Unfit midfielders Wellens @ Abi

[thybluefox]

Trouble i see with Wellens is that when he isn't having a good game it has a massive affect on the rest of the team.

I agree with not playing Yuki and Gelson at the same time though, too similar, and leaves us with a too defensively minded midfield. Probably goes some way to explaining why nugent & co were so isolated.

[Fox92]

Trouble i see with Wellens is that when he isn't having a good game it has a massive affect on the rest of the team.

Maybe because he is the best/most creative player within the team?

[thybluefox]

Maybe because he is the best/most creative player within the team?

Yeah of course, the rest of the team look to him to lead and create. But I noticed last season that when he's not doing well, we were better to take him off all together.

[LestaFox92]

Tbh i thought abe put it some really good tackles but thats about all he did do wellens was just tryin to be to fancy and got caught out on many occasions.

[funkyrobot]

I haven't seen anything in Abe since he signed that indicates that he's anything more than an average utility midfield player at championship level. I was expecting him to be a sub this season. Not creative and exciting on the ball, not a great tackler or stopper and certainly doesn't have the range of passing or vision that would make him stand out. I know he has a cult following on here but is that because of the hype that came with him when he 1st signed?

[ian the fox]

Very very avaerage players in my book ,

If anyone is old enough to remeber Brian Little as manager he brought in some lower league players that knew how to win a game of football at this level ,

, some costing less than a new car !!!

Down the road Derby wasted millions & couldnt beat a pub team

Was fitness & determination the factors ? what we lacked yesterday !!!

[Simmo86]

We'll NEVER get promoted while Richie Wellens is our 'main creative force'

He's not good enough.

I pray to god that Johnson can get fit and firing and shows everybody what a proper creative midfielder is!

[accessory]

Maybe because he is the best/most creative player within the team?

:crylaugh:

Wellens is a poor man's Gareth Williams. He was anonymous in the Real Madrid game and poor again yesterday. It's significant that Sousa, who was a quality midfielder in his day, was less than impressed with him.

Abe will benefit from a week's rest and be ready to shine at Forest.

[Ashley]

I thought Wellens had tweeted something to Abe when I seen the @ sign...

Abe is good, so is wellens. Fitness wise I think there both okay.

I can't wait to see a fit Michael Johnson in our team alongside Fernandes and either one of Abe, Danns, King, Wellens.

[Aylestone Fox]

I have to agree with some posts here, and then read some others and think WTF is this guy drinking. But thats football for you, all about opinions and almost everybodys differs. My opinions are;

Abe - Quality holding midfielder, shouldnt have played against Reading though after flying round the world and back, thats a negative against the manager for me.

Fernandes - Also showed how valuable he could be for us with his perfromance against Cov, shouldnt be playing him and Abe together at home though IMO.

Wellens - Can pick a pass and knit things together, only looks good to me though when we're on top, no pace and doesnt like tracking back, always tries to pass his man on, lazy.

Danns - Unsure about this geezer at the moment as not sure what his best position in this team will be or where he was bought to play.

King - Needs to play at home at least as the formation we're trying to play to at the moment leaves Nugent isolated and lacking in support, Kingy will get up there and add a goal threat which has been distinctly lacking in the 2 league games thus far.

The team as a whole at the moment is lacking creativity, pace and width, as much as it pains me to say it we could be struggling for automatic promotion if things stay as they are. Last season we had width and pace from the full backs, I just can't see where we are going to open sides up at the moment, perhaps give Gally and Dyer a go against Bristol City,....

I'm pretty confident Sven will get it right, might take a little longer than us fans would like to see though.

[Lcfc_k133]

personally I think that we have a better TEAM/SQUAD than last season and being a season ticket holder and watching them vs madrid we will find that balance, they sat too deep trying to limit silly goals against, and for much of the time Nugent was alone up front. Dont get caught out by making knee jerk critisisms of the players and Sven. We havent seen our attacking spearhead for me yet

Nugent

Gallagher/Dyer Vassell

Hope we come good against Bristol and Sven gets us slightly higher up the pitch.

[nickm]

And what show is wellens capable of running-i don't think i've ever seen so much hype about an average player-he does **** all, he creates **** all and he doesn't even have any speed!

[Richard]

Is that an endorsement of Eriksson's management?

The problem with both Abe and Wellens is they have ability. Abe to run and chase all day at a decent pace. Wellens to blend his "attitude" on a good day with the ability to pick out a goal-making pass.

But against that Abe neither doesn't score or make goals nor is he the greatest when it comes to passing or positioning.

Wellens doesn't often shoot let alone score and that's a major problem for an attacking midfielder. He doesn't have the pace or desire to get into the box consistently, often takes too many touches on the ball and is is prone to being caught in possession in places where it could get us in trouble. He also offers no aerial ability, is not a good mover off the ball

Another thing I've never referred to before is that he often ignores passing to King and goes for something more complicated instead, presumably because, with King being close by, it would often mean a give and go while he would rather just give a longer pass and not have to go. He remains me of Gareth Williams in that way.

Do you ever post anything that doesn't involve King or Gradel?

[The Doctor]

I agree with not playing Yuki and Gelson at the same time though, too similar, and leaves us with a too defensively minded midfield. Probably goes some way to explaining why nugent & co were so isolated.

As far as I'm aware Yuki did play as a forward thinking midfielder while in Japan and could probably do similar for us, but not when he has to sit back and defend with Gelson trying to carry Danns (Not able to play as a right winger) & Wellens (not able to play .)

