Friday, February 22

Ain't nobody like Lanzini, but where will he fit in?

Fantastic news that Manuel Lanzini has recovered from from his cruciate ligament injury and may take some part in tonight's match against Fulham. Fitting him in is a good problem to have for Manuel Pellegrini. He presumably rates Nasri having won the league with him at Man City and will play Samir or Robert Snodgrass on the right. Could Lanzini combine with Anderson on the left? In a 4-4-2- formation that would mean dropping Mark Noble and having only Declan Rice as a defensive midfielder. Though removing Nobes would deprive the side of leadership and a player who respects the shirt, while leaving us defensively weak. 

It could be that Pellegrini opts for a five-man midfield to include Lanzini, though that would leave a lone striker to be picked from Arnautovic, Hernandez and Antonio, not to mention Carroll and Perez. It would certainly be hard to drop Antonio after his recent return to form. It seems likely Lanzini will be on the bench tonight. We have to hope that he is still the same player after a big injury. But if he is, he's a tremendous option to have.

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