Too many midfielders?

[Indy 3,315]

With the Snoddy bid confirmed, buying Butterfield, we have Lappin, Crofts, Fox, Smith, Adeyemi on the fringe, then we have the regulars, Surman, Pilkington, Bennett, Johnson, Howson and Hoolahan!

 

We can put an entire team of midfielders out!

 

Is it time to move some on, but who? Fox and Crofts? both did what was asked, Smith and Adeyemi have bags of potential, loan out for another season? Lappin and Wes give us options!

[Canaries Utd 0]

Lappin, Crofts & Fox not premiership qualityAdeyemi and Smith are on trialSurman, Pilkington, Bennett, Howson the futureHoolahan time is against himJohnson (i''m on the fence)Butterfield?I would love Snodgrass.

[Paulo_M 0]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Lappin, Crofts & Fox not premiership qualityAdeyemi and Smith are on trialSurman, Pilkington, Bennett, Howson the futureHoolahan time is against himJohnson (i''m on the fence)Butterfield?I would love Snodgrass.[/quote]Fox not premiership quality?? He came 3rd in the Player of the Season awards last year!

[Morisons Prozac 0]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Lappin, Crofts & Fox not premiership qualityAdeyemi and Smith are on trialSurman, Pilkington, Bennett, Howson the futureHoolahan time is against himJohnson (i''m on the fence)Butterfield?I would love Snodgrass.

[/quote]Are you for real? Fox had a massive impact on our results last season, one of our most influencial players

[Iwan=legend 0]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Lappin, Crofts & Fox not premiership qualityAdeyemi and Smith are on trialSurman, Pilkington, Bennett, Howson the futureHoolahan time is against himJohnson (i''m on the fence)Butterfield?I would love Snodgrass.

[/quote]

Fox is class!

[ROBFLECK 132]

FOX= definitely good enough!

[Salopian 1]

It''s still not clear that Smith and Adeyemi will make the grade in the Premiership, and many people think that Crofts struggled, so that''s three that may not be counted. Fox managed to get his long passing game working in the Premiership, although perhaps not as much as previously. The question about him is whether the rest of his game is up to it, especially defending and tackling. Both he and Lappin, along with most other midfielders have tried to get back and defend, but...

 

The slightly puzzling thing about the bid for Snodgrass is that he is a left winger normally, I think. We already have Surs, Pilks and Wes who can play out there, plus, we hope, a foraging and fit Tierney and also Lappin. Where we are short is the right wing, where we have only Bennett. Could Snoddy play there?

[Rolf Harris 31]

we need snodgrass to progress, we may play one striker with butterfield hoolahan or snodgrass playing as a attacking midfielder or inside forward

[mrs miggins 0]

we certainly need fox. I think it depends on how much we spend on snoddy imo as we need a centre back desperately

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

IF we do get Snodgrass we''re going to be packing so much quality in midfield.Wingers: Pilks, Bennett, Snodgrass and SurmanCentral mids (including attacking midfielders): Fox, Johnson, Crofts, Wessi, Butterfield, Howson and Korey Smith and Lappin if we need them.Get Snodgrass and our midfield is sorted IMO. We didnt do too badly last year without him. Desperately need a full back though I think.

[CambridgeCanary 0]

A normal match squad will need six midfielders.  Four in the team and two on the bench (or perhaps 5/1).  Allowing for injury, suspension and loss of form and our squad needs at least eight midfielders able to play their part.   Snodgrass may allow us to lose a fringe player but even if not, we are hardly overstocked.

[Canaries Utd 0]

I''m so bored of this Fox love in. Yes he can pass a ball, but a majority of those in his passing percentage are backwards or sideways.

He doesn''t run with the ball.

He doesn''t score goals (one in three years).

He doesn''t get stuck in (not a defensive midfielder).

I''m not saying he''s a bad player, but he isn''t a premiership player.

I''m a season ticket holder. And i''m entitled to my opinion like everyone else.

