Would like your thoughts on this guys (mackems and geordie's as there is plenty on here) about something I have just read that Souness has said (not sure when he said it mind) but he says that a large majority of defensive midfielders nowadays are limited footballers being bred to play in a crucial area but are just that, limited. We've always had them (and a lot tougher), but they could play a bit as well. Souness said it was a bit of a cheat of a position these days, as they're only half of the player they should be and I totally agree. If anyone knows that position it's him. I think he is spot on myself IMO central midfield in the most important position on a football pitch, you set the tempo from there and you dictate the game from there. Anyone remember the Euro's and Pirlo's performance against England, how he picked the ball up from the defence and his vision and ability absolutely tore us apart from that defensive role? Yes he may not be the best defensive sided player but he shows why you need to have far more than some players have the ball when they receive it. For example the Arsenal side that played yesterday contained a midfield 3 of Arteta, Wilshire as the defensive/holding midfieders and Cazorla in the advanced role. Now there is not one out and out defensive minded player in there but they do have players with vision and tempo who set that crucial tempo and control the game. Arteta for example playing the holding, he is not going to lunge into tackles or put his body on the line but what he can do is pick the ball up from the defence and get them ticking, he would not be classed in the "half a player" camp, Newcastle have that player in Cabaye who maybe doesn't sit as deep as Arteta has this season but he also can dictate the game. Is it time for Sunderland to break away from 1 of the many teams in the premier league that have these "half a player" midfielders and actually bring in some quality because we certainly have them and there is no getting away from that. I personally think in the long term I think we will look towards a 4/3/3 rather than a 4/4/1/1 with the 2 wingers pushed really high up the pitch either side of Fletcher and the 3 central midfielders will be absolutely crucial in how we do. First of all I think Catts is a very good player and will be in our first XI for along time but we need two others who will all complement each other. We are crying out for a Pirlo/Arteta who sits deep, picks the ball up from the defence and gets us going and we also need a big box to box athlete who can put there foot in when we don't have the ball but when we do can run with it and also make those last minute runs into the box. Players like this will cost us a lot of money, maybe even 10-15m each but they will so much difference to us, if we had them now I am sure we would of turned 50% of these draws into wins. Was that the success to Newcastle last season as they had the quality in the central midfield that set the tempo for there creative players to shine?
I think Newcastle have the right mixture in Tiote and Cabaye. Tiote gets stuck in and breaks up play, Cabaye has vision and can split a defence open. All the best combinations are like this for me, Keane and Scholes, Viera and Petit. We need a cm with vision who can get the ball off catts look up pick a forward pass then go up the pitch and look to get the ball back. People turn their noses up at the championship but Peter Whittingham at Cardiff would do wonders here, he's also a fk specialist so Sebastian would have to seriously up his game if he were to be involved. The real answer though is scouting, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Eredivisie, Serie A, Belgium. There's good players out there but are we looking?
Souness is clueless man. For a start, it's bollocks, many DM's are very tidy all round footballers, and secondly, most players have a defined role, strikers aren't there to tackle wingers, CB's aren't expected on the end of flowing moves. Souness gets right on my ****ing tits.
I love the way our side works, in a way. We have a creative genious in Cabaye, and he's usually partnered by a great defensive mid in Tiote, or someone like Perch who had good defensive capabilities and sticks in a good tackle. Then we usually have a tall, powerful CB partnered by a quicker, nippier, more skillful ball playing CB. Saylor and Willo are the bigger CB's. Colo is a superb CB on the ball, with great skill, and Perch has good pace for a CB and is comfortable on the ball and can pass well. So we have different types of options in different areas.
