One month in, do we know our best eleven?

A month has now passed since the start of the Premier League and a pretty stable eleven has started to establish itself:

Hart

Richards, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Lescott

Barry, De Jong, Yaya Toure

Johnson, Milner

Tevez

However, to a great extent this has been forced by the injuries to Boateng, Kolarov and Balotelli, and the coming to fitness of David Silva.  Mancini was quoted in the week saying the following about Silva's start at City:

"I thought he did very well when he came on [against Blackburn] but I always said that he would need time because it is very different here than playing in Spain. The internationals are over now and I think it will be time for him to play in the team from the next game."

Which appears to say he is now ready to be a starter in the City team, in the Premier League as well as the Europa league.  He certainly looked bright against Blackburn, and we may need his class to make the most of the pressure we have been able to apply in the last two games.  If this is the case, then the very least it means is that one of Johnson, Milner, Barry, De Jong or Yaya Toure will have to make way.  Not the simplest of decisions.  It seems fairly evident that most of these five will have to get used to a small degree of rotation as the season progresses and we can always feel comfortable with whichever combination is put forward, but you have to presume there is a 'best eleven' in there somewhere.

I prattled on after the Blackburn game about getting the best out of Carlos Tevez and how the leading striker role does not suit him best:

I don't take issue with the 4-2-3-1 formation that was used, as it is favoured by most teams now and being a man light in the middle can lead to an uneven contest, but I don't think Tevez is at his best as the leading striker. Primarily because he doesn't act like one when he is played there. You cannot fault his energy and his ability to hold up the ball (which are both important in a leading striker role), but he almost never makes forward runs. Quite often a player will be breaking from midfield, Milner say, and Carlos will either run next to him or, more often than not, drop back - leaving the attacking midfielder with no option other than to cut-back on the attack or go it alone. He is much better as the man behind the strikers, where he can drop back, get involved and link up with the centre-forward. Because of his lack of forward runs, we often look like we are playing without a striker, in what is otherwise quite an attacking formation.

The issue here is that it will further complicate an already difficult choice in midfield. De Jong's knock and Barry's rest meant it appeared easier yesterday - with Milner allowed to start in his preferred central role - but, if Tevez is to drop back, Milner, Yaya Toure, De Jong, Barry and Vieira will have to battle over just two positions. Which is not an easy choice at all.

Obviously with Adebayor out and other candidates perhaps not quite up to it, Tevez will probably remain there for awhile - and therefore, this doesn't apply directly to yesterday's match, but it is a problem on the horizon and I don't think we will be fully effective until it is sorted out.

However, with the fear of sounding like a bit of a hypocrite, we don't have too much choice at the moment other than to play Tevez up front on his own.  Balotelli has increasingly depressing news about how far from action he might be; Adebayor is suffering from a small injury; Jo may not quite be the answer; and Roque Santa Cruz  is rarely available and seemingly a long way down the pecking order.  I still believe the decision to drop Tevez back should come at some point, but at the moment he will continue to lead the line.

If Silva is to come back in, it means a decision has to be made on who out of the midfielders should drop out.  With the will to retain a semblance of attacking football I think Milner and Johnson should remain untouched, leaving the tough decision between Barry, De Jong and Yaya Toure.  On current form, they have all staked their claim, but I don't think it would be too bad for Yaya Toure to get some of the Silva treatment - a bit of time to adapt to the English game in rotation with Barry and De Jong who, for me, have been too good to lose their places this season.  Yaya has shown glimpses of utter class on the ball in these early games, and it is hard to make that call, but whoever is left out would have huge grievances.

So, my choice for the best current eleven (before Boateng, Kolarov, and Balotelli return), would be the following in a 4-2-3-1 formation:

Hart

Richards,  Kolo Toure,  Kompany,  Lescott

De Jong, Barry

A. Johnson, Milner,  Silva

Tevez

 I guess the answer to the title of this piece is a resounding 'no' and I'm sure both Mancini and many of you will have wildly differing ideas about what would be the ideal solution to funnelling all our talent into eleven places.  Of course, the answer will be rotation, and many of the players can be interchanged with little effect to the strength of our team - so, it doesn't really matter as much as some people will have it whether Mancini knows his 'best eleven' or not.  The scope is there to adapt our team to suit the occasion and the sheer weight of games should see everyone involved, but come a big match, a cup final say, you would presume there is an eleven Mancini prefers...