Problem is in midfield

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

A lot of people are claiming we need another striker.

Others bemoan the defence and manager.

Indeed some of these points are valid!  

But above all it is the Midfield that is the MAJOR concern.

We lost Jonson, Mulryne, Holt, Helveg, Bentley, Francis and only got JJ (useless thus far) and Hughes (passionate but average) to replace them.

This is what has left the team unbalanced and adrift. No supply to forwards and no cover to defence. In short- no Safri = no good!

I could not understand in summer why we did not look to replace more midfielders. A whole load slipped thru our fingers- Koumas, Ifil et al

Only when we get two or three quality players in there will we firm up. Marney should be played centrally with Safri and two wide players brought in.

 

[Syteanric 1]

when i heard saffers was set to miss  7 games i said that we wont win a single one of them.... 2 games out 2 defeats... only another 5 more losses on the spin then Youssef will come back to be the 1 man midfield

 

jas

[The Bunny 305]

I agree. The lack of any serious midfield is a major problem, and is probably the cause of many of the problems we''re having.

This was obvious to most of us at the start of the season. However, what seems obvious to you or I isn''t necessarily obvious to Worthy, who at the time was desperately trying to blow the remaining transfer budget on yet another striker. A similar situation occurred in January when when we desperately needed a defender to plug our collinder-like defence, but ended up with an aging midfielder instead.

Of course, even if we did have the players in the squad, there''s no guarantee that any of them would actually get selected. For example, it was obvious to me at the start of last season that Safri was a class player, but it took months (and Holty getting injured) for him to earn a regular start. Helveg, Bentley, Shackell and others went through similar phases.

[Helsinki canary 240]

I fully agree that the problem is in midfield - it was there last season and still remains, relying on a really good player like safri who is injury prone is not enough - the player I cannot get my head around is Jarret - he was bought in with big hype and expectations were high - was he a crock from the start? does he have a problem with Worthy? - IMO Hughes has fitted in ok but he needs quality with him as he is a terrier - when safri is playing with him it looks ok - but we need a second safri to play when he is injured. Also we need a quality right winger - Hendo is not made for that position and in honest not built to be a top professional player. I dont think Worthy will have time to bring in more loans because with 90% of the votes so far showing him the door I think he wont last the week.

 

[ZLF 271]

[quote]A lot of people are claiming we need another striker. Others bemoan the defence and manager. Indeed some of these points are valid! But above all it is the Midfield that is the MAJOR concern. ...[/quote]

I wholeheartedly agree vicar - now is not the time to be spending on a new morrison - the midfield is simply too thread bare of quality, particularly in central midfield where we need to be able to win, retain and pass the ball.  Without Safri it is too awful to watch.

 

OTBC 

[If I had the wings of a sparrow 0]

It most certainly is, we could do with another 3 midfielders including 1 who can play wide right.

[Crazy Eddie 0]

I''m not going to argue, we definately need at least one new 1st teamer on the right wing and 2, maybe 3 backup mids.

AND we also need another striker the way things are going. I know we have many but let''s face it thay haven''t been completely starved of service and they fluff chance after chance after chance!

Problem is, if we lose against Shef Wed Worthy will likely be sacked and the cost of this will mean any manager coming in will have about a fiver to spend in January if they''re lucky!

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

What midfield!?  We don''t have one.  QPR passed their way so so easily through it.  It''s not hard to see why either.  On Saturday we had Hucks/WLY ( both strikers), Charlie (defender), Hughes (midfielder WOW!) and Hendo (striker).  ONE proper midfielder out of 4.  That is pathetic.  Over the summer we lost Francis, Mulryne, Holt, Jonson.  That''s off the top of my head, I''m sure we lost more.  We just haven''t replaced them properly.  Hughes has been a good signing.  I haven''t seen anything of Jarratt to suggest he can fill Francis'' role.  The rest of the midfield we''re making up with misfits who 12 months ago Nigel didn''t deem good enough to be at this club (WLY, Brennan, Hendo, Charlie etc).

It''s pathetic

[rich 0]

we were a one man midfield, now were a no man midfield. wonder
what worthy had against koumas he would have been perfect for us.

[Crazy Eddie 0]

If I can just temper things slightly, regarding Koumas, Ifil etc, we don''t know what players Worthy may have tried and failed to bring to the club. Not making any excuses for him, just saying.

[ZLF 271]

[quote]we were a one man midfield, now were a no man midfield. wonder what worthy had against koumas he would have been perfect for us.[/quote]

Without safri we do not have a midfield and even with him it looks slim on quality. 

JJ - who knows; his confidence must be low given the ''faith'' worthy has shown him but he does not look good enough on the limited we have seen so far.  

Marney looks like what he is - a young players with potential who prefers being central so we play him wide.   My partner for Safri from current squad but will be inconsistent.

Hughes - good captain, good at PR, good engine and lots of energy - but not quite good enough.

And that is our full complement of midfield players - with all of them either injured or hot of the treatment table. 

Where is the quality for a 4 man midfield?

 

OTBC