Along with Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany, David Silva has been one of the consistent pillars of the team for Manchester City over the last couple of seasons.
This term has been affected by injuries, seeing him miss three games including the 4 – 1 win over Manchester United.
However, the other Premier League games which Silva missed saw the Sky Blues drop two points at Stoke and lose 3 – 2 to Aston Villa.
In the five games that he has played in this season, Silva has experienced four victories.
But what is really interesting is the fact that he has been put on the wing, when a central role might have been possible in an expected radical change of formation.
City’s new CEO Ferran Soriano and Director of Football Txiki Begiristain had hinted that the club intended to implement a Barcelona-esque 4-3-3.
But the profile of the squad and Manuel Pellegrini’s traditional preferences meant that was not going to be an easy adjustment.
Silva is more than capable of playing as the most advanced playmaker in a midfield three. But Sergio Aguero is not a natural winger nor is he a player that likes to stay rooted as a lone centre-forward. But there is no way he can be left out of the side.
The Argentine has been in the form that saw him excel in his debut season which saw him score the title-clinching goal. El Kun has netted six goals in seven league games so far this season to put him second in the scorers chart.
He also netted twice against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday.
He is a player that seems suited to a 4-4-1-1 rather than a 4-3-3 in which he would likely be pushed to the wing to accommodate a target man, while a role behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1 pushes him too deep.
For example against West Ham – a game in which he scored twice – one quarter of his touches took place in the box. That is quite a high figure for a player that is pinned to a No 10 slot on paper.
But a look at his heat maps show him making runs to the flanks regularly - a reality that shows that on paper formations can only tell you so much.
With Samir Nasri and Silva currently on the wings, City seem to have reverted to the narrow 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 they used under Roberto Mancini with the latter duo preferring to cut inside rather than stretch the play. But Aguero’s movement to the flanks opens up space and allows for greater interchange.
Ex-Sevilla winger Jesus Navas was brought in to try and solve the issue of narrowness that affected City, particularly last season.
His pace and willingness to stay glued to the right flank provides a useful option but it seems the variety of Silva and Nasri, along with Aguero’s movement has become the main plan for Pellegrini.
