Our Midfield

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

Individually they are good players but they cant play together.

between them there is no pace, strength and stamina.

we need a proper tough tackling defensive midfielder, although oakley does a job and puts a decent shift in we need a player that will guard our back four and get stuck in like shaun derry for example. nothing pretty but offers stability. too many times this season our three midfielders have been caught too far up the field leaving our defense too exposed and vunerable to the counter attack.

i also think andy king would be much better sitting behind a striker / strikers, he doesnt have the stamina to be a box to box midfielder, he is took weak in my opinion and coming up against big strong midfielders he's always pretty much invisable. giving him a similar role to tim cahill or van der vaart gives him the space he needs to drive at defences and get a shot away, which is what he's good at.

any thoughts?

[brockmyster]

100% true

[cairnsy]

100% Agree with you.

A lot of people moan about our back 4 not being able to defend but thats because of 2 reasons. Attacking fullbacks and midfielders pushing too high meaning its normally the two CBs and Oakley left.

I think we should adopt the formation 4-2-3-1

This means that we have an attacking midfielder/Centre Forward and i think this position would suit gallagher and king quite well (gallagher more)

I think we would need to get someone else at DM though. We have wellans that acts as a playmaker and also does he fair share of bruiser work but hes too small. He reminds me of a little dog. A lot of mouth and aggression but not a body to suit it. I think we need a big strong powerful midfielder with some pace and stamina (could even be bamba - never know) but there to help him out and battle and win more ball.

It would also mean we have 4 people at the back when 6 goes to attack (2 DM and 2 CB @ back).

This is just my view

[ithuriel]

If we are going to play a three man we should play like we did under o'niell, three midfielders, three centrebacks and two wingbacks supporting the strikers.

three man midfield in front of a back four has not worked.

[Christoph]

I agree with the Andy King as a centre forward. I think he could work but then again sometimes playing deeper in midfielder lets him off the defenders radars which enables him to burst through easier

[Webbo]

I'd like to try Bamba in midfield. He's got a good engine he could break up attacks and pass it simple.It would also allow him to support the attack more.

[acooling08]

The reason King scores so many are his runs from midfield which often go unnoticed by the opposition. Put him up front and I can't see him doing well.

[Fox92]

The only player that closes down is Wellens, hence Oakley's goal on Friday. We scored only because Wellens closed Morgan down.

We need an expiereinced player who is not afraid to get stuck in and just sit. Somelike like Shaun Derry. All the best sides have these type of players.

Other than that, I'm not keen on Andy King and I'd love Sven to go for Lewis McGugan.

[Kitchandro]

King is not a centre forward. I completely agree we need a holding midfielder. This would allow King and Wellens to play further up where they are more effective, whilst giving protection to the back four and an insurance policy for the full backs.

I would say this is our priority in the summer but so is a goalkeeper, a centre back, a left back, a right back, a winger and a striker.

[B52]

We need an intelligent defensive midfielder to control the midfield. Probably to expensive before the summer window.

A younger Hamann would be great.

[Finnegan]

I thought Wellens-Abe-King was the strong point of our team and the corner stone of our success, personally.

A lot of finger pointing is, rightfully, done at the defence but I don't think it's a coincidence that our drop in form has coincided with us messing around in the middle.

I admit he had a mixed start, but Yuki was getting rave reviews from most of our supporters not long before he was dropped.

[sdb]

The reason King scores so many are his runs from midfield which often go unnoticed by the opposition. Put him up front and I can't see him doing well.

Agreed. Putting King up top would prevent him using his best asset which is ghosting into the box from deep.

My problem with the midfield 3 is the set up. People always go on about Wellens or Yuki or Oakley holding, with King pushing forward. Personally, I don't think anyone really 'holds'. There is quite often a big gap between defence and midfield and imo, is a reason we're conceding so many (not a defence for our centre halves).

[sdb]

edit: add to that the number of long range shots we gift opposing teams. The midfield (all good players) hold off or are behind play more often than they should be imo.

[Kitchandro]

Agreed. Putting King up top would prevent him using his best asset which is ghosting into the box from deep.

My problem with the midfield 3 is the set up. People always go on about Wellens or Yuki or Oakley holding, with King pushing forward. Personally, I don't think anyone really 'holds'. There is quite often a big gap between defence and midfield and imo, is a reason we're conceding so many (not a defence for our centre halves).

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edit: add to that the number of long range shots we gift opposing teams. The midfield (all good players) hold off or are behind play more often than they should be imo.

