Poll: Who Should Dalglish Play in Place of Lucas?

By: Noel | December 2nd, 2011

With Lucas out for the rest of the season and Steven Gerrard out until January at the very earliest, Liverpool and Kenny Dalglish face an extended run with their two best midfielders sidelined. The club reacted by recalling Jonjo Shelvey on Wednesday, though few expect he’s returning to regular starting minutes at Liverpool despite his success on loan with Blackpool, and even fewer would see him as a direct replacement for Lucas in any case.

Still, it’s one more player for Dalglish to work with as he looks to Charlie Adam, Jay Spearing, Jordan Henderson, and now Shelvey as the key pieces with which to reassemble midfield. Perhaps, too, the biggest question isn’t who replaces Lucas but whether his injury leads to a shift in formation from the preferred 4222 that has been seen more often than not since Dalglish’s return to one with three in the middle. For many, the obvious answer would likely be to play Spearing alongside Adam and Henderson to make up for the loss, but that would almost certainly mean Andy Carroll would become a near permanent fixture on the bench over the next six matches.

Dalglish may have repeatedly talked of the needs of the team coming ahead of any personal desires for playing time, and he’s shown a willingness to leave Carroll out of the starting eleven on numerous occasions, but if Carroll’s to have any hope of coming good at Liverpool it’s hard to imagine a worse way forward than shifting to a formation that quite nearly guarantees he won’t start during the club’s busy December run. On the other hand, to pair Charlie Adam with only one other player—even if the Scot has shown an improved workrate and defensive effort in recent weeks—seems a recipe for exposing the defense and curtailing the ability of Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique to get forward as often as they have so far this season.

The data may be limited, but the only occasion Dalglish has been without Lucas in the league since last January was against Norwich City in November, and though he stuck with a midfield duo then, it was very much to mixed results. On the day, both Adam and Gerrard got forward effectively at times, but neither showed a great deal of awareness when it came to covering for the other’s attacking forays. This lack of balance in the pairing meant that when Adam gave up possession cheaply in the 60th minute, Norwich was left to run at an exposed Liverpool defense and score their equalising goal.

And so now Dalglish is left with the difficult choice of just how to replace a player who at times has seemed to do the work of two men. Does he slot in Spearing, a straight swap introducing Lucas’ feisty but less positionally sound backup, and hope it’s enough for Liverpool to come out ahead against mid-table opposition without having to change formation? Or should both Spearing and Henderson play alongside likely lock Charlie Adam in a three man midfield that seems the best fit for the talent on hand but means dropping players elsewhere for it to work?

Then again, perhaps instead of Spearing it could be Henderson who moves inside to partner Adam in a midfield duo. After all, many see a more central role as Henderson’s future, and Dalglish clearly had no qualms about starting the young acquisition over more proven options from the day he arrived at Liverpool. Beyond that there are less likely options, though they still aren’t outside the realm of possibility: Will Shelvey surprise everybody by starting ever match in December? Might Liverpool switch to three at the back for an extended run? Would Dalglish be willing to risk tinkering with what seems a settled and confident backline by shifting a defender into midfield?

No outfield player has started as many games for Liverpool as Lucas has since Kenny Dalglish returned to the club nearly a year ago, which means there’s almost no way to tell ahead of time how the coaching staff will choose to deal with his extended absence. While we wait for Monday’s match against Fulham, though, we’d like to know what you think is the best way for Dalglish and the club to deal with the unfortunate situation.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Poll: League or Cup? Who Starts, and Which is the Priority?

Category: Miscellaneous, Premier League

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kurazha

Why dun we use coardy as DCM???
i thought he is the captain for our reserves..
it should be the best time to try out academic player...
remember benitez?? when he have to start with pongolle n neil mellor?? this is the kind of risk that our manager should take..
ragarse X urchin

