Midfield

[Clint 221]

This probably doesn’t warrant another thread but now that Mo is out for the season I thought I’d raise it anyway.  The fact that McLean has started 29 matches this season and Hernandez, Vrancic and Leitner have only started 24 between them I personally think is a key reason as to why we’re bottom of the league, having scored such a paltry amount of goals.
 

I appreciate injuries have played a part but not to the extent that McLean is essentially undroppable and the other three can’t get a start for toffee.  Performances certainly don’t back this up either.

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

I'm not sure what you're saying.

Are you saying Kenny shouldn't be starting as often?

Are you saying Kenny should be scoring more goals?

Are you saying the midfield as a whole should be scoring more goals?

[Petriix 2,834]

I'm not saying Kenny is to blame. But, in my opinion, his area of the pitch is where we've been weakest all season. However, we've not looked any better when we have mixed it up.

The problem manifests as us appearing outnumbered as we transition into and out of defence: runners aren't tracked at the back, and options aren't created when we gain possession. I believe much of it is down to positional awareness and anticipation.

I'm not sure who we could sign to improve things.

[Clint 221]

All of the above TY!

I guess the key fact is that for a midfield so lacking in goals and creativity, how does McLean get to start so often? Whereas other players more likely to create or score are consistently overlooked. Equally if McLean is being picked for his energy and to help shield the defence, clearly that isn’t working either as we’re shipping goals for fun. 

This isn’t an anti McLean thread, more given how poor we’ve been, how have the others started so few games in comparison?  You could add Steiperman to the list as well as he has only managed 13 starts all season.

Why are these players being consistently overlooked in favour of ones that have regularly not performed well enough but keep being picked?

[cambridgeshire canary 6,674]

Can't wait to see how Mumba slots into our midfield, feel he's going to be a real star.

[king canary 7,577]

There is a fundamental mental disconnect I can't get my head around here.

We've got plenty of posts saying the central midfield part of the team has been our weakness all season.

We've also got plenty of posts saying Tettey should POTS.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,777]

7 minutes ago, king canary said:

There is a fundamental mental disconnect I can't get my head around here.

We've got plenty of posts saying the central midfield part of the team has been our weakness all season.

We've also got plenty of posts saying Tettey should POTS.

Whilst I don't think Tettey should be POTS, it could also be argued that it shows how poor we've been this season if a player who is often labelled 'not up to Premier League standard' and who plays in the weakest part of the team is in the running.

[hogesar 9,615]

26 minutes ago, king canary said:

There is a fundamental mental disconnect I can't get my head around here.

We've got plenty of posts saying the central midfield part of the team has been our weakness all season.

We've also got plenty of posts saying Tettey should POTS.

To be fair Tettey only started in midfield 19 times this season, so still doesnt stop it being a weak spot. I also dont think people expected him to be our main defensive midfielder.

[Indy 3,283]

If we had two younger fit Tetteys we’d be well above the bottom three. He’s shown more quality and is a class above McLean and the others. Vrancic last season was very good at a lower level.

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Can't wait to see how Mumba slots into our midfield, feel he's going to be a real star.

According to Tillo it's not yet a done deal, he posted a link earlier somewhere.

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

5 hours ago, Clint said:

This probably doesn’t warrant another thread but

You're right, it doesn't.

[Clint 221]

Why reply then CM? Nice to be right though! 
 

I don’t think any of the other threads included the appearance numbers and I know how popular stats are on here.

I personally find those appearance numbers astonishing, which I went I went ahead with the thread.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Clint

[king canary 7,577]

2 hours ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Whilst I don't think Tettey should be POTS, it could also be argued that it shows how poor we've been this season if a player who is often labelled 'not up to Premier League standard' and who plays in the weakest part of the team is in the running.

Yeah this is how I see it to be honest.

The fact Tettey has been such a key figure for us this season is a sign of how poor we've been, not a sign he's had a great season.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

3 hours ago, king canary said:

There is a fundamental mental disconnect I can't get my head around here.

We've got plenty of posts saying the central midfield part of the team has been our weakness all season.

We've also got plenty of posts saying Tettey should POTS.

Quite simply Tettey has not started enough. When he does we average a point a game. When he doesn't start in midfield we lose. McClean is fine next to Tettey. Trybull is fine next to Tettey. Without Tettey both struggle. 

[Sideshow Tim 110]

2 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

You're right, it doesn't.

****......why reply? 

Clint has a valid point 

[Yellow and Green 334]

They're all good Championship players, so I don't think it would make a huge difference who we swap him with.

 

McLean is probably the best all-rounder that we have - he can pass, solid defensively, physical and wins headers. Farke knows that we have to be a bit more solid and KM provides that more than Vrancic. 

 

I can't really remember McLean having a shocker. Vrancic was awful the last game he started, away vs United.

[hepphep 175]

I totally understand McLean starting a lot. He is our only player really fitting to box to box midfielder role and we really need someone covering that. More creative options is messing the balance as we are having very attacking wings. If there would be top class defensive midfielder with mobility to cover more of midfield, then we likely could cover more midfield also with more creative option. I think this was case already in Championship, but we could outscore the bad overall balance.

What I've been more worried is lack of threat from wings. Especially after the break, we really have not been outnumbering opponents on flanks by having our fullbacks getting up and our wingers moving a lot more to central parts. Onel has been only one providing real threat on flanks. 

[Coneys Knee 941]

I don’t understand why people are so begrudging with their compliments to tettey. For his type of midfielder he is a very good player and that shouldn’t be overlooked in my opinion. He’s playing because he’s good at what does. What we’ve lacked is a partner next to him that could compliment his ability to break things up.

A good player and excellent professional is Alex Tettey. This mantra that he’s only playing cos we’re so rubbish is nonsense.

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

14 hours ago, Sideshow Tim said:

****......why reply? 

Clint has a valid point 

Quite simply really - Clint started the thread by saying 'This probably doesn’t warrant another thread' so I thought I'd let him know that I agreed with his opening statement.