High quality midfielder required in Jan

[Top Robin]

Look, I think Pack, Smith and Brownhill are really good central midfielders and with them we will probable be safe in the Championship for a while.

But I don't think that they quite have the quality to keep us in a play off spot or, dare I say it, an auto place so we could well finish mid table which would be a flop in my opinion from where we are now.

In January I really think we need to bring in an experienced, quality midfielder to ensure that that wont happen and give us a chance of at least a play off spot.

Someone similar to Barry Bannan who usually runs the show,  has experience, is comfortable on the ball, has good distribution and also tackles well.

We may have to splash the cash, but it may well be worth it.  

[extonsred]

...plus quality striker - maybe Đurić can step up but No idea where one which is affordable may be hidden!!

[HoldenBall]

Agreed, should of got one in in the summer. I don't want to put Reid back in midfield as he's playing the best football of his career in a striker role, but if Brownhill or Pack get injured then that will probably happen.

[Distortia]

18 minutes ago, extonsred said:

...plus quality striker - maybe Đurić can step up but No idea where one which is affordable may be hidden!!

I don't think that should be a priority in January, personally. Reid and Diedhiou have 12(?) goals between them already, I think we need to prioritise creating more chances for them.

[RedM]

Happy to hold my hand up and admit I'm totally unaware of Barry Bannan, but that's the second time in a few hours I've seen his name mentioned. I think the other was a quote from LJ saying he admired him? So at least if that's true we are aware of what we need and the type of quality and no doubt behind the scenes things are happening.

[steviestevieneville]

Think LJ ****** up not starting Marlon. By far our most creative midfielder , we probably would of opened them up more first half with him in the team and he seemed to try and force things second half . Minor gripe in a very good start too the season. We will get many more sides coming to park the bus though so I agree we could with buying a bit more creativity . 

[JoeAman08]

I think we might be holding firm for now as that type of player will be expensive whereas we have a couple young central midfielders we hope may stake a claim soon. Joe Morrell from what I've seen could be a Bannan type player. He is small but assured on the ball and dictates the tempo well. Always wanting to receive it and move it often forward. I would agree we could use more quality there but not convinced they'll splash for one in January. 

[GrenadaRed]

I agree, I think we've needed a really top quality midfielder who can create goals and score a few for years.  The difficulty is we play with two forwards and two lightweight wingers, so he would need to be combative as well.  Sounds expensive, but if we're still in the mix in January, perhaps it's worth rolling the dice and spending some serious money to have a shot at the play-off's?  But then again, it's not my money. 

A top striker would also be excellent, but I'd agree that we have goals in us already and we haven't even seen Đurić and barely seen Taylor yet and we'd need to move someone on if we brought in another.  

To add to this I think it's important we don't lose anyone.  Flint showed last night how important he is for us and I am sure he'll be subject to numerous bids. 

All in all the best squad for as long as I can remember and a top midfielder would make a real difference.

 

[SODS_LAW]

16 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

Think LJ ****** up not starting Marlon. By far our most creative midfielder , we probably would of opened them up more first half with him in the team and he seemed to try and force things second half . Minor gripe in a very good start too the season. We will get many more sides coming to park the bus though so I agree we could with buying a bit more creativity . 

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

17 minutes ago, steviestevieneville said:

Think LJ ****** up not starting Marlon. By far our most creative midfielder , we probably would of opened them up more first half with him in the team and he seemed to try and force things second half . Minor gripe in a very good start too the season. We will get many more sides coming to park the bus though so I agree we could with buying a bit more creativity . 

He never managed to open them up in the second half in fact he was as poor as all of the other midfielders for the time he was on the pitch, the midfield just like the Millwall game the midfield were slow and predictable all night and quickly ran out of ideas.

[nickolas]

7 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

He never managed to open them up in the second half in fact he was as poor as all of the other midfielders for the time he was on the pitch, the midfield just like the Millwall game the midfield were slow and predictable all night and quickly ran out of ideas.

Not necesarily about ideas though is it. More to do with movement infront of them making an incisive pass more easy to find. 

Games like last night require a Đurić and more diagonal long passes to feed off knock downs. We just dont quite have that option until hes back fit. I reckon he’ll make the bench for Leeds. 

