With options limited at centre-forward, who should lead the line on Monday night?
When Michu was first ruled out through injury, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't, for me, a bittersweet aspect to the injury as it gave Wilfried Bony a guaranteed starting berth - which I thought he'd use to kick on and endear himself to Swansea fans.
Sadly for Bony, he himself picked up an injury against Valencia - although fears that he'd torn his hamstring proved unfounded. While it's only a minor strain, it's still ruled him out for a couple of weeks - which gave Alvaro a chance to cement a more regular starting berth. After enjoying a fairly anonymous time of it against Man City, the Spaniard seemed to have the bit between his teeth against Newcastle before he himself succumbed to injury - a groin strain which looks set to keep him on the sidelines for a few weeks at least.
This leaves us with Rory Donnelly the only recognised striker anywhere near the first team - though it seems highly unlikely he'll be selected to play up front against Hull, given that Laudrup has (so far this season) preferred him to ply his trade for the development side.
So, who will/should play up front against Hull? There are a few candidates - Jonjo Shelvey, Roland Lamah, Alex Pozuelo... all operated in a kind of "rotating false nine" system against Newcastle, and if we're being honest it worked quite well - Newcastle struggled to pick up our runners from midfield and with the variety of passing, plus the pace of players like Nathan Dyer and Pablo Hernandez, most teams would surely struggle to deal with this approach.
After Bony tweaked his hamstring I made a tongue-in-cheek comment about whether Jonjo could operate in the "false nine" position, and I'm rapidly warming to the idea. He's clearly got an eye for goal and is rapidly winning over any doubters, and if he keeps going the way he is there's no reason why he can't turn into a player like Lampard or Gerrard - an attack minded midfielder who you can bank on to collect around ten goals a term.
I made a comment at half time against Newcastle regarding Shelvey (and numerous other players I've seen down the years), based around how when he's got too much time generally he panics and the result isn't that great. When given the ball under pressure however, he normally produces results. Evidence of this can be found both in his goal at Fulham - where he had to jink his way through before digging out a finish - and his goal against Newcastle. Earlier, he'd gone clean through but didn't manage to produce a finish, whereas when he was given the ball in a position where the first time shot made sense he found the back of the net.
I feel lots of players perform better when under pressure, and that sometimes given too much time to think they end up fluffing their lines, and Jonjo could be the perfect example of that. He's still so young that his composure and decision making should improve dramatically in the next few years, but in terms of raw talent no-one can deny he has all the attributes to make an attacking midfield position his own. It could simply be a case of forcing him to occupy more advanced positions, and the goals will start to flow.
So, Jonjo Shelvey at false nine? It's got my vote. Much like Michu (who prefers a deeper role), I feel he could excel if made to play in a more advanced position. If he does indeed line up in the most advanced of the Swans' midfield positions, Steve Bruce won't know what hit him.