8-10m central midfielder

Alright lads I posted a thread on the SMB after the game on saturday and wanted to know your thoughts as the lot on here seem more knowledgeable that the lot over there.

On saturday even though we came away with a good point I thought we bypassed the most 3 creative players in the team with a lot of hoofing it long from the back. It was only our third game of the season and we have not gelled yet and some of our players are not match fit but that does not mean we can bypass our three most creative players in Sess, McClean and Johnson we need the ball played into there feet or in behind for them to run onto.

You can blame the full backs and the centre backs who are hoofing it long but if you don't have a central midfielder who is prepared to drop deep demand the ball then grab us by the scruff of our necks and dictate the play and drive us on then games for the taking as Saturday was IMO and it has happened quite a bit over the last couple of years then we will not finish teams off. Pirlo gave an absolute master class in the Euro's against us how to do that job and thats the sort of player we need (obv. not as good as him as he is world class).

You need a good base to get things ticking and dictate the game and that happens from the middle of the park, Catts is our best central midfielder, I like Colback but him and Catts do not work as a partnership, Larsson does not look suited to CM and the other 3 are poor IMO and this time next year will not be at the club.

The club really needs to target a top quality CM IMO, I think its needed and I think it would bring the best out of the players infront of them it would allow us to dictate games more and it would cut out the endless hoofing, if that player costs us 8-10m then IMO it would be so worth it the problem is I cannot think of anyone in the premier league that matches that description that would be realistic, we need to get the scouts out there looking in the other top leagues around europe and find us that deep lying playmaker to grab hold of the team and get us over that finishing line.

would Moussa Sissokho fit the bill?

 

Happy with all of our new boys but said for ages that we need a "quality ball playing CM". (Hard to find though)
First of all MON should ban anyone hoofing the ball from defence and that includes the GK.
When the GK has the ball in his hands there is probably 1 opposing player within 40 yards of him. Both Full backs and a "quality ball playing CM" should be able to drop off and retain the ball up to the half way line. Either that or a hoof and your already down to a 50/50 "fight" to retain the ball. SAFC (over the last few years) have been a poor passing side, I think with AJ. Sess, Mclean, Larson, we have players who are comfortable on the ball and should be holding the ball better. And Sess and Larson should really be able to produce some quality passsing in the middle of the park.

 

Catts was bossing the game against Swansea until he got injured, breaking up their play and keeping the ball, after him I'd say Colback is our best cm. You play your best players, so those two start for me.

But yes we could certainly do with another quality cm.

 

I agree with this, I really like the Mig but I can remember once on sat in the first half Johnson won the ball back he was chased down turned back and played it back to Mig who had no1 near him and first time hoofed it long nowhere near one of our players and they had the ball back

I was thinking wtf is he doing he had plenty of time, the good work Johnson done there was for nothing at all, he had no1 near him he could of kept hold of the ball and played it out from the back, yes we have Fletcher now who seems he can hold the ball up but I would rather him doing that closer to there goal when we break with pace not near the halfway line from a long punt.

Totally agree with the rest, we need that spark in the middle who will dictate the way we play as it will bring the best out of Johnson, Sess and McClean which will mean better chances for Fletcher and Saha

 

Thought Dempsey should have been chased harder to join our club. Goalscoring midfielder with Premier League experience. Maybe in January we will pursue another CM.

 

I think Seb will come good there.

However thus far we have probably played 2 of the better midfields in the league. Swansea and Arsenal really pressed the midfield and closed down quickly.

Sess' hasn't really come into play yet, once he is fit and firing I think you'll see us do better. I was hoping we would have pulled off a swoop for Milner but didn't happen.

Give Seb some time and a fit Fletcher will help link play and help us get up the pitch.

Mcclean needs to learn that sometimes you need to retain the ball. He's too often losing the ball.

I do think that the squad O'Neill is building gives us different options.

 

anyone who watched Arsenal yesterday and saw Diaby, that is exactly the sort of player we need, someone who can play that role would improve us drastically

 

Next summer transfer window if you ask me Catts should be sold (yes i know he is the backbone etc etc)

But what has he actually got in his locker apart from putting fear in the other team?

Passing/Tackling and general play imo is average, I reckon you just need an anchor man that would allow the creative players to go forward

Colback could learn to do this, but would possibly have to dye the ginger hair as its not very fearful (already rate colback as the better player anyhow)

Apart from that I would say midfield can be left for now and the defense needs some backup/quality and one more striker

 

It's very early days lads and has already been said, some are not match fit and will need a few games to get there, others need to settle into the squad. It will take time but the signs are there that we are heading in the right direction.

Give Seb, Fletcher, Johnson, Saha, Quella and bit of time to get up to speed and i think we will see a different team to the one on Saturday (in terms of performance)

 

You may have nailed it in one Poolie with Moussa Sissokho, a realistic target, a strong lad, carries well and decent distribution.

Dare I say that the exact player you describe is Tom Huddlestone, a player readily available from Spurs, that we didn't move for?

Milner or Barry could play that role well for us, very well indeed, or if we really wanted to do something special, Yann M'Vila remains at Rennes, and is likely available for £12-14million.

We could have went for Miguel Veloso the same time we moved for Catts, we were linked, we dragged feet, he went to Genoa, then onwards, not impossible that the lad would fancy the Premier League at some point.

Lets not forget though, we're a game down, and this early in the season, that's a massive disadvantage.

 

Moussa Sissokho? Havent seen enough of him to be fair but we do need someone in the mould of the lad Diaby at Arsenal. A player that can tackle, pass and control play behind the attacking players.

Catts is the best we currently have but isnt by any stretch of the imaginaton good enough long term. January or next summer this would be a priority for me and be our main spending on 1 or 2 players.

 

Sissokho is a very polished version of Diaby, better on the ball, a wee bit more direct, and a better passer.

He's got a hell of a shot on him, sadly he has the power, but lacks accuracy (big time...).

We won't need goals from this player though, so that's not an issue.

 

Sissokho has been compared to Viera so he must be alright

 

Aren't we being a bit rash. Yes Saturday was painful to watch but we have a very young side. What I mean by young is not a lot of our players have vast amounts of premiership playing time. And what I mean by this is if you look at our side. no-one has played for more than 3 seasons in this league respectively. Also we had 4 new players. I was very confused by what I was seeing. Sess need a break to get fit. He was shocking. Play fletch and Saha and bring sess on for the last 30 minutes. With regards to your comment on the play maker. We have this is Sess. He's just not fit simple as that. It reminded me of Bolton away last season when he had the wrong boots on. However this time it was so bad it was painful to watch. I'm not blaming Sess here, I just think we are over reacting to a situation that really isn't there.

 

We already have a good midfielder in Gardner.
When he is eventually given game time there, I see no reason he can't control midfield, leaving Catts to cover the defence.

 

Poolie are you ganna organise a whip round so we can buy Pirlo in the jan window

 

I like Colback in the central midfield role, and I would like to see how he performs alongside Gardner..Catts, is good in his defensive duties, but his passing is way below the standard we need.

 

Gardner will never control a midfield, he wouldn't even do it in league 1 he is not the sort of player

 

This.

Gardner is a tidy enough player, and I like the lad, but a playmaker?

Never in this universe. Ever. Even if he's a highlander. The last one.