How damn hard it is going to be for Enzo Maresca to pick his best Xl!?
Of course, we have to remember that we have extra competitions in the shape of the Conference League and Club World Club to play in this season, so that is why the club planners have gone with a bigger squad this season, that as well as all the injuries we have had lately. I guess there is a bit of fear around that now!
But Maresca is going to have many headaches picking starting Xl’s this season, and the Manchester City game in less than three weeks will provide probably the biggest one he might pick all season.
Everyone is (and hopefully stays) fit, he has a big squad to pick from, and we might even have more new arrivals before then too! Hopefully outgoings as well.
So instead of trying to get into Maresca’s head, I’ve decided to get inside my own head and give myself a head ache! Well, part that and part Maresca’s thinking.
So what I’ve done below is pick the starting Xl that I would go for against City, but in Maresca’s setup!
And the minute I started picking this selection below, I instantly regretted doing it! It’s literally impossible!
Anyway, here is what I’ve gone for. Please feel free to drop your selections in the comments section!
So the above is based on no new arrivals before the City game, and I’m thinking about being as compact as we can be.
I’ve gone with Robert Sanchez purely because I’ve not watched Filip Jorgensen for maybe more than one game yet so I can’t judge him.
Chistopher Nkunku for me is a better option off the left than Raheem Sterling or Mykhailo Mudryk, the rest probably pick themselves for now. I know this leaves us with no one-v-one touchline wingers, but I think against City it would be good to be narrow and compact off the ball, and Palmer and Nkunku dropping in more centrally to cut off the passes in between the lines.
And this is adding in Victor Osimhen, which makes it MUCH tougher… and maybe not for the City game, but still….
So for me, Enzo comes out in this scenario and Nkunku plays as an 8. Tough decisions, but as you can see I’d put Jackson on the left. I think he could really shine there and is more suited to a left attacker role than he is to a central striker role. I’m really getting the Nicolas Anelka vibes from him.
And then, I have added another ‘dream’ signing or unrealistic signing if that’s what you want to call it, Pedro Neto.
I’ve added Neto because if you remember, we reported not long ago that he was being discussed as a target, and as explained in my other article today, I believe we need a right winger way more than a left winger, and Neto would be my ‘dream’ choice.
I’ve used Palmer and Nkunku as the 8s, as we have heard that Maresca is keen to play them both there, but whether that will be one of the other we are unsure of at this point.
You might think this is too attacking heavy and not enough defensive stability, and maybe you would be right in thinking that. But as above, I’ve shown the transition in Maresca’s 4-3-3 formation with James becoming inverted which would give us the defensive stability for Palmer and Nkunku to operate ahead of him and Caicedo.
We are hardly going to see a regular starting Xl though without Lavia and Fernandez, are we? Let’s be honest. But that’s what I mean about this being so difficult, especially if we get the two new arrivals in the positions that I absolutely believe we do need to sign in.
Obviously with the above formation we would need to use that more against low blocks and the lesser teams, because this would be the in possession formation. It would be disastrous to line up like this against City, for example. So don’t think I am pushing for that!
I don’t know how flexible Maresca will be with his formations and lineups, but in terms of player selections, he is going to need to be prepared to rotate and be a bit flexible there for sure.
There are SO many players missing from these lineups above, we could fill a whole second team of players who would expect to be playing.
Oh and I have to say this, please don’t run with the Osimhen and Neto thing here, these aren’t my predicted signings and I’m not saying we will sign them. Probably the opposite of that in fact. But I am just pondering a potential ‘dream’ lineup with a couple arrivals we are currently, or have been, linked with.
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