| Centre Midfield 17:12 - Nov 9 with 3138 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Posted this on the fred, but it's probably a topic of it's own.
"I think our defensive problems stem from our lack of control in midfield. We're not dominating possession, teams often run right through our midfield like drugged-up streakers, and if we bought Moore, Maldini, McGrath and Cafú they'd be under pressure too."
What I wouldn't give for a controlling midfield player. Anyone seen Faurlin recently? | |
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| Centre Midfield on 17:22 - Nov 9 with 2656 views | bosh67 |
Teams do seem to have worked out that they can run through the middle of us and then make the defence go too narrow. We don't appear to have quite the confident cavalier approach we had a few weeks ago or the belief. For me there seems to be some doubt creeping in and I'm not sure quite why that has happened.
A week off to try and sort it out and finally work out how to keep teams out. | |
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| Centre Midfield on 17:23 - Nov 9 with 2647 views | CLAREMAN1995 |
Risking being branded anti feminist but I would not object to drugged up female streakers like the one on page 1 or2 of the match day thread (not Joe of course )running around LR to liven things up a bit
 .We do have serious issues at the back though that need to be fixed quickly .Good luck to them there | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 17:27 - Nov 9 with 2619 views | Hunterhoop |
Actually, I disagree, Brian.
I think our problems stem from teams working us out and pressing us high in our half. We aren’t actually good enough to play through them and don’t channel it to play over them, so we get caught in our half constantly.
Ball was, IMO, our best player today, but the three centre halves were all at sea trying to play a style they couldn’t in weather that made it harder.
Common sense is required.
We have to be able to adapt our style. 3 home games in a row we’ve been predictable and easy to play against. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 17:31 - Nov 9 with 2600 views | ted_hendrix |
*A week off to try and sort it out and finally work out how to keep teams out.*
Mitrovic will pull us to pieces, apologies for the negativity but I cant see beyond that I'm afraid.
16 odd games without a clean sheet is bloody ridiculous. | |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Centre Midfield (n/t) on 17:31 - Nov 9 with 2599 views | distortR |
[Post edited 9 Nov 2019 19:52]
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| Centre Midfield on 17:38 - Nov 9 with 2558 views | WadR |
I agree with Brian.
Caveat that I only streamed it and a lot of holding midfield stuff is off the ball and hard to spot but I thought Ball was poor today. Often on his heels and unaware of players off his shoulders. A couple of nice shoulder feints and a diag or two isn't really enough to make a good midfielder at this level.
Thought Amos was promising in there today. Warburton's hand somewhat forced by Leistner and Barbet injuries but much prefer Cameron in midfield too. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 17:43 - Nov 9 with 2539 views | Hunterhoop |
Honestly, Ball was not poor today. Got worse second half. But offered far more and was far better in that holding role than Cameron or Scowen have been.
The back 3 were all over the shop. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 17:51 - Nov 9 with 2504 views | BrianMcCarthy |
"I think our problems stem from teams working us out and pressing us high in our half. We aren’t actually good enough to play through them and don’t channel it to play over them, so we get caught in our half constantly.
Ball was, IMO, our best player today..."
I agree about Ball. He also showed huge leadership, constantly berating others about there positioning.
But in front of him there was far too much space. Amos, Eze, Chair and afterwards Scowen were too far ahead of the ball and bypassed time after time after time. Bringing on Hugill worked for a short while as held up play effectively but when we lost midfield due to sheer weight of numbers he - like Eze, Chair and Amos before him - was a good horse trapped in a stable. His only contributions late on were the clearing headers well-performed but required solely due to his introduction and the lack of control it cost us in midfield.
"I think our problems stem from teams working us out and pressing us high in our half. We aren’t actually good enough to play through them and don’t channel it to play over them, so we get caught in our half constantly."
I'm undecided on this point. It's occurred to me, too, as it has occurred to others on here, and I'm still undecided. I thought we played out well today on many occasions but got caught on others. Belief seems to be a factor as well. I'll have to think about it some more.
Good post, Hunter. Thought-provoking. | |
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| Centre Midfield on 17:51 - Nov 9 with 2500 views | The_Seer |
I noticed how easy it was for poor teams like Reading and Middlesbrough to dominated central midfield. Both the defence and central midfield are weak.
Remember when we had Derry and Faurlin in midfield. Adel took the praise but it was those two who were the heartbeat of the team. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 18:05 - Nov 9 with 2414 views | WadR |
Fair enough. Definitely things I missed today that you'll have picked up but I struggle to what he did well today.
Neither Cameron or Scowen have played that role in the 5-3-2 formation. And agree about the back 3. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 18:13 - Nov 9 with 2373 views | stevec |
Not sure about three touch Amos.
Too many players now taking too many touches, if you’re going to pass it around teams you’ve got to be comfortable playing one touch football. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 18:38 - Nov 9 with 2289 views | Match82 |
Isn't that what Matt Smith is supposed to be?
And to a lesser extent Amos? Our own players have been keeping them out on merit so far but might be time to take a second look. Thought Amos was ok today without setting world on fire, maybe with a run in the team he would be what we need.
I think as long as we are playing Eze, and Chair though, there's a natural tendency to just try and find them and let them create some magic, so perhaps we have felt that having a player to sit on the ball and dictate the play wasn't needed. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 18:43 - Nov 9 with 2273 views | Blue_Castello |
Exactly what we thought from our seats in R block | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 18:50 - Nov 9 with 2244 views | Petros |
Manning. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 19:03 - Nov 9 with 2216 views | BrianMcCarthy |
I watched Manning with interest again today and I just don't see that he's ready to dominate centre-midfield. His decision making is still a work in progress which means that he gives the ball away too lightly on occasions - e.g. once today with a mad ball up the line when he could have switched the play and once with a mad header on the edge of the Boro box when he could have brought it down and used it better. He's not extremely strong, he's not extremely tall, his positioning needs work and I would rate him as an exciting prospect but not yet ready to dominate a crucial area like centre midfield.
