The Midfield Balance

[EastStandBlue]

Last week, I posted this after the Brighton game.

I've been a critic of Macca... Whilst I value and acknolwedge the importance of his role within the squad, sometimes I think it's overkill having him as well as two other defensive midfielders in the side. I can't argue with results at the moment, but I think this has a lot to do with the sides we've played and the resurgence of Franck Moussa.

The sides we've played recently have either been dreadful (Orient) or in the frame of mind to chase for a win (Leeds and Brighton at the withdean). There's next to no invention in the centre of the park, with Moussa being the only midfielder capable of unlocking a defence with pass.

I think, when we go into games at home against run of the mill teams, like we are this weekend, teams might find it easy to sit back and defend knowing that, Moussa aside, the other midfielders on the park probably won't threaten much.

http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1027163&postcount=55


Now more than ever, after two dismal losses against run of the mill teams where we've created nothing, it's been made quite evident that the midfield we operate doesn't work. It's too defensive where it doesn't need to be, there's next to no width and it's built around accomodating players that aren't performing.

With the team underperforming and us slipping alarmingly close to the relegation zone, it's no longer about us fielding our best players, it's about us fielding our best team... Obtaining a balance in midfield that accomodates just as much in attack as it does in midfield is absolutely vital. Barnard is getting no service whatsoever, and it's leaving an awful amount of pressure on our already fragile midfield.

Something needs to change, and it needs to change immediately...

 

[Pubey]

The other issue however is that were still conceding cheap goals, mainly because of M'voto being injured. Arguably also due to Herd being dropped for a loanee who is no better. So perhaps tilly didn't change things today because he felt the defence was weak.

However I agree that for a strong lad, JFC isn't an enforcer and Grant is our only true ball winner and is wasted on the right. If sawyer has run over tillys cat or shagged his missus, then I'd at least be looking to let moussa and grant swap wings during games, or try macca on the right instead of grant. And if were really gonna try and hold out for 45mins with a 1-0 lead away from home then I'd be looking for someone impersonating Steve Tilson, because he wouldn't have been so negative in previous seasons

 

[Rayleigh boy]

two flit games two flit results -

whats changed ?

the front two -

 

[haveaguiness]

The other issue however is that were still conceding cheap goals, mainly because of M'voto being injured. Arguably also due to Herd being dropped for a loanee who is no better. So perhaps tilly didn't change things today because he felt the defence was weak.

However I agree that for a strong lad, JFC isn't an enforcer and Grant is our only true ball winner and is wasted on the right. If sawyer has run over tillys cat or shagged his missus, then I'd at least be looking to let moussa and grant swap wings during games, or try macca on the right instead of grant. And if were really gonna try and hold out for 45mins with a 1-0 lead away from home then I'd be looking for someone impersonating Steve Tilson, because he wouldn't have been so negative in previous seasons

I think you have got that completely wrong. JFC is clearly an enforcer on the pitch, what he isn't is a player that can pass the ball and push the team forward.

The reason JFC offen loses the ball or gets caught on the ball is because he has someone playing next to him in midfield that doesn't look for the ball. When he played with Sawyer last year JFC would win the ball and pass it 5 yards to sawyer because he knew that sawyer would be able to do something with the ball. Currently i just don't feel that he has the same confidence in passing the ball to macca, because what is the point of passing it to someone who is going to give it away and then you have to run 30 yards to win in it back for him, you might as well just give the ball away yourself...

Something needs to change and i'm not saying we must bring in Sawyer in the middle, but possibly even give Moussa a go in there instead of Macca, i mean it's clearly obvious that Sawyer is never going to play so might as well start suggesting some other ideas!

 

[Pubey]

That's a good post and I agree with 95% of it. However I think that grant is better at winning the ball, where as JFC will challange
in the air but I don't see him really getting stuck in and making his presence felt. Either he needs sawyer/moussa next to him as an outlet. Or we play grant/ macca instead of JFC.

 

[haveaguiness]

That's a good post and I agree with 95% of it. However I think that grant is better at winning the ball, where as JFC will challange
in the air but I don't see him really getting stuck in and making his presence felt. Either he needs sawyer/moussa next to him as an outlet. Or we play grant/ macca instead of JFC.