so there
ragarse X urchin

"ITS NOT THE LIVERPOOL WAY"
i just wish everyone would stop giving carroll grief. Im sure if we got him for 8 mill noone would be acting like a chelsea superfan about it.... carroll has got 5 in 23 compared to torres who netted 5 in 33 & he was 15 mill more so forget the pricetag eh. if ya wanna moan about ya own players go and support blackburn.......
i cant remember this happening when it took months for terry mac to gel with the first team (and it took a long time). ian rush didnt start his liverpool career as a scoring machine. he didnt get his first goal untill his 9th or 10th game. at one point he even thought about leaving coz he thought hed bit off more than he could chew. as a matter of fact it took ages for loads of our LEGENDS to gel into the 1st team, but in them days we didnt have internet to all moan about it. players that took a l o n g time to perform to the standards we all remember : phil neal, ian rush, emelyn hughes, ray clemence, alan hanson (2 years plus).. and even in the last few years, how long did it take j carragher to gel properly and make centre back his own. peter crouch, lucas leiva (2-3 years) and even the infamous jamie redknap took (over a year)... so come on stop giving the big man grief get behind him and come on in for the big win eh!!!
ragarse X urchin

im sure kennys main priority in jan would of been an out & out striker to play with suarez. lets not forget that suarez was originally signed to play with torres, commoli and kenny didnt know torres was off untill after the suarez transfer was in motion, so there is still that to sort out.
but we now also need a strong right sided winger (for obvious reasons) and a sweeper/ holding midfielder of the same type as lucas.. oh how i miss mascherano & alonso eh ? so untill kenny and commoli can sprinkle some magic dust in january, this is the perfect chance for jay spearing to cement hisself a place in midfield, although a more defence minded position than he would of liked. i cant see henderson relishing this role as he has always seen himself as a more attacking / creative midfielder. i was talkin with a mate the other day & he is of the opinion that kelly could play in front of the back four. now i know he has done a great job at right back but he is naturally a centre back. so kenny and steve clark could see what he,s capable of in a defensive holding role. but my immediate choice would be to throw spearing in there. some of the transfer rumours are downright laughable. but the one that has made my ears prick up has been shaktar donetsks brazilian defensive midfielder / sweeper "Jedson"..
MaximumRed

Midfield duo of charlie and wee jay .. dirky and maxi on the flanks and bellers supporting suarez up front.. 4-4-1-1
shlohmoh

There is too the possible emergence of a fully homegrown midfield from here on in to the season's end. If Kenny opts for that we will be looking for them to boss it rather than bottle it. Let's hope its a boss moment for them and they develope some collective ambition in the process. Craven Cottage would be a great start for that.
Maxi is a must so sharing the minutes up front with Carrol could give us a strike force from hell. Lookin' good.
Juve

http://chelsea.theoffside.com/... read the first line after the picture!!!!!!!!!!!
Latortillablanca

all due respect, moving agger up into midfield is an idea born of the crack pipe. unless adam, hendo, spearing and shelvey all go down, it makes no sense. stop it.
Tony

Lucas is irreplaceable by any player in the current roster. An ACL injury can easily mean that he will never be the same, at least not the way he has played. Dalglish's rebuilding plan is clearly on the right track. The owners see it and should give Kenny the money to buy a dominant midfielder and a striker partner for lonely feeling Suarez. Lucas makes teammates around him look better. Since Adam is going to make the starting 11, Kenny has to find a player who can regularly cover for him.
CheekyFellow

I think, as Noel mentioned before, Lucas' playing style does not demand as much technicality as other forward positions, so there's a good chance he can slip back in after a steady recovery
rea5661

If needed, could Kelly possibly fill in a game or two at CDM before january?
brother jon

i'm okay with trying out the 3-man mid with charlie, jordan and big jay. especially cuz it might free up charlie's creative juju - and we've gotta give that a chance. but i'd be ok with: sitting Charlie; sliding Seba into the cdm (if phil f'n jones can do it...); have jordan do the linking; and the scouser do the graft (w/ an occasional pile-driver, just in case).

for me, that 2nd trio keeps us as competitive (at least) in terms of possession/control of the middle as the 21/26 combo; and, b/c hendo can play further up with 2 very good tacklers behind him in jay and seba, our pass-n-move can keep tick-tocking in the final third. cuz, that's my biggest worry about losing lucas and shifting to a 4/3/3 - that we'll have to sacrifice chance creation to make up for losing our cdm. we shouldn't have to do that.

so, considering our strengths - gk, solid central d, attacking fbs, an abundance of hard working, multiskilled, chance creators, and a finisher or two?, and (perhaps) considering this sweet silver haze phatty i'm currently hanging with, i voted for D, other. as in, 5/5. the double nickel, son of the 5/3/2. it could look like this:

pepe

agger, coates, skrts - flat(ish) three
jose, glenno - wing backs

jay, jordan - double pivot
dirk - #10
bellers, suarez - assassins

jay links with coates/agger, and jordan(charlie) links with dirk(jonjo), passing triangles blossom up and down the pitch, pressing continues, finishers lurk e'rywhere.

and it takes advantage of our depth. with, depending on the opposition, jamie, fabio and kelly slotting into the back. or stewie n andy occasionally spelling suarez n bellers. (and maxi available to drop a quick hat-trick if needs be). point being, we're down 2 of our best 3 in the field. top 4 slips away if we lose another from overuse/the breaks (not pointing fingers). so, along with the 5/5, more squad rotation please. we've got the parts for it, and they're (mostly) all serviceable+.

