Leeds midfield

[percy varco 198]

Why do we persist with the Leeds 3 at the expense of Wes?

The Leeds 3 are not good enough.

[Syteanric 1]

a midfield trio that couldnt get out of the championship and we signed all 3.....

say no more.

[vlad666 203]

Add Surman to the list as well.

[CDMullins 436]

[quote user="percy varco"]Why do we persist with the Leeds 3 at the expense of Wes?

The Leeds 3 are not good enough.[/quote]You really think this man is the answer?

[Thumbelina 0]

Agree with everything from everyone here so far.  The Leeds three have been well and truly over hyped.  There is a very good reason why they weren''t able to win promotion for Leeds Utd.Let''s see Tettey and Butterfield or even a return of Fox with some pace on at least one of the wings.We are very one paced and seriously lacking any real cutting edge in the midfield atm.

[GJP 79]

Unfortunately Howson has become a passenger. Recently he''s struggling to get in the game and only really sees the ball if it happens to fall to him. But I would guess it''s partly (or mainly) because of the way we played under Hughton. Lambert got the best out of each player as an individual (and Howson thrived under that) whereas Hughton makes it more about what he believes will suit his system best and not what suits the player.

 

Snodgrass started the season brightly but he''s bringing less to each game. He''s also ridiculously predictable, always trying to get it on his left foot. And today I was very disappointed by the way he gave up once he knew Liverpool were out of sight (which was fairly early on). He just stopped trying.

 

Feel a bit sorry for Bradley Johnson because he continues to work very hard for the team but he''s probably having to carry too much of the fight on his own. He''s also the kind of player who will make 19 successful passes without praise and then when he misplaces the 20th pass there''ll be boos and jeers.

[Six Pack 93]

[quote user="CDMullins"][quote user="percy varco"]Why do we persist with the Leeds 3 at the expense of Wes?

The Leeds 3 are not good enough.[/quote]You really think this man is the answer?[/quote]

What''s your answer ??? - to persevere with the current lineup and drop into the championship without a fight ???

[Mr Brownstone 0]

Excellent post GJP. Hughton needs to pick a formation to suit the players he has, we won''t see the Jonny Howson of last season again whilst he''s made to sit in beside Johnson. The midfield needs a complete rethink. Thankfully we''re not shy of options with Fox, Tettey, Wes, Pilks, Benno and Butterfield to pick from.

[Jacko 0]

I think it is far too simplistic to say. Howson, Johnson and Snodgrass didn''t get Leeds out of the Championship therefore they are not good enough for us. If that was the case David Fox couldn''t get in the Colchester side therefore wasn''t good enough for the Championship. Repeat where applicable for virtually ever other Norwich player

That Leeds trio were severely hampered by the fact they had people like Paul Rachubka, Paul Connelly and Alex Bruce behind them. Who are all very average players for that level. They are good players who I just believe are being utilised in the right way.

I think Howson''s best position from what I have seen is as a deep lying playmaker. He is an excellent passer of the ball and he could really make us tick sitting at the base of the diamond. Snodgrass either needs to playing on his favoured left side or could look very good in between the strikers. It would be a close call between himself and Wesley for the role but you could argue he would bring more goals to the equation than Wesley.

I don''t buy this we are not good enough mentality. I think I accepted that the league would be much harder this year and 12th place was probably not attainable. But when the drop off in performance is this big its an organisational and mental thing. Not an ability thing.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

I suspect our formation is not helping. Johnson has been playing well and Snodgrass has more to offer. Howson is the big disappointment this season to date. hoolahan makes us tick and we are poorer without him and Fox gives us a different dimension. bennett and pilkington offer a lot but they have been injured which has not helped. I have never seen Surman have a good game yet

[Gingerpele 0]

I would like to see how many times BJ won the ball yesterday, I bet it was more than most people expect. And he didn''t give it away much as he nearly always went for the simple ball to Howson or Garrido. He also put in a lovely cross field ball to Snodgrass. And had a couple of shots that weren''t flying out of the ground (although one was quite wide).

I really don''t get why people don''t like Johnson. He''s been our best midfielder this season, he wins the ball a lot, doesn''t give it away as much as people seem to think he does, and his shots at getting better (he was unlucky not to score against Spurs...)

[Christov 3]

The midfield is desperately missing Fox as we''re unable to keep hold of the ball for more than 3-4 passes.

I would expect wholesale changes for the next match as the current midfield are being over run far to easily.

As mentioned above midfield is where our squad depth is so its just a case of finding combo.

[ZLF 274]

last season fox week in week out won the ball back more frequently than BJ. His passing is vastly superior and he has the advantage of good set pieces, where we scored so many goals last season. BJ has looked better this year but for a "combative midfielder his volume of tackles is shockingly low.

Snodgrass has had some good patches but has been inconsistent.

