Midfield General or Commanding Centre Back

[York_Owl]

I think most of us fans have recognised the need to bring in these two types of players for a number of years. The commanding centre back to replace Loovens and the midfield general, the lack of which has been apparent since the play off final (and before).

 

So if you could only bring in one who would it be? Personally I’d go for the midfield general, ideally, a Carlton Palmer type to compliment Bannan a bit like the old Palmer / Sheridan combination that worked to such good effect back in the 90s.

[Beholder]

Yeah. Midfielder. 

 

Obviously pelupessy plays that role right now and Jos believes in him. Not sure I share his absolute trust. I think there are better out there. 

[Lord Snooty]

It's been an issue that has needed adressing for some time in central midfield.

However... if we stick with the current system where the numbers in midfield give us the extra body I think we can get away with it.

 

At the moment I'd be most delighted if we managed to get little Barry signed up on a new deal.

 

I think we've needed a centre back for 3 years. Missed the boat with a couple.

But now we have some promising lads coming through I'm happy to give them games and see how they progress.

 

[Sheffwed94]

2 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

At the moment I'd be most delighted if we managed to get little Barry signed up on a new deal.

 

 

This, always puts 110% in and is more often than not our shining light, if we lose him in January/on a free there wouldn’t be a player in the world who could replace the man at a lower cost than getting him a new contract. 

[twolaptops]

Another Bannan type in centre midfield but "beefier"..............a Jan Molby sort

Edited August 24, 2018 by twolaptops

[Shetland Owl]

CB, build from the back and offer Bannan a new contract

[York_Owl]

Agree with the comments re signing up Bannan. Of the 11 players out of contract I’d say Joao and Bannan were the priority. We’ve signed up Joao now let’s sort Bannan. Still think he needs a partner in midfield tho.

[York_Owl]

25 minutes ago, Beholder said:

Yeah. Midfielder. 

 

Obviously pelupessy plays that role right now and Jos believes in him. Not sure I share his absolute trust. I think there are better out there. 

Agree with this. Hopefully we can find someone better than Pelupessy which would instantly improve the Xi.

[York_Owl]

9 minutes ago, twolaptops said:

Another Bannan type in centre midfield but "beefier"..............a Jan Molby sort

Like Lopez perhaps? Mooy would have been brilliant but that ship sailed a long time ago.

[torryowl]

we can cover the centre backs at a push but we couldn't cover for bannan if he got injured …...another midfielder would be my choice 

[York_Owl]

11 minutes ago, torryowl said:

we can cover the centre backs at a push but we couldn't cover for bannan if he got injured …...another midfielder would be my choice 

Losing Bannan doesn’t bear thinking about. He’s the heartbeat of our team.

[gurujuan]

What we’ve seen emerging from the development squad, means hopefully we don’t need to recruit as many. The emergence of viable full back options, have eased the need for more full backs.

I agree with the OP that, those are our two most urgent requirements. In short though, we need both. If we continue to play three in the middle, then we don’t have enough options. The key questions are, when is Lee back, and are Jones and Abdi part of our plans going forward? With Reach playing a more central role, could we convert Boyd into a similar alternative? We don’t need wingers, as such, in this system, more wide attackers. Those wide attackers will be expected to deliver goals as well, and Boyd doesn’t do that, so maybe converting him into a midfield player, who we could use if Reach wasn’t available. The best person for that role, is obviously Abdi, but does Jos believe he will be fit, or indeed, even want him? 

If we are sticking with the 4-3-3, then we probably need another wide attacking option to back up Joao, Forestieri and Matias. 

Realistically, that is now the only area where we can inject some extra pace. 

So for me, it would be, a dominant centre back, a midfield general with all round, defensive and creative abilities, and a quick forward who can play the wide areas

[Sham67]

4 minutes ago, gurujuan said:

What we’ve seen emerging from the development squad, means hopefully we don’t need to recruit as many. The emergence of viable full back options, have eased the need for more full backs.

I agree with the OP that, those are our two most urgent requirements. In short though, we need both. If we continue to play three in the middle, then we don’t have enough options. The key questions are, when is Lee back, and are Jones and Abdi part of our plans going forward? With Reach playing a more central role, could we convert Boyd into a similar alternative? We don’t need wingers, as such, in this system, more wide attackers. Those wide attackers will be expected to deliver goals as well, and Boyd doesn’t do that, so maybe converting him into a midfield player, who we could use if Reach wasn’t available. The best person for that role, is obviously Abdi, but does Jos believe he will be fit, or indeed, even want him? 