(correction: that was the SUPER silver haze - now with more Shy-Proof. so if anybody has the the proper name for that formation...Cheers!)
muzzy

its obvious. agger to replace lucas, like for like.
agger is itching for a chance like this
Latortillablanca

??? i suppose we should also play johnson at RW when we do this...? c'mon... why wud we sabotage our rock solid defense just to ask agger to learn a new position? things that work in fifa are best left in fifa...
Dan

agger
Banksy

I have thought for some time that Agger would be good in midfield, he is a good passer of the ball, as a defender he can win the ball and he is good going forward. How about bringing Carragher back, and put Agger as the holding midfield player.
Moevawda

henderson in the middle with charlie adam
maxi bellamy kuyt
suarez upfront by himself
5 in the midfield is more then enough protection for the back 4 and atleast we will score more goals like this
Latortillablanca

obviously its never gonna be lucas, but hendo's prolly earned at least a run out or two before spearo gets a crack and no reason he can't do a good job as a cdm. he's young, moldable and runs for days.

an can i jus say this new discuss format is pretty short-bus...
Luis Suarez dentist

Reina
Kelly
Skrtel
Agger
Enrique
Spearing
Adam
Kuyt
Maxi
Suarez
Bellamy

Henderson from the bench and please no Downing (no goals, no assists)!
Ryan

Come on, Doc. I know Downing's got some pearly whites, but give a break to the Stew. Lucas Leiva (no goals, no assists) doesn't like people pickin on the Stew.
Luis Suarez dentist

Ha ha Lucas does however have about a dozen man of the match worthy performances this season! :)
Latortillablanca

how do you figure that? he's got no goals nor any assists?
Luis Suarez dentist

He also didn't cost £20 million and plays as a holding midfielder rather than a winger!

Every time I watch Downing (no goals, no assists) it is depressing. A guy who never had it, doesn't have it, and never will have it!

Maybe I'm greedy was brought up watching John Barnes!
AggnSkr

Downing (no goals, no assists) stopped being funny the first time you posted it.
Luis Suarez dentist

Well if Downing (no goals, no assists) ever gets a goal or an assist then I promise I will stop mentioning it!

Who knows, he may even manage one before the season is over!
Neziselement

spearing is obviuosly the best replacement we have right now.. but knowing dalglishs personal love for henderson, henderson will take up lucas' spot which will lead to a weak defence which will lead to us loosing games. Lucas' loass is going to be felt even harder than alonso's
Latortillablanca

i personally dont disagree with that. but the king might. we'll see hendo partner adam tomorrow. im very close to lead pipe lockin that...
alex_snow2

