DYC.

How did Benzema do?

If there is a need for a Essien-type midfielder in our midfield, one is enough (and we have that type with Ramires). Creativity is what we need, not (more) power. Well, that's the way I see things.

He's last type of midfielder we need so I really hope you're wrong in this case.

Yeah many here don't give Utd the credit they deserve. They started the 10/11 season horribly but they got better and better. They may not have the names in their side that will make you shiffer but football is still about the collective and Utd have a very strong collective. And City have more quality than us but Mancini's their coach so that's very good news for us.

He would be a super signing! Not gonna happen though.

Real's squad is even more terrifying. Barca have a better first eleven but have you seen the players Real have on the bench .

I think so too but that doesn't mean we need a better player for that position so we do need a winger .

Uhmm what about left-wing?

Not true, his technical skills are his weak points. That's the first thing he has to work very, very hard on.

Yup, hope that's the new policy.

We desperately need a new left-winger.. *cough* Juan Mata *cough*

No worries, we have Anelka for the DM spot.

Because Silva isn't a winger, Milner on the wings isn't of top 4 level and SWP is at most a squad player.. If anything, they need wingers more then we do (Balotelli has been playing on the sides for example). Many people keep saying City have a huge squad and they do but their squad is (a bit) unbalanced.

So happy the whole 'experience over quality' policy seems to be gone.

True but there's a reason why such stories don't happen very often. Let's hope the same happens to Lamps.

I was just commenting on KieranVogel's comment on Anelka's pre-season. When he plays to his strengths and in the centre, he's still quality (but inconsistent and disappears in big games) but he's highly frustrating out on the wings.

Yeah I loved Anelka's performance yesterday. He was like the old confident Anelka combined with the composure and improved link-up play he got from playing on the wings. Anelka and Torres are pretty similar as strikers but Anelka played the role a lot better, hope Fernando took a good look at him.

:unsure:

Shay Given . The man's just too good.

Thanks all. Good to hear Josh is finally playing in an attacking role. Will have to download the first half later then. Anelka's been playing as the main striker and has been doing well I hear on SkySports. Is AVB making him see the light? I hope so as I've always said he's still a quality player.

Can't believe I forgot what time this game started . Sounds like I've missed a good first half. Where's Josh playing?

I hope AVB plays with the same 4-2-3-1-ish shape, with Frank in the same role and either Josh or Yossi behind the striker (either Drogba or Torres). Would like to see how we play in that formation against stronger opposition.

Good performance yesterday, saw a lot of things I liked. Won't name all of them but I liked how played the ball around (very) quickly and found the wings quickly. Stretched their defence which created space for Benayoun and Lamps to move into. The fact that we played in a very attacking formation had a lot to do with it though. Zhirkov and Lampard were both CMs and we won't see something like that when it gets serious. Lampard played in the role I thought/hoped he would play in this stage of his career, he played like a true CM. It was obvious to see Lamps can't handle a attackng role behind the the striker in a possession-based style. The deeper role gave him more time and space to do his thing and he performed well and played like I hoped we would. Now I can just hope he accepts the less attacking role and gets used to it as it will make him last longer. Benayoun played very well as well but that was obvious for everybody to see so I won't say more about him. But there's one thing which causes me to not get excited about our performance and that thing is the fact that we played against a poor, poor side. It was like they weren't even on the pitch.. The match vs Villa will give us a much clearer picture on how far we actually are.