Forwards: Individual problem or a wider, perhaps tactical issue?

Well Neymar plays on the left wing Alex, Saurez doesnt.

Like I said, he could probably go back to playing there, but he is playing the best football of his life right now through the middle and scoring goals, through the middle. I wouldnt guess he would replicate this on the left.

Neymar, if he is going to be good, would be good on the left or not at all.

Neymar makes runs to open lanes? No, but there is still a difference. Suarez finds space in between the lines or runs channels to drag centerbacks out of positions.

Neymar is with the ball at his feet or running into space towards the flank. The problem is we are comparing two players playing very different roles.

On Suarez occupying the rightback. Do you really think we would be getting the best out of him by doing that? I dont think we will be.

The Franchise wrote:Well Neymar plays on the left wing Alex, Saurez doesnt.

Like I said, he could probably go back to playing there, but he is playing the best football of his life right now through the middle and scoring goals, through the middle. I wouldnt guess he would replicate this on the left.

Neymar, if he is going to be good, would be good on the left or not at all.

Neymar makes runs to open lanes? No, but there is still a difference. Suarez finds space in between the lines or runs channels to drag centerbacks out of positions.

Neymar is with the ball at his feet or running into space towards the flank. The problem is we are comparing two players playing very different roles.

On Suarez occupying the rightback. Do you really think we would be getting the best out of him by doing that? I dont think we will be.

Fair enough.Still think he would be terrific for us.
Iniesta has been very good the last few games on the left linking up with Alba and all.
Now imagine Suarez on that left wing with Alba.More pace,more penetration and a far more lethal goal threat.Not to mention the link up with Messi when he comes inside.And he could always move central when Messi drops deep.
And vice versa.Suarez drops in between the lines sometimes,Messi stays up.Defenders and midfielders would have a nightmare.
I think he fits us like a glove and would be a terrific signing.
Would he be as good as he is now at Liverpool where he is the main man?
Probably not as Messi is here.
But cant the same be asked of Neymar?Would he be as good for us as he is for Santos where he is the main man?

Maybe he would be, it wouldnt surprise me, he is terrific. I just have reservations about how all the change would effect him.

True, Iniesta has been good and the team has functioned, but lets see how it goes down the road in other games. Im sold on it just yet.

With Suarez, indeed more so but again, its a change for him.

True for Neymar also.

The only difference I find is Neymar is just a kid who still can get better and we could have for many many years.

Dont get me wrong though, if we got Suarez and not Neymar I wouldnt be dissapointed one bit.

I have reservations about both, I would about most signings, I just have them slightly more for Suarez than Neymar right now because Suarez has played over a year in a different position while Neymar plays the position we are looking for.

dani and alex, great conversation between you two experts. I will add a couple of comments and/or questions.

1. The first is about Iniesta playing on the left. Like you all I have never thought this is the best solution and recently the man himself said that playing center of midfield suits him better. However when I look at how we are playing now with an open mind I have to admit to myself that there are some pros of doing this as well. Our midfield combination play is benefiting and the constant interchanging of positions is even more than before - even more total football so to say. With Iniesta on the left and Fabregas in the center they tend to combine much more. Fabregas often goes forward to use his final pass and scoring skills best which allows Iniesta to come in the center and make major contributions - nowadays he plays more in the box than he has ever done and his exquisite ball control can make it very difficult for the opposition who earlier had only Messi to bother about for that kind of threat. Messi sometimes drifts to the right allowing Xavi to come forward and release a great final ball and even score a few goals. With such extraordinary players all around responsibility and credit gets shared but the team does benefit to an extent. See I am once again not saying this is the best way but its quite clear this is how we will be playing in all the big games. Hence we have no choice but to accept it. The formation is 4-3-3 only in name. Its actually a very dynamic style of playing where the formation changes all the time but unlike last year these kind of changes don't confuse the players.

2. dani, alex never liked Sanchez and thus this question is mainly for you. Since both of you have elaborated how well Suarez can contribute, why couldn't we get the same out of Sanchez. I got the feeling you rated him almost on par with Suarez. What went wrong?

Alexis is so very timid, more timid than I think anyone could of guessed.

In 1 v 1's with the defender, he doesnt try and dribble and fail...he doesnt even try. Such a lack of confidence and freedom of expression is quite surprising, especially when you, I and others remarked that if anything, Alexis needs to control himself a little more when we was playing for Chile. I was more worried about him doing too much than not enough in terms of taking the ball and being aggressive. Its a mystery to me and I guess speaks to the role the mental side of the game has and how its not talked about enough by all of us perhaps.

He was was never a finisher and goalscorer, he scored more in his first season than I imagined, I dont judge him by how many goals he scores. He in theory, is more than that.

Suarez...I dont know, I cant imagine him doing that. But really who knows?

Alexis has shown flashes of his ability to beat players, but he only does it when forced to, when there is no option but to get out of trouble. Why he doesnt call on this ability at will, my guess is as good as yours.

dani, thanks for a wonderful reply. Nice mention of us saying that he overdid things for Chile and the irony of underdoing things now. If I were to propose my theory about why he is doing this I would guess he is too complexed seeing players of the calibre of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta around him. You need to have immense self belief and excuse the expression perhaps Ibra like arrogance to try things of your own outside the tried and tested in this team after coming from outside.

This too deserves a bump. Do any of you feel that we may have scored at least one goal had Messi switched out to a wider role maybe half way into the game? He still would've got swarmed but had he drawn at least one of them a bit wider do you guys think someone couldve stormed up through the center? It's a double edge of a question, since when he was in the center no one was able to storm up the wings either but whats your take?

Formations only really matter when defending anyway. To rephrase that who in your formation is charged with marking the opponents LB?

If you see Messi on the wing it's just because he drifted there. That's just a natural extension of his false 9 role.

Not really.

The idea of Messi going out wide, is so he can get someone in the 1 v 1, trying to displace a defender than then cause a chain reaction.

He didnt really do that when he moved there and we didnt have anyone else in a scoring position to take advantage anyway.