The midfield - Abe

[MPH]

Heroes in a half shell..... TURTLE POWER!!!!!!!

[Al-aLondon-Foxile]

Just to be a ****

And Abi sat on the bench at the new den.

[lovelcfc]

We Need to get more stuck in in midfield abe and king are both quality players but like gally dont really get stuck in enough

[Aylestone Fox]

I'm not going to suggest that some people above don't know football, but you do really have to know football to appreciate what a player like Abe does, and you've nailed it

Also, (to some of the people above) if you're going to criticise someone for being rubbish or below par then at least make sure they're playing, he didn't play against Millwall, which is probably the most we've been over-run for some time.

Have to agree with cc_star and gazfox here, I'm a big Yuki fan and he benefits our team superbly. I think most fans do too, there'll be a big roar when he scores,...or even shoots for that matter,..

ps, how can I join the Yuki Abe appreciation society,..?

[North-LondonFox]

IMO Appears to be a very capable player but i'm not quite sure what kind of player he is? He seems to be a bit too lightweight to be a ball winner and not creative/penetrative enough to be an attacking MF.

I really like the kid but if I was to change anything of our midfield trio it might be to swap him for a more physically imposing central mf.

Sorry to be a bit negative about the lad, but I have felt we are nissing something in the iddle if the pitc

[Kitchandro]

Generally, you are right - I think we need more bite in midfield, but Yuki Abe is my first choice to play. Just because Wellens is ugly it does not mean he is strong, he is lightweight. Furthermore he rarely gets into a situation where he can make a tackle, let alone win one. Yes, Yuki did lose a number of challenges against Swansea, but he still won more than Wellens and King put together, simply because he was in positions to do it. This has been a pet bleat of mine for a year or two. I actually counted the number of tackles our midfield players won in a home match under Nigel Pearson last season - result? 2 ( in the whole game ) from four midfield players which included both King and Wellens. I only studied it because I had a feeling we rarely actually won tackles in mid field. I believe in the same match our defenders won 6 and didn't lose any. Michael Morrison actually won 4 himself. Wellens spends more time pointing and blaming others than he does trying to tackle anybody. Now before you knock me down, check it out in our next league match. Uki Abe is involved in more one to one challenges than any other player I can remember ( even Neil Lennon ). How? Because he reads the game better than any other player we have!

Wellens is much stronger than Abe. Abe is lightweight, that's his problem.

Wellens won far more tackles than Abe yesterday, Abe didn't win many at all.

All this rubbish about Abe being some kind of genius who reads the game brilliantly I don't buy into. Everyone keeps saying it and also that he 'keeps it simple' - which sounds like code for he doesn't really do much.

I thought recent games would have stamped out the Wellens doubters but it seems they are still around.

Again, I think Abe is a decent player, but the praise of him is so over the top. He's not that great at his job, he's no Kamaark and he's no Makelele.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Yes ABE is lightweight but he has generally impressed me in the games ive seen - and like others stated above alot of his work goes unnoticed

[karl rudham]

Abe not filling me with confidence at all, not a fan, Gallacher & Abe are the weak links in the team at present and we need to replace them. Sorry some may disagree of course, but I have thought this for a little while now.

[marbelladave]

Interesting thread.

Abe, Wellens and King all come in for some criticism and in the main, if you ignore the obvious bias of some of the posters, it is pretty fair.

The big problem for me is not their performance as individuals but as a unit. I have been saying this for some months but all these players are 'bits and pieces' players, I'm not trying to be derogatory but in many ways they are similar players whose main strengths are playing supporting roles, picking up the pieces and doing a fair bit of tracking and chasing, what none of them can do is control and dominate midfield.

This is what we lack, a truly pivotal player to direct and control our play around which our other midfielders can play, I'm thinking of someone like Dorrans or Adam, players who can really make a difference at our level.

[topharry123]

I think the pairing of Wellens King and Abe is as good as we have had in years. King is awesome, just praying that we can keep hold of him this month! Wellens puts in a good performance week in week out and is just solid. Abe is one of them players for me that does an almost silent job each week. He is never spectacular, but very solid and almost goes unnoticed. You know what you're getting from him and he'll continue to perform this way each week. Granted he may have had a couple of performances that weren't quite as good over the festive period, but let's remember he's still new to English football and has to adapt to the pace of the English game.

All in all, I could see this midfield being together the same way even if we are promoted this season. Big fans of them all !

