The evolution of our "holding" midfielder.

[Dundalk_Spur]

It struck me yesterday how much our requirements have changed and evolved over the past few seasons in regards to a holding midfielder.

We had been crying out for a "destroyer" for years, not really having one since Freund played for the club.

Then came along Winston Palacious and his brilliant NLD performance which had us all saying "this is the guy". However, his range of passing, or lack of let him down and with the terrible death of his brother he was never the same player, and we let him move on.

Now we have Parker, who as we know won the clubs player of the year last year. His energy and industry driving on Harrys team from deep, breaking up play and playing a simple pass. We have now moved on though and have Sandro, when fit to play the destroyer WITH another deep lying player. The problem is that player will need to be a passer, a creator from deep, who will also have the energy to get up and down the pitch.

This has left Parker doing a job he is not suited to, and it is affecting the teams performance. I would not be surprised to see him shipped out in the summer.

The question is who do you think will be the next midfield general in the next stage of our evolution?

 

[nferno]

Ilkay Gundogan.

 

[SargeantMeatCurtains]

--------------- Sandro -------------
-- Dembele ------------ Holtby --

Want and expect this next season...

Gives Sandro the freedom to play in a box to box position...

God, i fucking miss Sandro, that injury has destroyed an amazing season for us, gutted.

 

[only1waddle]

Good question. For me it will all be about combinations, if we switch to a midfield 3, which is looking likely, then there will be times we will not need a Midfield General, so for instance against City or Yanited then Sandro will come in very handy, when we can dominate a game against weaker opposition, either by choice or forced upon us with teams parking the bus we can play with say
Dembele Holtby Carroll, for me the most important purchase's we make in the summer will be players who can move the ball quickly, have vision, my 2 choices for CM positions would be Clasie and Honda, i think both of these would compliment what we have at the moment, Honda can also play wide left and is out of contract in December *Levy*.

So a variety of combinations from Sandro, Dembele, Holtby, Honda, Clasie and Carroll.. with no set "Midfield General"..

 

[double0]

Given time Livermore will come good for THFC, I personally see potential in him, especially taking over from Parker as a rotation option. Livermore's passing I'd say is better than Parkers.

Livermore also has good power and pace which is very important in modern football.

I believe Livermore will be able to cover that disciplined hub role in front of our defence as part of being rotated and pushing to start.

He may not be given a chance though at Spurs.

 

[Shadydan]

Barca showed the way in that you don't need a destroyer in midfield, if your players are competent in keeping the ball away from your opponent then there's no need for a destroyer. They brought mascherano as cover for Busquets but then realised that his skills in that area are needless so they shifted him to CB.

For us though we are not at that level, our ball retention isn't good enough to trust a deep lying playmaker to sit at the base of the midfield so we still need a destroyer to win the ball back from the opposition. Sandro is the player for the future if we are going to deploy a 4-3-3 on a full time basis.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

The question is who do you think will be the next midfield general in the next stage of our evolution?......Sandro

 

[gavspur]

I'd still like to see us get Moutinho in to compliment Sandro and Dembele. I like Holtby, but he's not in that class yet.

 

[eViL]

We don't need a player that sits infront of the back four to defend.

We need two midfielders that can harrass and pressure the opposition higher up and a ball player that can create from deep.

We actually have several options for that system, but AVB has to be brave enough to drop out of form players regardless of how established they are - I can't believe Parker started yesterday - he's been atrocious compared to last year.

 

[Chris12]

I'd still like to see us get Moutinho in to compliment Sandro and Dembele. I like Holtby, but he's not in that class yet.

Holtby wont get into that class unless you give him a chance to play a lot. Bringing in Moutinho would just halt his progress which is stupid. These players because class through playing more, not by bringing in someone else in their role who is much better than them. Give him playing time and experience and Holtby will be just as good and 10x as cheap

 

[tobi]

Someone that can contribute on both sides of the ball.

A disciplined player with good positional sense, is also a decent tackler and not afraid of the ball.

 

[TheGreenLily]

It struck me yesterday how much our requirements have changed and evolved over the past few seasons in regards to a holding midfielder.

