Midfield Powerhouse

[marcus50bucks]

I said last week on st I think we're crying out for a midfield powerhouse that can dominate the middle of the park and have done for some time. It's a concern how soft we are in the centre. I'm not jumping on the Diame bandwagon (because I wanted him signed when we had the chance in the summer) but against West ham you could see how his physical presence were giving our lads all kinds of problems. We couldn't handle him. For £3.5m (release clause) it's a no brainer because we'd struggle to buy someone of similar quality at the same price.

Last summer I said Allen wouldn't be enough and that we'd be weak (with the exception of Lucas) in the physical aspect of the game and now it's become more apparent. Lucas can only do so much. Yet again another team today found it easy to walk through our midfield.

[baitman]

100% if we can get diame for 3.5m, but it will become an auction as so many teams need better players.

we are very lightweight in the middle of the pitch, our players just bounce of some other beefier players. need an enforcer

[Tee]

I said last week on st I think we're crying out for a midfield powerhouse that can dominate the middle of the park and have done for some time. It's a concern how soft we are in the centre. I'm not jumping on the Diame bandwagon (because I wanted him signed when we had the chance in the summer) but against West ham you could see how his physical presence were giving our lads all kinds of problems. We couldn't handle him. For £3.5m (relsease clause) it's a no brainer because we'd struggle to buy someone of similar quality at the same price.

Last summer I said Allen wouldn't be enough and that we'd be weak with the exception of Lucas in the physical aspect of the game now it's even more evident. Lucas can only do so much. Yet again another team today found it easy to walk through our midfield.

Spot on brother.

For the price it would be madness not to go for Diame, possibly even use him in the AC deal (if WHU want AC that is!!).

[Lecter]

Yep I'd be all over Diame

I questioned last week whether we beat West Ham because of tactical changes by Brendan or because Diame went off

I thought last week it was the latter and even more so after today

Allen to me is a tidy player but a midfielder should at the very least have one of the following qualities

Either be good defensively or be able to affect the play higher up the pitch (provide assists or score goals)

I've seen little from Allen recently to suggest hes capable of providing any of those 3 qualities

[marcus50bucks]

Yep I'd be all over Diame

I questioned last week whether we beat West Ham because of tactical changes by Brendan or because Diame went off

I thought last week it was the latter and even more so after today

Allen to me is a tidy player but a midfielder should at the very least have one of the following qualities

Either be good defensively or be able to affect the play higher up the pitch (provide assists or score goals)

I've seen little from Allen recently to suggest hes capable of providing any of those 3 qualities

Aye Lecter. I'll be honest here I do worry whether Rodgers has sacrificed power for skill. People say that Rodgers is all about possession football but what about when we don't have the ball? I've said for months we have no steel in the midfield besides Lucas and if Rodgers ignores this we will continue to lose games or concede stupid goals.

I lost count the number of people who said as soon as Lucas comes back all will be good. Well it's not and whilst he will get better we will still have same problems unless we adopt better tactics when we don't have the ball and bring in a midfielder who has a bit of steel. Right now all it takes is for teams to show a bit of agression and we crumble.

I am so frustrated because I really like Rodgers.

[Lecter]

Aye Lecter. I'll be honest here I do worry whether Rodgers has sacrificed power for skill. People say that Rodgers is all about possession football but what about when we don't have the ball? I've said for months we have no steel in the midfield besides Lucas and if Rodgers ignores this we will continue to lose games or concede stupid goals.

I lost count the number of people who said as soon as Lucas comes back all will be good. Well it's not and whilst he will get better we will still have same problems unless we adopt better tactics when we don't have the ball and bring in a midfield who has a bit of steel. Right now all it takes is for teams to show a bit of agression and we crumble.

I am so frustrated because I really like Rodgers.

Agree with all of this

I was hoping Lucas would tighten things up but it hasnt so far

Allen has been a major disappointment for me and I'm struggling to see how he fits into a midfield with aspirations of competing at the highest level

[The Birdman]

We won't go in for Diame because Rodgers declined the chance to sign him after Kenny had lined the deal up.
The best team for the past 20 years has been Man Utd, they haven't had a midfield 'powerhouse' since Keane was in his pomp.
The difference is they score more goals and their centre backs can defend 1 on 1 or 2 on 2.
Ours can't.

[Ams12]

I really hope we bring in loads of fire power next month! I think if we can start scoring goals it will be less pressure on us defensively as teams will come forward and we can defend with a bit more ease and exploit the gaps they leave behind.
If we score goals & they try not to attack so much then we're already in the lead so again problem solved! Point being goals win games which means more points and right now my patience is running low with how our season is developing so far...lots of possession but no (not enough) points to show for it!
Score gosls first then sort out a 'style of play'.

[Baracus]

We won't go in for Diame because Rodgers declined the chance to sign him after Kenny had lined the deal up.
The best team for the past 20 years has been Man Utd, they haven't had a midfield 'powerhouse' since Keane was in his pomp.
The difference is they score more goals and their centre backs can defend 1 on 1 or 2 on 2.
Ours can't.

not sure how to look at that. Kenny realising errors of his way and trying to correct it. Or Rodgers being blinded by his own mantra of death by football.

[The Birdman]

Diame isn't even that good imo. He's just a current flavour of the month.
Available on a free from Wigan and newly promoted West Ham sign him. Hardky a clamour of top 6-8 clubs fighting over him.

I'd have been underwelmed if Kenny signed him and the same if Rodgers went through with it.

[yamiedo]

Wanyama. Not only a midfield enforcer but offers the odd goal or two. Great all rounder. Better than Diame in my opinion.

[Chazza]

Wanyama. Not only a midfield enforcer but offers the odd goal or two. Great all rounder. Better than Diame in my opinion.

He would be my choice.

[Myo]

Wanyama. Not only a midfield enforcer but offers the odd goal or two. Great all rounder. Better than Diame in my opinion.

yeap, i concur, young as well, seems to fit into the scheme of the FSG buy young talent model...

Allen's form seems to have dropped off abit, though i suspect it's something psychological? something going on in the background? i just can't believe that some of the toughness he displayed earlier on in the season has somewhat gone off the rails, fatigue starting to set in?

[yamiedo]

yeap, i concur, young as well, seems to fit into the scheme of the FSG buy young talent model...

Allen's form seems to have dropped off abit, though i suspect it's something psychological? something going on in the background? i just can't believe that some of the toughness he displayed earlier on in the season has somewhat gone off the rails, fatigue starting to set in?

I'm not sure. I sure hope Allen gets his form back. He was immense for at least the opening 5 games. We were all praising him.

[CAD]

I cant believe how this can not involve old SG. He has zero impact. This can never just be about Allen/Lucas. SG is our Key player and he isnt delivering anything remotely close to what we need to perform with this squad. If he was our Captain of the old days we would be in really good shape right now. Instead he is a passenger...We are screwed until someone puts him next to Carragher.