Thanks

And personally I don't think Niang should be starting, or played on the wing, I'd like to see him get some minutes as a CF, both in the Coppa and as a sub

I said that more because I'm dubious at best about Menez. I feel he carries no threat going forward. And I know, I know, everyone thought he was great V Lazio, but I didn't see that player.

So I hope he shows me how wrong I am V Parma.

Still I don't think the solution is Niang on the wing, he's very obviously not a winger, playing him there is a complete waste and makes him look worse than he really is

I have a feeling that Pippo will be sticking with Honda there anyway, he's in good form atm and scoring goals, even though he's obviously not going to be showing what he can really do on the wing, he's still producing there atm, so I think Pippo will stick with him for now

I'm mostly curious as to who he'll pick for the midfield 3. I'm personally hoping he'll just shove both Bonaventura and Van Ginkel in instead of Poli and Muntari who were both disappointing against Lazio (well Poli was disappointing, Muntari was his usual idiotic self)

Half the reason for Honda's renaissance is that yes, though he is on the right, he's also being given the freedom to be more central too. So he's probably operating around 60-70% capacity rather than the 30-50% he was before.

Agree on MvG, De Jong and Bonaventura for midfield although I thought Poli had a good game v Lazio.

Honda renaissance? Hopefully, but we're not yet there IMO. He still has to prove he can maintain his good form.

Honda's in good form, but still I think he can do much better if played in midfield. Even if he's at 100%, even if he gives everything he's got, he's simply not suited for playing as winger. He has absolutely no quality whatsoever to cover that role, like speed, dribbling skills and physical strength. Menez is much more suited, and aside from what Danny thinks, he was really good against Lazio.

Happy for him to prove me wrong, as I said.

I don't think it's a renaissance per se. I think he's more comfortable within the team and the group as both a player and a person. Coming in during the middle of the season while the club is in turmoil, the coach is on his last breath and then changing said coach within 2 weeks of being with the new team cannot be easy for anyone, especially someone who's going to experience such a major culture shock as Honda would have experienced.

I still think that it's as x-off said, he's totally wasted on the wing so I don't think we're even seeing the 60-70% you're mentioning. His place should either be in the midfield 3 or just behind SES and Torres.

As for Poli, I've mentioned this before but I really do think that he needs a proper passing player next to him to do well, by passing, I mean a player who can control the tempo. He's more of a quick 1-2 player. And what I saw against Lazio was a lot of running and huffing and puffing and very little in terms of match involvement and crucial passes. He works hard defensively which I like but we do have De Jong for that and Poli is mostly needed for the midfield to help provide a link with the attack, which he wasn't really doing.

I just personally don't see him as a starter in the near future, especially if Van Ginkel and Bonaventura (we should really find a shorter name for him) click into the team, and once Monto returns from his injury, it will be even more difficult for him to find space.


I think he needs to be given a proper chance in the centre to really show what he can do before we judge him on anything tbh. Even the good he's doing now is marred by the fact that he's being limited in that winger position and you know he can do a lot better than that


Agreed

Which do you guys prefer?

(IMG:http://i61.tinypic.com/fodce8.png)

The left one, minus van Ginkel. I'd play Poli.

Left one!

Neither will happen given it's 4-3-3 formation Pippo insists on.

I don't even know if I like either of them - one on the left didn't really work under Seedorf at all, and the one on the right is imbalanced.

I'd prefer:

MvG -- De Jong -- Bonaventura

Menez----Torres--------SES

Yes, I'm giving Menez a chance, ain't that good of me. That or Honda behind Torres and SES for a 1-2.

Actually, I misread the one on the right. That's closer to my vision. Just would rather the midfield is a flatter 3 than a reverse triangle.

Just because it didn't work under Seedorf doesn't mean it won't work under Pippo. First of all, it had completely different players. Kaká, Robinho, Taarabt, Balotelli, all of which are gone.

The problem is that I have a slight feeling if Pippo ever used it, he would play Menez behind Torres and Honda on the wing...

The formation is working for now, why change it? It fits our players perfectly.