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We have a relegation midfield
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I'm very sad to say I was right.
The front 3 are decent.
The back 4 are adequate & will improve.
The massive problem is not having a decent fit midfielder.
Dobson looks like he struggles to even run without falling over & his efforts at trying to control the ball at times made me almost want to cry.
Morgan may be ok as your 3rd best midfielder but he still looks poor.
Watson who should have retired a year ago was the best of the three (just).
So, they have now taken us into the relegation zone.
TS has about 10 days to sign a couple of capable midfielders and hopefully a left back and forward and we could still get promotion.
It's looking like losing £10M by staying down, to save £1M in wages/fees.
NB we've still not scored from open play this season.9 -
Covered End said:
It's looking like losing £10M staying by staying down, to save £1M in wages/fees.0 -
I agree, there's something odd about the way Dobson runs, he doesn't look very athletic. And yes, he loses possession far too regularly.
It's saying something when Watson was the best midfielder today...5 -
I’m now hoping for two good CMs and a left back. To get through the season we really need a RCB and striker too. Wouldn’t be a bad thing to bring in an experienced back up keeper either.4
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The way we play 433 can only be succesful with at least two midfielders who are comfortable on the ball, have positional awareness and are dynamic enough to go from box to box and pop up as a second striker. If you don't have that, you will just keep losing the ball and be overrun.
We currently have none of those players available. I feel his is why we struggle to create chances from open play and why have to resort to playing the long ball. But we then don't have the players to win the second ball off Stockley.
Gilbey would be a good player for this system as he has shown already but he is a way off fitness wise. And Clare at least has the tenacity to go from box to box and get stuck in. Bottom line is we need at least two midfielders in who strengthen us on the short term or we are looking at a mid table finish at best.
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AddickNL88 said:The way we play 433 can only be succesful with at least two midfielders who are comfortable on the ball, have positional awareness and are dynamic enough to go from box to box and pop up as a second striker. If you don't have that, you will just keep losing the ball and be overrun.
We currently have none of those players available. I feel his is why we struggle to create chances from open play and why have to resort to playing the long ball. But we then don't have the players to win the second ball off Stockley.
Gilbey would be a good player for this system as he has shown already but he is a way off fitness wise. And Clare at least has the tenacity to go from box to box and get stuck in. Bottom line is we need at least two midfielders in who strengthen us on the short term or we are looking at a mid table finish at best.0 -
Troy Parrott the striker and James McClean the winger?3
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We totally lost the midfield and the match today once Dobson went off and Albie dropped back. A very bad substitution imo. Dobson had grown into the match as it went on. Albie was not up to the pace.3
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Weegie Addick said:We totally lost the midfield and the match today once Dobson went off and Albie dropped back. A very bad substitution imo. Dobson had grown into the match as it went on. Albie was not up to the pace.0
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PowellsHeadedGoal said:Weegie Addick said:We totally lost the midfield and the match today once Dobson went off and Albie dropped back. A very bad substitution imo. Dobson had grown into the match as it went on. Albie was not up to the pace.0
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I thought he was alright, but we lost the mobility he gave us in the midfield when he came off.0
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Both Parrot and McClean could play the 10 role in our system and be very effective.0
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I think the problem with Clare, Dobson and Morgan is that they're all "potential" players, and they need to be playing alongside experience to help them improve to the level we need them to be at, rather than all playing at the same time. It doesn't help that the experienced midfield is out injured or on his last legs, so we really need to sign or loan some decent cover there. I'm another who's bemused by us letting Shinnie go, and would have kept Pratley over Watson, but understand that's likely to have been driven by the contractual situation.
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We haven't got one fit midfielder what has any creativity whatsoever. Not defending Dobson he does his job but we need better.0
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Weegie Addick said:We totally lost the midfield and the match today once Dobson went off and Albie dropped back. A very bad substitution imo. Dobson had grown into the match as it went on. Albie was not up to the pace.
But we're discussing who is the worst, because it's difficult to discuss who is the best, because none of them are.
I wasn't a fan of Lapslie, Shinnie or Pratley (a bit old or a bit young), but I'd be pleased to have Pratley & Shinnie back if the alternative was no one.
