Thursday’s Europa League distractions provided a timely glimpse of two classic midfield playmakers who, through suspension and rotation, have been unable to live up to their billing on the domestic front.
Liverpool’s Joe Cole, having been kept out of Premier League action by the suspension gained from his lunging challenge against Arsenal on the opening weekend, once again used the European stage to showcase his undoubted skills in the 4-1 win over Steau Bucherest. Man City’s own mesmeric talent, the twinkling feet of David Silva, was equally impressive as Roberto Mancini handed him a rare start in their 2-0 over Salzburg.
At Anfield Joe Cole grabbed the headlines and plaudits in Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Steau, taking just 27 seconds to announce his return from a three-match ban by pouncing on a defensive slip to fire Roy Hodgson’s side into a lead.
Cole did enough throughout to suggest that he could provide the spark that was so desperately missing from Liverpool’s performance at Birmingham on Sunday. Buzzing around between attack and midfield, Cole came deep to receive the ball and crafted passes to link play effectively. He will start at Old Trafford on Sunday up in support of Fernando Torres. He may yet sneak his way onto our radars once the weekend fixture is out of the way and Liverpool’s run of opponents becomes that little more obliging to their league ambitions.
Those ambitions are clearly paramount. Hodgson gave us no doubt with last night’s team selection that the Europa League is little more than a distraction – a good thing for us Fantasy Managers. In his programme notes he stressed that he planned on “rotating heavily and using the Europa League to assess some of the ”younger’’ players”. That was clearly in evidence; in total, Hodgson made eight changes to the side that started the Sunday stalemate.
Torres and Steven Gerrard were the biggest names omitted with Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford in mind. There were notable changes throughout however, with Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson relegated to bench roles – allowing Martin Kelly, Dan Agger and Sotirios Kyrgiakos to earn starts in a back four that did at least include Paul Konchesky.
Raul Meireles was handed a first start and anchored the engine room alongside young Jay Spearing. Cole, Maxi Rodriquez and Ryan Babel completed an experimental midfield with David Ngog patrolling up front.
Meireles showed glimpses going forward and was given an opportunity to bring this to the fore as Hodgson introduced Lucas and allowed the Portuguese international to push on behind Ngog. It was Lucas who made the instant impact however, crashing home a 20-yard effort to put the game to bed following Cole’s early opener and an Ngog penalty. Ngog then duly rounded things off with his second and Liverpool’s fourth late on to give them a scoreline that flattered but one that would have been immensely satisfying for Hodgson ahead of the United clash.
City had an easier time in Austria – cantering to a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from David Silva and Jo – two names who are currently struggling to impose themselves on Mancini’s Premier League plans. While Jo has a limited window in the temporary absence of Adebayor and Balotelli, Silva’s opportunity to cement a starting role is surely more secure.
Mancini comments post-match certainly indicate that he is ready to offer Silva more opportunities to stake his claim…
“David is a fantastic player, and for him it is a different situation now….He is playing a different kind of football. But after one month, he is ready to go 100 per cent for the team…He will be an important player for the future.”
The performance and goal against Salzburg will have aided his cause but doubts still remain as to how Mancini can harness his talents within his preferred formation.
Once again the Italian restored the midfield trio of Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure and Nigel De Jong – the latter returning from injury to reclaim his regular starting role. Mancini appears to like the solid platform that the trio offers him and they have certainly played their part in City’s defensive record that shows just one goal conceded from open play in seven matches.
Mancini did at least offer his view on Sliva’s best position…
“David can play in every position. For Valencia he played either right or left wing but I think this position (behind the striker) is the best for him.”
Just how Mancini builds a system that can accommodate that role, whilst also utilising the creativity of James Milner and Adam Johnson, looks to be a difficult proposition and for Fantasy Managers, it continues to breed uncertainty.
Last night Mancini made six changes from the lineup that struggled to unlock Blackburn Rovers at Eastlands last weekend – with the likes of Jo, Pablo Zabaleta, Silva and Wayne Bridge all arriving in the starting lineup. Of those we can expect Bridge to keep his place at Wigan this weekend. The rest will likely find themselves back on the bench as Milner, Johnson, Micah Richards and perhaps even Adebayor come back into the picture.