Funny thing is I thought Ingram had his best game last night in terms of distribution. Some of his passing was real quality. Allsop is good competition
One thing about Allsop is he’s got a massive kick on him. Look how Man City utilise it with Ederson and what weapon it can be when teams press us trying to pass out.
Stoke have just signed Wouter Burger for £4.3 million. Since it seems our FFP situation has miraculously improved and we’re shelling out £5 million for Philogene, we should spend a couple million or more on a quality defensive midfielder. It’s the biggest weakness in our current squad.
Rosenior hinted a midfielder was close. Said between him and the keeper one was permanent and the other a loan. Seems Allsop is permanent so hopefully whoever it is has some quality in the middle
Think people need to let Darlow go now. He’s not much of a huge upgrade on Ingham, I don’t think there’s a lot between them goalkeeping wise. And to be honest I wouldn’t say Darlow is much better with his feet. Darlow is maybe marginally better, but for the amount of money we would have to spend it’s not worth it. Also Leeds don’t see fit to stick him in the side at the minute. So again he’s a bench warmer. Ingham can be a match winner at times, and he does have few games he gains you points. He does make match winning saves. If we are to replace him it would need to be a keeper excellent with his feet and a major upgrade obviously they aren’t there at the minute.
I reckon the midfielder we want to sign on loan is someone like Tyler Morton who is a young, technical player but doesn’t address the issue in midfield at all which is the lack of physicality, aggression and off-the-ball defensive work. Rosenior seems obsessed with playing a ‘double pivot’ of two midfielders who are decent passing the ball sideways and occasionally forwards but absolutely dog ****e at winning it back from the opposition.
If it is Tyler Morton.... another 5 foot 10 midfielder weighing 11 stone and change... we need someone who has been around the block with some physical presence and as i've always said, someone who is often close to suspension because of yellow cards for being a stopper...
No, it just seems like Rosenior’s modus operandi to look at Seri and Slater’s complete lack of physicality and lack of protection for the back four and go ‘you know what this midfield needs? More ball-playing technical players who don’t tackle or intercept the ball’.
I'm a loyal guy what can I say haha. Don't get me wrong, if we had the luxury of affording it, I'd say let's push the boat out with a keeper and sign someone like darlow etc to. But I'm happy ( shock ) with Ingram for now
Ingram's a good goalkeeper but his distribution does leave a bit to be desired. I find it frustrating that he's never looking for the quick throw or kick to start an immediate counter-attack. That said, for me, the most important skill a goalkeeper needs is to stop the ball going in the net and I'd pick him above most for this. I agree that we need a bruiser in midfield, but as an option not necessarily as a start every game man. Hopefully we bring in a handful of players this week to improve us, but the point's worth making that we are a few seconds and a goal which should have been ruled out, away from an unbeaten start to the season. There's not a lot wrong.
Tbf it was both (Ingram and the statues). Ingram had plenty of chances to offload quickly to CBs (or even just to go long) but for some utterly bizarre reason no matter where he picked up the ball he just walked back centrally before doing anything. Near to the most bizarre game I've ever seen.
This often happens with our keepers, recently the ones that came in to be a number 2, such as Long, Ingram and Marshall all became pretty capable in their own right. Allsop is very good competition for Ingram.
Rosenior can persist in playing two technical holding midfielders that can’t defend and our midfield will continue to be cut through like piss through snow by any team that is better than Sheffield Wednesday. Or he can sign a proper defensive midfielder to make the midfield more balanced both in and out of possession. Consider the fact that Morton played alongside Travis last season for Blackburn; Travis is actually a traditional #6. If we sign Morton, he’ll be playing alongside Seri or Slater. It’s quite frustrating to see this issue not be addressed for well over a year now. The defensive record under Rosenior has improved massively compared to Shota, yes. However if you actually watch a full 90 minute game and not stats like ‘4th best defence in the league’ you’d see how many times half-decent opposition completely bypass our midfield and threaten our goal. It’s only due to some great saves by the keeper or last-ditch defending by the back four that prevents us from conceding many goals per game. This has been the case under Rosenior’s tenure. Against the likes of Burnley at home, Sunderland, Boro away etc. last season, we conceded 3 or more under Rosenior. Last night, Bristol City could’ve easily scored 3 as well. There was one event in last night’s game where Bristol City had about four shots in quick succession that were heroically blocked or saved by Ingram. Even against 10-man Blackburn, they cut through us on several occasions. We have good defenders and a solid keeper but we are not a defensively-solid team by any stretch. The midfield does not protect the defence at all.
