Return to 4-3-3/4-5-1 the answer?

The recent draws, outrageous in the eyes of some, have as you might expect kicked up quite a bit of debate about who should be playing and where. When results are going our way no-one really bothers, but this winless/undefeated run has seen us not only drop valuable points but also start playing like a bunch of clueless eejits. We'll all have different opinions, but i wonder whether a more solid midfield base might allow us to start looking like a team of footballers again.

Nigel de Jong, for all he's impressed when brought in, can only do so much. He's not going to notch up assists or trouble opposition goalkeepers, that sort of goes without saying. It's no dig at the lad, he'll admit himself, he's there to do a job, to do the donkeywork many don't fancy, to chase, kick, generally blunt the opposition's more offensive players, win the ball and give it to someone who can make better use of it than he can. I can't see us getting the best out him as one of a midfield two.

Stevie Ireland's best form for the club has been when in a three-man central midfield, which generally saw him just ahead of two more defensively-minded players, Vince Kompany and either de Jong or Pablo Zabaleta. The team's results were mixed over the season but Ireland certainly excels when allowed to roam that bit more.

The key last year was movement, when we played well anyway. Without that we now look more pedestrian, the flair, due to Robinho's absence and Ireland's injuries, coupled with the new formation and system has, barring odd moments, left us looking a patch on the flowing, counter-attacking side that entertained us at Eastlands at least over 2008/9.

We're still scoring goals, and the main problems, despite the strikers not firing, are at the other end, it's not as if the entire system is on its arse, and a slight change in formation might not prevent the individual errors that have led to us conceding goals, but i think a move back to a five-man midfield could help us at both ends of the pitch.

It would probably be hypocritical to point out that Nigel de Jong might have provided some much-needed cover during the attacks which resulted in Burnley's first two goals, a good number of us were encouraging Hughes to not go with him and Barry for the that game after all, but he'd have certainly been around kicking someone.

A number of supporters are now pointing to Carlos Tevez as the problem, i'm not sure that's he's done much wrong but i do see sense in the opinion that we're struggling to accommodate him. We all agree that he's performed quite well, or at least no worse than most, but his style of dropping deep does seem to be at odds with a 4-4-2 featuring an attacking central-midfielder.

Shaun Wright-Phillips recent loss of form, though i think it's been overstated, surely comes back to the overall breakdown of the side's fluidity. SWP's at his best when on the move, around smart players, giving and going. Stick him our getting chalk on his boots with orders to whip cross after cross in and he struggles, his final ball isn't the best. Even just in patches this year we've seen him look more dangerous when anticipating balls behind the defence.

If we're going to make the most of this season then we need to get what we can from our best players, our real match-winners. Robinho and SWP are less effective wide of a 4-4-2, in my opinion, and Ireland, though he's no slouch in terms of tracking back and winning the ball, will go better when closer to the attack. If we have to move Tevez slightly wide then so be it, but it's not as if his partnership with Adebayor is setting the world on fire.

Of course, it's not all as easy as budging a few bodies around, but it's pretty obvious to me that the current 4-4-2 isn't going swimmingly, and in that sense something different has to be a positive move. Any change is going to result in people losing their places. It would have to be a case of Tevez or SWP on the right of the front-three, and Robinho, Petrov or Bellamy on the left, but the manager's brought most of these players in and gets paid a hell of a lot of money to make these sort of tough final calls.

You could easily argue that a rocket up the backsides of Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge might just do the job. The latter's had quite a good season, in my opinion, but when he's poor he tends to be very poor. The more offensive players, though, set the tempo of games, if they're functioning as they should be, especially at home, then there's less pressure on the defence during their infancy as a unit.

I might be wrong, wouldn't be the first time, but as touched on above, the partnership between the strikers doesn't seem to be gelling, we're not getting the best out of most of our midfield, and the defence is looking a bit of a shambles. No need to get the razorblades out, far from it, it's still been an excellent start to the season, but some sort of change is needed, either in terms of formation or starting eleven.