I tend to think Tufan, Seri and Traore are undroppable in the present era. Better to build the team around Simons, he's younger and possibly here longer.
Good post....The Tufan love-in will come to an end...Just doesn't do enough for me, especially away from home. Said it weeks ago, sorry to repeat, we need creative spark in the middle of the park to create something out of the ordinary. Right now we don't have it.
All 3 are good players, but playing them together brings more problems than it solves. I also assume they are top earners (bringing FFP problems as well). Tufan goes missing for long periods as well.
Seri Simons Traore should be the 3 in midfield, I’d also be interested in seeing Slater Simons Traore
Everyone's desperate for Simons but we've almost never seen him play. It's a bit ridiculous to be so convinced of something based on no real information. He'll probably start tonight and with a bit of luck he'll hopefully make it as a first team regular one day but right now we have no evidence to suggest he's good enough to be starting ahead of others.
Spot on. He hasn't looked near the player some are thinking he is or at least willing him to be. Maybe will in due course, but not at the moment ... hence probably why we don't see that much of him yet. At just turned 20, he's unlikely to take control of the midfield. Having said that, maybe he needs a run of games to accelerate his development. But for me I think it's just wishful thinking and grasping at straws, as a result of many of us seeing that we are absolutely missing that sort of player.
It’s not about whether he’s better than Seri or Slater. He’s a different player and the only player to balance that midfield in our entire squad. I’m not sure what part of that you’re still struggling with? I’ve been saying we need a defensive midfielder since Smallwood left. Now when I say it people say ‘well, we have Simons for that’. When I suggest we’d look more balanced with Simons, others say ‘he’s not ready, we’ve not seen anything to suggest he’s better than Seri and Slater’.
Truth is we miss that 'spark' all over the pitch. Nearest we have are: - Vaughan. Unrealistic to pin hopes & pressure / expectation on him. - Delap. - Christie ... when he's back to something like his best. Otherwise we are totally devoid as things stand.
I don't even think we've seen enough to know that he fulfills a particular role. GFAW nailed it in his post; it's wishful thinking. If he's good enough to start, then he will do.
So you still think Seri and Slater are good enough in that midfield? Based on what exactly? They didn’t keep the ball well at all against Norwich, hence the low possession and passing stats and they didn’t protect the back four enough nor win the ball back, hence the shots against stats. So Seri and Slater really only ‘excel’ against the bottom-half teams who sit deep and allow us to have most of the possession. Play against another possession team or one that plays a high line and they’re anonymous on and off the ball. Great. Top 6 here we come.
He significantly improved us when he was introduced on Saturday, though all three of our starting midfielders were cack on Saturday.
He played a single pivot in his run of games which is something that we don’t have anyone else capable of. Adds the ability to play Slater higher and Adama in there too because he has the mobility to mop up. I agree with what you’re saying but he’s clearly a capable championship footballer to be given that responsibility in a side which is probably one of the hardest roles in football
Replace 'spark' with 'skill' and I'd tend to agree.The Football is akin to a hot potato to some of them? It's a panic pass set up at present and we lack in quality,especially on the wings where there's little or no real skill or pace. Vaughan showed last season that he's got it at this level,Delap looks a cut above and I'm not prepared to write Connolly off based on a short cameo role at Norwich.He's got a touch of class about him and is comfortable with the ball at his feet,that's what we need. We've got the basics in terms of attack but sorely lack in midfield,hopefully the Club realise that and set about addressing it.
I think it’s been coached out of them in a sense. Rosenior seems to be very risk averse. There’s a thread of tweets highlights how rigid and negative our set up was on Saturday and how easy we were to play against.
Not think they were too riled up and lost composure as seems to be the clubs analysis? Clearly Slater, Seri, Tufan and Traore all showed last season they're better than the Norwich game.
