Attacking midfield in the center with pace

[BW 0]

Love Wesbut he hasnt got the pace i feel thats what we are missing to give our strikers decent chances. How about elliot bennet played in the center do you think this will provide more chances per game?

[Gingerpele 0]

How many players have you seen play ''in the hole'' who have pace/use pace as their main output?

Players like Van Der Vaart, Sneijder, Kaka etc are AMs, they don''t have/use pace that much. You want your AM to be tricky and creative, if there fast then great, but pace isn''t something they need.

I don''t think Bennett would be half as good playing in the centre compared to the wing.

[mrs miggins 0]

silva, van der vaart, taraabt, joe cole, hoolahan are good players without much pace. I think the people you need to have pace are mainly the wingers for midfield and defence as well as a striker which we all have as well as 2 centre backs starting against WBA. I personally think wes balances the team as he has the skill and the others have the movement.

[Barclay hero 0]

Wes'' main problem isnt lack of pace but the fact he''s small and in a strong challenge for the ball is likely to lose out

 

To be honest Id say central midfield pace is not particularly vital most of the time - if you look at some of the better midfielders theyre fast but not especially so.  Even the quickest players in the world cant run fast if theyre blocked off by 3 or 4 people in front of them

 

Where pace does help is on the break - but thats often the forwards.  Its quickness of thought - looking for space and running into it - that probably more effective.  Likewise being able to spot - and hit with passes - team mates 60 or 70 yards away

 

Bennett in the centre is probably worth a go, but to be honest I think he''d be far better off out wide.  Thats his strength, and thats why we bought him

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="Barclay hero"]

Wes'' main problem isnt lack of pace but the fact he''s small and in a strong challenge for the ball is likely to lose out

[/quote]Blimey not that one again, it''s the worst line I have ever heard and yet I hear it every week. Small = low centre of gravity = why he is so good with the ball at his feet. Lionel Messi, Deigo Maradona, Sammy Lee, Juninho, Nobby Stiles, Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Carlos, how many examples of immensely talented short footballers do you need? Paul McVeigh too of course.

[Legend Iwan 30]

[quote user="Barclay hero"]

Wes'' main problem isnt lack of pace but the fact he''s small and in a strong challenge for the ball is likely to lose out

[/quote]

I beg to differ. Since the second half of last season up until now his defensive duties have improved dramatically. Not just working hard to win the ball back, but dropping deep and getting stuck in.

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]

silva, van der vaart, taraabt, joe cole, hoolahan are good players without much pace. I think the people you need to have pace are mainly the wingers for midfield and defence as well as a striker which we all have as well as 2 centre backs starting against WBA. I personally think wes balances the team as he has the skill and the others have the movement.

[/quote]Yes your right, and their slight lack of pace is precisely why they play as attacking midfielders and not as wingers or strikers. Give Hoolahan blistering pace and he becomes a left winger, he plays attacking centre because he doesn''t need to be a world class sprinter. I find it laughable that people think that he has a lack of pace anyway, he is hardly slow. Other players who have played behind the strikers include Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, and Steven Gerrard, none of those lack pace either! Di Canio sometimes played behind the strikers and had pace, but he was primarily used as a striker, as a result of that pace. This Hoolahan is slow and short stuff is purely stupid, you can have a 15 stone 6ft 4 inch bloke who can run at 70 miles per hour but that doesn''t mean that he can control the ball in an instant like Hoolahan, and that doesn''t mean that they can place a pinpoint pass 8 times out of 10 like Hoolahan. He has a massive talent and the idea is to utilise his strengths.Lambert knows that of course, which is why he made the Championship team of the year and scored our first goal of the season!

[BW 0]

You give me examples of players such as van der vaart however yes he works but doesnt he have at least one fast striker a head of him i just feel we need someone fast to run past the last line of defence at some points. With Holt morrison and martin starting recently i think we dramatically needed someone with pace in the middle. Just my opinion.

One Love Peace

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]Players like Van Der Vaart, Sneijder, Kaka etc are AMs, they don''t have/use pace that much.  [/quote]

Sorry to be picky but pace was a big part of Kaka''s game (when he was at his best, that is). He could get from box to box in no time and he seemed just as quick running with the ball as he did without it.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Legend Iwan"][quote user="Barclay hero"]

Wes'' main problem isnt lack of pace but the fact he''s small and in a strong challenge for the ball is likely to lose out

[/quote]

I beg to differ. Since the second half of last season up until now his defensive duties have improved dramatically. Not just working hard to win the ball back, but dropping deep and getting stuck in.

[/quote]

Something else that often gets overlooked is that Wes is very rarely muscled off the ball. People seem to make the assumption that he''s too weak but you hardly ever see him bullied. He''s very good at shielding the ball from the opposition.

 

Which is often what you see from smaller players with a lot of talent, they learn to look after themselves and keep the ball.

[Lincs CR 0]

I really don''t think Wes'' lack of pace is a problem for our style of play when we do play the diamond, or accommodate him into the formation. The shear fact he can pick out a defense splitting pass more often than not will see him all right.

[Fromage Frais 10]

+1

he had that running style very fast but without looking very fast apparently he was a 400m schools champion or something like that.

I have noted that teams that survive in the Prem normally have some pace about them which is something we are missing upfront and this will need to be addressed if vaughn does not return/play well before Jan.