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Marlon Pack


ollywhyte

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One of the comments on their forum reminds me of a lot of players City sign:

"In his first few games for us, he was one of our best players.........."

Unfortunately, he seems to   have subsequently gone down hill as the season has progressed. Just like some players City sign 

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Just now, Northern Red said:

The issue wasn't letting him go, it was not replacing him properly.

I think it goes wider than that even. I think the issue is not really having a clear idea of what sort of midfield we want or how we want them to play. The last couple of games we have stated with Smith, HNM and O'Dowda and my issue is not that I don't feel they have done what has been asked of them but I don't think I even really understand what they were asked to do in the first place.

I think the club actually has some potentially very capable Championship midfielders - especially when you factor in Walsh and Morrell too. But I don't think there is any understanding of the best combination or how the players work together. It just seems to be a random collection of starters with no instruction.

I think both the positive and negative with Pack was he had a way of playing, did what he did and didn't do a lot else and whoever was next to him knew what to expect from him week-in and week-out. Now it seems to be a random combination of players playing a random midfield role which seems to alternate from one game to the next.

 

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21 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

The issue wasn't letting him go, it was not replacing him properly.

This, a lot of the time in previous seasons Marlon has been the centre mid who drops deep to pick the ball up off CB's and distributes forwards, its now Smith and Massengo, Marlon had a better passing range and ability on the ball then these 2 and its impacting our ability of moving up the pitch. Earlier this season Brownhill seemed to take over the role and again was better than Smith and Massengo are now.

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3 hours ago, ollywhyte said:

I'm seeing a lot of people all of a sudden saying how much we miss Marlon.

Doesn't look like hes been much use at Cardiff. Departed at the right time in my opinion and we got good money for him.

https://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=215820

 

Oh my days

Just when the footballing world can't get any crazier

I often wander if some people walk backwards in life . . . .

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3 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

I think it goes wider than that even. I think the issue is not really having a clear idea of what sort of midfield we want or how we want them to play. The last couple of games we have stated with Smith, HNM and O'Dowda and my issue is not that I don't feel they have done what has been asked of them but I don't think I even really understand what they were asked to do in the first place.

I think the club actually has some potentially very capable Championship midfielders - especially when you factor in Walsh and Morrell too. But I don't think there is any understanding of the best combination or how the players work together. It just seems to be a random collection of starters with no instruction.

I think both the positive and negative with Pack was he had a way of playing, did what he did and didn't do a lot else and whoever was next to him knew what to expect from him week-in and week-out. Now it seems to be a random combination of players playing a random midfield role which seems to alternate from one game to the next.

 

I think you can extend this to the whole team line-up at the moment. LJ just seems to be chucking people into the team in the hope that it sticks and we get a result rather than taking a step back, looking at that we have and building a tactic around it.

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4 hours ago, ollywhyte said:

I'm seeing a lot of people all of a sudden saying how much we miss Marlon.

Doesn't look like hes been much use at Cardiff. Departed at the right time in my opinion and we got good money for him.

https://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=215820

 

The money was great, but 28 at the time, key player, still at his peak.

3 hours ago, Northern Red said:

The issue wasn't letting him go, it was not replacing him properly.

Yep, totally agree.  If the expectation was for Nagy to come straight in from Italy, then more the fool LJ and MA.  You build a system where he is the cornerstone of it, and then let him go after one game if the season.  I know I’ve had lots of debates about Pack (with @Harry especially), but I never once doubted his ability.  I believe LJ stifled him last season when we got dicked away at West Brom.  Pack was not allowed to venture away from the “cage” (LJ’s term) in front of Kalas and Webster after that game.

I certainly agree with Harry that Pack was vital in front of them, but I think as a threesome they were really complimentary and understood each other’s role.

The role Pack played in 17/18 was slightly more advanced because we had three other sets of legs in midfield....Duracell bunnies in Brownhill, Smith and Bryan, whatever their own individual weaknesses were, they were a very good 4.  With Smith injured, Brownhill now inside, Eliasson, O’Dowda wide without the same defensive positional noise of the previous season, Pack was sacrificed and told to stay in the cage.

