Demichelis signs

Demichelis is just the type of player we needed to bring in,whenever Kompany is out we really lack a leader at the back and that's what he is,a leader
I expect him to make himself first choice partner for Kompany with Nastasic as the cover rather than the other way round

PPLF,
I would be delighted to be wrong on this one!

To be fair to Lescott he was played on the wrong side, which you could see he hated.

I'm with Paul tho - an experienced CB is what we need. The new system will expose our back four much more than last year - however it will hopefully also expose the oppositions back four quite a bit too.

Have to say, the pace worries me as well Bell.

I think we have to trust that Pellegrini knows what he is doing with this one though. He had Demechelis with him at Malaga who also played a high line, and he got into the La Liga team of the year.

What is even more important than pace is that all of the team close down very quickly (something that didn't happen in the first half). Got to give it a bit of time yet though, still early days and I can see exactly what he is trying to do.

From what i can see he can attack the ball in the air. The problem he might have is doing that when having to put in a run to get to it. Good protection from set pieces is needed but is it worth the holes that might be created in defence.

Melton,

spot on that the pressing needs to come from everyone. When we've done this (last season too) we have looked exceptionally good as we have the players to then use our possession creatively.

I just don't understand why we can't press in every game. To me, all it takes is players being up for it as well as having good positional sense so they cover for each other and we don't run around like headless chickens.

And that should be a given at this level.

Cardiff and Hull were pressing us from the first whistle and never let up. Both games we started like we were out for a Sunday stroll with the dog, we need to be sharper when games kick off and press much more.

Nastastic is our first choice in my opinion. He is the fastest among all options currently available including Kompany. So I think it will be unwise for Pelegrini to drop him. My view is that Demechelis has been brought in for the right side centre half to cover for Kompany while Lescot will continue to cover for Nasty.

Completely agree bell. We did it against Newcastle and it worked a treat, for some reason, we just didn't do it against Cardiff or hull. It's against those teams that sit deep that its vital we do it, otherwise we don't create any space.

It's an eye opener for Pellegrini though, we will see now if he learns from it and gets the team to change. I have a feeling he will.

Melton,
I share your optimism with Pellegrini,
He appears to be one smart hombre.