Our midfield

[gurujuan]

1 minute ago, WalthamOwl said:

I love Lee, if he could stay fit he would be playing in the Premiership imo. However I just can’t see him being fit for a run of games again. I think he will be released at the end of the season. I would like to see us bring in a player with pace and can put a good cross in the box to replace Boyd and also a new CM, someone in the style of Diame that Bruce had at Hull. 

A fit Keiran Lee would have enabled us to play a proper midfield three. He would be the link between Hutchinson and Bannan, a strong running player who can defend, and also run beyond. As I mentioned in another thread, I think that was the role that they envisaged for Josh Onomah, a similar sort of player. The only similarity ended up being, he joined Keiran in the sick bay, but yes, Lee has been a huge miss

[pj owl]

Can’t believe some of the comments on here.

 

Before Xmas, no Hutch (or Westwood) and we are looking down not up.

 

Since both of these have been brought back into the fold we’ve gone on a marvellous run nearly doing the impossible.

 

absolutely clear both those players have made us defensively more solid, but they’ve also allowed the creative type players (Bannan?) more scope. We weren’t exactly banging the goals in under Jos were we.

 

Bannan and Hutchinson both stay for me. Whether they play every game in a 2 is up to Bruce and I trust him to get that right more often than not.

[fpowl]

We need more goals from midfield take reach out of it and we don’t score enough 

 

if we can get Aaron’s in he will provide a decent out let 

 

bannan is a great provider but I think as harsh as it maybe he gives the ball away too much and doesn’t score enough 

 

bannan is at his best in a midfield three but unless we get a box to box player alongside him and hutch there’s games were we arnt effective enough 

 

can we get Lee back? That’s the question otherwise we need somebody who makes those runs into the box and drives us forward 

 

I really like the thought of somebody who ha s presence in there 

 

maybe a midfield two of bannan an Mo Diame would give us what we want I know with Diame and hutch in with bannan bannan would be free to be much more creative and effective again 

 

a centre midfielder with two good out lets wide reach and Aaron’s? Would be dangerous 

 

add two attacking fullbacks iorfa and Lazaar? And we will have most teams on the back foot 

 

does this mean we go one up top? 

 

Be an an interesting summer but I trust that Bruce will get us assembled right even if it takes a couple of summers 

 

we need to get some of our contracted players off the books though

 

forestieri

fox

pelupessy 

rhodes 

winnal

van Aken 

 

only thing is I think we will have few buyers and some of if not all will need their contracts running down before we effectively rebuild everywhere so we will need to use them 

 

signing Hector is a must for me too he has so much presence in our back line 

[Ronnie Starling]

Bannan & Hutchinson have been good players for us and throw in Lee too for good measure. However it has been proven that a midfield consisting of these three isnt good enough to gain promotion. We needed after Hull a strong physical midfielder that can drive us forward. Instead we ended up with lightweight injury prone players.

[SallyCinnamon]

Although Bannan and Hutch have been very good under Bruce, to take us to that next level I don’t think as a two they’re good enough to get you out of this league. 

 

Not enough goals between them and get overpowered by the better teams. 

 

A midfield three is what i’d like to see going forward if we want to get the best out of Bannan and Hutch. I’d like to see a fully fit Onomah next season as I rate that lad. Doubt we’ll look at him again mind.

[steelowl]

22 hours ago, McRightSide said:

The only place that we look adequately staffed is keeper.

 

We seem to have solved 50% of the full back issue by signing Iorfa, but left back is a major problem still

 

We’ve got one decent centre half.

 

We’ve got two decent CMs but no cover for either

 

We’ve for one decent wide player

 

We’ve got 4 adequate strikers who’ve all struggled to put any seblemce of form together for the last 2 years.

 

Essential priorities for me would be:

 

1. a Centre half

2. a left back

3. a defensive midfielder

4. a wide player 

 

Thats the bare minimum before we even start look at squad depth

 

This summer and next season ain’t going to be easy

 

you can say that again and we still don't know if an embargo is applied

IF we can keep 'the trusted advisor's'  hands out of it  I think we have a guy with the experience and connections to do the best we can 

 

22 hours ago, Animis said:

The balance hasn't been right since the Hull final three years ago - we've brought in totally the wrong players since with Jones; Abdi, Buttercup; Plep - all lightweight and offered nothing new.

 

Then you add in Reach who, whilst offers something different as a wide player, again unbalances the team because he's so lightweight and drifts. You could say FF, Boyd and Matias are the same.

 

harsh but correct imo

 

i think now is the time, given we have ability to do so , for wholesale changes 

[debram]

19 minutes ago, steelowl said:

 

you can say that again and we still don't know if an embargo is applied

IF we can keep 'the trusted advisor's'  hands out of it  I think we have a guy with the experience and connections to do the best we can 

 

harsh but correct imo

 

i think now is the time, given we have ability to do so , for wholesale changes 

Agree but if so the transformation wont happen overnight thus very doubtful that we can expect a blistering start next season so we will have to be patient with SB and the players he brings in.

Edited April 15, 2019 by debram
spelling

[sheriwozgod]

1 hour ago, Ronnie Starling said:

Bannan & Hutchinson have been good players for us and throw in Lee too for good measure. However it has been proven that a midfield consisting of these three isnt good enough to gain promotion. We needed after Hull a strong physical midfielder that can drive us forward. Instead we ended up with lightweight injury prone players.

