I was just thinking about about the quality of midfield when they are all fit and this led me to think about how good our midfield will be next season. Lets say we sign stephens permanently and maybe some cover for the wings we could be looking at one of the best midfields in the championship (if we go up). This is what i think it should look like next season: Lallana - Schneiderlin - Stephens - Chambo. Play Schneiderlin in a holding role winning the ball from the opposition, have Stephens as a box to box midfielder scoring goals like he has for oldham this season and with Lallana and Chamberlain on the wings, this looks formidable. Then you think this is leaving out hammond, chaplow, guly, forte and the cover i mentioned for the wings. I think we have a winning formula.
On the evidence of Saturday, Stephens would not cut it in the Championship. Was very disappointed with him? Since when has Schneiderlin been a ball winner?!?! WTF?
To be honest, I've got absoloutely no problems with that midfield in the Championship. However we don't know what will happen transfer-wise over the summer were we to go up, and my opinion on Stephens could well change the more I see of him. At present, my thoughts of him are obviously only based upon a few performances. Chaplow looked very good when he first came in (actually, he looked better than Stepehens does now), but has subsequently faded.
I could not watch the game saturday so didnt know how poor stephens played so i based my statement on what he has done for oldham this season and what i saw of him in his first couple of games for us. Regarding schneiderlin i may not have been the clearest in what i said. I meant that he would be the one in the midfield that sits back and will win the ball before spreading the play more as a deep lying playmaker, he is not exactly the box to box type who will score 10 goals a season is he. I would be interested to know what you think of schneiderlin though CBK because i think on his day schneiderlin is a class midfielder and believe we were lucky to keep him when we went down from the championship.
On paper sounds quite good, but teams would smash through you...At Least Hammand would mix it in the middle of the pitch..
I agree with that which is why i put stephens ahead of him in my original post, i believe that when chaplow first signed for us he was playing for a contract and now that he has got this he may have been a bit complacent. I also think that the injury to schneiderlin affected chaplow, because he is the best midfileder we have got, when he is fit, so without that sort of competition for places this might explain the complacency. If chaplow returns to the form that saw him play outstanding for us (especially against the fergusons when we played man u and peterborough) i think that he could get in the team in front of stephens.
bpl thats why when you play the better teams you change formation and this could be when you play hammond to break up the play more. I based my lineup on winning games not stopping the oppostion from winning. Maybe i should have put more detail into the op
Morgan "on his day" can be a very good passer of the ball. But "his day" is about one game out of 10 and he has never consistently shown that he merits a place in midfield. The biggest problem I have with him is that he slows the play down too much. He receives the ball, stops, checks, turns, passes it backwards or sideways. Just ruins the tempo of the team. A few 40 yard crossfield passes, doesn't make up for the fact that when you look at his stats, he doesn't score and he doesn't have any assists. For me, this is why Morgan is a nearly-man. He's not a box-to-box midfielder. He's not a sit deep midfielder. What is he?
Personally I've got no issue with him slowing the ball down. I'd much rather have Morgan slowing the play down, but picking out a 40 yard pass to set Chamberlain away down the right flank, than us play at any sort of tempo but basically just knock it around between Jaidi, Harding, Hammond, Stephens etc, before eventually knocking it to Chamberlain - by which time the opposition have got across to him. It's truly frustrating how we seem to take 3 passes to do what Morgan can basically do with 1.
I agree that he needs to be more consistent and think that when he matures he will add this to his game, you have to remember he is only 21. You could argue the same about chamberlain he isnt always consistent but this is the kind of thing you expect with young players. About him slowing down the play well if you look at the top teams most will have a player who will slow it down and build the attack with patience, this can be good when you are playing teams who just 'park the bus' because that one vital pass is needed to break them down. I have to say though that i can get frustrated with morgan sometimes when we are counter attacking with the slowing down of play and this is another area he needs to improve on. When we build the attack patience is good but when we counter attack being more direct is better.
I'm still undecided on morgan not seen enough of him truth be told, but he could become an exceptional player in a few years. However Stephen's was dreadful against rovers and the game looked like it was screaming for the addition of Chaplow to get some pace in the game, which infact came from Connolys introduction. You have to remember that who ever we play in central midfield HAS to be a ball winner as neither chamberlain nor lallana have the ability to track back effectively.
A good midfield can make a team. We have not had that good a midfield for some time now. For the standard we are in it is ok but time and time again we see our midfield overrun or bypassed by the opposition. The fact that they have us sussed tells me that we are too predictable when we are unable to score early. Morgan has always been an enigma. Players seem to play well when he is in the team but he doesn't always seem to produce when necessary. Chaplow has become a shadow of the player we signed. Hammond is not the midfield general that we need. Stephens has not yet proved himself worthy of a contract when his loan spell runs out. Oxo and Lallana have both been valuable members of the team when able to play. Oxo will need to keep improving to show that he is a player who can go to the next level that we all believe he is capable of. Adam we will see next season doing the business hopefully wioth less injuries to blight his season. I truly believe we still need a couple of mid fielders that will improve our squad further. Whether Oscar or another from our youngsters can step up to the mark we will have to wait and see. Till then I would love to see us go and buy a real general who can lift and push the team forward when struggling.
FFS lads, we are not playing in the Champions League, so don't need a Xavi or Iniesta dictating play from midfield. The most successful teams in League 1 and the Championship play at a high pace. They don't slow it down, they pass and then move. Chamberlain my not be consistent, but he's always a threat. The opposition are always thinking about what he's doing, even if he's not got the ball. I feel if the opposition see Morgan dwelling the ball, they'll think "great, we can organise ourselves, cover the strikers whilst he thinks about pinging a showboat pass". For me, Hammond for all his faults is twice the player that Morgan is. I think some of you are blinded by the fact that Schneirderlin is foreign and there have been spurious rumours about Prem teams in for him (probably all lies made up by his agent). The boy has talent, but have we missed him that much due to his injury? No.
Regarding Stephens performance on Saturday I was concerned by NAs interview as he said he thought that he played very well - was he watching a different game?
An attacking midfielder alongside Morgan and that'll be a brilliant midfield imo. Schneiderlin is amazingly under-rated.
I can only get to a few games and have only rarely seen Schneiderlin, so have tended to accept other fans' opinion that he's good. Does seem injury prone though. First time I saw Stephens I thought he looked assured and a good passer of the ball. In Saturdays match, saw the same good things but he got caught with the ball too much. Remember that NA sees him every day, so there may be something there that he's had liitle chance to show us. Early days yet. Remember we need him with all the other injuries so NA probably thinks he needs encouragement.
I think our normal 4 mids would be fine playing higher level football Oxo - Hammond - Schneiderlin - Lallana
