From what i've seen so far i'd say our 4-3-3 is'nt working.To play 4-3-3 u need three midfielders who are very comfortable in possession n r astute at playing the quick n short-passing game.
Barcelona used it so well bcuz in Xavi and Iniesta they had two of the best passers in the world who could keep possession to themselves for all of 90 minutes if d need arose.Add to that attacking fullbacks like Daniel Alves,Abidal n Puyol (sometimes!)who could make runs from deep to take advantage of passes, as well as forwards like Messi,Henry n Eto who also run onto through-balls and
presto!u're onto something.
In midfield we've used Melo,Camoranesi and Tiago (who will possibly be replaced by Momo when he's fit) to not-so-great effect n I think it's bcuz of the trio, Camo is the only one adept at the quick n short-passing game u need from a midfielder in that formation.If we could find two more of him then we'd be onto something;Alas! we can't...so here's what i propose
a 4-2-3-1 with :
two deep-lying midfielders for protecting the back four,breaking down attacks and runs from deep(perhaps momo n melo)
a trio of camo,diego and alex/gio fanning out in front of them such that alex/gio and camo can fall out wide when we lose the ball and block out that channel so oppossing fullbacks do not have the
autobahn to our defence we've been gifting them in pre-season and diego can drop back to pick up the ball from momo n melo to launch attacks as well as make up the numbers when we lose the ball
one big-man upfront(luckily we have three!)who needs to be quick n his feet and even moreso in his thinking(sounds like a job for...DAVID TREZEGUET!!
Most of all we need for our players to be
1.mobile
2. quick-thinkers and passers
3. FIT!!