The midfield question

[Jimbo76]

Whist not getting carried away because we only beat a poor Birmingham side, however there were some good performances. 

In the short term we don't have a lot of permutations around defence or attack however the midfield line up is starting to look interesting. 

How do we select 3/4 from the following:

Palmer, rejuvenated under NP

Massengo, seems to be realising some of the promise.  Great game today.

Nagy. Powerhouse midfielder. Rarely has a bad game. 

Walsh.  Who isn't excited about what a fit Walsh brings to the team?

Vyner. Arguably a player of the season contender, much of which in midfield

Lansbury. Started several recent games and seems to be improving.  Very highly rated pre Villa.

COD. Was paying well prior to injury and showed today what he can do. 

Watkins. For me, the last appealing of the options but he got an appearance today so is obviously being considered. 

All things being equal,  who would be our first choice midfield now?

[Chrisbc]

6 minutes ago, Jimbo76 said:

Whist not getting carried away because we only beat a poor Birmingham side, however there were some good performances. 

In the short term we don't have a lot of permutations around defence or attack however the midfield line up is starting to look interesting. 

How do we select 3/4 from the following:

Palmer, rejuvenated under NP

Massengo, seems to be realising some of the promise.  Great game today.

Nagy. Powerhouse midfielder. Rarely has a bad game. 

Walsh.  Who isn't excited about what a fit Walsh brings to the team?

Vyner. Arguably a player of the season contender, much of which in midfield

Lansbury. Started several recent games and seems to be improving.  Very highly rated pre Villa.

COD. Was paying well prior to injury and showed today what he can do. 

Watkins. For me, the last appealing of the options but he got an appearance today so is obviously being considered. 

All things being equal,  who would be our first choice midfield now?

To be honest looking forward im not convinced any of the above are strong enough for a promotion challenge.....Palmer has the star quality but for me we will need to sign an all round enforcer to go with Williams and the above as back up.

[Lrrr]

Currently in the thinking of something like going into next season  before any recruitment with contracts extended for Walsh/Mariappa

Bentley

Vyner     Mariappa       Kalas      Dasilva

Walsh

   Palmer             Williams

      Semenyo                                             O'Dowda

Wells

[Edgy Red]

1 minute ago, Chrisbc said:

To be honest looking forward im not convinced any of the above are strong enough for a promotion challenge.....Palmer has the star quality but for me we will need to sign an all round enforcer to go with Williams and the above as back up.

I agree with this... i'm not sure the current crop of midfielders has enough quality for a promotion push next season.

Vyner is a decent utility squad cover player.

Bakinson has ability but i don't think he covers the ground quick enough to be a top drawer midfielder.

Walsh could be good, but equally might be a disapointment.

As i've explained in previous threads, Nagy doesn't excel in any particular area.

HNM is still a kid and i don't think you could rely on him for a 46 game promotion push.

Williams could be the one that could cement a place if he stays fit.

I think we need to strengthen the spine of the team over the summer to be able to challenge next season

[Engvall’s Splinter]

16 minutes ago, Jimbo76 said:

Whist not getting carried away because we only beat a poor Birmingham side, however there were some good performances. 

In the short term we don't have a lot of permutations around defence or attack however the midfield line up is starting to look interesting. 

How do we select 3/4 from the following:

Palmer, rejuvenated under NP

Massengo, seems to be realising some of the promise.  Great game today.

Nagy. Powerhouse midfielder. Rarely has a bad game. 

Walsh.  Who isn't excited about what a fit Walsh brings to the team?

Vyner. Arguably a player of the season contender, much of which in midfield

Lansbury. Started several recent games and seems to be improving.  Very highly rated pre Villa.

COD. Was paying well prior to injury and showed today what he can do. 

Watkins. For me, the last appealing of the options but he got an appearance today so is obviously being considered. 

All things being equal,  who would be our first choice midfield now?

We do have options, yes. Unsure though that many have that real top end championship quality. 

Palmer - I am one who has been pushing for his regular inclusion. Currently in form but the jury is of course still out with his consistency. At the minute he’s one of the first names on the sheet. 
 

Massengo - Potential is there. Hopefully he realises it here. 
 

Walsh - I’m excited for his return. He’s turned into Messi during the last 10 months he’s been out. Jury’s out. Didn’t impact games when he first joined, appreciate he’s had a decent year at Rovers level. 
 

Vyner - Has been very good this year. He’s not a top 6 Championship club midfielder for me. Would rather he focuses on dislodging the centre halves. I feel for Zac as I don’t believe he’s better than a couple of the other centre backs. 
 

CO’D - Make or break for Callum. Started to find some consistency before his injury. Hopefully he rediscovers that form. Again, consistency is key. 

[GrahamC]

Until any of them show consistency I don’t think you can answer that question.