Imma throw in a curveball and say play Conor Coady ;)
Akshaye

I dont understand the scepticism regarding carroll that many people are having. I agree a 100% that hes nowhere close to a 35 million signing, and that he wasnt worth that much, but the situation on the last day in january was clear to all of us, and i agree with the people who say that 35 mil couldve got us an "instant impact" player like suarez, but we all know how rare that is, man utd got berba for 30 3 years back n we know how well that worked out for them. I think Carroll is a really good prospect considering his age and could prove to be a vital player in the near future, and with that in mind, i personally dont think anybody in the squad even comes close to the quality lucas has provided in the defensive midfield positon, except gerrard, cos he can tackle n mark(but thats a discussion for another drunken night, when he comes back from the latest injury thats keeping him away) So even though a Holding midfielder is necessary, we cant let spearing take that role as of now, even though his pretty old and does put in good performances, he cant keep nasri and silva in the pocket of his shorts like Lucas did! So jus go with 2 strikers, play kuyt on the right(if we play in london, play maxi), and play bellars and suarez up top, n shuffle them arnd with carroll here n there, i know we havnt ben magical with the 4-4-2, but the 4-5-1 is a lost cause, if i had to choose between bellamy/carroll as a striker and spearing as a midfielder, i would boldly say that id give bellars n carroll a go.
My confidence in carroll maybe due to the fact that we spend 35 mil n i dont wanna be on the recievin end of the "You wasted 35 mil bantering", but a small part of me thinks he will gel in with suarez soon enough. So i voted for Others, because we have scored only 17 goals or so in the league which is very low for someone who wants to qualify and maybe challenge for the title, so by laymans logic, add another striker, since our apparently overly flooded midfield in the middle of the summer, is out of depth. Losin Lucas is the biggest blow Liverpool couldve gotten at this stage(apart from losin reina), but hell we got used to playin n winning without gerrard, jus hope we can live without the amazing lucas for a while.
I know many of you will not agree with the 4-4-2, and i respect that because i wudnt wanna be in the Kings position to take that call, and i know im not very active here wrt the comments, but as of this moment, i just felt like gettin all of this out cos from where i come, im surrounded by scum supporters n this forum in the only place i have to put what i feel n discuss it with other fans all over the world. Well my drink calls me again, i was clean n sober since dalglish returned, but the lucas injury just scared me back to goin down that road! lets hope post fulham game, im out having a celebratory drink, and not drinkin myself to sleep. YNWA
Neziselement

how can u have confidence in carrol
??.. carrol is probably the worst mistake liverpool have ever made. Consider the chelsea (2-0) game, carrol was just horrible. He completely has no striker positioning sense and he's ability to head the ball is really overrated (just like everything about him). Carrol doesnt understand pass and move like other players (maxi, kuyt, suarez, bellamy) do or if he does, just doesnt have the ability to move fast enough. The true only reason dalglish still plays him is because of the money he cost, other than that, carrol is not even good enough to be on liverpools bench.
Momo

I must disagree a little bit with you mate, Carroll isn't a finished article for sure,but during the game vs CFC bar the penalty he missed out, he was good when playing btw lines.He kept the CFC's CBs busy with him all the game long and allowed Bellers to run free from marking for the first goal.Same story with the 2nd goal,he and Coates jumped first to attract all CFC's backline behind them only to let Kelly score easily.

So at the end of the day, we can say two things:
1-Carroll isn't our main danger man yet upfront
2-He's good as as a target man btw lines since he can bully the CBs,free some space to his partners in the middle of the park and gives them time to play on the wide areas...
Akshaye

When i say i have faith in Carroll, i dont mean i want him to start day in and day out n that we should play our game around him or make a captain :) Im saying that there is alot of potential, and while I agree that the 35 million transfer fee is a big reason as to why Im behind him, because i dont want it to go waste, i just try remembering the 3-0 thumping of Man city last year and his first goal for Liverpool, he does have 5 years left on his contract, and I see alot of scope for improvement, Nobody said Carroll would dribble like Suarez or run like Bellamy or score against chelsea like maxi, but just give it time, just like Lucas got, i still regret Woy's decision to not give Aquilani time n send him on loan as soon as he came, lets not do it again. Give Carroll time, and the same with Henderson, theyre all young and are at a learning level.
If it helps, think of Suarez as a 55 million signing n Carroll as a 1 mil, itll make u feel happy about both the transfers! Not everyone is a suarez, n it could be worse, chelsea is stuck with Judas for 50, Carroll is doin way better here :)
Latortillablanca

i love carroll. he's been much improved over the past month and a half and i expect that progression to continue. i know u judge strikers on goals, but if that were the be all end all, then we should all be grumbling about suarez's minimal return in that category. the big lug def needs game time with 7 to build up some chemistry, we've seen signs of it already in past games. perhaps during the next soft set of games he'll see more pitch time. his lack of inclusion recently has been more down to tactical decisions than carroll's ability, plenty of time for him to get a bunch of games this year and prove everyone wrong.

re: the chelsea game - he was on the pitch for about 2 seconds in the league game and almost won it for us, so... dont really understand the critique there. in the carling cup he looked quite good, but miss a penalty and thats all anyone remembers... I honestly wud much rather have andy carroll than fernando torres at this stage of the game. Plus, we got paid 15m to take him on, so id say that was a GREAT DEAL!!!
Latortillablanca

*almost won the citeh game for us...
Ed

Seriously? Could have done better on the penalty, but I think his work rate and impact up top was generally pretty decent. And heading has quite a bit to do with delivery, which, if I remember correctly, wasn't exactly the finest that day. I don't think he should be in the eleven day in, day out, but not as bad as you make him out to be.