[cidered abroad]

Last night, along with the Millwall game, itshowed very clearly why we'll probably finish mid table. We are so one dimensional if a side come to defend en masse. It's too easy to blame the ref last night but we did not play anything at pace from our back four to midfield. We certainly missed Korey in second half. I thought Brownhill looked a bit lost in first half and did voice an opinion that we should replace him with Pack. How wrong that proved as Pack slowed it down even more, running slowly sideways with the ball.

Eliasson did ok for me in first half and will improve but Leko looked like a kid in the park who isn't really interested. Perhaps thinks he's too good for us? Plus on that side Bailey Wright not good at going forward. Patterson also went sideways too often and we rarely ran directly at Burton's defenders to commit them to tackles or fouls.

Bobby and Fammy got zero service as a result, with a second half of nil shots on target apart from the non goal.

So yes, we need a really good quality midfield "tin opener" if we are to make any real impact on the top six. Could be Joe Morrell but probably not experienced enough even by start of next season.

[Zip Nolan]

Instead of straight runs from the strikers, i thought it required diagonal runs with switching between them to attempt to move their defenders about. 

[YorkshireSection]

17 minutes ago, SODS_LAW said:

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

Completely agree, we need quality back up for Smith or Brownhill, Pack IMHO is a good league 1 player but doesn't have the quality for the championship.

[OldlandReddies]

In hindsight Jens should have come on last night in the middle instead of dropping Reid in there. Think he has the quality to unlock defences and pick the right pass but clearly Lee doesnt have same opinion.

[SStandUp]

2 hours ago, Top Robin said:

Look, I think Pack, Smith and Brownhill are really good central midfielders and with them we will probable be safe in the Championship for a while.

But I don't think that they quite have the quality to keep us in a play off spot or, dare I say it, an auto place so we could well finish mid table which would be a flop in my opinion from where we are now.

In January I really think we need to bring in an experienced, quality midfielder to ensure that that wont happen and give us a chance of at least a play off spot.

Someone similar to Barry Bannan who usually runs the show,  has experience, is comfortable on the ball, has good distribution and also tackles well.

We may have to splash the cash, but it may well be worth it.  

It's very easy to say this after last night. But we are one of the top scorers in the league this season. Let's not get too carried away, scoring/ creating goals isn't a massive issue for us. 

Plus, you're talking of a "high quality" midfielder. They are very far and few between at this level, so you'll have to look at spending millions, which isn't our philosophy at the moment.

You'll be lucky to find an exceptional playmaking midfielder, who buys into the way we play. 

Like I said, scoring and creating goals haven't really been an issue, so no need to be spending millions on a midfielder after one game where creating chances was always going to be hard. 

I can see your point though, based off last night 

Up the City x

[Red-Robbo]

We need a Paul Hartley. 

Spray balls about with precision, and also an intimidating presence in the centre of the park. 

There aren't many of those around, alas....

[OldlandReddies]

Wish Tinman was 20 years younger.

[spudski]

Yes...I agree we need some better quality in midfield, been saying that for a while now. LJ has alluded to it as well in recent months.

As for yesterdays game, I don't think it was our midfield that let us down.

Burton parked up in front of the 'D'...they had their defenders and then a bank of 3 CM who blocked any progress down the middle.

The International break allowed Burton extra time to make a plan of action, to stop us in our natural game.

It was our wider players that let us down yesterday. Burton needed to be pulled wide to create the space. We didn't.

I thought Elliasson was poor...looked very light weight. Easily tackled and blocked. Leko was even worse..head down, headless chicken stuff. Just kept running into trouble and losing the ball, or not looking up when a pass was on. Very school boy.

JB didn't influence as much, and we are missing Pissano with his link up play wide.

Our FB's and wide midfield should have been operating better together, influencing play. Instead we kept trying to go through the middle, which was full to capacity.

Without making excuses...on another day with a better ref, we would have won 1-0.

[RaspberryRed]

I've been sat here this morning thinking we're crying out for someone in the Tinnion mould. A huge ask I know but with our increased revenue we have money to spend in Jan 

[Red Army 75]

2 minutes ago, spudski said:

Yes...I agree we need some better quality in midfield, been saying that for a while now. LJ has alluded to it as well in recent months.

As for yesterdays game, I don't think it was our midfield that let us down.

