Football FanCast columnist Dave Mooney suggests that England aren't the only side that are struggling with a lone striker, as a former Three Lions boss is currently establishing at Eastlands.

That lone striker role is definitely a specialist position. It's a role that needs someone powerful and strong, quick, and with a lot of stamina, an opportunist and an excellent finisher.

It's a position that Manchester City have used constantly throughout their season and one they've had trouble filling. Vassell, Bianchi, Mpenza and Benjani have all tried it this season, with varying degrees of success.

Starting with the now-midfielder, former-striker, Darius Vassell, it's clear that he is not a lone striker. His best season for City was while he was playing up front with Andy Cole as a supporting striker. He's never going to bag 20 goals a season, but he will get himself firmly into double figures when he's got a strike partner of any quality. However, both Pearce and Sven appear to have moulded the lad into a winger, with his pace and ability to keep going like an energizer bunny on speed, he's a good candidate to balance the team when Petrov is playing wide-left.

Sven splashed out on Rolando Bianchi in the summer and, while he scored consistently in his time at City, he never really settled. His pace wasn't his biggest asset, but he could certainly head the ball well.

Mpenza has recently turned down a loan move to Leicester, and rightly so in my opinion, as I think he can still do a job for us. He is powerful and nippy, but his finishing lets him down at times yet he's always willing to chase a ball down and can put a lot of pressure on the defence in doing so.

I'm probably about to upset a large number of Blues fans, but I think Benjani is another player who isn't a lone striker. I know the best way to win the City fans over is to score the winning goal on your debut, away at Old Trafford, and, to be fair to the lad, he always gives his best for the team. But he just doesn't look like he's capable of scoring when playing alone up front.

At the beginning of the season the midfield was chipping in with a large number of goals. But since Elano lost some of his form and Michael Johnson needed abdominal surgery, that source has dried up a little.

Don't get me wrong, I've been overjoyed with the way this season has panned out. In fact, we're well ahead of where any of us expected us to be after last season, but the one thing that has disappointed me in recent weeks has been Sven's reluctance to try something new.

He said himself in the Manchester Evening News that he thought City had been "found out" and that our style of play had become common knowledge. Added to the fact that Elano, in an interview with The Independent, told of how he found it difficult because he was being marked out of the game; it seems to me that it might be time to gamble and try two strikers for the final part of the season.

Personally, I think at pairing of Benjani and Mpenza could work wonders, especially as Elano is struggling and Ireland's form appears to be dipping in and out. It could be the right time to switch it about in the midfield to, what about trying Geovanni instead?

With Bojinov coming back to fitness as the season comes to an end, and Caicedo looking like a very promising, young signing; 4-4-2 seems to be the way to go for me. It would give the strike partnership some more support and it's now the last thing the opposition will expect - with our current system being used since the opening day.

The future certainly looks bright, but with a bit of a personnel change and a change of shape, that future could end up looking much, much brighter.

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