I am concerned about the make-up of our midfield for next season particularly now that Pratley has gone. Would other posters agree that our present favoured line-up is too lightweight? Let's accept that Sinclair and Dyer will usually start as the wide-men - perhaps with newly signed back up. Last season we saw Dobbie, Allen and Britton grab the central spots with primarily Pratley and Gower as cover. Now, as talented as our starting trio are in footballing terms, I think they will be overrun by equally talented Premiership midfielders who will be more experienced, more physical and stronger on the ball. I think back to games eg: Wembley and Forest in particular when the opposition stepped up the pace and for long periods we were hanging on for our lives - be honest, on another day we could have lost those games and there were others as well. They were unable to finish the job but, make no mistake, Premiership teams will. We often brought on Pratley to add a bit of muscle, some steel when we under the cosh but he's gone, so what are our options? Many of us are nailing our hopes on Bodde but is this realistic? He will be making his comeback at a far higher level than he has played before and he will understandably be a little tentative because of his injury. In fact, who is to say that he won't break down again? Augustien has the skill and the physique to do the job but does Buck actually rate him or, at least, his attitude. Gower doesn't really put his foot in and clearly, in any event, is not the answer. Harley, for all his bluster, has everything to prove. Donelly has never been given a decent chance and it's looking like he won't get one. Then we have Orlandi. Strangely, I have a gut feeling that his style might be more suited to the BPL than the Championship - as a passing link man. I doubt he'll get much of a chance to prove it though but, even if he does, he is certainly not the crunching tackler and ball winner that we are definitely going to need. We have some target signings on the horizon but I think that finding the right players is going to be much more difficult than some might imagine. We need a lot more power and physicality in defence and midfield which might not be too difficult to find but, and it's a big "but", the new recruits are also going to have to be able to play a bit to fit in with our style, otherwise the character of our play, which has so carefully been nurtured over the years, will be destroyed and we will end up in no man's land. Buck has a massive balancing act on his hands. Power players with technique and skill are scarce; when they turn up they cost a lot as everybody wants them. So, do we take a chance on a young gun hungry to prove himself, or look for a seasoned Premiership-Class player coming to the end of his career who is still honest enough to put in a decent shift? Intriguing problems that must be keeping Buck busy during the close season. My belief is that we have the footballing ability but the addition of some strength and power is vital if we are to survive. What do the rest of you guys think?
Before Prately left i was worried that we would be bullied in the PL but there's plenty of time for Brendan to bring in the right players to beef up the midfield.
If the signing of Marcos Senna goes through and Bodde recovers we could have a competitive midfield in my opinion. I agree it needs bolstering though.
Wish we could have kept Pratley . Buck seems to be pushing hard to sign Senna & along with Bodde , we should be ok . Wouldn't be surprised to see another signed in the mid midfield either . I'm really getting anxious with the defense too , hoping something happens soon there also
I can see us bringing in two players to add the the possible need for a physical presence in the centre of midfield one a bit seasoned and a youngster to learn from him, may only need one if Bodde gets back to beat but that remains to be seen as of yet
Just looking through some news website when a player popped up that I thought would address and physical issues we have and would be premiership quality! What does everyone think about a bid for Kevin Nolan???
You pose an interesting question but based on an assumption that we need to modify our style to address the expected Prem threat. However, let's look at Barcelona for the answer. They clearly demonstrate that small coupled with skill, technique, style/method and critically important stamina can trump and dominate. The games cited by Ivor are illustrative of two very important things: (1) it takes a lot of effort to play our style of football and even more to play against it; (2) the opposition had been forced into desperation mode because of the goals we had scored with delightful ease, and in that mode they found a hyper gear, engaged it, we had to absorb it, only when the other team was running out of steam did we then return to our normal level of control. There are some differences to note between our execution and Barca's of this style of football: (1) on average their passes are much shorter than ours; (2) the passing, as a result, is more frequent and less prone to interception; (3) their players are much better with one/two touch under pressure than we are; (4) perhaps not true, but I perceive them to have much greater stamina than our players. All this permits them to starve the other team of possession more extensively and efficiently than we do. So what do we do - beef up at the expense of style/shape or work like crazy to improve technique and stamina. Does beefing up equate to "dumbing down" our brand of football. We can easily acquire beef, but how easy is it to acquire the players with the mind and technique to play our brand.
kevin nolan. no chance. would never come here and be on about 40 grand a year which is 2million pound plus transfer fee. and if we have one player on double the wages to rest of squad what is that going to do for team morale. we dont half have some ridiculous fans
Just thought if people think we have a physicality issue as has been suggested then a player of that mould would address it. Didn't bother overthinking the situation just putting a bloody name out there to discuss.
would never get him, with spurs, liverpool & arsenal sniffing around, and don't think we could manage the wage demands
And yes I am becoming increasly aware of the not very thought through suggestion but I saw that west ham were thinking of putting in a bid and he was unsettled and thought .... **** it why not
I think a lot of people are looking at the height and weight of our midfielders and judging that bigger and stronger players will dominate them. Well we overcame that in L1, three years in the Championship didn't show it to be a problem, and I don't see it being a big problem in the Premiership. Our defensive game is about closing space and forcing opponents wide - needs stamina and vision, not strength or height. Our attacking game is about pace and possession - needs speed and technique, again not strength or height. Take a look at Barcelona and realise that they have a midfield just as small as ours, yet their gameplan takes advantage of their strengths and hides the weakness - so does ours. They might have better players than us but they'd walk the Premiership imo and we're just trying to survive it, so I'll take our chances with the style we have. The only real worries I have is the lack of experience, going to big grounds and getting intimidated, or an injury to Ash or Dyer. Apart from that I think we can cope with most of the teams at this level and grind out enough points to get a second season - especially when we're willing to spend cash on good players to strengthen! Don't be scared, cause we're prepared - THE JACKS ARE STAYING UP!
" The Jacks are staying up " . Love it .. I going to get a tee shirt made . They'll be some games where we will need a bad ass midfielder . Bodde will do well if he's well . If not , we need someone to come in for those " Rougher " games . P.S. The big , well maintained , grounds do work in favor of our style though .
Well Ivor, if you saw the way that Ferrie Bodde was in training, I think you'll worry less, that's not to say he couldn't get a recurrence, but I think that our Evil Genius will not want to pass up this opportunity, and he is equipped to handle whatever the Prem can throw at him. I think that Agustien should be brought into the plans this season, if the issues can be sorted out, whatever they are, because he is a powerful player. What Rodgers has to be careful of is that too many changes will effect our possession and passing game, and we don't want to lose our style of play, because it is our strength, I must admit I agree with Chris's comment, so Let's just get some quality at the back a strong experienced CM player, and some addition to the front line, was reading today's EP and on the back were 5 players, that Rodgers is looking at, which should be enough in my view!.............. please log in to view this image The fab five are; Marcos Senna, Steven Caulker, Ryan Bertrand, Stephen Crainey, and Jonathan Soriano from Barcelona! Hope he gets his wish list Ivor!.............. please log in to view this image
A mid-field trio of Bodde, Allen and Dobbie is definitely one capable of cutting it in the Prem. However, with Pratley leaving it would be a good idea to bring in some competition for Dobbie's place. Jordi Gomez anyone?
He's been a massive fail for Wigan , so no thanks we have moved on since he left and IMO would not fit in now.
