collapse collapse

Please donate to help towards the costs of keeping this site going. Thank You.

Recent Topics

All aboard the shuttle bus. by IFWaters
[Today at 06:20:45 AM]


Gordon Cowans by CT Villan
[Today at 02:12:50 AM]


Other Games - 2023/24 by Brazilian Villain
[Today at 01:07:18 AM]


Chris Heck - President of Business Operations by VillaTim
[March 28, 2024, 11:45:01 PM]


COLD BLOW LANE ... 1967 to 1975 ... Did anyone (dare to) visit the Den? by dcdavecollett
[March 28, 2024, 11:02:33 PM]


Youri Tielemans (confirmed) by Somniloquism
[March 28, 2024, 10:54:34 PM]


FFP by AV82EC
[March 28, 2024, 10:36:39 PM]


GUESS THE CROWD R22: ASTON VILLA v Wolves, Saturday 30th March! 🥧 by ironmaidenmania
[March 28, 2024, 08:43:00 PM]

Recent Posts

Re: All aboard the shuttle bus. by IFWaters
[Today at 06:20:45 AM]


Re: Gordon Cowans by CT Villan
[Today at 02:12:50 AM]


Re: Gordon Cowans by JD
[Today at 01:37:32 AM]


Re: Other Games - 2023/24 by Brazilian Villain
[Today at 01:07:18 AM]


Re: Gordon Cowans by Percy McCarthy
[Today at 01:05:25 AM]


Re: Gordon Cowans by The Left Side
[Today at 12:52:12 AM]


Re: Gordon Cowans by tomd2103
[Today at 12:47:19 AM]


Re: Other Games - 2023/24 by edgysatsuma89
[Today at 12:33:09 AM]

Follow us on...

Author Topic: Midfield  (Read 22122 times)

Offline London Villan

  • Member
  • Posts: 9514
  • Location: Brum
  • GM : 27.05.2019
Re: Midfield
« Reply #15 on: October 07, 2012, 07:49:24 PM »
Stan would have fitted well into that group.

Offline SoccerHQ

  • Member
  • Posts: 42391
  • Location: Down, down, deeper and Down.
  • GM : 19.06.2021
Re: Midfield
« Reply #16 on: October 07, 2012, 08:37:28 PM »
He isn't to everyone's taste but we miss Ireland. He at least has some invention about him and I think it shows when he dosen't played we've struggled big time in midfield generally.

Might see Westwood again before too long but again another player who needs time learning at this level.

I can't think of another premier league club where the quality and strength in depth in one area of the pitch has decreased in such a short period of time.

In the 09/10 season our first choice midfield was Young...Milner....Petrov...Downing with decent back up in Sidwell, NRC and Gardner.

Now we have very little quality in there, too many youngsters who still have question marks over them and likes of Ireland and N'zogbia who have struggled to justify the money spent on them.

Offline Dante Lavelli

  • Member
  • Posts: 9549
  • GM : 25.05.2023
Re: Midfield
« Reply #17 on: October 07, 2012, 08:41:58 PM »
I think the person that said we have a lot of squad players in midfield but no real first teamers is about right.  This presents two problems, firstly there is an overall lack of quality and secondly players like Bannan, Herd, Gardner, Delph, Westwood and even Holman and Ireland will not get enough game time to fulfil their potential, due to the number of players that are fighting for a couple of spots.

Maybe in January we need to lose a couple of the squad players either on loan or selling them (risking that they make it somewhere else) and buy a more established player?
« Last Edit: October 08, 2012, 08:33:49 AM by Dante Lavelli »

Offline SoccerHQ

  • Member
  • Posts: 42391
  • Location: Down, down, deeper and Down.
  • GM : 19.06.2021
Re: Midfield
« Reply #18 on: October 07, 2012, 08:54:06 PM »
Yep, would loan out Delph and Bannan and probably sell both at the end of the season as don't think either will make it here if we want to improve significantly.

Holman and Ireland are good enough for the level we're at and I still think KEA will be a good signing in the long term but needs better quality alongside him.

Offline claret and blue blood

  • Member
  • Posts: 691
Re: Midfield
« Reply #19 on: October 07, 2012, 08:54:31 PM »
Ireland's detractors may now realise in our current squad we have no-one with his quality at keeping the ball and linking the play, we've missed him a lot and he can't come back soon enough for me.Ultimately we are now reaping the "benefits" of our decreased wage bill , what we'd give for a James Milner now !

Offline Fin Feds Dad

  • Member
  • Posts: 1386
  • Location: M6 north
  • GM : 09.08.2016
Re: Midfield
« Reply #20 on: October 07, 2012, 09:58:08 PM »
When N'Zonzi was available at the end of the season we should have got him. We lack height and physical prescence in the middle of the pitch, he would have done a job for us in certain games and wouldn't have cost us a fortune.

This - he is playing really well at stoke according to my mates

Offline jeowje

  • Member
  • Posts: 580
  • Location: Cheltenham
Re: Midfield
« Reply #21 on: October 07, 2012, 10:18:58 PM »
I remember Paul Merson's debut for us, at the time we had a solid enough midfield anyway, but some of the incicive passes he played that day made you think 'ah, thats what we've been lacking!'.

