Offtopic/fun » of a 4-3-3 formation or with a team

The day fast-bowling fans have been dreading has finally arrived: Dale Steyn has grown up.South Africas supercharged pace spearhead will take a back seat of sorts when he returns to the Test team, with a focus on staying fit even if it means being slightly less fast.If I must be realistic about it, running in and bowling 145kph all day when you havent done it for a long time is going to be really tough. Objective number one is to get through 18 overs a day, maybe dropping in pace, but being as effective as possible. 140 is going to be enough, Steyn said at the launch of the New Zealand Test series in Durban. Theres going to be a day when I can rev it up to 145 and maybe even 150 but weve got somebody like KG (Kagiso Rabada) who can do that now. Steyns more measured approach comes after he experienced first hand the risks of doing too much, too quickly last summer. After a groin strain kept Steyn out of three of South Africas four Tests in India, he tried to rush his way back and broke his shoulder. As I recovered from one, I broke down on the other one and its only because I was going from 0 to 100 way too quickly, Steyn said. If you look at your fast cars, Ferraris, they always tell you drive it to 1000 kays (kms) before you hit 200-plus. I obviously didnt put in 1000 kays, I was just trying to hit 200 and then I bust the shoulder.He recovered in time for the World T20 but was left out of the one-day squad that travelled to the Caribbean in June. Steyn played in the NatWest T20 Blast instead, followed by the CPL, which means he has not had to bowl more than four overs a match this year and is looking forward to the challenge of longer, more intense spells.I love the idea that I can bowl long periods and attack for a whole lot longer by bowling consistently hard lengths with the odd bouncer here and there, he said. In one day cricket, you bowl two hard-length balls and then think this guy might come at me, I have to change up now and then bowl a slower ball. Now, you can really put pressure on batters. You can hit that hard length all day until they make a mistake and thats what I love. I love testing guys patience and its a waiting game. I am a fisherman, I will wait there all day and hopefully find the edge or knock his poles over.New Zealands line-up has been one of the places Steyn has most enjoyed casting his net and one of the fish he hopes to reel in is opening batsman Martin Guptill. I like playing against them and I have had personal success against them. I got Guptill out in the CPL, nicked him off. Straight away he came to me and said, I cant wait to come to South Africa, and I said, Neither can I.Steyns success against New Zealand stretches back to his breakthrough season as an international bowler, when he took successive ten-wicket hauls in a two-match series in the 2007-08 season headlined by the bouncer that damaged Craig Cummins face. Also, Doug Bracewell was his 300th Test wicket and he now has the opportunity to notch up another milestone against New Zealand.With 406 wickets to his name, Steyn is 16 away from overtaking Shaun Pollock and becoming South Africas leading wicket-taker. For now, though, that is not a goal on his mind. That stuff annoys me. When I went to Bangladesh everyone said you are going to get 400 wickets and then the rain came and it was a nightmare and then people said in India, if you bowl well you can get Pollys record and then I did a groin and then they said if bowl well against England, you will get it. I am not interested in any records. 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The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes.MANCHESTER, England -- Jose Mourinho is facing the biggest question of his short reign as Manchester United manager: What to do with Wayne Rooney?While most of Uniteds top players were benched or rested entirely for the English League game against third-tier Northampton on Wednesday, Rooney played the full 90 minutes -- less than three days before a big Premier League match against champion Leicester.There could be two explanations for this selection: Mourinho either wanted his captain out on the field to lead the team in a potentially tricky away cup tie; or theres a chance Rooney could be left out at the weekend.In a terse television interview before the Northampton game, Mourinho was twice asked what he wanted from Rooney. Goals, came the reply from the stern-faced Portuguese coach, both times.United won 3-1 but Rooney, who started the match as a central striker before dropping deeper in the second half, did not score.The Rooney dilemma -- where to play him, if at all -- is hanging over Mourinho and wont go away, because its the most hotly debated issue in English football at present.Rooney was restored to his favored No. 10 position by Mourinho for this season, after finishing last season as a central midfielder for United and Englands national team. But it remains questionable if he is doing enough to justify his place, and if this positional switch might be stifling the effectiveness of world-record signing Paul Pogba and new star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.Pogba is being played as one of two deep-lying players in central midfield, with Rooney ahead of him, even though the France international is better suited in a three-man midfield that allows him more freedom to attack and not be overly concerned with his defensive responsibilities -- similar to how he played at Juventus. It seems strange to spend $116 million on a player and not adapt the team to his strengths.Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, is a center forward who likes to roam where he wants, and he enjoyed huge tactical freedom at Paris Saint-Germain, his former club. But his tendency to improvise on a whim can also unbalance teams. For example, if Ibrahimovic is dropping deep to get more involved in play then that space is already being occupied by Rooney.Given the presence of Pogba and Ibrahimovic, a 4-3-3 formation with no authentic No. 10 could be the way forward forr United.dddddddddddd.Rooney, who has been at United since 2004, has had his moments this season, notably setting up Marcus Rashford for a last-minute winner at Hull and also supplying a brilliant right-wing cross that Ibrahimovic headed home in a victory against Southampton. He still has an excellent football brain, a good range of passing, and an exemplary work rate.Critics, though, argue Rooney has lost his pace and explosiveness, and therefore is slowing down Uniteds attacking tempo. He had a particularly disappointing game in Uniteds 3-1 loss at Watford on Sunday, its third defeat in a row over nine days.Here are Mourinhos options going forward regarding Rooney:---KEEP HIM AS NO. 10Rooney is Uniteds -- and Englands -- captain and needs four more goals to become the clubs all-time record scorer, topping Bobby Charltons 249 goals.Given time, he might improve his partnership with Ibrahimovic, while Pogba might learn how to better operate in a midfield two. Rooney hasnt been among the players publicly criticized in recent weeks by Mourinho, who has long been a fan of the player.---CHANGE POSITIONRooney finished the Northampton game on the right of a front three also containing Ibrahimovic and Rashford. He is hard-working, has played the wide role before, and Uniteds other wingers -- Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Memphis Depay -- are hardly in the best form.Maybe Rooney could stay there, as part of a 4-3-3 formation or with a teammate like Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the No. 10 role.Then again, Mourinho said in his first news conference as United manager: For me, he will be a nine, he will be a 10, he will be a nine-and-a-half. That suggests Rooney will be a central striker or a deep-lying striker.---DROP HIMThe last manager to drop Rooney was Alex Ferguson, in the final season of his near-27-year reign. It almost led to Rooney leaving United.Mourinho could do the same in an attempt to get more out of Pogba, give Ibrahimovic more space to rove in attack, and inject some more pace into the forward line.Over at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has shown his tough streak in dropping two club greats in Joe Hart and Yaya Toure early in his tenure. Is Mourinho ready to make a similar statement? ' ' '