Don't get to see too many City games any more due to living in Taffyland, but those that I did watch last season left me with the same thought....we really lack a big, strong tackling midfielder to take control of games. Some of the football we have played has been fantastic but when under the cosh we do seem a little lightweight. Do you regular attendees have the same opinion or is my observation skewed by seeing too few games?? On a similar point I would love us to go in for Reo-Coker after his release from Villa (unless he's already gone somewhere else ). He is only 27 and still one of the better defensive midfielders available that we may have a chance of getting. Thoughts....
I agree we need a big figure in midfield but it doesn't have to be a physical presence. Anyone remember the way Garry Parker used to control games from midfield? He wasn't big and strong physically but he managed to do it through skill and guile. King scores lots of goals and Wellens is a useful player in midfield but they are both prone to go missing when the heat in on in my opinion. The closest we had to a dominant midfield presence last season was Bruma in the handful of games he played in midfield. Although, to be fair, Abe on his game was tigerish and did a pretty good job. To cut a long story short...yes, I think we need a dominant player in midfield.
I don't think there's anything wrong with King and Wellens as such, but they need a holding midfielder with them. A number of players have given the role a go last season - Oakley, Moreno, Bruma, Abe - but none of them really made it their own. Bruma has some potential in that position, Oakley is a bit part player, Moreno we can forget about. Abe has come the closest to filling that role, but there are 2 issues I have with him: 1. Is he really a holding midfielder? He can pass the ball, he can tackle, he can hassle and chase, he can drive forward with it - but he's not exceptional at any of them. He's also not really 'strong' as such. He's a good player but for me, he's doesn't really do a particular job/position, he's just a midfielder. I see him do good things, but they aren't significant enough. 2. And this might be a reason for me thinking he doesn't stand out, he's not shown enough consitency. Games such as the last one against Ipswich were very impressive. But there have been quite a few where I just haven't noticed him. You might say that's the case for quite a few other players and you'd be right, but as I said, he doesn't do a particular job exceptionally enough to get away with a bit of inconsistency. For example King might go missing in a lot of games, but he is too valuable to be out of the side, because he makes so many match winning contributions. I'd say the same about Wellens and maybe Yakubu. I'm not saying some players are undroppable though, because everyone is. In short, I agree we need a strong, tackling midfielder - in the holding midfielder role, which would allow King and Wellens to do what they do best. And I don't think we have anyone capable of playing that role at the moment, so I hope someone of that kind is on Sven's list.
We need about 75% of a new squad that´s the problem at the mo. I just hope SGE can turn it on this season coming. 1x GK, 3x DEF 3x MID 2x FOR for me this summer & that´s just for starters.
100% agree. We were too easy to play through last season and we lost too many of those midfield battles when teams closed us down in that area. Agree with Emilio that Abe is good on his day but those days don't come often enough and the same goes for Oakley. If you're going to play with a midfield three, then you need an anchor man to support the defence and be that link man between defence and attack. Reading away was a brilliant example of when we needed a good holding player because one long ball and they were in at our defence and it was so easy to play through us that day. Reo-coker is a good shout and I like Alan Smith aswell. Already been told he can leave Newcastle and he has experience of getting out of this league already.
No way Reo-Coker will drop to the Championship. He'll get at least three offers from Premiership clubs willing to offer £25kpw+. Usual suspects for this role seem to be Jack Cork, Alan Smith and Aron Gunnarsson who are all on frees. There's also Olofinjana from Hull who they're looking to offload (I think) but he's allegedly on about £27kpw.
I've always thought in terms of 4-4-2 but I can't see us playing 4-4-2 without major changes in personell. Neither King or Wellens have the presence to dominate midfield but should both probably be playing. Likewise Gallagher and Vassell/ Dyer on the wings. All have something important to offer but a shield wall they are not. So even if we do get a strong, physical midfielder in, I can still see us playing 4-5-1 to accommodate players already here. Or...if we brought a couple of centre-halfs, what about 3-5-2? It allows 2 up front and five in midfield. Also, do you think £25k is top of our new wage structure? It always seems to be the top figure bandied about at the minute. Personally I am reassured we have a wage structure and don't get held to hostage over wage negotiations.
We haven't had a proper defensive aggressive player since Lennon left? We always had the leaders with Walsh & Elliott and didn't have to think about this? We need a new Leicester legend? This has been the problem for years, no one to take the team on the pitch? Like Walsh, Elliott or Lennon? We definatly need this next season, you have all mentioned Alan Smith, he is getting on(30)? maybe good for experience, Donald F*ck mentioned Gunnarson, he is a good prospect and still quite young, I have stated in another thread Barton from Newcastle, he has a couple of years on Smith and is more aggressive, he is another Savage annoying aggressive and enough to put other teams off their game, he has not been offered another contract at Newcastle? What are opinions on him?
Barton....is he going to be the new Dennis Wise? I mean it's one thing stubbng ***s out in stranger's eyes (which I'm still not a fan of) but is he going to start on his own teammates? I mean I've always thought he was a good player but you have to ask why he was released from Newcastle. He even played quite a lot of games and he didn't appear to flop. An issue with behaviour? Maybe it's his reputation preceding him but I don't trust him much.
Michael Johnson anybody ? Seem to remember we were linked with him a lot last season when he was making his comeback from injury. Cant see him playing regularly for Man City. Can we afford him though, and would we want a player who seems (unluckily) injury prone ?
I think Barton was released by Newcastle because they want to lower their wage bill (in other words Ashley's being a tit git again).
You can't place enough emphasis on the dressing room and any player that unsettles the dressing room would have to do a **** load on the pitch to make up for the damage he does to team morale - Look at what happened with Brown. For that reason alone Barton is too big a gamble for me to be comfortable with his signing
Is that the case. Well, I apologise then. It's just whenever I see anything about Newcastle cutting costs or refusing to spend then I naturally assume Ashley is pocketing some more for himself. Thank God we don't have owners like him and it makes you realise how lucky we are.
Don't get me wrong, he's a complete cock, but if they don't wield the axe, they have no hope of playing European football under UEFA's new rules.
Wellens is Abe and Abe is Wellens, but who is that gets played out of position?????????????????????oh yes Abe. Stick Wellens in some of these out post positions and see how he gets on.
Abe was called a holding midfielder when he came here though, and had played there for Japan. But that's what I mean, I'm not sure that is his best position. He started on the wing and clearly he is a central player, but then he played in that role when he first started to get a run, then as the season went on he pushed further forward and got more involved creatively. At the end we just seemed to have a flat 3 and leaked goals like a sieve.