Howson is a pale imitation of last year; completely anonymous in games, adding little to defence that other options could not provide and safe but uninspiring with the ball.

Surman - his best passages of play this season have been with jackson on the pitch linking up well.

To CDMullins and his anti wes agenda - no, i am not sure wessi is the answer; however we looked creative against newcastle for the first time this season and that came through wes. He is the one midfielder looking like a prem player, so us him hiding him on the left flank was wrong.

we do have midfield options - now is the time to exercise them. Go 4-2-3-1

Fox in for howson

consider tettey in for BJ

pilkington or surman, wes and snograss in the three with either morison or holt up front.

[nutty nigel 7,534]

Change it! The most effective midfield won''t be the one containing the best players, it will be the one containing the players that play best together.

 

 

[Move Klose 303]

Gotta see more of wes, tettey, fox and butterfield. Ahead of Surman (too slow on the ball and not a prem player), Howson (has been poor so far), Johnson (qualities are limited).

[brownie010 0]

While I agree with some of the points regarding the Leeds midfield, the biggest disappointment for me is the fact Hughton continually plays Howson so deep.

A good friend of mine who follows Leeds home and away said to me when we signed him, he has to play as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers or don''t bother to play him at all.

And he was absolutely right! It''s just so frustrating as we know the ability is there but I just don''t understand why Hughton will not utilise his best attributes.

His display''s towards the end of the last season were the reasons why we signed him. Everton at home, Spurs away, Arsenal away, Villa at home all with him playing as that central attacking midfielder.

I thought after the Spurs game a few weeks ago I thought our first win was just around the corner.Now I really am starting to worry when that first win is going to come from.

We''ve got the players to do enough to stay up but it''s starting to look like Chris isn''t the man to do it. I really, really hope that he will prove us all wrong and turn it around but I just think he will forever be in the shadow of Sir Paul.

[pete 319]

I posted a couple of weeks ago after W Ham we needed a new midfield which was responded to in the normal manner by the usual suspects, I said Howson, Snodgrass and Surman were not doing it and distribution and attacking capabilities were poor. Hope to see change against Chelsea I expect to see Wes with one up top.  Elliott Bennett on the right, Foxy to replace Howson, hope Pilky is fit if not push Garrido up and Tierney to come in on the left.  BJ definitely worth his place.  Tettey and Butterfield on bench give Snoddy and Howson a rest/kick up the backside.

 

Can it get any worse.  Hughton cocked up sending Vaughan and Ayala out on loan replacing with car crash Turner and Young Kane, this is likely tocome back to haunt him and cost us dearly.  

[Thumbelina 0]

[quote user="brownie010"]While I agree with some of the points regarding the Leeds midfield, the biggest disappointment for me is the fact Hughton continually plays Howson so deep. A good friend of mine who follows Leeds home and away said to me when we signed him, he has to play as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers or don''t bother to play him at all. And he was absolutely right! [/quote]

 

Mr Howson had better up his game or get used to warming the bench then, because we have more than capable replacements
(better players that Mr Hughton chooses to exclude) in Butterfield, Hoolahan, Snodgrass and even Elliott Bennett behind the striker/s with Tettey and Fox sitting deeper in the midfield.

[Gingerpele 0]

Did I just read someone on here saying Fox won the ball more than Johnson?

Fox cant win the ball to save his life. What does Johnson have to do to get done fans to notice he actually plays well and wins the ball?

[lake district canary 0]

Of the three ex-Leeds players, Snodgrass is the one who needs to up his game.  He looks low on confidence to me.  A player like him needs to be confident to be at his best and I think he has had a dip in confidence. He was on an up right up to the Scotland game - when he was substituted - and hasn''t looked the same since.  

He is still  dangerous but needs to get a bit more self -belief back imo.

[Mr Brownstone 0]

Jonny Howson doesn''t need a kick up the backside, he needs to have the shackles taken off and be allowed to play his natural game.

[Thumbelina 0]

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]Jonny Howson doesn''t need a kick up the backside, he needs to have the shackles taken off and be allowed to play his natural game.[/quote]

 

I didn''t realise that he was chained in his own half.  He has a mind of his own surely and if he was a wonderful player that should be called up for the England squad as many suggest then he wouldn''t have waited for instructions from Hughton to push forwards when 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 4-1 and 5-1 down would he?

totally overhyped and not the massive step up in quality that our central midfield was seeking. 

Time for Tettey and Butterfield please.

[ZLF 274]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]Did I just read someone on here saying Fox won the ball more than Johnson?

Fox cant win the ball to save his life. What does Johnson have to do to get done fans to notice he actually plays well and wins the ball?[/quote]

check the stats from last season - more tackles won by fox than BJ; game by game analysis on the holtamania site showed this too

as I have said BJ has vastly improved this season.