[Kitchandro]

Interesting thread.

Abe, Wellens and King all come in for some criticism and in the main, if you ignore the obvious bias of some of the posters, it is pretty fair.

The big problem for me is not their performance as individuals but as a unit. I have been saying this for some months but all these players are 'bits and pieces' players, I'm not trying to be derogatory but in many ways they are similar players whose main strengths are playing supporting roles, picking up the pieces and doing a fair bit of tracking and chasing, what none of them can do is control and dominate midfield.

This is what we lack, a truly pivotal player to direct and control our play around which our other midfielders can play, I'm thinking of someone like Dorrans or Adam, players who can really make a difference at our level.

In fairness if Wellens scored as many goals as King, he'd be mentioned in the same breath as Adam. I know it's a big if but at the same time I think King does what Wellens doesn't if you know what I mean. Which leaves someone left to protect the defence, and myself I don't think Abe is the answer.

Personally I don't think the midfield is a massive issue, if we had a commanding centre half and if Vassell can continue to score goals I have a lot of hope for our play-off bid.

[marbelladave]

In fairness if Wellens scored as many goals as King, he'd be mentioned in the same breath as Adam. I know it's a big if but at the same time I think King does what Wellens doesn't if you know what I mean. Which leaves someone left to protect the defence, and myself I don't think Abe is the answer.

Personally I don't think the midfield is a massive issue, if we had a commanding centre half and if Vassell can continue to score goals I have a lot of hope for our play-off bid.

Disagree entirely about Wellens which I know puts me in a minority, but by no means on my own. (No offence, just a difference of views)

To my mind he is a player who seems constantly involved and at the center of things but to very little effect. Yes he may get a few assists but I find him pedestrian in the extreme and somewhat showy and wasteful of possession. He has been better of late and his assist on saturday was very decent, but although he huffed and puffed on Monday I thought he contributed very little.

I did not say that King and Wellens have a similar style, they clearly do not, what I did say is that they are both (in their different ways) essentially 'supporting' players but currently without a commanding figure to support.

[Kitchandro]

Disagree entirely about Wellens which I know puts me in a minority, but by no means on my own. (No offence, just a difference of views)

To my mind he is a player who seems constantly involved and at the center of things but to very little effect. Yes he may get a few assists but I find him pedestrian in the extreme and somewhat showy and wasteful of possession. He has been better of late and his assist on saturday was very decent, but although he huffed and puffed on Monday I thought he contributed very little.

I did not say that King and Wellens have a similar style, they clearly do not, what I did say is that they are both (in their different ways) essentially 'supporting' but currently without a commanding figure to support.

I didn't mean to imply you said that. What I mean is though neither is a complete player, they both compliment each other well in that they are different.

I know King gets the goals but he isn't involved in the general playmaking nearly as much as Wellens. I'd say they are our 2 most important players.

I don't think there's much point me trying to discuss Wellens because I'm never going to understand the view that he doesn't have an effect on the game.

[marbelladave]

I didn't mean to imply you said that. What I mean is though neither is a complete player, they both compliment each other well in that they are different.

I know King gets the goals but he isn't involved in the general playmaking nearly as much as Wellens. I'd say they are our 2 most important players.

I don't think there's much point me trying to discuss Wellens because I'm never going to understand the view that he doesn't have an effect on the game.

I know, it's wierd the way people see things differently...

King is a strange player in some ways, a midfielder who really contributes very little in the middle third. That's a bit of an exaggeration but he is a player who does all his best work in the penalty areas, both of them.

I think we are missing a trick playing him so far forward, he is a fine defender in his own box having the uncanny knack of making last ditch tackles that really count and he is decent in the air too. I don't think playing deeper will impact that much on his goalscoring either, his goals usually come from his ability to arrive late and at pace something that is difficult to do when deployed as far forward as he has been recently.

As you point out, King is not 'creative' in the conventional sense, the playmaker role falls to Wellens and this is where I feel he is lacking and is a major contribution to our lack of cutting edge. Don't expect you to agree but with everything set up for Wellens to play that role, I do not feel that he does anything near enough.

[Criggers]

I always thought Yuki or Yukie was a girls name meaning 'snow'?

Anyway, I've been to 4 or 5 matches this season, can't remember off top of my head, and in each Abe impressed me. He always breaks up play and keeps it simple, and how anyone can suggest he waits to see if he'll be hurt is crazy. He launched in to tackles in every game I saw. Took a few bashings too.