 

After Wembley and Lopez`s departure we needed a couple of midfielders to compliment Lee, Bannan and Hutch...................Tom Cairney and Aaron Mooy would have been ideal...........................we got Almen Abdi and Dave Jones 

[beloved_aunt]

On 14/04/2019 at 09:52, Beholder said:

If I were Bruce I would have a good look at midfield and have a think about whether it can be consistent enough for a promotion challenge

 

With the players we have I think a Lee Hutch combo is a better option than Bannan Hutch in a combative high tempo game. I would be open to another contract for Lee if we can get him on the pitch before the season ends 

 

I'm literally flabbergasted that people still make long term plans based around the presumed future fitness of Kieran Lee.  What are they smoking?

[gurujuan]

We have to forget a two man midfield, these days just having a two in midfield, means it very difficult to control the game Under Carlos, one of the wide players often operated centrally, and the other tucked in when needed, but we lost some of our potency

[Dutch McLovin]

Hutch is the only one of the midfield that is vital to us. Bannan as good as he can be is good when everything suits him, when he is pressed he becomes ineffective. And his lack of assists goals and energy hinders us. Would be better in a 3 as stated but in our 442 he is effective wide left. If we could sign Lazaar again he could be the left back to play behind Bannan as I could see him being a lot like Pudil in his first season.

 

Reach for me can go at the right price, would like to see us retain Aarons. Lee can stay on if he proves his fitness but that's a big IF. The rest of our midfield options can go for me. Onomah Pelupessy Matias Abdi Jones Boyd and then again should we get offers of decent value for money Bannan and Reach.

[Beholder]

25 minutes ago, beloved_aunt said:

 

I'm literally flabbergasted that people still make long term plans based around the presumed future fitness of Kieran Lee.  What are they smoking?

If that is how you read it, it is not how I wrote it.

 

I merely said that I would be open to offering Keiran Lee a new contract if he can demonstrate his fitness before the end of the season.

 

 

[TrickyTrev]

For me the only Championship standard central mid-fielders we have who can be relied upon at the club are Hutchinson and Bannan.

 

Pelupessey is nowhere near good enough and needs offloading for anything we can get for him and as for Lee, he's a good player but never fit. The only way I'd be offering him a new deal is if he took a hefty cut in his wages.

 

This summer if we are hit with an embargo we could be going into next season very light on numbers in the middle of the park and ideally we need to sign at least 2 players for that position. 

[S36 OWL]

I'd try and offload Rhodes and fessi  to raise funds to rebuild the midfield.

[Earlsfieldowl]

On 14/04/2019 at 10:05, deano said:

Bruce has said the squad isn't balanced, bannan is one of the best at this level but I do wonder if his lack of physicality, pace and goals contributes to this. Hope not, as hes quality and I suppose you could say similar about Modiric at a higher level of course. Just finding the right players/system to fit around him and if you think it's worth it to accommodate. 

 

There it is ..Bannan and Modric together in the same paragraph.

 

 

Never thought I would see the day! 

 

Our midfield has been unbalanced since about 1999 and it’s been a major factor in our results and performances since then.

 

As such our defence and attack has never really been able to function consistently.

 

 

 

 

[oldishowl]

I just looked at the Hull team that beat us at Wembley. Nice graphic of it set up in a 4231 formation. If I was capable I would have posted it.

 

It is a very good team and I would say a team and set up that demonstrates perfectly how Bruce likes his teams to set up and the type of players he likes.

 

We are miles away from it , especially in midfield , but all over the pitch.

It will very interesting to see how we go about trying to get close to it.

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Midfield has been a problem area for a number of years. I think most would agree that Bannan is our most creative midfield player, but to allow him to do that he needs players around him doing the dirty stuff, making the tackles, tracking back etc. All well and good, but if this scenario plays out, we do become a bit of a one trick pony so to speak. 

 

Bannan is not the type of player to run past the forwards and get into a scoring position, allowing the other midfield player(s) to find him. Lee was adept at that and made things tick over in the midfield, which is why he has been sorely missed.

 

In an ideal world your midfield needs a mix of all attributes, which is why good ones come at a premium. It is not easy to fix, but Bruce will have an idea as to the identity he wants the team and indeed the midfield to play come next season, so it is highly likely that a midfield of Hutch, Lee and Bannan will not be seen (our best 3 midfielders). There is talent out there, but it comes down to persevering with what we have, or going in another direction completely, interesting times.

[gurujuan]

1 hour ago, oldishowl said:

I just looked at the Hull team that beat us at Wembley. Nice graphic of it set up in a 4231 formation. If I was capable I would have posted it.

 

It is a very good team and I would say a team and set up that demonstrates perfectly how Bruce likes his teams to set up and the type of players he likes.

 

We are miles away from it , especially in midfield , but all over the pitch.

It will very interesting to see how we go about trying to get close to it.

His Villa sides usually set up that way also. The key to both those sides, was that the lone striker was mobile, and scored goals If we are to set up this way, that will be his number one priority, as we don’t have such a player

[G-Reg]

Barring Hutchinson, I'd let any or all of our midfielders go if a decent bid came in (this is under the asumption we wont be under an embargo preventing us signing players).

 

I don't think we are good enough without the ball.  Watching Boyd mark space, Reach rarel;y imposing himself on the player in possession and Bannan being ineffectual when the team is under the cosh tells me we aren't going anywhere fast with them.  I'm not questioning their work rate or commitment to the cause, just ability when out of possession,

 

I see a lot more wily, cynical b@stards in teams that do well.

 

I'm all for Bruce overhauling the midfield and forwards, strengthening the back line with a left back for Penney to challenge and a centre half a la Hector

[Themagiccap]

We can’t play 2v3 in center midfield, all the top teams in both our and the premier leagues play a variation of 4-3-3 so Hutch and Bannan are fine so long as there is someone with pace and forward drive alongside them. On Friday I’d try Onomah there if he’s fit and play Lazaar and Aarons wide as at least then we’d have pace and energy to support Fletcher who is as good as anyone at holding the ball up and bringing others into play