We had been crying out for a "destroyer" for years, not really having one since Freund played for the club.

Then came along Winston Palacious and his brilliant NLD performance which had us all saying "this is the guy". However, his range of passing, or lack of let him down and with the terrible death of his brother he was never the same player, and we let him move on.

Now we have Parker, who as we know won the clubs player of the year last year. His energy and industry driving on Harrys team from deep, breaking up play and playing a simple pass. We have now moved on though and have Sandro, when fit to play the destroyer WITH another deep lying player. The problem is that player will need to be a passer, a creator from deep, who will also have the energy to get up and down the pitch.

This has left Parker doing a job he is not suited to, and it is affecting the teams performance. I would not be surprised to see him shipped out in the summer.

The question is who do you think will be the next midfield general in the next stage of our evolution?

We already have that player in Sandro. The real question is, will we find adequate cover for Sandro to rotate with and cover for? Like we have for LB, LW, RW, ST, ST.

 

[Dundalk_Spur]

I have left out Sandro because it is more of a question who do we want playing beside him in the playmaker role as i see Dembele being pushed forwards. I am in no way dismissing him as he is integral to our future.

 

[Mr Pink]

--------------- Sandro -------------
-- Dembele ------------ Holtby --

Want and expect this next season...

Gives Sandro the freedom to play in a box to box position...

God, i fucking miss Sandro, that injury has destroyed an amazing season for us, gutted.

In that set up Sandro wouldn't really be box to box, he would be sitting. The other two would be more box to box with more attacking remits.

 

[RichieS]

I have left out Sandro because it is more of a question who do we want playing beside him in the playmaker role as i see Dembele being pushed forwards. I am in no way dismissing him as he is integral to our future.

But you were asking about holding midfielders which is exactly what Sandro is. In the 4-3-3 we will hopefully switch to next season, Sandro will be the holding player - marshalling side to side while Dembélé and presumably Holtby put pressure on the ball higher up the pitch. Should we want a deep lying playmaker type (incidentally, in Jol's lop-sided 4-4-2 Carrick was the holding midfielder and did exactly this job) for any reason, then we can always bring in Huddlestone or a new signing (Clasie maybe, no chance of Gündoǧan as nferno suggests) although in Tommy's case I think he's better suited to playing alongside a Parker or Livermore type as with Sandro they would both look to anchor the midfield and be falling over each other.

 

[THOWIG]

We have one. Arguably one of the best in the world.

We need someone who can find space, pass the ball forward and create chances.

 

[Spurger King]

Sandro is the ideal holding midfielder, so it's a question of who to play alongside him.

Personally I think none of our other midfielders make the grade. For a while I thought Dembele was a fantastic signing, but he's now had probably as many poor games as good games for us.

 

[Dundalk_Spur]

But you were asking about holding midfielders which is exactly what Sandro is. In the 4-3-3 we will hopefully switch to next season, Sandro will be the holding player - marshalling side to side while Dembélé and presumably Holtby put pressure on the ball higher up the pitch. Should we want a deep lying playmaker type (incidentally, in Jol's lop-sided 4-4-2 Carrick was the holding midfielder and did exactly this job) for any reason, then we can always bring in Huddlestone or a new signing (Clasie maybe, no chance of Gündoǧan as nferno suggests) although in Tommy's case I think he's better suited to playing alongside a Parker or Livermore type as with Sandro they would both look to anchor the midfield and be falling over each other.

I was more talking about the evolution og our midfield from "needing" a destroyer the having a midfield that can win the ball and use it.

Sandro will be our muscle but who will be the guy pulling the strings to compliment him?

 

[mpickard2087]

Sandro is the ideal holding midfielder, so it's a question of who to play alongside him.

Personally I think none of our other midfielders make the grade. For a while I thought Dembele was a fantastic signing, but he's now had probably as many poor games as good games for us.

At last, someone else calls it.

 

[Mr Pink]

Should go all out for Cabaye, would love it if Newcastle went down! - they won't though.

Sandro, Cabaye and Dembele would an awesome three for next season. Perfect balance of strength, power and passing ability.