ok, give you that but like i said before,when you have a playmaker who is supposed to dictate the play it becomes a lot easier to shut a team down. we were over-reliant on zidane for far too long and i think we can all agree that when we sold him we became a much more complete team. the problem is that we have a squad that is lacking in creativity right now which is why a playmaker is so desirable.
but
we are a very solid unit, hard to break down and part of the reason that the Cb pairing have been getting so much praise is due to the fact that they are well protected. the WB are more defensively minded than attacking, the 2 sitting midfielders are strong and dynamic and the wide players are as comfortable tracking back as they are going forward. by taking away one of the 2 DM's we will lose some of that steel down the middle,yes we may be more versatile going forward but we will almost certainly be more exposed at the back.
now i know that our style of play is not always the most appealing to watch but at the end of the day we are playing winning football and changing a winning team and formation is always a major risk. while i would love for us to play more attractive football i am happy we are winning and challenging while not always entertaining. for me getting in a wide player or two and a new pair of WB's is far more important than changing the system to become more reliant on one playmaker
Again, it's not about playing more attractive football to me. People seem to get confused a lot. Instead, I care more about making sense with the ball when we have it and making the passes through midfield that opens up defenses. Just one player could do that.
Moreover, I'm not even demanding we take out a DM. With a playmaker such as Diego, we could have Sissoko and Zanetti in there to act like the Davids/Tacchinardi midfield, just with better passing. The system doesn't really change that much to be honest, with one of the DM's staying back a little further to accommodate the playmaker.
Since the "Champions League" began in 1992, every single winner had at least one player in central midfield who could pull the strings and be the "quarterback" with the ball.
Barcelona - Guardiola and Stoichkov
AC Milan - Rijkaard
AC Milan - Savicevic/Abertini
Ajax - Litmanen and Seedorf
Juventus - Sousa and Deschamps
Borussia Dortmund - Andreas Moller
Real Madrid - Redondo
Manchester United - Keane and Scholes
Real Madrid - Redondo and Seedorf
Bayern Munich - Scholl and Effenberg
Real Madrid - Zidane
AC Milan - Kaka/Rui Costa and Pirlo
FC Porto - Deco
Liverpool - Xabi Alonso and Gerrard
Barcelona - Xavi, Ronaldinho, et cetera
Milan - Kaka and Pirlo
As one can see, over the past decade it's really been the teams with creative players who have won the Champions League, but thankfully we did win it with the trident in 1996. But the trend still stands.
Our unit is indeed solid and compact, and it's good for Serie A. But we'll see if it's good for Europe.