Burton parked up in front of the 'D'...they had their defenders and then a bank of 3 CM who blocked any progress down the middle.

The International break allowed Burton extra time to make a plan of action, to stop us in our natural game.

It was our wider players that let us down yesterday. Burton needed to be pulled wide to create the space. We didn't.

I thought Elliasson was poor...looked very light weight. Easily tackled and blocked. Leko was even worse..head down, headless chicken stuff. Just kept running into trouble and losing the ball, or not looking up when a pass was on. Very school boy.

JB didn't influence as much, and we are missing Pissano with his link up play wide.

Our FB's and wide midfield should have been operating better together, influencing play. Instead we kept trying to go through the middle, which was full to capacity.

Without making excuses...on another day with a better ref, we would have won 1-0.

The crossing was horrendous last night. Just watched the highlights on the OS . And lekos cross at the end. Summed it up . 

[Top Robin]

I quite the like the look of the welsh guy Jonny Williams who's on loan at Sunderland. He a little un but always looks busy, bags of energy and is very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Probably more in our price range then others.

 

[RaspberryRed]

11 minutes ago, tinman85 said:

You've only just realised that? Been obvious all season. We've been poor against those lesser sides. 

Not just realised more the fact we seem so strong in all other positions that we could be not far off an exceptionally good side with said addition

[gordie]

3 hours ago, RedM said:

Happy to hold my hand up and admit I'm totally unaware of Barry Bannan, but that's the second time in a few hours I've seen his name mentioned. I think the other was a quote from LJ saying he admired him? So at least if that's true we are aware of what we need and the type of quality and no doubt behind the scenes things are happening.

Quality player albeit on the small side, makes Sheff Wed tick when he is on his game, 

[steviestevieneville]

3 hours ago, SODS_LAW said:

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

Yeah he wasn't great admittedly , think he was trying to force things and the middle of the park was congested , played into their hands really. I just think he would of been a better option from the start. You never know how any player is going to play but he's been pretty consistent this season. 

[Son of Fred]

5 hours ago, Top Robin said:

Look, I think Pack, Smith and Brownhill are really good central midfielders and with them we will probable be safe in the Championship for a while.

But I don't think that they quite have the quality to keep us in a play off spot or, dare I say it, an auto place so we could well finish mid table which would be a flop in my opinion from where we are now.

In January I really think we need to bring in an experienced, quality midfielder to ensure that that wont happen and give us a chance of at least a play off spot.

Someone similar to Barry Bannan who usually runs the show,  has experience, is comfortable on the ball, has good distribution and also tackles well.

We may have to splash the cash, but it may well be worth it.  

Agree,we sure need a "playmaker" in the middle..

Though considering we only missed the trapdoor by three points last season I dont feel a mid-table finish would be a 'flop...far from it.

if anything it would represent a solid  response from all involved.

[RedM]

2 hours ago, RaspberryRed said:

Not just realised more the fact we seem so strong in all other positions that we could be not far off an exceptionally good side with said addition

Thank you. I always liked Ben Pringle, had some great games against us for various teams.  Not sure how he compares? Think he went to Preston a year or so ago. Possible, or not the right player for us?

[Bristol Rob]

3 hours ago, OldlandReddies said:

Wish Tinman was 20 years younger.

Do you want to flog him a mortgage?

[Malago]

These type of posts make me smile.  It's as if we just have to pop down the shops and get out the credit card.

Who might this high quality midfielder be?  How much might he cost? and the key question, will he want to sign for us?

[kiwicolin]

What about a cheeky bid on loan for James Milner.  Not playing regularly and if he came to us , will get games. 

[RedM]

5 minutes ago, Malago said:

These type of posts make me smile.  It's as if we just have to pop down the shops and get out the credit card.

Who might this high quality midfielder be?  How much might he cost? and the key question, will he want to sign for us?

Not at all. That's why I'm saying there is work going on in the background and has been for months and months. 

[RedM]

I've removed a whole lot of posts from here. Take your indults to PM and keep it off the forum please, I'm sure none of us wants the hassle of mod preview.

[Phileas Fogg]

8 minutes ago, kiwicolin said:

What about a cheeky bid on loan for James Milner.  Not playing regularly and if he came to us , will get games. 

