Our Midfield

pace and power is what we have needed for years. Never gets addressed though. Strange

 

Said it numerous times but there is not an out and out number 10 or an out and out holding mid and it's absolutely killing us. All of the midfielders we have individually are decent but they all want to be doing the same thing

 

Just said in Engels thread but no enough ball carriers in the middle..

Far too one paced. Far too safe..

No enough players willing to turn a man and drive in to space, committing the opposition..

McGregor is getting on and tries now and then
Hatate has it here and there but looks slower than when he first arrived and takes way too many touches now
Bernardo is one paced but has the odd turn by using his body well
Engels isn't the best in tight situations and on the turn
McCowan is one paced and also weak but has the odd pockets of space and passes..

We're way too samey same. We need an injection of pace, power and guile in the engine room..

Games like yesterday I'd even be tempted to stick Jota in a 10 type position with McGregor and Hatate behind and Maeda left, Yang right and Idah up top. Think Jota could definitely bring a bit of magic in that role against teams camped in..

Might be time to try Schlupp in there as someone willing to get on it, carry it and go beyond. Frame at left back for a few games..

Also get Bonnar in the side to freshen up a stale 11..

 

Spot on, a Stan Petrov type player to take the game by the scruff of the neck and * run at them.

 

The midfield is rubbish. Hatate has one good game every 5 weeks.

McGregor is a declining force who plays it safe far too often.

Engels has been up and down all season and doesn’t dominate matches.

That’s our first choice midfield and not one of them you’d feel confident in absolutely running matches on a consistent basis.

Very little pace, no strength whatsoever, no ball winners or ball carriers. Barely a bit of creativity. And between them, a * load of loose passes.

Our recruitment has been shocking in that area of the pitch for a while now.

 

hatate is the only player we have who wants to take the ball in midfield and get turned to play a foward pass ,he is having that stamped out of his game . i think as it stands we need to get mcgregor in the more advanced role and encourage him to do that more engels or bernardo to play in that deeper role

 

I would be all for changing it up.
Lets try something different.
All can see that Cal is not doing it as a DM.
Try Jeffery with Cal and Reo more advanced.

 

Bumping this topic yet again.
Need a much better balance and variety in our incredibly lightweight midfield (physically and mentally) if we want to improve and make any impact in Europe next season.

 

It's plain as day we need a top quality CM, don't think anyone can argue differently. Josh Brownhill who we were in for before would be ideal. 18 goals in the championship and available on a free. He's a proper footballer good in high directions , box to box and likes a battle.

 

Badly needs sorting to get to that next level..

Needs quality but very badly lacks dynamism and real pace to go box to box. Crying out for a mix of guile when Hatate is out, we deffo need another even if he stays. Lack pace and physicality also..

It's decent but that trio today isn’t a well oiled machine collectively and has been poor on a few occasions it's been the starting 3. We can improve on it definitely..

 

It's time for a clear out in the midfield, sorry

 

It’s been brutal all season.

 

When Hatate is out - despite his flaws, the creativity just drops.

 

And so it continues.....
tippy tappy, negative walking pace pish that invites pressure and nullifies our forward players.
Dreadful.

 

He's a legend. He'll still put in plenty of fantastic performances this season, I'm sure.

But Callum McGregor as our sole 6 is a massive issue and we've seen it a number of times before. He needs to be played as one of the 8s, with a proper physical CDM who can cover the ground and protect the defence brought in to replace him as the 6.

It's glaringly obvious. But I have zero faith we'll do that.

 

Said it before, where’s the succession planning???!!!

 

McGregor will be our 6 this season. No doubt about it.

 

I know. That's the problem.

He's 32. No physicality and not as quick as he once was. Wants to play sideways or backwards too often. It's a huge issue.

 

We saw his absolute nightmare at the Euros doing this role for Scotland, now he's a year older and the plan seems to be to double down and drop even deeper , dragging the whole team deeper . * 3 yard passes to the CB's and 5 yards sideways to Hatate at a walking pace. He's not Pirlo, he was and probably is still a goalscoring, creative 8 .