Midfield mystery

Much has been said about our striker crises and the demise of our defensive unit since the start of the season but yesterday's horror show pointed the finger squarely at our midfield for why we are unable to dominate even very poor teams such as Millwall.

Benayoun - after a decent performance a couple of weeks back he was virtually invisible yesterday. Could easily have been mistaken for a ball boy he was involved so little.
Barton - the usual mix of misplaced passes and poorly timed tackles. I think even his fan club could see the problem yesterday.
Carroll - probably the pick of a very disappointing bunch yesterday but we are never going to be able to counter attack when he is involved in a move. Things slow to a walking pace whenever he touches the ball.
Krancjar - I simply don't know where to start. That a player of his calibre can turn in such a dispirited and lacklustre performance is a disgrace.

Think about the pedigree and experience of most of those involved and it really underlines just how disappointing this situation is.

 

You can say that about virtually everyone, except a few like hill Austin Simpson and maybe 1 or 2 others.

They've all underperformed

 

Again, I don't really blame the players. It was a poor selection. I've been going on about how you can't play Barton and Carroll at the same time. There needs to be a holder and runner in there, i.e. Henry.

I thought Yossi was good yesterday. He was an attacking player, waiting for the ball. At times, he was the only one to get us moving.

As for Krancjar, it wasn't really his best game but he was good in the second half. I don't think you can question his effort. He's just slow. But he made some amazing passes in the second half and he would have had a better first half if the midfield was arranged and organised in a better way.

The choice of formation and lineup is not getting the best out of these players mentioned.

 

Didn't anyone notice the cross balls from Kranky to Holllet was...three amazing strikes

Disagree on the Kranky front

 

I'm starting to feel that it's not so much about the players. If there was good organisation and management of the players, we'd be getting good results out of them.

Think about it like this: if you get a new job somewhere and you find that the management has no clue and things are organised badly, morale won't be so high and people won't be able to perform well. They will be confused and appear lethargic, even though they might well want to work hard if they had better direction.

So, I can't say we have a bunch of lazy players. They just need the motivation from knowing exactly what to do individually, as well as the help that comes from the other players on the team knowing and doing what they're supposed to do.

If they're playing in ineffective formations and selections then I can't blame them for looking a bit despondent.

 

Its a natural human reaction when you've got a boss who doesn't give a ****, you aren't going to put that extra effort in.

I blame the management too, we aren't a team, just a bunch of overpaid mercenaries.
Redknapp couldn't make it any more obvious that he doesn't want to be here.

 

I don't necessarily think that Redknapp doesn't care. There's no way I can really know that. I just don't think he's doing a good job.

And I don't think we're necessarily mercenaries. We don't know what kinds of people these players are. They may be good people. I think under really good, organised management we might see a lot or all of these players playing with real passion.

 

Listen to his interviews if you can, its pretty obvious.
I had to stop because its the same every single week.

I'm not even sure he's at the club on non match days.

 

As I've said before, I think the problem yesterday was the same as the rest of the season. Tactics, Organisation, Team Selection, Motivation. Lack of effort from one or two. Maybe lack of fitness.

But now's not the time for a post mortem. We've miraculously got a play off chance, so let's try and be positive and support the club until we know the outcome.

 

Harry was probably expecting to have cashed his payoff check by February, but has been stymied by a ****e league and TF's stubbornness.

 

Yep, now and again you get a flash of brilliance that reminds you of what he is capable of. But I'm sticking with dispirited and lacklustre as a summary of his overall performance. I don't buy the 'unfit' label, this is just lack of effort.

 

Thanks for bring up a different aspect of our current predicament for us to discuss QPAAAAAGH, the continual Redknapp bashing has become very predictable and even more dull.

I can't argue with what you've said, in fact it may be worse because I think that we have collectively lowered the bar of what is acceptable to try to look for positives, but the players are still failing to reach it.

Maybe I can ask you the obvious question, what you feel should be our best midfield 4 if we continue playing in a 4-4-..... formation?

 

I don't want to look back through overly rose tinted glasses, but we have really missed Ale in midfield. He may not be perfect, but there is something both solid and imaginative about him that has been lacking at the base of our midfield for ages.

Not sure that even if available he would have been a first pick though.

 

For me, the problem with the midfield yesterday, as with much of this season, is that all five of them are central players.

Yes, Kranjcar can play out wide, and so can Benayoun, but neither of them are actually wide players. We need at least one player to give us width - which is why I think we play better with either Hoilett or Phillips (when he was fit). As pointed out above, Kranjcar found Hoilett a number of times on the wing yesterday, and despite actually conceding once Hoilett had come on, I thought we played better.

It's this kind of very basic team selection error, starting five central players, which makes me wonder what HR does to earn his money.

I know the retort that some will come back with - Phillips is injured, and Hoilett is not good enough/fit enough for 90 minutes, so we don't have much choice. Well, HR had the summer and January to sort that out, and hasn't. He's purchased only one genuine wide player in Phillips and a number of central midfielders, where we already had adequate cover. Even if I'm being unfair re transfers, in the current circumstance which HR finds himself, why not try a younger player like Petrasso, who seems to be developing well and is a genuine wide player?

 

First of all will Traore and or Jenas be fit?

I think we will play a different midfield 4 away than we do at home.But will be based on the Barton/Carroll axis....I really do think they play well together

Away we will play Benni, Barton, Carroll, Jenas
Home we will play Benni/Kranky, Barton Carroll, Traore (Hoillet)

I would always play Benni, he can score, he works his socks off, he is trickey
In the home match I would change....as I was very impressed with the cross field balls from Kranky to Hoillet yesterday)

...I think Traore plays well from start and fades and Hoillet plays well coming off the bench...so perhaps in the home match I would play Traore on first, with Hoillet replacing him

The question is...in the away match would we play 5 across the middle, dropping Morrison?

 

Given the injury situation this is pretty much academic. We need to rely on those that are put out to give the performances they are undoubtedly capable of. However, as a piece of pure academia:
If everyone was fit: Benayoun, Jenas, Faurlin, Hoilett (Phillips as an out-and-out Striker)
If everyone currently available was playing to their abilities: Krancjar, Barton, Benayoun, Hoilett
As things stand: Assou-Ekotto, Carroll, Barton, Hoilett

 

Don't think we should drop ravel, in any match

 

If we play Barton and Carroll in the centre away from home we will lose imo.
Barton and Carroll can't play together as neither is a natural holding player. Henry simply must start the way semi alongside Barton, then I'd have Traore and Benayoun either side of Ravel. In the home semi I'd play Hoilett instead of Benny and Jenas instead of Henry (unless we're already 2 or 3 up!!).

Kranjcar wouldn't start either for me.

 

Agree with that. I dont think Kranjcar should start another game, physically he's not up to 90 minutes and I think his only use is as a sub.