Ludicrous suggestion sorry - £120,000 a week says absolutely no chance.

He’d be of interest to the majority of prem teams if he was available.

[RedorDead BCFC]

Apparently this was addressed by LJ in some questions and answers talk, according to someone I chatted to on the bus the other week. 

What LJ said was getting this midfielder that everyone wants is not down to transfer fee as he said we could cover that. It’s the wages that a championship quality midfielder that we could not and won’t compete with. 

I know we would all love one, but to find one, talk him into playing for us and actually paying what they want is a step to far for us at the moment. 

Hopefully we will still be play off position come Jan, so maybe one might be tempted to join us. 

[Londoner]

People need to be realistic regarding Burton.

The reason why we didn't even look like scoring especially in the 2nd half was because we didn't have the creativity to open themup....a bannan would have been perfect but he isn't coming to us in a million years.

As for our midfielders running sideways unfortunately when you've got a brick wall of 5 with 2 slightly in front you need something special to do it....all good just running forward but look what happened to leko he struggled.

What we needed was both Woodrow Reid or Matty Taylor dropping in and coming to collect the ball when pack or brownhill had it....thid would enable them to lay it off and play neat intricate football. Unfortunately Matty Taylor was injured I assume.

Either that or Đurić to hassle them but with that ref god knows how many could he would have conceeded.

Fact is we didn't look like scoring 30 mins onwards. That's football. But no point telling players just to run forward when you've got a wall of 7 players in the way....got to pass it around them with nest intricate football....either that or launch it but didn't have the personel for that yesterday.

[Malago]

32 minutes ago, RedM said:

Not at all. That's why I'm saying there is work going on in the background and has been for months and months. 

The declared transfer policy of the club is to identify and sign promising young players and improve them.  The implication in the thread title is we sign a marquee midfielder who is considerable better than we have at the moment.   This would be a knee jerk reaction to a problem of breaking down teams that come to AG to play for a draw.  IMO the way to overcome this problem is to continue to improve the players we have and tweak the tactical approach.  The margins are fine, refereeing decisions etc.   You don't, or at least shouldn't,  tear up the modus operandi of the club off the back of one result.

[Malago]

3 minutes ago, tinman85 said:

Tinman now would still open up a defence more than our midfield. That's how weak we are in that area. 

Brian Tinnion is one of my favourite City players but it's worth remembering he played in the third tier for the vast majority of his career.

[kiwicolin]

40 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Ludicrous suggestion sorry - £120,000 a week says absolutely no chance.

He’d be of interest to the majority of prem teams if he was available.

 I didn't say we could get him, just a cheeky bid.  If you don't ask. 

[cidered abroad]

2 hours ago, Robert the bruce said:

Agree,we sure need a "playmaker" in the middle..

Though considering we only missed the trapdoor by three points last season I dont feel a mid-table finish would be a 'flop...far from it.

if anything it would represent a solid  response from all involved.

I agree with you that mid table would be a good stabilisation season after two nerve wracking scraps against relegation but if we are in the top six now and don't blow up, there must be a reasonable possibility that we can flirt with the play off positions right the way through.

There doesn't, at this moment anyway, appear to be two or three that are creating a gap at the top. Everyone, as always in the Championship, seems to be capable of nicking points off of all the others.

I do not believe that we have a squad yet that is anywhere near ready to take us up, but aiming for the top six whether we make it or not, will give the squad some valuable experience that will pay dividends in a season or two.

[Top Robin]

17 minutes ago, kiwicolin said:

 I didn't say we could get him, just a cheeky bid.  If you don't ask. 

I agree Kiwi.......its not unknown for a Prem player in the twilight of his career to move to a lower league and a more attractive part of the country.

 

[Guest Dickie Rookes Peak]

I think Bruce would accept an offer for Lansbury 

[RobintheRed Red]

15 hours ago, JonDolman said:

I think we could do with a midfielder to replace oneil as 4th option. Either in January or at the end of the season when his contract is up. But more than happy with Brownhill and Smith as our first team pairing. I think they have both looked superb this season. I think last night was more of a tactical problem that Johnson this time did not get right. 

No the midfield is weak patterson Brownhill smith only play one good game in three more creativity required

[MC RISK77]

12 hours ago, kiwicolin said:

 I didn't say we could get him, just a cheeky bid.  If you don't ask. 