Doubtful that anything's going to convince you to be patient with him, though, so onward with the pitchfork and all that.
mardia

I think, for the time being, we have to go with a three-man midfield until the club buys a DM in January. I'm sympathetic to Carroll, and I'm not trying to write him off, but the thought of Adam with only one other partner in midfield that ISN'T Lucas fills me with terror, to be quite honest. I know we have a supposedly "easy" run in December, but the easy games haven't turned out to be all that easy for us, and I would like us not to lose the momentum we've acquired in recent weeks.

Apparently Aurelio has some experience as the DM--if I had ANY FAITH in him staying healthy, I'd like to see this.
Ishaan Krishna

Back 4
Adam + Spearing
Maxi/Bellers + Hendo/Bellers
Suarez + Caroll

Jonjo can be the supersub. But essentially, yes. I believe that Spearing should be replacement maybe not like-for-like but definitely in the CDM capacity. Adam can track back and become the playmaker, and he'll have to up his game. What's the point of 'squad depth' if we're not going to utilize it?
Neziselement

totally agree. I have a feeling jonjo can be superb just like sturridge did when he came back to chelsea.
NotTooXabi

You know what, fuck it...release the hounds. Let's just keep the ball for 90 minutes, play narrow, knit the shit out of something, and go home.

Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
        Hendo       Adam
Bellers       Jonjo Maxi
            Suarez

For all the dilettantes about to jump on me for slotting in the Big Shelvey, please note the F bomb at the start of this comment. I repeat, fuck it. Why not? It's Fulham, we'll either labor to a draw or we moonwalk all over them. Defensive shields are for posers.
Red2death

That's the spirit.

Forget 1-0, solid play with a clean sheet (sorry, Pepe). That'll have to wait till we get Lucas back or buy some steel in midfield.

Right now with the players we have available, we're good enough to go balls out 3-1.
Nbusa

I like it... i say give it a shot for a half and if its shit then pull jonjo for spearing and slide henderson forward and then it wouldn't even be crazy.
ejbauer11

Trial by fire for Henderson, so long as KD has a quick trigger finger to make a formation change if Hendo looks out of depth.
Suarez from the car park...

best way to learn, when you're up against it. No excuses, just get out there and do the job. This could be very good for Hendo. Spearing is already committed but not as smart as Lucas.

Hendo needs to develop guts, courage and he's been fortunate to be closeted and supported so far. Now he has to deliver, there's no excuses, the team needs it, are you the one to provide it?

What could be better motivation.

I've almost talked myself into believing this is a good thing!
ReadLiverpoolFC

When life gives you lemons, just say "fuck it" and bail.
Suarez from the car park...

or mix a G&T and raise the glass and scream at the top of your lungs - LUCAS GET A NEW KNEE AND FAST.
Purify_the_body

I voted for the trio, for a number of reasons:

1 - I never liked us playing 4-4-2 with our slow midfield. Still not convinced (yet) that Adam is dynamic enough, and losing Lucas doesn't change that. Adam had good 1st half against Chelsea, then we were overrun again once they adapted their formation and we had to bring in Henderson on ~70 mins to get out of danger.

2 - I don't care if Carroll plays. Our dangerous 2nd striker behind Luis is Bellamy, and we can bring him in in other places than up top, e.g. on the left or for Henderson. No player is bigger than the club, and he is not better than Bellers.

3 - Why mess with success? Each time we've played a 3-man midfield we have looked great and had a large share of the possession. As well-written articles on this site have pointed out (including this one), possession and pinging short passes in central midfield also allows our amazing fullbacks the time to get forward and into the attack.

4 - Our CB's excel when kept clean, but get a lot shakier when free runners come at them. Why take that risk? I prefer to play to our personnel and let Henderson and Adam take turns running forward with the confidence they're covered.

5 - The 3-man trio makes it easy to shift to a pressing game like we saw in the first half at Chelsea, in a 4-3-3 with Bellamy and Kuyt pushed up high. If we want to score more goals against weaker teams, this is the way to do it -- not by emptying out our midfield and giving the opposition all that space (see Swansea, Tottenham, and so on).