They are probably about the same at winning the ball, just different styles, JFC likes to bully players, Grant is just very quick and has good timing, what Grant does have going for him is that he is also a better player on the ball (and is very good at winning free kicks), but neither of them is never going to play a killer pass, hence why Sawyer or Moussa would be a far better partner in the middle than Macca.

 

[BrettieAngell]

We have to make changes on Friday, whats happened to Scannell?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Grant was getting penalised all over the place last night, Jeff - unfortunately for him - to me, didn't have the best of games and Moussa was seriously off form. At one point Macca bombed down the right looking far more threatening than anything we've seen - apart from Laurent so maybe that is something Tilly could try. I still think he won't, and I still say play Sawyer and Macca in the middle.

 

[BoyWonder2]

We have to make changes on Friday, whats happened to Scannell?

Surely it will be best to change things on Saturday when we have Stockport. Scannell is out with an ankle injury, if I recall correctly.

Our midfield simply doesn't work at the moment. On paper we have 5 very good central midifielders at this level with Macca, JFC, Grant, Moussa and Sawyer, yet we play two out wide which doesn't suit either of them.

Grant is wasted out right. Yes he does a job filling in for Francis when he bombs forward, but he doesn't offer us any width and isn't allowed to play his game which is breaking up play and protecting the back four.

Moussa isn't a left winger. He is doing a job out there, but again his wasted. He was starved off possesion out on the left last night, and Saturday. He has the ability to slide a ball through, put a ball over the top and create chances but he can't do that without the ball. Our first thought is give the ball to Francis. We are far too one dimensional at the moment.

As for the two in the middle. I'm happy with JFC in there. He was superb during his loan spell with Sawyer, and broke up countless attacks, wins tackles, wins headers and provides a shield in front of our back four. Arguably Granty can play that job as well, I'm not fused which one plays.

Macca is supposed to get forward, support the likes of Barnard and O'Donovan but his breaks from midfield are becoming rarer and rarer. Anyone know when his last go was?

The problem with our midfield is we have two players that can pass the ball Sawyer and Moussa. One is on the bench and the other is wasted out on the left. We have two defensive midfielders, when only one is required to play and we have nobody who can pick up the ball beat a couple of players and put a cross into the front two. Our midfield, which on paper is our strongest department, is our weaklink at the moment. Tilson isn't using it correctly.

I'd like to see a left winger arrive on loan. Someone with a bit of pace, who can beat and man and put crosses in. Spurs have loaned out Danny Rose to Peterbrough and Andros Townsend to Orient, both would have been ideal. On the right hand side we have Francis from right back who can provide crosses to the front men, yet on the left we have nothing. Friend isn't supporting the attacks, and Moussa isn't a winger who will get to the byline.

We can get away with playing a central midfielder out wide right to fill in for Francis when he goes forward. Macca would be my choice as he offers more going forward then Granty out there. Plus, I think he has the tactical displine to drop in for Francis which is what Granty does to be fair.

Moussa needs to be taken out of the firing line. He has looked off the pace in recent weeks and starved of possesion.

My midfielder would then be:

LW Sawyer JFC Macca.

In the middle we have one that bombs forward and one that can sit giving us perfect balance in there. Wide left we have a winger who can travel with the ball, beat players and create chances and on the right we have Francis bombing forward, and Macca playing the Pettefer role.

 

[haveaguiness]

Grant was getting penalised all over the place last night, Jeff - unfortunately for him - to me, didn't have the best of games and Moussa was seriously off form. At one point Macca bombed down the right looking far more threatening than anything we've seen - apart from Laurent so maybe that is something Tilly could try. I still think he won't, and I still say play Sawyer and Macca in the middle.

Again people have been saying it and i will say it again, this is why people don't take you seriously when you talk about Macca.

You say that 3 of the midfielders did nothing, but again Macca does one thing and is the most dangerous player on the pitch. There needs to be some balance in your posts. He is supposed to be the attacking player in our midfield that creates goals, when was the last time he created a goal or scored one for that matter. Yes he has had a couple of blinding games this season, especially against Millwall, which was probably his best performance in the last year or so, but he is inconsistent, especially now that he is on 4 bookings, he never wants to tackle!

As for Sawyer and Macca playing together i just don't see it working. Yes when Macca played with Bailey it worked, but that was because Bailey could get back and defend as well as attack, but Sawyer will not defend as much as Bailey, therefore you need a dedicated player to hold, that being Grant or JFC i don't mind, but Macca is just not disciplined enough as a holding player to do that job, in my eyes anyway, and i know many agree.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

We have to make changes on Friday, whats happened to Scannell?