I'm sure the coaches are looking hard for such a player in our squad and I can see the potential in Manning but I can also see why they might, might, decide that he's not ready yet. | |
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| Centre Midfield on 19:18 - Nov 9 with 2192 views | DannytheR |
Agree. Love Manning to bits, and thought even some way off their best him and Eze were our best players today. But his decision making is still very rough round the edges and all he would be in the middle of the park for us right now is another headless chicken. We've already got Scowen for that. [Post edited 9 Nov 2019 21:07]
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| Centre Midfield on 19:53 - Nov 9 with 2108 views | enfieldargh |
Thought Ball was one of our better players.
Kane more improved going forward and Manning continues to show a threat moving forward.
Chair and Eze work well together and can cause havoc in the opposition half.
to do this we need a defence who can pass the ball out from the back swiftly, confidently and with the assurance that the midfield will help in the progression of moving the ball forwards.
Sadly that rarely happens. Loose passes lack of confidence to take make a pass and a lot of hesitancy. Yea this is caused by the opposition not standing off but to play that game you need cool heads and everyone on the same wavelength.
Sadly this is not the case...however MW isnt holding his head in his hands and screaming at them to do anything different so I guess he sees it as a work in progress and building a playing style.
Wish Nakki Wells would just sty up front!!
Lumley instead of Kelly please | |
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| Centre Midfield on 19:56 - Nov 9 with 2090 views | jonno |
Exactly. As I said on the match thread this is what is happening and will continue to happen because every other team in the division will know that yields results against us. They won't all have the players to manage it of course so we will pick up some points but it is why I said a few weeks back that I expect us to slide down the division to finish in lower mid table which would be about right in this division for our current squad. But I would caution that there is always the possibility of a very bad run which could see us sucked closer to the relegation area. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 20:02 - Nov 9 with 2081 views | Miss_Terraces |
Mitrovic is banned apparently, some good news. I'm sure his replacement, will run rings around us.
It's starting to feel like last season, we've been found out. No plan B, was the criticism his past clubs supporters claimed.
Still ecstatic with where we are in the table | |
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| Centre Midfield on 20:02 - Nov 9 with 2078 views | BrianMcCarthy |
So what's your alternative?
Genuine question. | |
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| Centre Midfield on 01:59 - Nov 10 with 1772 views | Benny_the_Ball |
I think it's a bit of both, Hunter. The defence do lack composure on the ball when pressed high but equally central midfield aren't keen to receive it in tight areas so the defence lacks options. As a result the strikers come deep looking for the ball but if they're pressed it can result in errors such as Well's back pass for Boro's 2nd goal.
I do completely agree, however, that today's conditions called for some common sense and a more pragmatic approach. I think we lack leaders in the team who are brave enough to say 'Look I know the manager wants us to play a certain way but it's not working at present so let's try something different until we get a grip of the game'.
That said, adaptability will only come when Warburton has had a chance to train several systems. For now the team is still coming to terms with their primary roles. [Post edited 10 Nov 2019 2:09]
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| Centre Midfield on 06:32 - Nov 10 with 1661 views | jonno |
That's a very good question mate. I really don't know. One obvious answer would be to sign a couple of better quality players who have the first touch and control to beat the pressing game in midfield but that obviously isn't an option. We could continue as we are and hope that we get a bit better at playing against a team that is pressing us high, or that we continue to pick up points against sides that can't play that game very well which is quite possible. Or MW could come up with another approach to mitigate against teams which play that way against us. As I said on here recently, this is where the manager will really earn his corn. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 10:32 - Nov 10 with 1441 views | nix |
I agree the midfield don't often show for the ball enough when we're playing out of defence. We shouldn't be relying on our strikers picking the ball up from our own half! Early on in the season we were moving the ball quicker but we now do that more rarely. Not sure if we've lost a bit of confidence after having been caught out of position a few times and conceded. But that means we're also nullifying our greatest strength, which is going forward. I wonder if by trying to shore up one area, our poor defending, we're actually hampering our attackers. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 11:22 - Nov 10 with 1376 views | ozranger |
I think you are right here, but more about the confidence. Remember that we have two "new" players in the back three. Strange that the original centre-back did something that I thought was quite poor at each of the kick-offs. The ball is played back to Hall and instead of opening his body up, he immediately passes it back to Cameron. You can see this is quite evident when you watch the game vid. On two occasions, and perhaps the third as well, Kane was totally free on his right. It was quite annoying watching it live.
It was a strange game for our wing midfielders who did get the ball quite often. Kane took a little while to get into the game, but when he did some of those crosses were superb and that is what we want with the likes of Hugill in there. In fact, during the second half I thought our main threat came from Kane more than Eze or Manning. I hope this has given his confidence a real boost and can help him turn it around and give us a much more balanced lineup. Kane really does play better with a three-defender lineup.
The centre midfield? Are they ball playing midfielders, ala Ale or Freeman? I rather doubt that, which is why I think we are going to see more balls sent into the channels for Chair, Wells and Hugill to work with and bring in Eze, Manning and Kane with a pass. | | | |
| Centre Midfield on 19:08 - Nov 10 with 1170 views | californiahoop |
100% correct, the best of the holding midfielders in my opinion | | | |
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