Our Midfield Not Good Enough ?

ShootersHillGuru

Not trying to piss on the fireworks with this post because it was great to beat the Palace. However. IMHO Warnock got it completely wrong last night. Saddens me to say it but for long periods particularly in the second half I though Palace controlled midfield. If they had played their football instead of trying continuous long ball hoof then I think the result might not have been the same. My point is our midfield wasn`t up to it yet again. No lack of effort thats for sure and certainly signs of improvement but on the whole not good enough. Can`t see our midfield being good enough over the remainder of the season to provide the platform we need in order to get out of the relegation places. Hope I am wrong.

Ledge

there's always one :-)

To be fair it Spring Soares Bailey can have only played once together needs time to gel surely

ShootersHillGuru

Been same all season and if this "new" midfield does gel it has to be pdq !

C_f_W

I thought Bailey and Spring were vastly improved last night. Generally, apart from the old dropping too deep thing their positioning was greatly improved on what I've seen before, esp. Spring who I thought looked worse than ordinary on his debut. Nice to see him heading the poll for MOM on the OS too, not just for his goal either.

tricky

They controlled the midfield because they played 3 in central midfield with 2 "wingers", who never played wider than the edge of the penalty area. They had an extra man in there which was usually Derry to pick the ball up and hoof it. I agree Warnock got it wrong last night. It would have made more sense to really attack Youga and Murty in wide positions and cross for Kuqi/Lee, rather than hoofing it from centre back/full back positions hoping to get a knock down.

I think the midfield 4 we had playing last night should be good enough and strong enough against most teams in this division. I don't think we can underestimate how much nerves played a part yesterday. The longer the game went, the deeper our midfield dropped. Always going to happen when 1-0 up chasing your first win in 19 league games. As it happens I thought we were compact, and defended well, getting in blocks when necessary. Palace hardly created a chance all night.

C_f_W

[cite]Posted By: tricky[/cite]They controlled the midfield because they played 3 in central midfield with 2 "wingers", who never played wider than the edge of the penalty area. They had an extra man in there which was usually Derry to pick the ball up and hoof it. I agree Warnock got it wrong last night. It would have made more sense to really attack Youga and Murty in wide positions and cross for Kuqi/Lee, rather than hoofing it from centre back/full back positions hoping to get a knock down.

I think the midfield 4 we had playing last night should be good enough and strong enough against most teams in this division. I don't think we can underestimate how much nerves played a part yesterday. The longer the game went, the deeper our midfield dropped. Always going to happen when 1-0 up chasing your first win in 19 league games. As it happens I thought we were compact, and defended well, getting in blocks when necessary. Palace hardly created a chance all night.

Fair comment

Chris_from_Sidcup

If next month we've still got Ambrose, ZZ and Soares along with Bailey, Racon, Sam, Spring, Holland, Shelvey and Semedo what midfield would you go with? I've been thinking about this and must say i can't decide on the best option assuming we play a 442.

Scoham

Will be better with Racon back, he'll add some quality in there. Bailey and Sam on form are good players. Still got Shelvey to use when we need him. ZZ might even stay, and I'd like to see Wright break through eventually.

It's not great but at least we have plenty of options. Anyone not playing well can be dropped for someone else.

If we sign a midfielder it'll be a winger.

DRAddick

Don't tell Warnock he got it wrong. Apparently it's our players fault for trying to hard!

SantaClaus

Agree with you SHG. Thought we were overrun in midfield in the second half. Personally i've got doubts over Baileys fitness but i seem to be in a small minority on that one.

Oggy Red

Bailey tries to do too much, covering every blade of grass, box-to-box, lunging in making blocks, tracking back.
He must be shattered after 35 minutes.

I admire his tenacity and sheer graft but he's not a one man team - but in trying to make one more lung bursting run forward, he occasionally leaves his position wide open and ready to be exploited.

Not knocking him at all - love his attitude - but perhaps needs to play a little more intelligently within the team.
(Meant to be constructive criticsm).

Rothko

Palace's midfield was worse, huge Ben Watson sized hole in it

Spankie

Bailey was immense and his partnership with the ever improving Spring looks to be gelling nicely with Racon, ZZ and Semedo time to come back. Soares looked effective and skillful on the right with Sam a little lost on the left but still able to contribute.

kinveachyaddick

Who do we think is the best midfield combo out of those currently available?

Racon/Bailey

Racon/Soares

Racon/Spring

Bailey/Soares

Bailey/Spring

any of the above with Shelvey?

Scoham

Racon has to be there for me, would like to see him with Bailey.

Shelvey looks best behind the striker with plenty of freedom, might be games we should play him there, other games we should bring him on as a sub to create something. Holland (if he isn't needed at CB) is a good option to bring on if we're winning, sure he'd be fine at right back as well if we really needed him there.

Then we've got Wright who I don't want us to lose, I'm happy for him to come in if we get a few injuries or suspensions.

Exiled_Addick

Centre midfield wasn't great last night imo. Well, it was good without the ball but very poor with it. Sam and Soares were decent though. I'd like to see Soares moved into the middle, Sam back on the right and a lefty brought in to play on the left wing, we're a bit unbalanced at the moment.