The midfield

[Guest Knightrider]

The difference between the two sides today was the midfield area, our so-called strongest area.... For me they gave very little protection to the back four and very little support to the forward line as a unit, individually they all worked their socks off and got stuck in, making blocks and such but as a unit they were brushed aside by Man Utd's midfield.

 

We need new faces in defence and attack, no doubt, but midfield is our real achilles heel and until that changes, we'll always concede goals and struggle to score them, regardless of how much we've spent or do spend on defence and attack in between.

 

Next season the midfield needs a rethink because it ain't working and before people start, removing Parker from the equation won't provide a meaningful solution, its far deeper than that.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

Said pretty much the same thing in chat room. We need a strong/tall imposing CM in the Appiah, Diop build to  get stuck in where it matters.

[Guest Knightrider]

We need a goalscoring midfielder, an anchorman, some genuine creativity and lots of athletisicm, pace and power. Oh, and some tactics in there.

[NE6]

We could definitely do with some height in there

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

We need a goalscoring midfielder, an anchorman, some genuine creativity and lots of athletisicm, pace and power. Oh, and some tactics in there.

 

So pretty much a whole new medfield?

 

Would gladly swap Parker and Emre for Appiah and Duscher.

[La Parka]

Swap emre for Appiah. 

[Syrette]

 

Would gladly swap Parker and Emre for Appiah and Duscher.

 

Why?

[NUFC06]

We need some powerful midfielder like Appiah,no question about that

But right now our real problems are in defence and in the attack

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

 

Would gladly swap Parker and Emre for Appiah and Duscher.

 

Why?

 

Nails......

 

Ment Diop  bluebiggrin.gif

[ToonMonty]

Ridiculous thread we were taking the game to them and winning midfield until Saha got injured and they went to 5 in midfield!  Diop is over rated on this site as is the rubbish Collins John  I remember lots of people raving over the cheat that Spurs signed in the summer so forgive me if I'm skeptical over Appiah

[Yorkie]

Nowt wrong with the midfield. It's just unbalanced.

 

Once we've got Duff on form, and Milner continuing his progress (or maybe even SWP coming in), and the correct balance by consistently dropping Parker - we'll be fine.

 

Hmm. :?  All ifs buts and maybes, i know, but to say that our midfield is our achilles heel is farcical tbh. Balls.

[tmonkey]

We need a goalscoring midfielder, an anchorman, some genuine creativity and lots of athletisicm, pace and power. Oh, and some tactics in there.

 

ManU had Paul Scholes and Darren effing Fletcher in central midfield.

 

Very little protection for the back four there, poor/weak tackling, moderate athleticism, little pace, little power.

 

So why are these attributes a requirement for us, yet not for them? Because theyre coached alot better than our lot. Movement, sharpness, linkup play - out of our league. They also have superior players around them, both in defence and attack. Quite simply, theyre a much better team with better players and much better movement/tactics/drilling, and thats helping each individual player to play his game well. I think quite a few of those players would struggle if they were here (eg Fletcher, Evra wouldnt have settled, same with Vidic, etc etc).

 

Getting better players is going to make little difference when we come up against ManU next time. Theyll still play us off the park because of the two reasons just stated. If we want to get back to simply competing at that level, being able to live with a side of that calibre in terms of performances, then wed do better to bring better coaches or coaching systems in. If Pearson can make such a big difference to coaching the defence, then I wonder who else is out there that might make an even bigger impact on the midfield/attack from coaching alone.

[Crumpy Gunt]

How we got anything with the two useless cunts we fielded in central midfield today I'll never know.

[madras]

How we got anything with the two useless C***s we fielded in central midfield today I'll never know.

why we want to win anything with that grumpy cunt in the crowd today i'll never know. :winking:

[Yorkie]

Crumpy Gunt tbh.

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

What we need and what I never hear our fans calling for is a genuine playmaker with great technique. Sure you can get Appiah and Duscher, Booby Diop etc, but yu need more creativity (or I'd like to see more) than they would offer. Tbh I would sell Parker as then you don't have the stigma of having to pick him as he is captain etc, and replace him with a more definitive defensive mid rather than an all rounder who we don't know where to play. Then along side that person you want your flair.