He has an ankle injury, dosent say how serious or how long he's out for.
http://www.southendunited.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10444~1811561,00.html

 

[OldBlueLady]

Again people have been saying it and i will say it again, this is why people don't take you seriously when you talk about Macca.

You say that 3 of the midfielders did nothing, but again Macca does one thing and is the most dangerous player on the pitch. There needs to be some balance in your posts. He is supposed to be the attacking player in our midfield that creates goals, when was the last time he created a goal or scored one for that matter. Yes he has had a couple of blinding games this season, especially against Millwall, which was probably his best performance in the last year or so, but he is inconsistent, especially now that he is on 4 bookings, he never wants to tackle!

As for Sawyer and Macca playing together i just don't see it working. Yes when Macca played with Bailey it worked, but that was because Bailey could get back and defend as well as attack, but Sawyer will not defend as much as Bailey, therefore you need a dedicated player to hold, that being Grant or JFC i don't mind, but Macca is just not disciplined enough as a holding player to do that job, in my eyes anyway, and i know many agree.

Should've said "we'd seen" rather than "we've seen", but other than that was true enough. Went down the wing, evading players and got the ball over - best (and possibly only) creative move from the original quartet in midfield all night.

Just because you don't agree with my posts doesn't necessarily make them unbalanced. I call it as I see things, I said I thought he could've been booked, and I also marked him low (for me) on Saturday. I object to the constant slagging off that goes on so like to point out the positives in his performance to counterbalance this.

 

[sadsy]

Think I've mentioned this before but it seems to me the midfield balance is wrong because Tilly is more frightened of losing than frightened of winning.

Our back four at the moment doesn't defend well enough to play two creative midfield men / wide men. In my opinion Granty is far too good a holding midfielder to be wasted wide right , so I would have him in place of JFC , either way Grant or JFC is the only option as the holding midfielder. Whether you think Macca should be dropped or not I don't think he's realistically a wide option either , so either he or Sawyer must be the attacking midfield option. Sawyer could play wide right but let's face it last Saturday vs Oldham hardly had a touch. Laurent is the only other option with Scannell unfit. Moussa isn't a natural left-sided player either but is doing a reasonable job there with no competition for the role.

The problem with playing Laurent wide right is his lack of tracking back which would leave Franno exposed , and we know from experience we can't have that either !

Tilly has some headaches with selection but I feel he should least gamble a little more at home games.

 

[number 8]

Read a bloody good article in the times yesterday http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article6852824.ece

It would be great to see some stats on our midfielders over this season and for balance our the whole of last season as well (When Sawyer last started a first team game for us) who has the highest pass completion, assists, tackles won etc etc. With 442, centrally you need a ball winner/protecter/enforcer for my Money Grant is the best exponent we have on the books and as stated by the many completely wasted on the right. He rarely gives the ball away and keeps it oh so simple by breaking up the play and knocking it short to start an attack or to retain posession and give it to a creative outlet. Along side a Grant/JFC you need a creative player for my money somebody like Lee Sawyer these people make things happen just like on saturady we he played a quality pass into the feet of Dougie who then set up FL who ballooned over, only 2 players wearing blue would ever see that pass (Sawyer, Dougie maybe Moose) let alone make it.

I think the problem we have at the moment is that the likes of Sawyer become better players in peoples minds because they dont play we only remember the good things/times from last seasons loan. My point being as many have stated that he is on loan from Chelsea to play football to gain experiance in a first team and as yet has not been given that opportunity. Now is the time for him to start a game with JFC/Grant in CM with him.

Macca has been average this season that is even thou i rate him and like the bite he brings. What i dont like is his attitude to some of his team mates and the negative vibes we have seen thus far in a few of the home games. As my mate says by dropping Macca you will get a reaction out of him and he will come back in a better frame of mind and this should coax some better all round more consitent performances from him

Why i am at it can we please play Herd from now on. I was not at Brentford but was at Brighton and Oldham and from what i have seen from Friend he is no better than young herd who needs games.

I love Tilly and Brush and understand the gentlemens point on another thread about not overreacting to results but it is time for a change in the middle of the park.