For a team possesing wingers with the calibre James Milner and David Silva, it puzzles me why Roberto Mancini insists on playing a fluid passing game. The English game has always been played on the wings, and the teams that do play that system always win the League. Let us take a look back at the last 8 Premier League champions, and why their success was based on their wing play.
Manchester United 2002/03: Giggs on the left, Beckham on the right. Giggs recorded 13 assists, while Beckham had 9, the highest assist record for wingers that season.
Arsenal 2003/04: Pires, Ashley Cole and Lauren all playing on the wings, bombing forward. They were all named in Team of the Year 2004.
Chelsea 2004/05 and 05/06: Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Paulo Ferreira, and Shaun Wright Phillips dominating the wings for Chelsea.
Man Utd 2006-2009: 3 Titles won in a row, Evra, Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo all playing on the wings for Manchester United.
Chelsea 2009/10: Ashley Cole, Malouda, Anelka, Joe Cole, providing Drogba from the wings.
I think the stats all show the importance of wingers in the English League. Arsenal stopped winning the League and have gone 6 years without a trophy after losing key wingers Pires and Ashley Cole, without replacing them. They also abandoned wing play in search for Tiki-Taka football. Manchester City are in danger of losing a Champions League place unless Mancini utilizes the wings. He has Dzeko, Yaya Toure who can get headers onto the goal, so it is a mystery why they always try to 'walk the ball into the net'
Jassim
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