Stan and I had a slightly surreal conversation at half time and the notion of giving Ohouha a run as our defensive midfielder materialised out of the ether. I'd agree that he struggled going forwards as right back, but he seems to have gained confidence carrying the ball forwards since his swap to his rightful position in the centre. He can certainly tackle, he's quick, I can't remember too many doubts about his positioning or reading of the game, but I can't remember how good his passing is. If Redknapp fails to sign a proper defensive midfielder and continues with his preferred combination of Dunne and Hill at the back, does anyone think he is worth a try?
The issie for me IS his passing which is pretty poor and he often dithers on the ball too. I'd not want him there, but he definitely needs to be at CB when we're up against quick forwards. This was so obvious yesterday as Hill and Dunne were roasted over and over again. Ned's pace in front of them would count for little imo.
Not sure about this either Roller. You must have a reasonable passing game to be a DCM and like Col I'm sceptical about his passing. Henry seems to have several of the required attributes except I don't feel that his passing is good enough either. I think we must acquire a DCM in the transfer window with good passing ability or get Diakite fit again. I think we must start playing him at CB and rotate the other two beside him. Ned is the future and will hopefully be playing with us for several more years at a higher level.
I would like to see him playing in his rightful place, CB. I can't see that Ned would be any better than Henry as a DCM.
Someone like Rio Ferdinand, who is comfortable on the ball and can pick a pass could make that conversion, but Ned doesn't have that capability...
The alleged purchase of the Scottish kid Donaldson, indicates to me that 'Arry is thinking of a future partner for Ned, to take over from the two Warhorses. I do not think 'Arry will try and convert Ned into a DCM, to be honest
I would like to think that he could play in a 3,5,2 formation with Ned in the middle it would mean dropping both Dunne and Clint tough? Having said that I think we would need Ale back as part of the midfield. What about this line up: - Green Simpson Ned BAE Phillps Barton Kranky Ale NTep Austin Rhodes
If its a choice between Ned and Henry, Ned 100 times out of a 100. Also if its a choice between Ned and 1 of Hill or Dunne, Ned 100 times out of 100. I note some posters felt Henry played his best game for us yesterday.. If that was his best, and we are happy with that, our sights are set at an abysmally low level. Let's face it, in the absence of Ale Faurlin we don't have a defensive midfielder/ holding player, so when we think we need a DCM we play an extra defender. This makes the question who is the better defender Ned or Henry?
Neds not good enough on the ball, that roll needs to pick the ball off the back 4 and start things going, having said the Henry isn't either. As to the CD, while Hill and Dunne are great I still think we should be looking to the future more and easing Ned in, where is can learn from these two. My problem with him in either position is he doesn't seem to have the leadership capabilities which are needed to run the back 4 or boss the Middle of the park.
Yesterday Henry won the ball well and nearly always retained possession with a simple pass. That's all that's required from a holding midfielder in the Championship. Ned has to play CB....end of imo.
DCM is an extremely underestimated position. It is no shock that the big guns are willing to pay a premium to get a good DCM onboard. Martinez at Bayern, Vidal at Juve, Busquets at Barca, Alonso at Real. The best example might be Makelele when at Chelsea, maybe the player you noticed less than anybody else, but I'm sure Distric Line would testify that he was maybe the most important player under Mourinho last time. Onuoha doesn't have the ability to play that role unfortunately. Henry is simply not good enough, league one player. We only have Faurlin who can execute that role, but he's actually to slow to be a designated DCM imo. Diakite was my hope, and so was Mbia, both failed miserably. If we are to stand a chance in the Prem we MUST sign a class DCM. We might not be able to attract that quality while in the Championship, but if we go up that has to be our number one priority in the summer.
Ned is a CB, Hill and Dunne have a combined age of nearly 70. Theres no point converting him to CB when you will then need to bring in at least 3 CBs as replacements. Just get 2 CBs and a DCM who already knows his job. A better version of Faurlin rather than an Henry/Cattermole type that is 1 dimensional.
This. He also put in two good crosses, and hit the bar with a header, and had a decent shot blocked after a corner, which he did well to keep down/on target. Some are never happy/too blinkered.
I cannot disagree with anybody on this subject. Roller's question was an open one to provoke a debate. The conclusion rightly is that Onuoha needs to learn how to pass and I don't just mean a punt upfield or a pass sideways for up to 5 yards. He looks like CB is his natural position. If we go up (and it's important to stress the word 'if') we will certainly need to find someone to take up the DCM role. Three years ago we knew that the vast majority of the team did not have the ability to step up and that we would need to find a new team and a new way of playing. We got it hopelessly wrong that time. We will need to do so again. If it happens and whoever the manager is, (Redknapp may choose to leave) I just hope that we do not replace a bunch of 35 year olds with another bunch of 34 year olds. At some point we will have to start building a team for the future and that means giving youth team graduates a fighting chance of getting into the first team.
I said that from the start of the season, there was no point running the old boys into the ground. it also means we can play a higher line and we look so much better and can support Austin more.
bloody hell, its almost a love in! pace is good everywhere although it can't turn a shocking player into a good one. its even more important in the PL.