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PowellsHeadedGoal said:Weegie Addick said:We totally lost the midfield and the match today once Dobson went off and Albie dropped back. A very bad substitution imo. Dobson had grown into the match as it went on. Albie was not up to the pace.
Phil Chapple ? Bambi on ice?0 -
addick1956 said:MuttleyCAFC said:Both Parrot and McClean could play the 10 role in our system and be very effective.
recruitment team how work night a day day 7 days a week 24 hours a day. What a mess.0 -
Can I just ask why people are so convinced we will finish mid table?
Seriously - unless TS holds his hands up and invests the level required we are in a relegation battle. Neither Dobson, Clare, or Morgan are starters. I have given up on play offs / promotion whatever happens. We need to invest just to guarantee safety1 -
Is there a reason why 3 games running, Dobson has been substituted after 70something minutes?
Yes we've been chasing the game, but it's a bit curious why the same player has been regularly substituted in this way, similar to Aneke last season0 -
The worrying thing is TS will want to see Dobson and Clare come good. I can’t see us strengthening central midfield in the way we obviously need to.
It’s not so much an issue that we signed them, but the fact they’re currently first choice players.2 - Sponsored links:
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The reason he was subbed today was he was a defensive midfielder sacrificed for an attacker. In all honesty, he wasn't brilliant today but not awful either.1
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DamoNorthStand said:Can I just ask why people are so convinced we will finish mid table?
Seriously - unless TS holds his hands up and invests the level required we are in a relegation battle. Neither Dobson, Clare, or Morgan are starters. I have given up on play offs / promotion whatever happens. We need to invest just to guarantee safety
We also presume there will be a decent midfielder or two.0 -
I don't think we quite have a relegation midfield, but it's certainly not a top 6. Just no creativity from the middle as could be seen by playing Dobson AND Watson today.
Unless we sign something better in the middle to drive the game forward rather than sideways or backwards then we'll never score many goals. Stockley needs someone properly alongside him too, Washington can do that, but again the midfield need to pick out his runs as you can't rely on flick ons from Stockley the whole time, defences know that and crowd out Stockley as best they can or simply allow him the header and deal with the flick on.
We're far from a team right now and it's mainly the midfield balance (no recognised fit left back doesn't help but isn't the real issue).2 -
It's very dissapointing that the huge defect of last year's midfield has not been rectified. Last year we couldn't play the diamond, or a narrow midfield as they weren't anywhere near athletic/dynamic enough.
We're back in the same situation where no one is dynamic enough to break the lines, and we give up shit chances. If you don't have the players then you pack the midfield. At a stretch 4-2-3-1 but really 4-5-1 out of possesion. Then we have a problem where we have no pace down the sides. Basically if we're not getting any players in with pace it's more than idiotic not keeping Shinnie, who was an excellent assister for Stockley and really needed to play in the opposition half not sitting with Watson. Can't fully blame the players atm, as playing a formation that can be over run whilst having virtually no open play creativity in the team doesn't require a Kasparov strategy.2 -
I am shocked how poor our quality looks in comparison to our opponents to date. Every team has seemed loaded with players comfortable on the ball. Apart from Kirk we have no one to compare and unfortunately he can't make triangles on his own.0
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Dippenhall said:I am shocked how poor our quality looks in comparison to our opponents to date. Every team has seemed loaded with players comfortable on the ball. Apart from Kirk we have no one to compare and unfortunately he can't make triangles on his own.0
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I don't think Wigan outplayed us. The difference, and it was a big difference, was they delivered balls with more quality in the attacking third. This is arguably easier to do when you have more players to deliver to. Our problem is our delivery quality is not great, but there are fewer players to find which makes it much harder. Look at Wigan getting numbers in the box for their first. That was the difference between both sides as everything else was pretty even.
If I was Adkins, I would be asking how I can change that and all roads point to the midfield I'm afraid. Not one player but two offensive midfield starters. Then Morgan can force his way in off the bench, not get a midfield general role he hasn't earned. He is still young and shouldn't be written off but he is not that player yet but is worthy of being in the first team squad.2