Unfortunately, LJ forgot what impact this would have on us with the ball. ??‍♂️

3 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

I think it goes wider than that even. I think the issue is not really having a clear idea of what sort of midfield we want or how we want them to play. The last couple of games we have stated with Smith, HNM and O'Dowda and my issue is not that I don't feel they have done what has been asked of them but I don't think I even really understand what they were asked to do in the first place.

I think the club actually has some potentially very capable Championship midfielders - especially when you factor in Walsh and Morrell too. But I don't think there is any understanding of the best combination or how the players work together. It just seems to be a random collection of starters with no instruction.

I think both the positive and negative with Pack was he had a way of playing, did what he did and didn't do a lot else and whoever was next to him knew what to expect from him week-in and week-out. Now it seems to be a random combination of players playing a random midfield role which seems to alternate from one game to the next.

 

Yep, you base a system around one player, then let him go....bloody stupid imho

3 hours ago, hodge said:

This, a lot of the time in previous seasons Marlon has been the centre mid who drops deep to pick the ball up off CB's and distributes forwards, its now Smith and Massengo, Marlon had a better passing range and ability on the ball then these 2 and its impacting our ability of moving up the pitch. Earlier this season Brownhill seemed to take over the role and again was better than Smith and Massengo are now.

I felt we missed a real trick here with Webster.  We never used Webster marauding forward to create the extra man in midfield, as Pack always dropped back in.  The right full back, could’ve tucked in as Webster carried it forward and with Pack now being the extra man, we could’ve really progressed through the thirds.

All of this leads me back to LJ not thinking about the cause and effect of his decisions, or not being able to remedy it.

I’d take Pack back for next season.  He’s still in Portishead, didn’t want to leave anyway., 

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3 hours ago, Super said:

I still remember after Nagy had his only good game for us many on here said he was a class above Pack.

I'll put my head on the block and say I still think he is. He's suffered a repeating niggly injury while trying to settle in a new country in the midst of a pandemic and playing for a manager who (most will agree on here) has lost his way. I think if he stays here we'll eventually see more of the Nagy we saw in that first game. 

That's nothing against Marlon either. 

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6 minutes ago, sinenomine said:

I'll put my head on the block and say I still think he is. He's suffered a repeating niggly injury while trying to settle in a new country in the midst of a pandemic and playing for a manager who (most will agree on here) has lost his way. I think if he stays here we'll eventually see more of the Nagy we saw in that first game. 

That's nothing against Marlon either. 

Never understood ‘settling in a new country’ argument. If your a good player it’ll show on the pitch for 90 minutes every week what does his personal life have to do with anything.

He’s just not a great player for a team apparently aiming for promotion, zero confidence and vision on the ball and looks so unnatural for someone who was bought in to be the ball player. Hopefully we move him on in the summer , Walsh and Morrell both ahead of him in my opinion.
 

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3 minutes ago, Hocca said:

Never understood ‘settling in a new country’ argument. If your a good player it’ll show on the pitch for 90 minutes every week what does his personal life have to do with anything.

He’s just not a great player for a team apparently aiming for promotion, zero confidence and vision on the ball and looks so unnatural for someone who was bought in to be the ball player. Hopefully we move him on in the summer , Walsh and Morrell both ahead of him in my opinion.
 

Mental wellbeing has a massive bearing on your performance in your job, whatever that may be.  To assume otherwise is extremely naive.  Settling into a new country is all about mental comfort.  

On the pitch he's getting to grips with a new type of supporters, new climate, new language (which he is already very capable with).  You don't just turn up and kick a ball about for 90 minutes.

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I think we’ve missed Pack this season. He at least tried to assert himself and tried to take control of games by asking for the ball and using a range of passes. Nagy looked really promising in his first couple of games, but has really struggled since for whatever reason. 

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4 hours ago, Super said:

I still remember after Nagy had his only good game for us many on here said he was a class above Pack.

I remember saying he looked an upgrade. I didn’t realise Nagy would be unreliable with regards to availability though. Pack was always available 

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