Palmer has been outstanding of late but hasn’t done it over an extended period.

Vyner is someone who provides cover at CB & RB so will always find a place somewhere.

Watkins is a striker or wide player so can be ruled out.

All of the rest, Massengo, Walsh, Bakinson, Nagy & O’Dowda need to prove they are consistent performers at this level.

Williams has to start by being fit to play.

Lansbury has a track record but until today didn’t look worth keeping.

Going to be an interesting last 10 games to see who gets picked.

[downendcity]

It’s a funny old game isn’t it?

6 weeks ago we had loads of midfielders and the general feeling seemed to be that they were pretty well all the same type of player, none seemed good enough or appeared capable of forming a decent midfield unit and there was a ground swell opinion that we needed a pretty wholesale clear out at the end of the season.

Fast forward to today and now our midfield cup seems almost full to overflowing with a multitude of talent and that Pearson will have a headache deciding his best parings.

 

[CheddarReds]

Lots of options and some to come back from injury. At the start of the season I was worried we'd struggle to keep everyone happy but with injuries it's not been an issue!

Need the focus to be on finding a midfield that's well balanced with a range of qualities that bring the best out of one another rather than just thinking 'yeah these three are the best 3'. 

 

[Jimbo76]

I'm more excited about our 'potential' for midfield options than I am about other parts of the pitch.

Given that we know we're not going to go out and buy a couple of midfield superstars,  we've got to hope that some of this potential does come to fruition. 

I have to agree though that the quality needed in midfield for a promotion push seems to be on another level and would probably require some investment. 

[Glyn Rileys Mullet]

I think you have to ask “who has the potential to develop into a premier league standard player?”.

My feeling is that Palmer may be more effective with better and quicker (physically and mentally) players making more intelligent runs...so “might” make the jump.

Nagy strikes me as someone who is close to their optimum and my fear is that he would get bullied by the premier league midfields.  So a no from me.

Massengo...potential to improve so keep him in.

Williams...not seen enough of but I do worry whether he has enough attributes to complete at a higher level.  The same goes for Walsh....does he have the speed to outwit physically bigger players.

Vyner...I would love to coach him.  I think he has a lot of room to grow and the fact that team mates refer to him as a Rolls Royce suggest that he has potential to develop the quicker feet required in the middle.  Can certainly compete physically.  My question marks for him are around his 360 vision....is he spotting the runners early enough?  

Bakinson....really intrigues me. He could develop into something special but needs a partner to provide the energy in my opinion.  He could make it.

Lansbury....proven to be not good enough in the premier league.  Good game today mind.

We need someone or a partnership to impose themselves on every game.  I’m not sure we have those players yet but it is exciting to see who could come good.

[Gmac]

28 minutes ago, Glyn Rileys Mullet said:

I think you have to ask “who has the potential to develop into a premier league standard player?”.

Easy. In my opinion Walsh and Massengo. Miles ahead of the rest, just need game time and to be used/instructed correctly. Super excited to see these two develop under NP. 

Palmer is also looking good of late however I argue a fully fighting Walsh has more to his game. 

For the first time in a while I am excited about our midfield options going into next season. I just hope the coach who will get the best out of it signs a longer contract soon.

[SouthS22]

KP is starting to look like the player we hoped he could be when he first signed - best player on the pitch for us last two games

There a lot of people on here who don’t rate Nagy but I think played alongside the right players he can be top class - we just need to see a bit more quality in possession from him but I think that is there, just needs bringing out. 

Massengo looked solid today and I still think he’s one for the future - he looks to have the potential to be a very good central midfielder but he’s erratic atm especially with his passing. 

Walsh is still pretty unknown for us but he looked good for Coventry last year and I’m excited to see him get some games - could be a key player in terms of gaining a greater amount of consistent possession 

COD has pace and energy and we’ve seen what a strong contribution he can make and I think he has a role to play even if that is off the bench or in a changed formation.  

I don’t get how Lansbury can be said to have had a good game today - was I watching a different  match?  We were playing an average side and he still kept hitting hopeful long balls and giving it away.  Even if he did play ok, which he didn’t, not good enough IMO. 

Williams looks like a box to box midfielder who has potential but as has been said we need to see him fit and have a run of games. 

Bakinson has a lot of ability but I don’t know what goes on in his head.  On his day he looks a force but too often he just seems away with the fairies.  Improved focus and decision making required there - some solid coaching might realise that potential. 
 

I’m not sure about Vyner as a midfield player.  He clearly can play a role there but I think he’s better as a ball playing CB.  He’s solid and can spot a pass but I’d like to see him do that from the back. 

Overall, I’m optimistic about our options - there’s enough quality there for a serious push next season without any major changes additions if they can stay fit.  They do need some good coaching though so that they understand the importance of movement off the ball, finding space and making themselves available so we can start being more dominant in possession.