[themotivator]

I have decided to spam any thread where somebody spells his name Abi with pictures of Abi Titmuss.

[Aylestone Fox]

I have decided to spam any thread where somebody spells his name Abi with pictures of Abi Titmuss.

You could have chosen a better one...

[Salieri]

[leicesterseddon]

Well imo Wellens will not be in the team, when Johnson is fully fit

Are you joking? Player of the season last year, and still our best midfielder in my book. He can tackle, he's one of very few players in this division who can deliver defence-splitting passes, he takes corners and free kicks. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but there were very few games last season when he had a good game and we didn't win. I mean don't get me wrong, he is prone to bad spells (like any player), but as far as I can see he has the single biggest influence on how the team plays. And I just can't say the same for Abe - I really don't see what he brings apart from bluster and energy.

[The Doctor]

Are you joking? Player of the season last year, and still our best midfielder in my book.

Ahead of Fernandes, King and, presuming he's as good as he was pre-injury crisis, Johnson?

He can tackle, he's one of very few players in this division who can deliver defence-splitting passes, he takes corners and free kicks.

I've never seen his set-pieces to be any better than any other player at the club, bar waghorn. Certainly Gallagher's are far better and, although this is based on YouTube videos, Abe's seem better as well.

As for the tackling and defence-splitting passes - if he can do so, why does he so frequently fail to do so?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, but there were very few games last season when he had a good game and we didn't win.

That is the wrong way round:

There were few games last season were we played well and he under-performed

He is more often than not a hindrance to our midfield - look at Watford home last season for a good example: First half, with Wellens, we were abysmal but when he came off for the second half we were greatly improved, retained possession much better and looked more promising going forward as well as more solid defensively.

I mean don't get me wrong, he is prone to bad spells (like any player), but as far as I can see he has the single biggest influence on how the team plays. And I just can't say the same for Abe - I really don't see what he brings apart from bluster and energy.

he does have the biggest influence on how we play, I'll give you that, but it's in a bad way. If he under-performs we get over-ran trying to carry him in the team, Abe on the other hand plays similar to how Dickov did and, even when under-performing, still provides help by buzzing around and being a general pest.

[Guest Col city fan]

Anyone notice how slow and unfit Wellens & Abi appeared as Reading danced around them with ease ?

Last years problems are still with us chaps !

[ ]Midfielders that cant either protect the back 4 or supply the front men with any meaningful service !!!!!!!!! THATS THE JOB OF MIDFIELD !!!!

Wellens & Abi are simply second rate , too slow , lacking ideas & not good enough ................

We will not be promoted with these two in the side ,

I actually thought Wellens is looking slimmer than Ive ever seen him? Him and Gelson look an energetic midfield pairing.

Abe looked knackered, hardly surprising, shouldnt have been played

Sven got that one completely wrong

[Guest Basildon Fox]

Ahead of Fernandes, King and, presuming he's as good as he was pre-injury crisis, Johnson?

I've never seen his set-pieces to be any better than any other player at the club, bar waghorn. Certainly Gallagher's are far better and, although this is based on YouTube videos, Abe's seem better as well.

As for the tackling and defence-splitting passes - if he can do so, why does he so frequently fail to do so?

That is the wrong way round:

There were few games last season were we played well and he under-performed

He is more often than not a hindrance to our midfield - look at Watford home last season for a good example: First half, with Wellens, we were abysmal but when he came off for the second half we were greatly improved, retained possession much better and looked more promising going forward as well as more solid defensively.

he does have the biggest influence on how we play, I'll give you that, but it's in a bad way. If he under-performs we get over-ran trying to carry him in the team, Abe on the other hand plays similar to how Dickov did and, even when under-performing, still provides help by buzzing around and being a general pest.

100% agree with this. +1.

[LCFC_FAN_1995]

Anyone notice how slow and unfit Wellens & Abi appeared as Reading danced around them with ease ?

Last years problems are still with us chaps !

[ ]Midfielders that cant either protect the back 4 or supply the front men with any meaningful service !!!!!!!!! THATS THE JOB OF MIDFIELD !!!!

Wellens & Abi are simply second rate , too slow , lacking ideas & not good enough ................

We will not be promoted with these two in the side ,

Wellens has been one of the best midfielders for us so far and bare in mind Abe not long got off a plane from Japan!

[Topman]

I thought Abe playing attacking mid against man city away when wellans got injured was great, set up dyer goal and actually looks decent against a prem side, I'm not sure about danns yet, he gave the ball away as much as Abe yesterday and he hadn't impressed me yet so far

[ian the fox]

Abe was a mile off the pace , when he did win a tackle ,he wanted an " age " to lay it off

[Kent]

Seemingly unlike Thracian I don't rate a central midfielder based on how many goals he scores. For me, Wellens' main attributes are his range of passing, experience and combativeness. I'd say he is probably our most creative midfielder (having not yet saw enough of Johnson) but I don't think his vision is his main attribute. As it stands he'd be in my starting XI just because Fernandes strikes me as more of a (effective, don't get me wrong) workhorse similar to Abe, Danns seems to offer a bit of everything although I'm not sure to what standard yet and King offers very little other than goals (again, not necessarily a bad thing), no matter what Thracian and others will have you believe.

At times it seems like people want us to play three Andy Kings because he scores ten or fifteen goals. It doesn't work like that, it's about getting the right dynamic based on what each player brings to the team. Either way, establishing our first choice three will be difficult.