If we are sticking with the 4-3-3, then we probably need another wide attacking option to back up Joao, Forestieri and Matias. 

Realistically, that is now the only area where we can inject some extra pace. 

So for me, it would be, a dominant centre back, a midfield general with all round, defensive and creative abilities, and a quick forward who can play the wide areas

 

We played with Jos' favouritel 4-2-3-1 formation on Wednesday.  I'm not sure if the 3 in that system are midfielders or forwards.

[torryowl]

4 minutes ago, gurujuan said:

What we’ve seen emerging from the development squad, means hopefully we don’t need to recruit as many. The emergence of viable full back options, have eased the need for more full backs.

I agree with the OP that, those are our two most urgent requirements. In short though, we need both. If we continue to play three in the middle, then we don’t have enough options. The key questions are, when is Lee back, and are Jones and Abdi part of our plans going forward? With Reach playing a more central role, could we convert Boyd into a similar alternative? We don’t need wingers, as such, in this system, more wide attackers. Those wide attackers will be expected to deliver goals as well, and Boyd doesn’t do that, so maybe converting him into a midfield player, who we could use if Reach wasn’t available. The best person for that role, is obviously Abdi, but does Jos believe he will be fit, or indeed, even want him? 

If we are sticking with the 4-3-3, then we probably need another wide attacking option to back up Joao, Forestieri and Matias. 

Realistically, that is now the only area where we can inject some extra pace. 

So for me, it would be, a dominant centre back, a midfield general with all round, defensive and creative abilities, and a quick forward who can play the wide areas

in a ideal world your spot on but getting 3 players in on loan like that in the next 6 days is a I think a pipe dream ….we'd certainly have to up our recent record on loans to get 3 players with ability your looking for . 

[s29wfc]

34 minutes ago, York_Owl said:

Agree with the comments re signing up Bannan. Of the 11 players out of contract I’d say Joao and Bannan were the priority. We’ve signed up Joao now let’s sort Bannan. Still think he needs a partner in midfield tho.

Out of interest who arethe 11 out of contract next summer?

[gurujuan]

3 minutes ago, torryowl said:

in a ideal world your spot on but getting 3 players in on loan like that in the next 6 days is a I think a pipe dream ….we'd certainly have to up our recent record on loans to get 3 players with ability your looking for . 

Yes it is an area we’ve kinda neglected, especially when so many of the promoted clubs have used it well. It’s probably now a case of trying to get a few out, and there are plenty of candidates for that. Whether they are healthy enough for anyone to want to take a chance on them, is another matter, and we’d certainly need to be a bit more flexible on wages

[Inspector Lestrade]

We obviously need both, for this season at least we are going to have to do without, the only way we will get them is if some of the youngsters rise to the challenge and fulfill their potential. 

 

No more signings till at least January and I'll be surprised even then.  Unless we look like leaving the division.  

[gurujuan]

9 minutes ago, Sham67 said:

 

We played with Jos' favouritel 4-2-3-1 formation on Wednesday.  I'm not sure if the 3 in that system are midfielders or forwards.

We did yes, so the wide players in the system, Preston and Reach, drop back to form a three with the most attacking midfielder, Reach. I like both of those systems, because they are fluid and we can switch to either, depending on the state of the game. The only change needed, would be for the two wide attackers to drop back into a three behind a target man

[sheriwozgod]

For all our grumbling we are not all that far away when everyone is fit.................a Kyle Bartley type in CD, a Claudio Yacob type in CM and a decent right back and we might have a chance again.......................problem is, we seem to have been saying this for a hell of a long time now !

[Sham67]

1 minute ago, gurujuan said:

We did yes, so the wide players in the system, Preston and Reach, drop back to form a three with the most attacking midfielder, Reach. I like both of those systems, because they are fluid and we can switch to either, depending on the state of the game. The only change needed, would be for the two wide attackers to drop back into a three behind a target man

 

One of the things that impressed me on Wednesday was the fluidity of our play.  I think it gives us something to build on.