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[Guest]

interesting and good debate.

We have good midfielders but w really need the Lennon/Wilson ankle biter.

We really need a goalkeeper before anything though. Sven saw this but couldn't do better than Ricardo (which was a brave try) late in the season. I expect a goalie to be our top of the list player.

[Haydos]

I thought Wellens-Abe-King was the strong point of our team and the corner stone of our success, personally.

A lot of finger pointing is, rightfully, done at the defence but I don't think it's a coincidence that our drop in form has coincided with us messing around in the middle.

I admit he had a mixed start, but Yuki was getting rave reviews from most of our supporters not long before he was dropped.

I don't think Abe was used well enough tactically. He can be used against weaker passing sides to disrupt their play but against a midfield who have good first touches and are good passes I think he's ineffective. This would be where we need a holding player (a term some people don't seem to understand and think Abe is), to sit in front of the defence and prevent passing routes and to help cut out key passes.

[davieG]

What we need is some decent cover for King & Wellens both have played 45 (+ sub appearances) games (source) plus King's had a few international games and there's not many games where they've been subbed off

The pair of them have looked totally fooked.

[SPF07]

I'd like to try Bamba in midfield. He's got a good engine he could break up attacks and pass it simple.It would also allow him to support the attack more.

Im not sure if this hasnt been tested because of our defensive problems this season, but this is something that should definately be tested. I actually think he would be better suited to defensive midfield than centre back. Could be awesome breaking the game up and distributing simply. Something Wellens and Gallagher could learn from.

[ithuriel]

Actually i would try Bamba up front, he knows where the goal is, is quick and can nick the ball off players.

Play him alongside Vassel and the opposition will not know what has hit them.

[Fox92]

Actually i would try Bamba up front, he knows where the goal is, is quick and can nick the ball off players.

Play him alongside Vassel and the opposition will not know what has hit them.

You would start a centre half ahead of a striker? I know that's your opinion and that's ok, but isn't that abit disrespectful, or whatever, towards the strikers?

Within the midfield, a good expierienced defensive midfielder would allow the other two to go forward. At the minute, thats King (who does score goals), and Wellens (who looks good when he plays further forward, I think he played further forward away at Hull).

[Bugg]

You would start a centre half ahead of a striker? I know that's your opinion and that's ok, but isn't that abit disrespectful, or whatever, towards the strikers?

Within the midfield, a good expierienced defensive midfielder would allow the other two to go forward. At the minute, thats King (who does score goals), and Wellens (who looks good when he plays further forward, I think he played further forward away at Hull).

Steve Walsh

[Bob Weasel Fox]

What we need is some decent cover for King & Wellens both have played 45 (+ sub appearances) games (source) plus King's had a few international games and there's not many games where they've been subbed off

The pair of them have looked totally fooked.

agreed Wellens and King are as good as anything in this division but we do need decent cover

[Guest Col city fan]

100% Agree with you.

A lot of people moan about our back 4 not being able to defend but thats because of 2 reasons. Attacking fullbacks and midfielders pushing too high meaning its normally the two CBs and Oakley left.

I think we should adopt the formation 4-2-3-1

This means that we have an attacking midfielder/Centre

Forward and i think this position would suit gallagher and king quite well (gallagher more)

I think we would need to get someone else at DM though. We have wellans that acts as a playmaker and also does he fair share of bruiser work but hes too small. He reminds me of a little dog. A lot of mouth and aggression but not a body to suit it. I think we need a big strong powerful

midfielder with some pace and stamina (could even be bamba - never know) but there to help him out and battle and win more ball.

It would also mean we have 4 people at the back when 6

goes to attack (2 DM and 2 CB @ back).

This is just my view

Bloody hell I'm agreeing with you... A defensive midfielder strong bloke is definitely needed.. I said this during the transfer window and suggested Jay Thomas from the arsenal. He's gone to Cardiff I believe but may have joined us? Not sure... Anyway a big geezer like him who would break up opposition attacks would be great. I basically would like to see some horrible tough guys in the team to underpin our flair

[Karljohn]

As steady as Wellens has been for us since signing, the problem with him is that he rates himself a little too much.

Was impressed with the energy of Neil Danns when we played Palace recently, we lack his type of player in the middle of the park.

[orangecity23]

I'd look at the possibility of signing Olifinjana from Dull when his loan to Cardiff expires. Big defensive central midfielder, would allow us to cover our defence better, and let us physically dominate midfield and give us a platform to attack from.