[SnakepitCanary 0]

Does Pirlo score many goals and make many runs?

No.

I still do this we need a defensive midfield enforcer, though.

[Canaries Utd 0]

Piro compared to Fox, um...

[Skerritt 0]

Fox is up there with the best midfielders we got

[Ben 0]

Why do people think that wingers are midfielders? Stupid comparing the likes of Pilkington, Bennett, Snodgrass etc to Johnson, Fox, Howson.

[Jim Smith 2,339]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Lappin, Crofts & Fox not premiership qualityAdeyemi and Smith are on trialSurman, Pilkington, Bennett, Howson the futureHoolahan time is against himJohnson (i''m on the fence)Butterfield?I would love Snodgrass.

[/quote]

 

Fox not premiership quality? I must have been watching a different player last season then and from where i was sitting he was an important player for us and bossed a number of premiership games. I would definitely be keeping Fox, particularly if we are going to try and retain possession better next season.

I think Smith and Adeyemi will go out on loan. Neither are going to get games for us.

Lappin and Crofts are the candidates to leave. Having said that Lappin is a useful player to have around and I don;t get the impression that either of them are likely to kick off about not being regulars in the team so not the end of the wrold if we keep both of them. Again maybe send them out on loan to keep match fit.

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

Did I just read that Fox isnt premiership class?!

[SnakepitCanary 0]

I''m only comparing Pirlo and Fox because they are similar in terms of how they play. Players that can keep the ball and distribute it well are always valuable to a team, just look at Englands lack of these types of players/

[Jim Smith 2,339]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]I''m so bored of this Fox love in. Yes he can pass a ball, but a majority of those in his passing percentage are backwards or sideways.

He doesn''t run with the ball.

He doesn''t score goals (one in three years).

He doesn''t get stuck in (not a defensive midfielder).

I''m not saying he''s a bad player, but he isn''t a premiership player.

I''m a season ticket holder. And i''m entitled to my opinion like everyone else.[/quote]

 

You are indeed and I suspect that the defensive weakness in his game is what will ultimately means he starts less and less for us. However, over the last 2 seasons we have generally looked a better side when he has been in the side than when he hasn''t and our results also reflect that. He is a good footballer and one of the few we have who can really dictate the pace of a game. If we play five in midfield it could really suit him so i wouldn;t write him off yet.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,589]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Piro compared to Fox, um...[/quote]

Works using your stupid critique of Fox.

 

Pirlo mainly passes sideways and backwards, Pirlo doesn''t score many goals and Pirlo doesn''t run at players.

 

Fox helps Norwich maintain possession, something we didn''t do enough last season, hence the high number of goals scored against us.

[tom cavendish 0]

If NC sign Snodgrass then I think we would still need a very good defensive midfielder. NC would then have 2 players for each midfield role.RIGHT-MID:Elliott BennettRobert Snodgrass (if he signs for NCFC)FWD-MID:Wes HoolahanJacob ButterfieldCENTRAL-MID:Jonathan HowsonDavid FoxDEF-MID:Bradley JohnsonAndrew Crofts (I think he might go)LEFT-MIDAnthony PilkingtonAndrew SurmanSimon Lappin (I think he might go)--------------------------------------OUT ON-LOANTom AdeyemiKorey SmithMatt Ball

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]If NC sign Snodgrass then I think we would still need a very good defensive midfielder. NC would then have 2 players for each midfield role.RIGHT-MID:Elliott BennettRobert Snodgrass (if he signs for NCFC)FWD-MID:Wes HoolahanJacob ButterfieldCENTRAL-MID:Jonathan HowsonDavid FoxDEF-MID:Bradley JohnsonAndrew Crofts (I think he might go)LEFT-MIDAnthony PilkingtonAndrew SurmanSimon Lappin (I think he might go)--------------------------------------OUT ON-LOANTom AdeyemiKorey SmithMatt Ball[/quote]I think Korey will have a part to play next season. Dont think we''ll loan him out.