You have to be on a wind up surely?

[chinapig]

12 hours ago, Dickie Rookes Peak said:

I think Bruce would accept an offer for Lansbury 

Dear God no. One of those players whose reputation seems to have no relation to his actual performance.

[chinapig]

Tomlin might be available in January, though we may have to compete with HMP United for his services. 

[chinapig]

12 hours ago, Top Robin said:

I agree Kiwi.......its not unknown for a Prem player in the twilight of his career to move to a lower league and a more attractive part of the country.

 

And take a pay cut of at least £100k a week. Happens all the time. Or possibility not. 

[chinapig]

49 minutes ago, MC RISK77 said:

You have to be on a wind up surely?

The fantasy signings are starting rather early for the January window this year it seems.

Let's pretend it's not ludicrous though. For all his admirable qualities, would anybody describe Milner as creative?

[Elruliri]

19 minutes ago, chinapig said:

The fantasy signings are starting rather early for the January window this year it seems.

Let's pretend it's not ludicrous though. For all his admirable qualities, would anybody describe Milner as creative?

He's more of a defensive winger in my book. How about the lad from Walsall who we were supposed to be interested in, I can't remember his name, little fella nicknamed the "Turkish Messi" ?

[Major Isewater]

19 hours ago, Red Army 75 said:

The crossing was horrendous last night. Just watched the highlights on the OS . And lekos cross at the end. Summed it up . 

Their big  back four were heading them away all night .

Apart from the dubious ' injuries ' with Burton players going down to interupt our play , I thought Burton defended very well.

They stood up to the onslaught and put their bodies in the way .

We needed quicker link up play in and around their penalty area but I felt Bobby and Fammy were too far apart , our two new wingers weren't on the same hymn sheet and our midfield were largely off colour .

 A bad day at the office but still a point and another clean sheet .

On to Leeds . 

[Phileas Fogg]

14 hours ago, kiwicolin said:

 I didn't say we could get him, just a cheeky bid.  If you don't ask. 

It’s a ridiculous suggestion - there’s absolutely no chance he’d a) come here or b) we’d afford his wages.

14 hours ago, Top Robin said:

I agree Kiwi.......its not unknown for a Prem player in the twilight of his career to move to a lower league and a more attractive part of the country.

 

He’s only 31! He’s probably got at least another 3 or 4 Prem seasons left in him. 

[CliftonCliff]

14 hours ago, Malago said:

The declared transfer policy of the club is to identify and sign promising young players and improve them.  The implication in the thread title is we sign a marquee midfielder who is considerable better than we have at the moment.   This would be a knee jerk reaction to a problem of breaking down teams that come to AG to play for a draw.  IMO the way to overcome this problem is to continue to improve the players we have and tweak the tactical approach.  The margins are fine, refereeing decisions etc.   You don't, or at least shouldn't,  tear up the modus operandi of the club off the back of one result.

Careful now. Talking sense does not play well with the regulars on here.

[kiwicolin]

13 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It’s a ridiculous suggestion - there’s absolutely no chance he’d a) come here or b) we’d afford his wages.

He’s only 31! He’s probably got at least another 3 or 4 Prem seasons left in him. 

But not playing.  

[Phileas Fogg]

7 minutes ago, kiwicolin said:

But not playing.  

Doesn’t mean he’s a possibility. If he moved on in January for example - half the premier league would want him and loads of clubs from abroad would too.

His wages at £120,000 a week should end the conversation before it’s got to this point really.

 

 

[chinapig]

Despite my facetious earlier post, wasn't Tomlin supposed to be the answer? Remember too how we completely overwhelmed Tom Huddlestone, the epitome of the old style.

My point being that in the modern high tempo game the old style languid midfield general people seem to crave has been replaced by much more energetic creators.

The likes of De Bruyne, imo the best in the PL, are always on the move. He will be in front of the defence one minute, on the right wing the next, then turning up in the box. 

Finding a creative player with the all round qualities needed these days is a tall order.

[downendcity]

4 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Doesn’t mean he’s a possibility. If he moved on in January for example - half the premier league would want him and loads of clubs from abroad would too.

His wages at £120,000 a week should end the conversation before it’s got to this point really.

