PAUL M wrote:
I just don't see Mancini playing them both in midfield, it's not in his nature.
I sort of get your point, Mancini is a fan of big players, especially in midfield. I remember Liverpool beating Inter, and he turned up with Julio Cruz and Ibra up front. Baffling. However, Modric is an energetic player who can play deeper in midfield, you know, like, if you have a strong destroyer next to him, he'll get on just fine. I could imagine a de Jong, Toure and Modric midfield, you get just about everything with that, whilst Silva is perfectly capable of playing anywhere further up the field.
Besides, City don't sign players to create the perfect XI. It's obvious Mancini likes to change things around to suit the game, we've seen 4-4-2's, 4-5-1's, sometimes a formation that acts like a 4-6-0 (when he plays Tevez up front, who generally drops deep/doesn't play as a conventional striker. If having Modric means he can add creative ability that is also versatile, I can see why he's keen to add him; he's far superior to Barry.