How do we fix our midfield?

[Mattshark]

i think both central midfield positions are up for grabs as neither lucas nor meireles can really cut it at the highest level.

Don't think that is true, Meireles is new here and done well and Lucas has been excellent and is has become first choice for Brazil in midfield. Our biggest problem for the midfield is absolutely no depth or allowance for variation.

[Catrin]

I wonder if Banega could be the new Alonso

[-V-]

Buy 2 proper wingers or something close to wingers, e.g Valencia and Nani

[Paul12]

i saw charlie adam today for blackpool and although he has a very good eye for a pass the rest of his game is ordinary. he has no pace, he cant tackle, for a epl central midfield player he cant run for ****. he doesnt look to get on the ball enough to dictate the tempo and instead looks to make impacts on the game. if anything his partner vaughan looks the better player but thats not saying a lot.

1 I have thought for some time now that we need a defensive midfielder who can go straight into our first team, a second central midfield player who can replace Gerrard without there being a gap in our team, and two wide men. With Lucas and Meireles that would mean four central midfielders and with Kuyt and Maxi four widemen.

2 I was actually at the Fulham-Blackpool game, and I decided to take a really close look at Adams. I agree with El Matador (apart from the bit about Vaughan). There again Blackpool as a whole were poor, so it might have been an offday for Adams but he was far too often too far forward when Fulham won the ball to help out the team. Some good hollywood balls though.

[Frenchie]

if you surround him with good players he would step up, he has an eye for a pass, everything else Steve Clark and KK can drill it in to him...

[Mostar]

I wonder if Banega could be the new Alonso

There are some serious concerns about his fitness. He rarely plays more than 70 minutes a game with Valencia and this year has been his worse in terms of productivity (1 goal and 3 assists vs 2 goals and 8 assists last year).

[Slinky Skills]

We need a bit of bite more than anything, our midfield is lightweight and not the best.

De Jong or someone of that mould would be ideal, we need someone else who can break up the play a bit.

Parker would do a job I reckon but would rather aim for someone a bit better and younger.

[Mostar]

We need a bit of bite more than anything, our midfield is lightweight and not the best.

De Jong or someone of that mould would be ideal, we need someone else who can break up the play a bit.

Parker would do a job I reckon but would rather aim for someone a bit better and younger.

M'vila is that type of player.

[Slinky Skills]

M'vila is that type of player.

I've only seen a little bit of this lad, Mascherano back would be even better.

[Mostar]

I've only seen a little bit of this lad, Mascherano back would be even better.

I agree but sadly that ship has already sailed. No comeback there.

[cream]

M'vila would be a big ****ing start, and a playmaker/passer. Add that to Gerrard, Meireles, Lucas and Jonjo and we'll be sorted for years to come.

[RedReet]

A few years back, we had a song that stated "we've got the best midfield in the world"

Now, none of those players are here, apart from Gerrard, who is in the twilight of his carreer and seems more that a little injury prone.

This means we have (had) to rebuild an entire midfield, replacing 3 world class players. So far we have completely failed to do this. Taking Gerrard out of the equation, and lets pretend we are using 433, with strikers playing on the wings (meh), as this seems the preferred formation these days.

We had 3 central midfielders. Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard seemed to be the perfect mix. It nearly took us to the title. I believe we should try to emulate this line up. So how close are we now?

I dont think any of our midfielders (ignoring Gerrard) are anywhere near good enough. Perhaps Aquilani could have played in Gerrards position. Lucas is useful as a utility player on the bench. I personally dont see a place for Meireles in the starting line up. He is not really a playmaker, a dribbler or a ball winner. He reminds me of Platt or Wark. Times really great runs to score goals, but wont take the game by the scruff of the neck when playing possesion (although it is early days, and he has had to adapt his game this way and that way, so perhaps he needs more time).

It does not look like we will get Aquilani back, despite some great promise toward the end of last season. So where does this leave us realistically?

Charlie Adam is a must buy. I believe he can fit into the Alonso role, which may be the most difficult to fill. Unfortunately, Slur Alex back to his old tricks trying to sign our top targets.

For a ball winner, we need someone with bags of energy, who can time his tackles. I am tempted to say Scott Parker, despite his age, as he can also distribute, and this would leave us with two good all rounders.

For the Gerrard role .Well, hopefully Gerrard can get fit, otherwise I have no idea. I would perhaps go 442, and get Nzogbia on the left

Hmmmmmmmm, so you are saying that we need to restore ‘the best midfield in the world’ by replacing Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano with Adam, Parker and N’Zogbia? I’m not so sure to be honest.

I don’t think it would have mattered if we had of had Souness, Maradona and Zidane in midfield yesterday anyway, all they’d have been doing is watch the ball constantly launch over their heads.

[PTP]

our midfield is a shambles! - no pace, no width when needed, - i'll break down the areas/postions players cover - you then realise how **** our options are.

Left mid options
jovanovic - ****
kuyt - not good enough to play there
maxi - zero pace or threat
cole - struggled to settle

don't think i've missed anyone, but they are the players that we have that cover left mid!! - shocking, i just mentioned in the mod lounge, that even stuart ****ing downing or matt frigging jarvis would improve our left hand side

right mid
kuyt - no pace or real quality,
maxi - zero pace or threat
cole - struggled to settle

so again - not much is there...

centre mids
lucas - decent enough 'all rounder' - a jack of all trades master of none imo, decent player to have but not a world beater
meireles - tidy/neat footballer, lacks a bit of steam and grit at times
poulesn - woeful
spearing - out of his depth
gerrard - superstar
shelvey - young lad needs time

Again - centre mid, not too great either - certainly two players out six are nowhere near good enough


so to sum up i'd argue we have

Left mid
0 first choice options
2 cover players (cole/maxi)

right mid
0 first choice players
2 cover players (kuyt/maxi)

centre mid
3 first choice (lucas, gerrard, meireles)
0 cover
1 - young lad, i won't criticise (shelvey)



We need
a top left mid with pace/creativity (cover from maxi)
a top right mid with pace/creativity (cover from kuyt/maxi)
at least one good centre mid, more defensive to come in and push for a first team spot (so lucas/gerrard/meireles and a new guy fighting for first team, cover with shelvey)

that's just the minimum to start with

[Fosterbloke]

We need to going for players of this calibre and ability -

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWNe8JhpSOY"]YouTube - Thomas Müller - World Cup 2010 South Africa[/ame]

[RichC]

easier said than done getting players like him in - cost a lot of money + a lot of competition for their signing and without CL football it's all about their desire to be part of a side building to win rather than already there.