6 - It's easy to sub Shelvey into this formation late in games to check his form and get him up to speed in case he is required to play.

It becomes a lot more clear when you separate yourself from a desire to force Carroll to succeed immediately. Whether you believe in him or not, it shouldn't be a problem either way to leave him on the bench for the good of the club -- for now. After all, as Kenny liked to say last spring, "we signed him for 5 and a half years."
Latortillablanca

lots of good points, love the 433 or 4312. still not sure the king agrees with us, though...

re: carroll, i think the lucas injury may force him on the pitch as much as anything else. effective hold up play from a CF is one of the many ways to allow your fullbacks to overlap while also buying time for your CMs to organize. I would not be surprised at all if we go traditional 442 before goin three in the middle.

Probably though we'll just stick with the same formation and kenny will challenge his players to step up to the plate - an honestly i cant really disagree with that...
heitz11

I think the obvious answer here is we put in a bid to get Xabi Alonso back from Real Madrid. Then he retires a red. win-win. Maybe we even give them Andy Carroll in the deal.
Waiting for Sterling

haha, in times like these a good laugh is nice every so often
Tony

Exactly. Xabi is one player a breathing Maurinho will not let go.
Latortillablanca

can never go back.
DJ-Chutfield

I know, right? Carroll in Real Madrid white... bwahahahaha!
FalloniusMaximus

I think Spearing has to get the nod initially. He's always performed when called upon, and in some big matches too (I think he played at Chelsea last season, and did well, if I remember correctly). So, I say Spearing for Lucas, like for like, keep the same system, stay calm and carry on!!
Waiting for Sterling

Spearing just is not the same as Lucas. He can tackle and has an eye for a pass (not well-ranged, but quick and pacy) but he just lacks the intelligence of positioning that Lucas has in abundance. Unless we get a Lass Diarra (or Lucas) type player, I feel a change in formation is imminent.
FalloniusMaximus

Certainly not in the same league as Lucas, but he is similar player with
similar qualities and he is the backup. As Ishaan said above, he is in
the squad so give him a go. He signed a new deal and this why you have
cover in the squad. But you are quite right that a formation change
might be in the cards.
Red2death

We honestly don't have an adequate like-for-like replacement for Lucas. And I think we shouldn't try. Our squad is naturally attack-minded and that's what we should focus on - outscoring the opposition.

No matter who we put in midfield, it's going to be weaker than when Lucas was around, and we can expect to concede more chances and let in more goals. That said, we're already one of the best in the league at attacking and chance creation, so we should play to that strength.

Adam and Hendo or Adam and Gerrard (when fit) in a defensively suspect midfield. Or Agger shifted up, resulting in a slightly weaker backline. But a very, very attacking Liverpool.

Yes, the Norwich result wasn't the best, and it was because of our defensive frailty lacking Lucas. But even then, it just as much due to profligacy in front of goal and sheer non-rub-of-the-green-ness. If we played like that every game, creating the amount of chances we did and conceding the odd goal, 8 out of 10 times we'd win.

Unless we're play City or Spurs who will seriously overrun you if you have a defensively weaker midfield. But we're not playing any of those teams till after Jan, and at that point it's a new ball game.
Waiting for Sterling

Agreed. Had we won that game, I don't think people would be so glum at an Adam-Hendo midfield. We made so many chances, but just couldn't convert (except for the beasty-Bellers.) The one real chance we let in they scored on. That's just their potency in front of goal and the lack of it in our case.

On the next Man City game, I think we just need to have a system already set in place so when we get to that game the only thing we have to worry about is locking down Silva, Toure and any other in-form players. Lucas' sole mission in this past city game was to take Silva out of it; he did it well, but maybe we put 3 in midfield and someone always watching him and we could give them a run for their money. Not saying that we can't beat them, but it's going to be a totally different match next time.
Mberloui

We play Mancity on 3rd Jan I think - thats before window opens for transfer
Rusty1404

I would set out Aurelio (fit?) and Spearing as a defensive midfield pair, and then play Adam further up in the pitch.
Diedrexler

Aurelio in midfield. Remember the champions league game away to Fiorentina where we were overrun? He was the anchor with Lucas back then.
ayoslime

wow that's actually a great idea, i forgot about aurelio playing cm last season...i wonder if he's fit though...
Ryan

Can't be any less fit than Lucas; Lucas himself made sure of that. "No, Mata threw himself into my air tackle".