Midfield dilemma!

[Yellow Rider 0]

Lots of post about Gary Holt recently and much as I admire the guy as a great professional with phenomenal work rate I have never felt he should be automatic first choice.    

Reason - simple. At any level of football, a central midfielder MUST be capable of scoring more than 1 in every 50 games! He is not a playmaker either and you never see him taking free kicks or corners, when was the last time you saw Holt actually create a goal for someone? He''s in the team solely because he runs about all over the place and shows enormous work ''ethic'' (wonder where we''ve heard that one before!). His barnstorming, surging runs so frequent in 2001/2002 season are now far less frequent. The guy has not get the legs to carry on that physical level of performance anymore.  

What about Damien Francis then? Totally immune from criticism on this mesage board but may be we should think is he all that he''s cracked up to be? Francis is very frustrating. He has superb physique yet too often looks casual, languid and does not dominate midefield confrontations like he should. The ''English Veira'' some say, Yeah right!! He had a great game at Old Trafford and good again at Newcastle. Since then (even allowing for the Diamond)?? He lacks real pace and creativity. His main attibute is getting up in the opposition box and scoring goals. His record of 7 in 52 games is ok but nothing more. If he ''s up for a game then he can look really good but he always looks as if he needs his backside kicking to get him going!    

We clearly need more creativity in midfield and I would try Safri with Mulryne. Safri can put his foot in and create (remember that ball he played for the Hucks chance at Spurs?) whilst we know that Mullers can create and score. It''s worth a try.

Also, lets get Brennan back in. He has a great left foot and might provide the crosses we have deperately lacked so far. Finally, it was disappointing to see our ''utility player'' still on the bench on Saturday with Jarvis nowhere in sight. Jarvis can take people on and create and I''m sure he could do it at this level. I did''nt see the game but apparently Boro played many young players at Old Trafford who more than held their own.