Some of these formations make me drop my jaw in disbelief and to be honest, I am not exactly completely ecstatic about all those names joining. I am nervous more so than anything else really.
We were not that incredibly bad, we did lose 3 major starters and depending on technically weak players for the majority of the season. But we showed that this shirt shines through the darkest of moments; whatever we lack in skill we will make most of it up in dedication.
I don't see what the problem is with:
Casillas
Ramos Pepe Garay Torres
M Diarra
Ribery Kaka Marcelo
Higgie Villa
Marcelo is a waste of space at the back, Torres might not be the most physical player but he is very smart in his running, and with Marcelo's fighting spirit, they could lock that left side (unless we get Silva who I can put Marcelo in the back and keep the formation balanced.) While Ramos is great offensively he is not a Roberto Carlos and Ribery is a live wire, making the right side balanced. Kaka picks up the ball from deep, his way of defending is by running at defenses as opposed to Zidane who locks it between his feet forever, and does take more shots than Zizou not to mention he does score more often.
Both Higgie and Villa are fighters, if instructed to defend, they will.
Everything is down to micro-tactics these days, freedom in creativity is constrained these days, it will eventually come through in the most desperate moments but in the long run of the season, Pellegrini will need to instruct his players of specific roles and set up his lines properly. Without any quality no the field, we won 17 out of 18 by doing so.
) pic for a month 
