Flair or Force?

As seen in City’s recent 2-0 victory over Birmingham City, flair is an option that can be left out in favour of force. Tiatto and Dunne are surely a more physical duo than Benarbia and Wright-Phillips (who they replaced for the match), but are they a better pairing? Benarbia, our captain, is a genius on the ball who could create chances out of thin air (and frequently does), and Wright-Phillips is an energetic wingback with his wide range of passing and darting runs, both create more than enough chances for our forwards. On the other hand, Dunne is a solid centreback, with an enormous physical presence and a decent tackle; whilst Tiatto…. Well….. I think we all know about Tiatto!

The

point I’m making though, is that whilst Benarbia and Wright-Phillips are sure enough great players with a heavy creative tendency, they are somewhat lightweight in the defensive department and lack physical presence. Unlike Dunne and Tiatto, who have no distinct creative tendencies but are as ‘hard as nails’. This meant that in the match, City played with a strength and backbone that has not been seen as much as we would have liked to have seen it this season. This is certainly a good thing, but the only problem with this is that you would have to leave some creative talent out. Now this is the dilemma that is facing Keegan. We all know that he likes to play attacking football, but upon last match’s display he cannot argue against the old fashioned ‘strength’ method.

The plusses and minuses of each are a plenty, and you could argue each point for each tactic over and over again, but whatever decision you made it would not be an easy one… and it will certainly not be an easy one for Kevin Keegan.