Perhaps if we offered him food vouchers and the 2 for 1 beer deal........?

[Lanterne Rouge]

1 minute ago, downendcity said:

Perhaps if we offered him food vouchers and the 2 for 1 beer deal........?

And the chance to drive a top of the range Audi for the weekend? Done deal then!

[downendcity]

Just now, chinapig said:

Despite my facetious earlier post, wasn't Tomlin supposed to be the answer? Remember too how we completely overwhelmed Tom Huddlestone, the epitome of the old style.

My point being that in the modern high tempo game the old style languid midfield general people seem to crave has been replaced by much more energetic creators.

The likes of De Bruyne, imo the best in the PL, are always on the move. He will be in front of the defence one minute, on the right wing the next, then turning up in the box. 

Finding a creative player with the all round qualities needed these days is a tall order.

I think you've hit the nail on the head China.

Our style of play needs to team to be creative as a whole, and this is achieved by energy, speed and movement. One of the reasons LT went is that his style of midfield play actually tends to slow things down.

Im not suggesting that we cannot upgrade on our current midfield, but I wold be surprised if we see a traditional midfield "general" coming in with the way lJ is trying to play now.

[chinapig]

12 minutes ago, kiwicolin said:

But not playing.  

He wasn't playing at Man City so he moved to Liverpool. If he was to leave them for the same reason he would simply move to another PL club. Much as Gareth Barry has done, from City to Everton to WBA.

[downendcity]

1 minute ago, Red Right Hand said:

And the chance to drive a top of the range Audi for the weekend? Done deal then!

Im sure LJ would do a deal on one of his properties and SL could give him a free pension review.

Suddenlyl £120,000 a week doesn't look all that!

[Robbored]

Several threads recently about City needing a quality midfielder who sprays telling passes around and scores goals.......and I can't disagree with that.

Unfortunately the availability of the Championship equivalent to Gerrard or Lampard is very very limited and if such a quality midfielder did become available then pretty much every club would be in for him.

As posted earlier,  whenever possible City have a "grow yer own" policy but the type of player many of us feel we need are most often experienced at Championship or higher level and it's very unlikely any academy graduate will be able to make the step up.

So......keep looking for that hidden gem LJ.......

[Lanterne Rouge]

According to Wiki (I know!) Daniel Johnson is out of contract at PNE at the end of the season. I imagine they`ll be looking to tie him down pretty soon though if they`ve got any sense but surely we can offer better wages? Doubtless a lot of other championship clubs can too though.

[spudski]

Imo...we need quality and more experience in CM.

We were expecting it from GoN....that hasn't worked out for various reasons.

It's great to have the player philosophy we have, but imo, we do need that experience and old head that will up the quality and help during the whole of a season.

Someone still with a passion to play like Wilbs and Wade Elliott had. Not a has been going through the motions.

Personality and desire have to be right....the 'DNA' they keep talking about. Tomlin wasn't that.

If we could find that, then it would definitely enhance our chances this season.

[Lrrr]

22 hours ago, SODS_LAW said:

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

Terrible is an over exaggeration, his attempts at piercing the defence through the middle weren't overly successful, however he was quick on the ball at moving it around, compared to smith who took too long on the ball when he had it and allowed Burton to keep their shape with the pace he played at. Pack and Brownhill brought more energy on the ball but Korey and JB had more off the ball. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

20 minutes ago, hodge said:

Terrible is an over exaggeration, his attempts at piercing the defence through the middle weren't overly successful, however he was quick on the ball at moving it around, compared to smith who took too long on the ball when he had it and allowed Burton to keep their shape with the pace he played at. Pack and Brownhill brought more energy on the ball but Korey and JB had more off the ball. 

Funny how we see things differently - I thought he slowed things down every time he got the ball and didn`t keep it moving at all. I`m a big fan of Marlon but it looked like we were seeing out a 1-0 whenever he got possession.

[spudski]

Smith can be hesitant on the ball when there is a pass on, or movement in front of him. He can sometimes be guilty of slowing play up and allowing the opposition to re group.

Often when an opportunity arises to counter, and take advantage of the opposition being out of position, he will check himself slightly, as if to make sure....and the advantage is lost. It's those fractions that make a difference at this level.

Marlon is more decisive... plus he doesn't lose the ball as much.

