Marvelous Nakamba - gone

[Risso]

Agreed Paul. Although Ramsey seems a likely option as well. Love watching him bursting forward with the ball, he gets bums off seats.

[Smithy]

Marv sometimes breaks up play like he's Kante but then turns into Brad Guzan when the ball's at his feet.

I think that Ramsey could be an option long-term in that holding role.

I want us to train Chuk to do it, every time I've seen him it's convinced me more that he could be perfect for it.

I genuinely think top-class DMs are born, not made.  Much like top-class centre-forwards.  I don't like the idea of taking promising youngsters and trying to coach them into positions that aren't naturally them, it feels like a mistake.  Chuck seems to be an attacking midfielder, 8 or 10, so I'd like to see if he can make the grade there first.  We could end up creating and pretty good DM at the expense of missing out on a world-class 10!

[paul_e]

Marv sometimes breaks up play like he's Kante but then turns into Brad Guzan when the ball's at his feet.

I think that Ramsey could be an option long-term in that holding role.

I want us to train Chuk to do it, every time I've seen him it's convinced me more that he could be perfect for it.

I genuinely think top-class DMs are born, not made.  Much like top-class centre-forwards.  I don't like the idea of taking promising youngsters and trying to coach them into positions that aren't naturally them, it feels like a mistake.  Chuck seems to be an attacking midfielder, 8 or 10, so I'd like to see if he can make the grade there first.  We could end up creating and pretty good DM at the expense of missing out on a world-class 10!

From what I've seen he's at his best when he starts deeper and carries the ball forward, it's why he works well with Aaron Ramsey who is a more typical 10/attacking midfielder. Iroegbunam as the 3rd part of that is great as well because he's similar to chuk but more focused on spreading play and changing the point of the attack. I know the whole 'double-pivot' thing is a bit of a cliche but Chuk and Iro behind someone who is more free to drift is, for me, the best way to setup a midfield. In the senior squad Luiz and McGinn can fill the Iro and Ramsey roles but we don't have the ball-carrying driving force in there with them and that's where I'd like to see Chuk come through. It's why I liked Locatelli in the summer and have mentioned Skhiri a few times recently, they'd bring that balance we're missing.

[Chris Smith]

Marv sometimes breaks up play like he's Kante but then turns into Brad Guzan when the ball's at his feet.

I think that Ramsey could be an option long-term in that holding role.

I want us to train Chuk to do it, every time I've seen him it's convinced me more that he could be perfect for it.

I genuinely think top-class DMs are born, not made.  Much like top-class centre-forwards.  I don't like the idea of taking promising youngsters and trying to coach them into positions that aren't naturally them, it feels like a mistake.  Chuck seems to be an attacking midfielder, 8 or 10, so I'd like to see if he can make the grade there first.  We could end up creating and pretty good DM at the expense of missing out on a world-class 10!

From what I've seen he's at his best when he starts deeper and carries the ball forward, it's why he works well with Aaron Ramsey who is a more typical 10/attacking midfielder. Iroegbunam as the 3rd part of that is great as well because he's similar to chuk but more focused on spreading play and changing the point of the attack. I know the whole 'double-pivot' thing is a bit of a cliche but Chuk and Iro behind someone who is more free to drift is, for me, the best way to setup a midfield. In the senior squad Luiz and McGinn can fill the Iro and Ramsey roles but we don't have the ball-carrying driving force in there with them and that's where I'd like to see Chuk come through. It's why I liked Locatelli in the summer and have mentioned Skhiri a few times recently, they'd bring that balance we're missing.

I think it was noticeable on Saturday that Ramsey was carrying the ball more than i had seen him do before and, even though he got caught in possession a couple of times, it seemed to suit him. He’s a physically stronger player than even last season so I can see that being something Gerrard perseveres with.

[paul_e]

Marv sometimes breaks up play like he's Kante but then turns into Brad Guzan when the ball's at his feet.

I think that Ramsey could be an option long-term in that holding role.

I want us to train Chuk to do it, every time I've seen him it's convinced me more that he could be perfect for it.

I genuinely think top-class DMs are born, not made.  Much like top-class centre-forwards.  I don't like the idea of taking promising youngsters and trying to coach them into positions that aren't naturally them, it feels like a mistake.  Chuck seems to be an attacking midfielder, 8 or 10, so I'd like to see if he can make the grade there first.  We could end up creating and pretty good DM at the expense of missing out on a world-class 10!

From what I've seen he's at his best when he starts deeper and carries the ball forward, it's why he works well with Aaron Ramsey who is a more typical 10/attacking midfielder. Iroegbunam as the 3rd part of that is great as well because he's similar to chuk but more focused on spreading play and changing the point of the attack. I know the whole 'double-pivot' thing is a bit of a cliche but Chuk and Iro behind someone who is more free to drift is, for me, the best way to setup a midfield. In the senior squad Luiz and McGinn can fill the Iro and Ramsey roles but we don't have the ball-carrying driving force in there with them and that's where I'd like to see Chuk come through. It's why I liked Locatelli in the summer and have mentioned Skhiri a few times recently, they'd bring that balance we're missing.

I think it was noticeable on Saturday that Ramsey was carrying the ball more than i had seen him do before and, even though he got caught in possession a couple of times, it seemed to suit him. He’s a physically stronger player than even last season so I can see that being something Gerrard perseveres with.

Agreed, that driving running was why so many people were impressed with him at the weekend.

[eamonn]

JJ was the first player Gerrard spoke/whispered to on the final whistle, if you've got the gaffer's eyes on you from the get-go, it's a positive sign.

[OCD]

Friend of a friend was in the Director's lounge after the game Saturday and apparently the word going round was that the new coaching staff think that they've got a couple of 'worldies' on their hands in JJ and Douglas Luiz.

[manic-road]

Was marvelous today, deserved to keep his place after last weeks performance against Brighton.

[Smirker]

Some lovely tackles today.

[villa for life]

Marvelous finally getting appreciated. Blatantly obvious he was always a marvelous player. Thank you Gerrard for also seeing it.

[OCD]

Gerrard getting the best out of him. In the first half he was winning the ball back in positions really high up the park.

[Olof's Beard]

Man of the Match today, not for the first time either. He isn't perfect but he's a lot better than he's given credit for much of the time too. It's not easy being in and out of the team as often as he is but his attitude is unquestionable.

[astonvilla82]

Credit to him, had a good game

[Exeter 77]

I criticised him probably unfairly last week but he was fantastic as the defensive shield today.

[supertom]

One thing that has been unfortunate for Nakamba was that after a difficult first six months, from project restart onward, he's been largely decent when he's played, but under Deano, for whatever reason, he never got a good run in the side. Even perhaps at times last season when our form dipped with Joe out, and Douglas had a dip too. Marv has had the odd niggle here and there but he's probably warranted more consistent game time than he's had, notably because our midfield has a little more bite with him in the side.

Perhaps Gerrard will be more inclined to play the players on form, or who show enough to win their place. You'd look at how Nakamba and Young have played in the last two and it seems that way. Nakamba really hasn't done too much wrong in the past 18 or so months for me. In shocking games he's often less culpable than some others were. He has limitations but he also seems to be potentially key in how Gerrard plays.