[Guest elbee909]

We were simply outpassed through the centre - really felt for our defence at times because they were not being helped by the soft centre we presented to them.

 

Look at Man Utd when the played on the break; they have the midfield players with different ranges of passes in their drawer to counter with real killer efficiency and the confidence to swap positions which you need to counter at a second's notice (Giggs and Ronaldo are particularly good at this).

 

We have Emre and Scott Parker - Emre trying to run with ball at feet because his passing range just doesn't convince himself let alone me, it'd seem.  And Parker's a solid worker but his attacking edge wasn't on show today.  They need to sort out their understanding because it's not there.  That meant everything had to come from the wings and what a surprise, Scholes found space to score two of his usuals.

 

Dyer is a poor man's Ronaldo when it comes to our team in terms of pass and move - Man Utd do these simple and effective things well, I always get pissed off by our inability to string simple passes and move properly into space for those passes to pay off.  How many of our passes were to players in black and white that were already marked out of the game?

 

Man U could fluidly pass it forward, all our forays forward were via runs with ball at feet or hoofs up field.  Nothing wrong with doing those things but without decent strings of passes and keeping possession to fall back on - the v.  basics of football - we're too obvious in our approach.

[Offshore]

We were simply outpassed through the centre - really felt for our defence at times because they were not being helped by the soft centre we presented to them.

 

Look at Man Utd when the played on the break; they have the midfield players with different ranges of passes in their drawer to counter with real killer efficiency and the confidence to swap positions which you need to counter at a second's notice (Giggs and Ronaldo are particularly good at this).

 

We have Emre and Scott Parker - Emre trying to run with ball at feet because his passing range just doesn't convince himself let alone me, it'd seem.  And Parker's a solid worker but his attacking edge wasn't on show today.  They need to sort out their understanding because it's not there.  That meant everything had to come from the wings and what a surprise, Scholes found space to score two of his usuals.

 

Dyer is a poor man's Ronaldo when it comes to our team in terms of pass and move - Man Utd do these simple and effective things well, I always get pissed off by our inability to string simple passes and move properly into space for those passes to pay off.  How many of our passes were to players in black and white that were already marked out of the game?

 

Man U could fluidly pass it forward, all our forays forward were via runs with ball at feet or hoofs up field.  Nothing wrong with doing those things but without decent strings of passes and keeping possession to fall back on - the v.  basics of football - we're too obvious in our approach.

 

I don't think we were 'outpassed' in midfield because we've got crap players, its just that they've got better ones than us, simple really.

 

When the teams were announced of the outfield players the only one of theirs who I felt wouldn't have automatically walked into our team today was Fletcher, and he's not too shabby to be truthful. It's not something to get too worked up about in my opinion (yet) as they are top of the league and playing like it, they are a very classy and attack minded team and at present we're not anywhere near them. They've been playing this type of football since at least the inception of the Premiership and it shows, especially when they have a settled and experienced team who all play in their correct positions ie wingers on the wing, fullbacks as fullbacks etc etc

 

When they attacked, especially down the flanks, it was our tactic to double up on their winger, Milner & Solano, Dyer & Edgar, with Parker and Emre helping out too, that worked in one way but the downside was when we got the ball our wingers were behind the ball so Emre or Parker or whoever had the ball only usually had Sib and Martins ahead of them, who were both, in the main, well shackled by their defenders. The only option was to try and run with the ball and because we didn't have the bodies ahead of the ball, they could smother the ball-runner before he could get too far.

 

While we did give the ball away a few times needlessly with an under-hit pass (Dyer and Solano stand out from memory), we also had some canny passing play, the build-up to Milner's goal especially.

 

Granted they had the lions share of play but who to be honest didn't expect this, and overall, and under the circumstances,  I think we did alright.

 

 

[Syrette]

We were simply outpassed through the centre - really felt for our defence at times because they were not being helped by the soft centre we presented to them.

 

Look at Man Utd when the played on the break; they have the midfield players with different ranges of passes in their drawer to counter with real killer efficiency and the confidence to swap positions which you need to counter at a second's notice (Giggs and Ronaldo are particularly good at this).

