Douglas Higginbottom wrote:It shouldn't be whether he is in the squad but in the team! The pre season games may well decide who starts in the prem next season but it will surely be Vinnie, Mangala and Denayer fighting for the 2 spots unless we go to the scary back 3!
And yes I know Vinnie has had a poor year but he will be back I am sure. Yes also Demichelis was arguably our most reliable last season but his time has gone and we have a great fall back 4th center back. Tosin to be fighting for a spot in a year or so maybe as well.
In Argentina's 2014 World Cup side, Mascherano was their defensive midfielder.
However, he played so deep that, at times and especially if the full-backs had pushed upfield, he often was to be found in between the two centre-backs and, sometimes, even behind them as a 'de facto' sweeper.
In this way, Argentina could be said to be almost playing a (fluid) back three so it doesn't always have to be necessarily bad or "scary". On that basis and given possible concerns about his aerial abilities (hopefully unfounded), I wonder if Denayer might be suitable for providing this sort of Mascherano, deep-lying role for City ??