Monday, 28 December 2009

Ireland on Mancini

One of the best things that Roberto Mancini could do at City, both in terms of the success of the team, and my enthusiasm for his reign, is to play Stephen Ireland centrally in a 4-3-3 system. Since Ireland's emergence as a quality player roughly eighteen months ago, it has been clear what his best role is: in the hole, with two defensive midfielders behind him and three forwards in front. This was the key to his success in 2008/09 - although he did play there a few times under Eriksson. One of the disappointments of 2009/10 to date was Hughes' preference for a 4-2-4 with requires a base of Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry - and no real place for Ireland.

As is know well known, Mancini started on Saturday with a 4-4-1-1, with Ireland wide on the right, before switching to a 4-3-3 much better suited to Superman, who enjoyed his new opportunity:

“I am willing to play anywhere and do anything I can to enable he team to be successful but I have never made a secret of the fact that I am happier in a more central role,” declared the long serving midfielder.

“I started on the right in a 4-4-2 but we switched to a 4-3-3 quite early against Stoke and it enabled me to get on the ball more and influence the game. I think that is where I play my best football...

Roberto Mancini got everyone together and is keen for the staff to bond as quickly as possible with the players. The new manager has encouraged us to play football on the floor and only play it long as a last resort.”

If Mancini does what Hughes did last season, but not this one, and builds around Stephen Ireland, then I will be more enthusiastic about his management of the club.

2 comments:

cityanimal said...

Ireland is not playing well at the moment. He wandered aimlessly last night and his passing was poor. The man has never committed to a tackle in his life. He should be left on the bench. The team played so much better after he came off last night.

jensuicat said...

Sorry I do not agree. I suspect that SI will become somewhat of an automatic casualty during the ensuing 2nd half of the season. For me he seems somewhat "off the pace" even in his favoured position.
If as indicated in the "gossip press" Manchini is after a creative attacking midfielder it could be that both he and SWP may spend a great deal of time on the bench. Last night City were a pleasure to watch -long may it last