[martyn]

So Abe puts in a couple of mediocre showings after a run of impressive performances and we get the inevitable not good enough thread. Only on Foxestalk.

Abe's presence completely nullified Kris Commons and Lewis McGugan already this season. From what I've seen, he is extremely adept at intercepting passes and reading the game from midfield, particularly pressing the ball high up the field. He distributes simply, quickly and with 2 feet. I felt his absence was felt at Millwall where our midfield was absolutely ineffective, especially when down to 10 men where Oakley, although involved in the game, slowed our attacks down by holding onto the ball far too long.

He's a good player doing an unfashionable job.

[Simmo86]

So Abe puts in a couple of mediocre showings after a run of impressive performances and we get the inevitable not good enough thread. Only on Foxestalk.

Abe's presence completely nullified Kris Commons and Lewis McGugan already this season. From what I've seen, he is extremely adept at intercepting passes and reading the game from midfield, particularly pressing the ball high up the field. He distributes simply, quickly and with 2 feet. I felt his absence was felt at Millwall where our midfield was absolutely ineffective, especially when down to 10 men where Oakley, although involved in the game, slowed our attacks down by holding onto the ball far too long.

He's a good player doing an unfashionable job.

Couldn't of put it better myself

:appl:

[brockmyster]

What are some peopl on about? Abe not isnt running around enough, hes not good enough etc, do these people actually go to games? He has been one of the most consistent players this season and he is stronger than his size may lead you to think. Definately not hard to see why he is the only player in our squad to have been at the last world cup.

[marbelladave]

What are some peopl on about? Abe not isnt running around enough, hes not good enough etc, do these people actually go to games? He has been one of the most consistent players this season and he is stronger than his size may lead you to think. Definately not hard to see why he is the only player in our squad to have been at the last world cup.

I think he is a very decent player, sharp, competitive and very tenacious.

My criticism of him is the same as with all our midfielders, he does not have the presence to dominate midfield, his role is primarily defensive which he does pretty well.

Like King, Abe is a 'supporting' player, he excels in the defensive role doing a very large part of the 'donkey work' by closing down the opposition midfield as he did so well on monday, second half at least.

In an ideal world I would like to see King and Abe supporting a more dominant figure than we currently have in midfield, after a good left sided defender or two (which we may already have sorted) a top attacking midfield player would be my number one priority.

[cc_star]

We're creating loads of chances, and usually dominate possession (except at millwall when Abe didn't play) so the midfield certainly isn't the problem

King runs on & scores goals

Wellens is a great passer (wish he'd shoot from the edge of the box more)

Abe gets stuck in (not in a thuggish way) wins the & makes the pass to retain possession

Sounds like a great mix to me

And that is what is important, a mix, we can't have all running on to try & score it's about getting the blend right.

Our possession & creating chances prove things couldn't be much better. It's the forwards missing chances I'm more concerned about although 2 wins on the bounce hides that a bit

[marbelladave]

We're creating loads of chances, and usually dominate possession (except at millwall when Abe didn't play) so the midfield certainly isn't the problem

King runs on & scores goals

Wellens is a great passer (wish he'd shoot from the edge of the box more)

Abe gets stuck in (not in a thuggish way) wins the & makes the pass to retain possession

Sounds like a great mix to me

And that is what is important, a mix, we can't have all running on to try & score it's about getting the blend right.

Our possession & creating chances prove things couldn't be much better. It's the forwards missing chances I'm more concerned about although 2 wins on the bounce hides that a bit

Disagree entirely...

We create lots of half chances but few what I would call clear cut chances.

To my mind we get the ball forward too slowly and the final ball finds our forwards flat footed and well marked. I accept that our strikers are not the most clinical but they are not helped by balls being played into a defence that is well set, on the odd occasion that we do break quickly we look dangerous and do score some goals.

I accept that the Donny game was unusual but our counterattacks were quick and incisive and we scored some decent goals, whilst we are unlikely to match the Doncaster performance on a regular basis, more pace to our attacks will create better chances and with Vassell looking like he might be the man to lead the line we could be on our way!

[mitsuo]

didn't follow him since a few weeks sorry i can't comment

Don't forget that he has to do the dirty job and try to create chances for teammates. He is not Scholes or Xabi alonso. he is not this kind of spectacular player. He is not the best japanese player but he was usefull for japan.