Midfield

I hope we get such a player. Sadly, Rodgers seems happy just playing McGregor there without any experiments.

 

It is a bit weird for me that McCowan didn't make it off the bench when we were clearly tiring.

I think he'd handle it

 

Showed we can compete at that level last night, just need to do it consistently and also add a bit more depth.

 

Why is everyone resigned to losing Hatate in the summer?

Has there been 'noise' around him that he wants a move?

 

Agree we need more of an option around McGregor.....however particularly last night and in recent league games I got the impression that Hatate & Engels were regularly rotating the responsibility to come to the back 4 and pick up the ball, therefore "experimenting" with rotating McGregor as the out-ball so teams can not just sit on McGregor and stifle moving the ball out from the back.......OR - have I just imagined this

 

He was my MOTM last night . Thought he was brilliant

 

Nothing recently, it's just there has always been murmurs that he wants away to a bigger league

 

Most players we sign probably want that tbf..

He looks as if he's enjoying his football right now.

 

I agree, realistically most good players have a 2-4 year life span here, unless there is an emotional connection there or injury prone.

He looks happy though, for sure

 

Another couple of quality players needed for midfield, particularly if Hatate goes.

I like McCowan, but I can see why he never got on the pitch last night. We missed Bernardo.

 

I think games like today show why we need more physicality in the midfield.

 

Bernardo is a miss just now..

But a physical CM is definitely required.

 

He is but I didn't think his recent form was anything more than a bit 'meh'.

If Hatate leaves as expected then we need a creative centre mid to come in, and then hopefully someone who can rotate in with McGregor.

Also hoping Engels can provide a bit more physicality as he develops.

 

Another game, particular 1st half that was crying out for a defensive midfielder.

Yet we don't have any in the squad.

Baffling that we seem to know better than every other club in the world.

 

Bernardo being injured and not available midweek or Easter Road has largely been unmentioned, probably because before his injury he wasn’t in his best form but him not being there as an option has been very apparent for me.

If it was Bernardo in the form he was earlier this season, we’d be screaming about him not being available. Even when he wasn’t at his best but think it shows his importance as part of the squad. He’s reliable, is really good tactically, Rodgers trusts him to do what he wants us to do on the pitch and seamlessly fit in without any disruption to our play. And that’s Bernardo when he plays within himself and overcautious. When he’s there and his tails up, then he’s unstoppable at times.

He wasn’t in that form, but the hole he’s left in the squad with the injury is extremely apparent

 

Defensive midfielders are a rarity these days. The top teams in particular I can’t think of one purely defensive midfielder.

This is something people in our support always bring up, and I never quite get what we want from it. I would go along with wanting a more physical option, with power and pace and commanding presence. But an old school type DM? That player would rarely actually be playing, some very specific times they would but generally a defensive safe passing etc option in the 6 with how we set up wouldn’t get a game. And a DM, with pace power that would be on the bench for those specific times and there as an option probably doesn’t exist, at least of the quality that we’d want when we say we need a DM.

Personally along the lines of that but not just a defensive midfielder that I would have wanted today was a guy we had to bring on to play elsewhere, because Taylor looking like he’s completely chucked it today. Schlupp’s the type I’d rather than an actual defensive midfielder, he’s got the physicality, tackling, defensive positioning and his tracking/marking is excellent but you can see in him why for a lot of his career he was a left winger, he’s excellent going forward.

That’s something I think we can do with. A midfielder who’s a tank, that can defend rather than a defensive midfielder. I think I might be describing what people think of when the dm convo is brought up, and might be me nitpicking but it’s vastly different things that, to me anyway.

 

Aye that's exactly the type I mean.

A strong physical presence who also has a bit of defensive savvy about him. McGregor’s failure to spot the gap left by Trusty or the amount of times he over commits when he's the last man in midfield or the amount of times guys run off the back of him are all due to him not being a natural in that position at least not in a defensive point of view.

Agree on Schlupp, would love to see him as part of a midfield 3, even if that was as one of the 8s bcoz would be good to see a bit of power and athleticism in there, plus we are short on numbers due to Bernardo injury but it looks unlikely due to fact he's going to have to play left back for the foreseeable bcoz wee huffy looks like his head has completely gone and can't be relied upon