Why Rukavytsya and why Birighitti? They would be the first to be dropped when the final 23 is decided.

Birighitti has just started playing and will soon have a run of matches under his belt so that selection imo is justified. 

Ruka may well work in this system if ange had any intention of actually breaking at speed in wide areas but as we all know we are currently holding possession for possessions sake and stagnating any opportunities we create to burst forward and counter.

We also seem to be heavy with left sided players in this squad, ruka, smith, gersbach, behich, goodwin who i assume will all be vying for the same position.

Interesting that spira has been dropped all together. I cant help but think he and ange may have had a difference of opinion. Its just a fan theory but im running with it. 

Nice of Ange to include some of the fresh faces us fans have been crying out for before cutting them from the 23 and using the same duds his persisted with this whole qualifying campaign.

How is brad smith still getting called up? Not playing at club land and has proven himself as a liability for the roos in his last performances. 
Sack Ange, he is a useless hypocrite. 

I think the selection of risdon is proof that Ange is at least contemplating going back to a back 4

Risdon and Ruka give me a slither of hope he wants wide players to have the flexibility to go a 433 or 4231 or even a 442 but I won't get too excited as they will probably be cut.

No spira is huge thoUgh

To think 5 of those defenders will start in world cup play offs scares me.
Probably the weakest our defence has been in a long time.

I'll wait for the final cut, needless to say, I'm betting he'll still play favorites 

I think into the 30 comes Risdon, Goodwin, Birighitti and Rukavytsya. Out goes Spiranovic, McGree, Hrustic and Federici

Had been wondering if ruka would get a run, from all reports he'd been playing quite well in israel. Goodwins gotta stay in.

a 4-3-3 is certainly something to consider given the current form
kruse and leckie scoring regularly means we have good reason to play wingers. Having a front 4 of juric rogic kruse and leckie is good enough to score goals and we can probably play twin screeners

Perhaps risdon and gersbach at fullback gives enough stability out wide

sains mooy and ryan will start so you have to then choose one cb and one screener. Luongo/milligan screener and milligan/wright at cb would be my bet

ruka has 2 goals and an assist from 4 matches (only 258 minutes) this season so he is indeed in form

A radical option would be to play a right side of ruka/leckie

One option I'm a little perplexed about is dougall. He has had two very good games back to back. Admittedly I haven't seen much of him before then

Another backline with potentially Smith, Degenek and Wright in it... fark me dead.. surely Chapman was a chance then

There are 6 wingers in the squad, Kruse, Leckie, Troisi, Mabil, Goodwin and Rukavytsya, plus 4 fullbacks, Gersbach, Smith, Behich and Risdon. That is a third of the squad to cover two wide positions. Even considering Troisi might be being picked at a central player only it is hard to believe 9 players have been picked to cover 2 starting positions. 

I think it might also have o do with the fact he plays in a the Chinese Leagues second division.

incheon are coming 3rd last in the k league but chapman has played 20 games and scored 2 goals in a league that is similar quality to a euro 2nd teir league

wright though is in form at the moment
his team are in contention for promotion and he is getting 83% passing in the ecl of all places

Makes you wonder if he is going to revert to a 4-3-3 perhaps???

yeah selections hint he definitely has it in mind hey

I thought the most solid we ever looked defensively was when risdon and smith were our fullbacks

smith has lacked game time though so maybe gersbach instead

In Israel Ruka appears to play almost as often as a striker as he plays RW.

Goodwin must get disheartened always making the larger squad but not even getting a bench cameo in games.

Bailey Wright has also played his last two matches for Bristol City at right back.

So breaking it down to a 4-3-3 formation we could have something like
GK: Ryan, Langerak, Vukovic
RB: Risdon, Wright
CB: Sainsbury, Degenek, McGowan, Jurman
LB: Gersbach, Behich
DM: Jedinak, Milligan
CM/AM: Mooy, Rogic, Luongo, Irvine
RW: Leckie, Kruse
LW: Troisi, Goodwin
ST: Juric, Cahill

Missing out, Birighitti, Jeggo, Maclaren, Rukavytsya, Amini, Mabil and Smith

Is Spiranovic injured? 

if wright plays rb maybe a backline of gersbach sains milligan wright. Looks pretty solid

True, he plays LW a lot as well. Anywhere across the front three but I would call him primarily a winger.

So Bristol City first choice RB, Pisano is injured and when he is fit Wright will almost certainly be playing CB again. Wright apparently had an excellent game at RB against Derby but without much attacking play.

Maybe Ange wants to create some sort of versatility with his system from the current 3-4-3 to the tried and tested 4-3-3(one holder).

Trying to think he might do that based on his selections, he has chosen more wingers and now has added a right fullback in Risdon he has dropped Spira as well.

Maybe he has been listening to Foz...who knows 

3-4-3                                                                                                                              4-3-3

-----------------Ryan-------------------                                                         -----------------------Ryan-------------------

Degs---------Sains-----------Wright-----                                                Degs-------Sains---------Wright-----Gersbach----
 
---------Mooy-----------Jedinak------------                                                  ---------------------Jedinak---------------------                       

Leckie-------Troisi---------Mooy-----Gersbach                                      ----------------Mooy-------------Rogic-----------

--------------------Juric--------------------------                                             --Leckie---------------Juric-------------Goodwin---


Options. 

Even if he doesn't see any pitch time, he has lovely eyes NIkita