Its all well and good having 'technically proficient' players like Banann and KEA, but this level demands exceptional players, 'good' players are just run of the mill. Unless you are Everton I suppose.

Offline JUAN PABLO

  • Member
  • Posts: 30638
  • Location: hinckley
    • http://www.scifimafia.net
  • GM : Aug, 2014
Re: Midfield
« Reply #22 on: October 08, 2012, 02:24:25 AM »

Ireland is supposed to be talented, but we've seen precious little of it.


To be fair to Ireland , we had looked so much better with him in the team.

Offline supertom

  • Member
  • Posts: 18751
  • Location: High Wycombe, just left of Paradise.
Re: Midfield
« Reply #23 on: October 08, 2012, 05:12:29 AM »
KEA is tidy. Good with the ball. He needs a decent player alongside him to do the dirty work and allow him to try and impose himself on the game more. For me though, we don't have a decent enough central combo to play two central midfielders. Too weak, too lightweight, too average. KEA+decent signing in Jan could work. Delph and Bannan and Herd aren't good enough.

Holman I really like. He's not a game winner. He's certainly a regular starter and worthy of it in my mind. We just need more reliable flair players than Ireland and CNZ to compliment someone like Brett.

If we sort the midfield I think we'll be okay. If we don't, then I'd worry a lot about surviving. It may come down to 3 teams being crapper than us like last season to survive.

Oh and we miss Stan. We miss an experienced head and Stan was very good playing the deep role. Not a tough tackler but reads the game well.

Shoot me down but NRC is still around and I actually think on a free till the end of the season, he'd be ideal. He'd work hard and graft in the middle, allowing the likes of KEA more freedom. He's better than Delph and Bannan. He's more equipped for the top flight and performs consistently. He might not be Pirlo, but as long as he keeps it simple he's okay. I think in terms of experience and influence, he'd also be useful right now.

Offline ozzjim

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 29983
  • Location: Here.
  • GM : 30.08.2022
Re: Midfield
« Reply #24 on: October 08, 2012, 07:21:03 AM »
Surely the answer at the moment is Herd? Combative, energetic and does not take shit, surely he should be in with KEA, protecting the back 4. Delph is a lovely footballer, but if I was going over the wall, I would prefer Herd was alongside me than any of our other options.

We registered 25 players, so NRC could not play till Jan anyhow, and I think come Jan someone better than him will arrive in there. They will have had 6 months to find a midfield general by then, and be swelled with Bent transfer cash from Liverpool no doubt!



Offline Dante Lavelli

  • Member
  • Posts: 9549
  • GM : 25.05.2023
Re: Midfield
« Reply #25 on: October 08, 2012, 08:42:12 AM »
Surely the answer at the moment is Herd? Combative, energetic and does not take shit, surely he should be in with KEA, protecting the back 4. Delph is a lovely footballer, but if I was going over the wall, I would prefer Herd was alongside me than any of our other options.

We registered 25 players, so NRC could not play till Jan anyhow, and I think come Jan someone better than him will arrive in there. They will have had 6 months to find a midfield general by then, and be swelled with Bent transfer cash from Liverpool no doubt!

Agree with all that Ozzjim, including the likelihood that Bent will be off unfortunately.  The silver lining will be who we can buy to fill other gaps.

Offline PaulTheVillan

  • Member
  • Posts: 23173
  • GM : 16.08.2022
Re: Midfield
« Reply #26 on: October 08, 2012, 09:04:49 AM »
We really do miss Petrov.

KEA is decent, I'm just not sure who the best players are along side him.

Delph goes missing far too much. Bannan thinks that every pass should be an assist.

Maybe Herd should be given a chance to do the dirty work behind two more 'technical' players like Ireland and KEA?


Herd
Ireland KEA

Offline Percy McCarthy

  • Member
  • Posts: 31937
  • Location: I'm hiding in my hole
    • King City Online
Re: Midfield
« Reply #27 on: October 08, 2012, 09:07:17 AM »
I agree Herd should be given a try.

Offline N'ZMAV

  • Member
  • Posts: 9637
  • Location: Peckham
Re: Midfield
« Reply #28 on: October 08, 2012, 09:12:49 AM »
I think we need to play 3 in centre midfield with N'Z and Holman wide. KEA, Herd and Delph would provide the legs, but wouldn't be that useful going forward. Maybe KEA, Bannan and Holman? I don't fucking know... I'll leave this up to the manager.

Offline ROBBO

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 7408
  • Location: MELBOURNE
  • GM : 15.01.2025
Re: Midfield
« Reply #29 on: October 08, 2012, 09:23:41 AM »
Go back four years and we were saying the same things only then we were trying to get into Europe. Midfield has been our great weakness all along, a top midfield takes the pressure of the defence and gets supply to the forwards something we havn't seen for many a year,i would like to hear peoples opinions of when was the last time we had a good midfield and who were the players. We still don't know if the newcomers are going to make it, far too early, we are playing a better style which all supporters were crying out for,as for Bent he just isn't what Lambert likes in a big man, he likes the guy at Norwich.

 


SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal