Does Howson have a place here?

[peateabee 0]

Well done Howson.

I said on this post that I thought Howson''s best position was as a playmaking central midfielder, and even despite his good performance today I would still tend to stick by that assessment. (eg. His goal today and a lot of his good play could have come from someone playing the role of a central midfielder while I still think his game currently lacks some the characteristics you would like a attacking midfielder to have.) However I think maybe what his performance today showed is that he is an option in behind the striker away from home.

Away from home his central midfield qualities means he is suited to fill back in to make a 3 or 5 man midfield if needed and this can make us more solid and better at keeping possession, which breaks up the home-side''s rhythm. He also showed a good engine, to get up and support and also on the counter attack.

As I say away from home I think he could be a solid option in there. However at home (at the moment) I would still prefer to see us play a more attacking player who is more adept at breaking down the opposition and creating goal scoring chances with his passing. Or someone like Hooper who has more of a goal threat. Of course maybe at home, against a weaker team you could actually play him in centre mid - although I would certainly be reluctant to break up the Fer and Tettey partnership who were excellent today.

Anyway, well done to him. I hope he keeps on improving.

[The 12th Devine 0]

That was as good a midfield performance as I''ve seen from a Norwich side for some time. Tettey and Fer were excellent and well supported by Howson. Even back in the promotion winning days our central midfield was often a weakness but today suggested real solidity and the ability to link defence and attack without opening up too many gaps to the opposition.

[York Canary 28]

[quote user="HampsteadCanary"]CD Mullins wrote: Howson should be the focal point of our side at the tip of the triangle.

It worked today didn''t it!? I was really impressed with the whole team bar RvW (purely as his touch let him down and didn''t get a chance on goal).

There were a few moments when watching on the TV, Russ would pass inside and it looked like he just gave the ball away, just for Howson to run into the space and move the ball on. This is something we haven''t seen for ages, players seeing the spaces, spotting each others runs and passing into them, especially coming short for the ball and playing 1-2s. Now we need to learn to do this and then add the final step of bringing RvW or Hooper into play with that final ball.

Really encouraging today, so glad to see us set up perfectly for the opposition with tactics and line-up spot on. I''d play the same team at Chelsea, but give Hooper the run out he deserves. I''d really like to see Redmond on the right for Snoddy, but he was much better today and really tested Begovic with that effort. Just want to see him happy to whip it in with his right every now and then.[/quote]I honestly think that with Redmond (or even Benno when fit) in place of Snoddy on the right we''d be much more likely to bring the strikers into the game with those 1-2s and clever passes/crosses etc