's clear to everyone that when he comes on that we suddenly turn into a more dangerous team and our form has not been exactly stellar. At some point the big players have to be held accountable for performance when it's not fitness related.

[mr_nool]

I don't get why so many people see KDB as Silva's understudy or future replacement. In my view they are not very similar players and I think Kevin was brought in to give us more - and different - options going forward.

Silva is all about possession garnished with the occasional moment of magic. He's patient, though, and more often than not chooses to retain possession instead of going for the killer pass.

De Bruyne on the other hand is a very direct player. He's always looking to play the ball forward and often sacrifices possession by attempting a chance pass forward.

Both certainly have their merits, but I don't see too many similarities, and I think the day Silva stops, we will have a very hard time finding a like-for-like replacement.

[LookMumImOnMCF.net]

Think KDB's been pretty good, really. Not at his best yesterday though.

Silva's been poor since he come back.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

I don't get why so many people see KDB as Silva's understudy or future replacement. In my view they are not very similar players and I think Kevin was brought in to give us more - and different - options going forward.

Silva is all about possession garnished with the occasional moment of magic. He's patient, though, and more often than not chooses to retain possession instead of going for the killer pass.

De Bruyne on the other hand is a very direct player. He's always looking to play the ball forward and often sacrifices possession by attempting a chance pass forward.

Both certainly have their merits, but I don't see too many similarities, and I think the day Silva stops, we will have a very hard time finding a like-for-like replacement.

i think their biggest similarity is that they're both very capable of playing that killer pass in behind a defence that cuts them open ( which is best utilised from a central position ).I think playing both of them means there's one less runner in our attack to get on the end of them defence splitting passes and this is holding us back.

I hope that makes sense, it does in my head, that's not saying much though.