How do you suppose Milner will keep up with Sane? On what planet can Milner possibly stay in front of Sane and have a good game?
He'd be in a retirement home by the end of teh match.
There is no other option. Clyne isn't going to play his first match against City.
And all of this ignores the obvious point - if your midfield doesn't protect your defence when playing a high line, it really doesn't matter who the individuals are, they are doing to get picked off. You cannot hold a high line without pressure on the ball. And they cannot drop off if the midfield is stretched out leaving spaces behind them rather than compact in front of the defence.
Which means whoever the full back is has three options:-
1. Drop first - risk playing others onside elsewhere across the line. City did this to great effect against Cardiff having a dummy runner go first on the left sagging the line then playing a runner in on the right.
2. Push up - but you cannot push up without pressure on the ball otherwise you get easily picked off. Plus it's not the right backs call to make when to step up.
3. Hold the line - this is what TAA did at the weekend. In fact both times he had good body position and was ready to match Zaha's run. Zaha was just quicker than him over 10-20 yards having got a little momentum on him due to TAA needing to hold the line.
Now how does Milner play that scenario differently where it works out better for him? If anything he is left even more in Zaha's dust. How does Gomez - who has consistently lost runners this season on diagonal balls? How does Clyne who has not played a competitive game in almost 11 months. People expect him to walk in against one of the most explosive wingers in the world and just be instantly match sharp?
TAA's problem wasn't a lack of awareness, poor positioning, lack of pace, or anything like that. He was let down by what was going on in front of him. If our midfield decides to continue as such, we will end up replacing full backs like there is no tomorrow while we try to find one who learns how to teleport to solve the problems he is facing.