As long as Sahin is out I don't think we have a player in squad who could offer anything similar to them. The question, how to rest them if they get fatigued?

Xabi needs rest IMO

can Hamit play his role? he is very versatile...

Where is Hamit? I see a very big problem coming, give it 3 weeks and you'll see what I'm talking about...

ozil can easily be rested with kaka around.

but alonso, only sahin can play his role and he is injured, thus you can play RAMOS there

You need 2 guys that can create out of the midfield at all times. The problem we've been having is that, other than Alonso, we've had no other player to connect with the AM as both Coentrao and Lass are poor at it in our 4-2-3-1. As a result, teams have pressured both Alonso and Ozil, while daring Lass and Coentrao to provide adequate transition to the forwards (and they have failed). How do we counter that? If we want to play a DM (Lass, Coentrao or Altintop), we have to go to a 4-3-3 with two other playmaking mids (any 2 of Alonso, Khedira and Ozil). As long as Benz is in there, you don't really need a AM. However, you do need a RW player that can pass and crash the box (not di maria basically). If we want to remain in the 4-2-3-1, then we cannot play a DM and you need a AM. Kaka/Ozil can cover AM and 2 of Alonso/Ozil/Khedira need to be on the pitch in the midfield.

It's workable without Sahin. But we cannot afford another injury or a useless Di Maria. Because teams have been able to minimally cover the right side, they are flooding the middle and left with players.

Just need to get our tactics and personnel right to get balance and good transitions.

We survived last season we can do it again lol. I am worried about them getting injured though. Kaka can cover for Ozil, but when Alonso gets injured were screwed.

Granero anyone?

Kaka can rest Ozil, but I think for Alonso we have to trust Granero.

granero tries to show off too much and always end up looking like an idiot

You rest alonso by playing Granero, and you rest Ozil by putting Di Maria (Kaka will be on the field )

or a little formation change

with the way kaka is playing currentle, idont think there will be any problem resting ozil.
we will just wait for altintop debut to see if he can really replace xabi .
lass = HELL NO
Sahain = injured
granero = maybe

theres a difference between resting and substituting.For resting purposes Granero will do,otherwise only sahin.

We had no reliable direct replacement for Xabi last season, and still don't have one this season with Sahin injured, Granero isn`t trusted enough bu Jose. As for Ozil, position wise Kaka is his direct replacement, even though contribution wise Kaka doesn't exactly provide similar thing Ozil does, they're very different in their approach.

How about using Jose Rodriguez or Alex Fernandez.

Alex would be an acceptable replacement imo

Alex is 3rd division player now and u guys want to start him in first team lol. he has a long way to go before he proves that he can play for first team, its not like he is in attacker position, he plays as CM and thats one of the most crutial positons especially in our formation.

For GOD sake he doesnt even control matches against 3rd divison teams.

yeah... Alex is a few steps away and needs to get seasoning somewhere before he's up to snuff (if he gets there).

Alex is our solution in case we have no one to fill that role. Xabi's role is the hardest one to replace. Only one we have is Sahin but he's out injured. If that happens then we need two guys in the middle plus khedira/lass. I would say Ozil and granero with kaka up front.

If ozil is out we have kaka and granero to fill that AM role easily.

sportsczy wrote:yeah... Alex is a few steps away and needs to get seasoning somewhere before he's up to snuff (if he gets there).

Can't do worse than Lass! LOLOLOL

Crimson wrote:

sportsczy wrote:yeah... Alex is a few steps away and needs to get seasoning somewhere before he's up to snuff (if he gets there).

Can't do worse than Lass! LOLOLOL

Lass is being played out of position with Mou. He's a DM and that's it. He's incapable of anything else.

Granero is a much better option than Alex. If we have another midfield injury, i think Mou changes formations to accommodate a DM and pushes Alonso into a more attacking midfield role (as long as the injury is not Alonso lol). If Alonso gets injured, Khedira moves into his spot.

sportsczy wrote:

Crimson wrote:

sportsczy wrote:yeah... Alex is a few steps away and needs to get seasoning somewhere before he's up to snuff (if he gets there).

Can't do worse than Lass! LOLOLOL

Lass is being played out of position with Mou. He's a DM and that's it. He's incapable of anything else.

Granero is a much better option than Alex. If we have another midfield injury, i think Mou changes formations to accommodate a DM and pushes Alonso into a more attacking midfield role (as long as the injury is not Alonso lol). If Alonso gets injured, Khedira moves into his spot.

I don't think he's being played out of position really tbh

Against Racing he played closer to CM but his average position was still behind the halfway line. He operated more as a CM yes. But against Rayo in his 30 minutes he was deep in DM, his average position was actually right next to Albiol and Marcelo.

Both performances he was terrible.

Saying he is being played out of position really isn't an excuse for his turnovers and woeful passing.

I mean its not like Mou is asking him to be a playmaker at all.

We're playing a 4-2-3-1 though with Lass... You can't play a pure DM in that formation. You need 3 mids to play a formation that has a DM. Just too much real estate between Lass and the other players in a 4-2-3-1. He may play close to the defense; but he doesn't have lot of outlet options and needs to make longer passers with a 2-man mid.

That's why i doubt you see much of De Jong anymore with City. They've also gone to a 2-man midfield and a DM doesn't work.

sportsczy wrote:We're playing a 4-2-3-1 though with Lass... You can't play a pure DM in that formation. You need 3 mids to play a formation that has a DM. Just too much real estate between Lass and the other players in a 4-2-3-1. He may play close to the defense; but he doesn't have lot of outlet options and needs to make longer passers with a 2-man mid.

That's why i doubt you see much of De Jong anymore with City. They've also gone to a 2-man midfield and a DM doesn't work.

Meh I think its more a lack of preseason issue.

I think if he played a full preseason with us he would be fine.

But then again we all know what he thinks about playing along side Xabi Alonso