In defence of both, neither were at fault on Friday.

Our lack of movement in front of them was the problem. We sat in a bank high, and Burton crowded out the area in front of the 'D'.

We needed to play wider and pull them out. Our wide players were below par.

Our front players didn't 'come for the ball'....thus creating space to play in to.

I thought our defence and CM were fine against Burton....it was our lack of movement in the right areas that let us down in the final third.

However...in saying that, most teams would have struggled against that set up, constant feigning injury, time wasting and awful ref.

1-0 should have been the correct result.

No moans from me though...just look at the league table. Absolutely brilliant.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

3 minutes ago, spudski said:

Smith can be hesitant on the ball when there is a pass on, or movement in front of him. He can sometimes be guilty of slowing play up and allowing the opposition to re group.

Often when an opportunity arises to counter, and take advantage of the opposition being out of position, he will check himself slightly, as if to make sure....and the advantage is lost. It's those fractions that make a difference at this level.

Marlon is more decisive... plus he doesn't lose the ball as much.

In defence of both, neither were at fault on Friday.

Our lack of movement in front of them was the problem. We sat in a bank high, and Burton crowded out the area in front of the 'D'.

We needed to play wider and pull them out. Our wide players were below par.

Our front players didn't 'come for the ball'....thus creating space to play in to.

I thought our defence and CM were fine against Burton....it was our lack of movement in the right areas that let us down in the final third.

However...in saying that, most teams would have struggled against that set up, constant feigning injury, time wasting and awful ref.

1-0 should have been the correct result.

No moans from me though...just look at the league table. Absolutely brilliant.

 

With our current personnel, what's the solution to teams like Burton and Millwall who came here for a draw?

We seem far better against sides that try and take the game to us. 

We didn't really look like scoring on Friday - Bobby's disallowed goal aside. I thought Burton did what they had to do pretty well, nullified us quite nicely.

 

[Swede]

I think this must be the priority after the Burton match.

We need someone who can unlock a stifling opposition.

With Korey injured this will be our downfall over the next few weeks

[UREDS_91]

23 hours ago, SODS_LAW said:

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

His passing was shocking due to the lack of movement in front of him. Woodrow was a statue for most of it and gave no option for Pack to pass forward to. 

Pack is by far our best passing CM but if the options aren’t there, how is he supposed to make passes? 

[spudski]

10 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

With our current personnel, what's the solution to teams like Burton and Millwall who came here for a draw?

We seem far better against sides that try and take the game to us. 

We didn't really look like scoring on Friday - Bobby's disallowed goal aside. I thought Burton did what they had to do pretty well, nullified us quite nicely.

 

We needed our wide men and full backs to be at their best and better movement up front.

With our present personnel....JB needed to be on his game. We missed Pisanno with his link up play and forward threat. Đurić and Taylor/Reid would have also been good for that game.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing....but we needed better quality link up play from JB, Patterson, Elliason, Leko, Wright....and on this occasion Woodrow, Diediou and Reid lacked the correct movement in coming for the ball on occasion. We didn't make or create the space. We played into Burtons hands.

I think we have the quality...just on this occasion lots had an off game, and Burton had a good game plan for a draw.

Personally...if everyone was fit, I'd have played this team against Burton. Hoping everyone was up to par and on form.

-----------------------------------------------------Fielding-----------------------------------------------------------

Pisano-----------------------Flint-------------------------------Baker----------------------------------Bryan

----------------------------------------------------Hegeler------------------------------------------------------------

Odowda--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paterson

--------------------------------Reid---------------------------------------Taylor-------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------Đurić/Diediuo---------------------------------------------------

Remembering Burton are no offensive threat whatsoever.....hence Flint, Baker and an out let and creativity/defensive ability of Hegeler being plenty enough.

Width in Pisano and Odowda and JB and Paterson on flanks.

Lots of energy and movement in front of defence in Reid and Taylor.

Đurić/ Diediou creating a menace up front...holding, threat in the air etc.

With the option of Pack, Smith, Wright, Leko, Elliason, Magners on the bench to mix it up when needed

 

[havanatopia]

2 hours ago, Red Right Hand said:

And the chance to drive a top of the range Audi for the weekend? Done deal then!

What are you talking about?.. That's a piece of crap VW with a different badge.