[TheRock 171]

Everyone is also forgetting that Chris Martin can play in a attacking midfield role now, as well as a striker. And by the looks of it he is going to get into the 25-man squad [:O]

[Canaries Utd 0]

Why can''t people accept that people have their own opinions. It''s nothing personal to him or you Fox lovers. So Bethnal, my stupidness in YOUR opinion is not my own, get over it, no need to be rude.

I believe if you want to watch Fox this season get yourself down to the reserves games.

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Why can''t people accept that people have their own opinions. It''s nothing personal to him or you Fox lovers. So Bethnal, my stupidness in YOUR opinion is not my own, get over it, no need to be rude.

I believe if you want to watch Fox this season get yourself down to the reserves games.[/quote]^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Defends his right to an opinion. Criticises others for having opinions.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,589]

[quote user="Canaries Utd"]Why can''t people accept that people have their own opinions. It''s nothing personal to him or you Fox lovers. So Bethnal, my stupidness in YOUR opinion is not my own, get over it, no need to be rude. I believe if you want to watch Fox this season get yourself down to the reserves games.[/quote]

I wasn''t critising your opinion, just the way you justify it - by saying because he plays sideways passes, doesn''t run at people and doesn''t score goals he isn''t good enough. That makes no sense when some of the top midfielders in the world have always played that way.

 

You come across like one of those fans that boo whenever a player moves the ball sideways or backwards to a defender. But that''s just my opinion.

[Canaries Utd 0]

Difference being I''m not getting personal whilst expressing my opinion.

If you read my explanation it is just that.

Nice attempt at a bit if spin though.

[Canaries Utd 0]

That last post wasn''t directed at you Bethnal but the one above you. If I do a quote thing on the iPhone it gives loads of garble.

I am not a booer, with the exception of Jamie Cureton once.

[Shack Attack 0]

Teams that get promoted to the top flight and who survive the first season tend to rely on a certain amount of momentum and surprise to do so. It also helps to have a tactically savvy manager who can switch things up and stop you getting found out in the second half of the season*. These teams are quite often very attack minded at the expense of controlling a game. The plan for the second season quite often involves gaining more control through more possession as it is difficult to improve without getting more of the ball. One way of doing this is to bring in higher paid, often foreign, players who will give you that extra bit of class but it is a fine line between improving your ball retention and destroying team spirit (ask any Ipswich fan [:D]). However, if you already have several midfield players who are comfortable on the ball then it makes sense to add to these with similar players. So the likes of Snodgrass and Butterfield would appear to compliment Howson, Hoolahan, Fox** and Surman rather than acting as direct replacements.The second half of last season saw Paul Lambert constantly strive for more control of games to give our much maligned defence a breather from time to time. But what he often found was that by playing a lone striker or picking three central defenders with a five man midfield although we gained more control we lost attacking impetus. Every system has it''s own strengths and weaknesses and every solution to a problem throws up more problems to solve. That is a fact of life for 99% of football teams in the world. It will be interesting to see how Chris Hughton solves this particular issue as for all of his success here it was the one problem which Paul Lambert never quite solved. Maybe he had the answer but it was out of our price range? I guess we''ll never know.* There seems to be a tiny amount of revisionism going on over Lambert at the moment which suggests that his tactical flexibility caused us problems and we will be better off under Chris Hughton who may stick to a more settled side. I don''t see any proof for this and firmly believe that us having not only a Plan B but a Plan C and D was probably the main factor in keeping us fresh enough to keep well away from that bottom three. I''m certainly not convinced that a settled side would have seen us finish any higher.** Fox is one of my favourite players without doubt. But I can sort of see why some people might think he is not up to it. My personal opinion is that he is more than capable of playing in the Premier League but not as part of a central midfield two. Switch to a 4-2-3-1 with a midfield enforcer beside him and he could dictate the play and set our tempo. But that would mean signing yet another midfielder [;)]