 

We have Emre and Scott Parker - Emre trying to run with ball at feet because his passing range just doesn't convince himself let alone me, it'd seem.  And Parker's a solid worker but his attacking edge wasn't on show today.  They need to sort out their understanding because it's not there.  That meant everything had to come from the wings and what a surprise, Scholes found space to score two of his usuals.

 

Dyer is a poor man's Ronaldo when it comes to our team in terms of pass and move - Man Utd do these simple and effective things well, I always get pissed off by our inability to string simple passes and move properly into space for those passes to pay off.  How many of our passes were to players in black and white that were already marked out of the game?

 

Man U could fluidly pass it forward, all our forays forward were via runs with ball at feet or hoofs up field.  Nothing wrong with doing those things but without decent strings of passes and keeping possession to fall back on - the v.  basics of football - we're too obvious in our approach.

 

I don't think we were 'outpassed' in midfield because we've got crap players, its just that they've got better ones than us, simple really.

 

When the teams were announced of the outfield players the only one of theirs who I felt wouldn't have automatically walked into our team today was Fletcher, and he's not too shabby to be truthful. It's not something to get too worked up about in my opinion (yet) as they are top of the league and playing like it, they are a very classy and attack minded team and at present we're not anywhere near them. They've been playing this type of football since at least the inception of the Premiership and it shows, especially when they have a settled and experienced team who all play in their correct positions ie wingers on the wing, fullbacks as fullbacks etc etc

 

When they attacked, especially down the flanks, it was our tactic to double up on their winger, Milner & Solano, Dyer & Edgar, with Parker and Emre helping out too, that worked in one way but the downside was when we got the ball our wingers were behind the ball so Emre or Parker or whoever had the ball only usually had Sib and Martins ahead of them, who were both, in the main, well shackled by their defenders. The only option was to try and run with the ball and because we didn't have the bodies ahead of the ball, they could smother the ball-runner before he could get too far.

 

While we did give the ball away a few times needlessly with an under-hit pass (Dyer and Solano stand out from memory), we also had some canny passing play, the build-up to Milner's goal especially.

 

Granted they had the lions share of play but who to be honest didn't expect this, and overall, and under the circumstances,  I think we did alright.

 

 

 

Fantastic post.

[OzzieMandias]

I don't think we were 'outpassed' in midfield because we've got crap players, its just that they've got better ones than us, simple really.

 

When the teams were announced of the outfield players the only one of theirs who I felt wouldn't have automatically walked into our team today was Fletcher, and he's not too shabby to be truthful.

 

Agree 100 percent. I looked down the squad lists before the game, thinking player for player, and Fletcher was the only name (apart from Given's) where I wouldn't have swapped ours for theirs.

[oldtype]

We were simply outpassed through the centre - really felt for our defence at times because they were not being helped by the soft centre we presented to them.

 

Look at Man Utd when the played on the break; they have the midfield players with different ranges of passes in their drawer to counter with real killer efficiency and the confidence to swap positions which you need to counter at a second's notice (Giggs and Ronaldo are particularly good at this).

 

We have Emre and Scott Parker - Emre trying to run with ball at feet because his passing range just doesn't convince himself let alone me, it'd seem. And Parker's a solid worker but his attacking edge wasn't on show today. They need to sort out their understanding because it's not there. That meant everything had to come from the wings and what a surprise, Scholes found space to score two of his usuals.

 

Dyer is a poor man's Ronaldo when it comes to our team in terms of pass and move - Man Utd do these simple and effective things well, I always get pissed off by our inability to string simple passes and move properly into space for those passes to pay off. How many of our passes were to players in black and white that were already marked out of the game?

 

Man U could fluidly pass it forward, all our forays forward were via runs with ball at feet or hoofs up field. Nothing wrong with doing those things but without decent strings of passes and keeping possession to fall back on - the v. basics of football - we're too obvious in our approach.

 

I don't think we were 'outpassed' in midfield because we've got crap players, its just that they've got better ones than us, simple really.

 

When the teams were announced of the outfield players the only one of theirs who I felt wouldn't have automatically walked into our team today was Fletcher, and he's not too shabby to be truthful. It's not something to get too worked up about in my opinion (yet) as they are top of the league and playing like it, they are a very classy and attack minded team and at present we're not anywhere near them. They've been playing this type of football since at least the inception of the Premiership and it shows, especially when they have a settled and experienced team who all play in their correct positions ie wingers on the wing, fullbacks as fullbacks etc etc

 

When they attacked, especially down the flanks, it was our tactic to double up on their winger, Milner & Solano, Dyer & Edgar, with Parker and Emre helping out too, that worked in one way but the downside was when we got the ball our wingers were behind the ball so Emre or Parker or whoever had the ball only usually had Sib and Martins ahead of them, who were both, in the main, well shackled by their defenders. The only option was to try and run with the ball and because we didn't have the bodies ahead of the ball, they could smother the ball-runner before he could get too far.

 

While we did give the ball away a few times needlessly with an under-hit pass (Dyer and Solano stand out from memory), we also had some canny passing play, the build-up to Milner's goal especially.

 

Granted they had the lions share of play but who to be honest didn't expect this, and overall, and under the circumstances, I think we did alright.

 

 

 

Fantastic post.

 

Aye, calling our midfield shite because it didn't live up to ManU standards... Sadly, that's expecting way too much of our lads. No team in the Premiership, or in the world for that matter, has been as fluid or graceful on the break as the Mancs have been this year, and we did what we could to stop them with what we had.

 

You simply can't expect the same thing from us, we just don't have nor can we afford the talent. For a mid-table team with occasional European aspirations, I think our midfield is class. And until we make the step up, the like of parker and emre will more than do it for me.

[Syrette]

Agreed. Indeed I want to think nothing but the best about NUFC but perhaps some people need to take a reality check. We're not on the same level as Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal etc - not even close any more. I think we're a decent midtable club at the moment who should squeeze into Europe again. At best.

 

We have the fans, the stadium, the facilities, and (in a way) the money to be a regular top 4-6 club again, but in terms of the playing and coaching staff I think we've got a long way to go (the good thing is that we do have a lot of young talent at the club, and then special players such as Dyer, Owen and Given).

[toptoon]

There is nothing wrong with our midfield!!!

 

Troisi    Butt      Pattison       O'brien

Milner   Parker   Emre/Dyer   Duff/Zoggy

 

Some very good players there!!! Parker, Butt, Emre and Dyer are all top players!! Good Depth, Some Youngsters trying to get though to prove they can hack it, very good wingers in Zoggy/Duff and Milner.

 

They had Ronoldo and Scholes who are World class players who don't grow on trees!! Giggs who is very experienced but surely nearing the end and Fletcher who is nothing Special imo, Carrick btw i woulden't swap for Parker. Fergie is good at geting players to work well together in time, we want to work with this group get them settled and used to playing with one another, i don't think we need any midfielders (imo) but i know that making wholesale changes is not the answer!!

 

We need to work with what we've got, get our young promising defenders geling with the midfield and possibly bring in a LB and a Striker! Wholesale changes would be a big mistake! Luckily i think Glenn's sensible enough to know this though.

[Ally]

Our problems in defence and attack just gloss over the fact that our midfield is pretty shit. To ignore that would be ridiculous, be all well and good having a good backline and an effective strikeforce, but if the central midfield are doing fuck all then its all pointless. Its arguably the most important position on the pitch, and all of ours do nothing.

[Guest nufc16]

man utd midfield unit is also pretty established and cohesive. ok they'll change personel from time to time, but they all have an understanding built up. we rarely have players stay at the club long enough to build that kind of understanding with each other. the likes of giggs and scholes have been playing together for 10+ years. plus fletcher and ronaldo have been around 4/5 years aswell. that makes a huge difference. giggs and scholes will know each others games inside out.

 

compare that to our midfield with parker, who's been here for 2 seasons, emre the same. milner a bit longer but had the spell at villa, while dyer has been here the longest, but is a permacrock and rarely strings many games together.

 

ability wise our midfield is fine, we just need to let it gel.