Midfield 3

[Tottenham_God]

Which combination of our superb crop of CM's is your first choice for a cup final come the end of the season? and why?

Everyone is fit hypothetically.

For me its Sandro Eriksen Paulinho.

Pretty self explanatory why, box to box tenacity from Paul, Playmaking from Eriksen and the robust Sandro to shield the back four and play simple passes.

I know this is very presumptuous Eriksen will be a hit, but I'm more than confident in his abilities.

I would have added a poll but to many alternatives.

Cant wait to hear from the Dembele lovers.

 

[beats1]

This thread came too soon as we dont know who is in AVB's plans

I would love a Holtby, Eriksen, Lamela, Sandro and Paulinho(or a fully fit dembele) midfield. Sandro would stay in the middle whilst the others could potentially interchange in a similar way to Ajax which has been very effective against teams in the CL like Man City

 

[spurs9]

Which combination of our superb crop of CM's is your first choice for a cup final come the end of the season.

Everyone is fit also hypothetically.

For me its Sandro Eriksen Paulinho.

Pretty self explanatory why, box to box tenacity from Paul, Playmaking from Eriksen and the robust Sandro to shield the back four and play simple passes.

I know this is very presumptuous Eriksen will be a hit, but I'm more than confident in his abilities.

I would have added a poll but to many alternatives.

Cant wait to hear from the Dembele lovers.

I agree that on paper, that looks like the best mid 3 (or even mid 2 with 1 AMC).

Capoue Holtby Dembele also looks fantastic though. I think who ever plays will depend on form and what strengths they have vs who were are playing or how we want to play against the oppo.

 

[Tottenham_God]

I agree that on paper, that looks like the best mid 3 (or even mid 2 with 1 AMC).

Capoue Holtby Dembele also looks fantastic though. I think who ever plays will depend on form and what strengths they have vs who were are playing or how we want to play against the oppo.

Of course in reality it comes down to tactics and opponent but the question was who was your first choice 3.

 

[formlesswater]

Which combination of our superb crop of CM's is your first choice for a cup final come the end of the season? and why?

Everyone is fit hypothetically.

For me its Sandro Eriksen Paulinho.

Pretty self explanatory why, box to box tenacity from Paul, Playmaking from Eriksen and the robust Sandro to shield the back four and play simple passes.

I know this is very presumptuous Eriksen will be a hit, but I'm more than confident in his abilities.

I would have added a poll but to many alternatives.

Cant wait to hear from the Dembele lovers.

That is obviously a very strong side. The only potential problem I see with that would be if the other team applied high pressure up the field. Sandro is not much of a passer. Paulinho isn't either, and he also isn't the dribbler that dembele is. With Eriksen presumably playing further up the pitch, it might be difficult for us to play out of the back, especially when you consider who our fullbacks are. Maybe substituting Capoue for Sandro, or Dembele for Paulinho would allow us to retain possession better and play out the back more comfortably.

 

[Tottenham_God]

That is obviously a very strong side. The only potential problem I see with that would be if the other team applied high pressure up the field. Sandro is not much of a passer. Paulinho isn't either, and he also isn't the dribbler that dembele is. With Eriksen presumably playing further up the pitch, it might be difficult for us to play out of the back, especially when you consider who our fullbacks are. Maybe substituting Capoue for Sandro, or Dembele for Paulinho would allow us to retain possession better and play out the back more comfortably.

So your first choice would be Capoue Eriksen Dembele?

 

[DaSpurs]

I'm with the OP. This international break was relatively lucky for us in lieu of the Capoue injury and Sandro having more time to return to fitness/build confidence in his knee. I think we'll see Holtby get the start at CAM though on Saturday, he's been playing well and was able to stay and train with the guys who stayed behind, while Eriksen has barely even trained with our boys. Very rarely have we seen AVB put a player right into the starting lineup, a trend which will only be propagated by our depth at the moment.

 

[formlesswater]

So your first choice would be Capoue Eriksen Dembele?

If I have to choose, I'll say Capoue - Paulinho - Eriksen.

 

[robp135]

Don't we play 5 in midfield?

 

[Tottenham_God]

Don't we play 5 in midfield?

Argueable, the wide players are more wide inverted forwards nowadays..

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

I think dembele's a good player, not sure if that makes me a drmbele lover. Just think he's technically a very good footballer who you can play the ball into even if there's people on top of you and he won't lose it generally. He's also a powerful boy and does break up a lot of the oppositions play. He can release the ball quicker than he does at times for sure. For me that midfield we played against arsenal dominated the ball, similar to how chelsea played a few years ago but they had drogba roben, duff/cole. Chalk and cheese to what we put out last week. In quite a few games i would still like to see a similar midfield to last week, but with Ericksen, Lamela and Soldado/Adebayor up top. It can still and will work against some teams.

 

[Holtby City]

--Eriksen--Soldado--Lamela

--Capoue--Sandro--Paulinho

Dominate CM, have Eriksen as a floating LF/#10 providing the creativity, whilst Lamela gets up closest supporting Soldado. Fullbacks overlap to provide the width

Against weaker teams I'd bring in Holtby for Capoue. Eventually I'd move Eriksen back to CM, but not till he's settled and till we've bought a Willian-like player to play LF.

 

[DaSpurs]

--Eriksen--Soldado--Lamela

--Capoue--Sandro--Paulinho

Dominate CM, have Eriksen as a floating LF/#10 providing the creativity, whilst Lamela gets up closest supporting Soldado. Fullbacks overlap to provide the width

Against weaker teams I'd bring in Holtby for Capoue. Eventually I'd move Eriksen back to CM, but not till he's settled and till we've bought a Willian-like player to play LF.

If we've learned anything from the last few weeks, including preseason, it's that the "dominant middle three" concept does not work. AVB's moves at the end of the window lend further evidence to this.

 

[Nocando]

Lol we haven't even see eriksen play for us yet.

 

[ClintEastwould]

--Eriksen--Soldado--Lamela

--Capoue--Sandro--Paulinho

Dominate CM, have Eriksen as a floating LF/#10 providing the creativity, whilst Lamela gets up closest supporting Soldado. Fullbacks overlap to provide the width

Against weaker teams I'd bring in Holtby for Capoue. Eventually I'd move Eriksen back to CM, but not till he's settled and till we've bought a Willian-like player to play LF.

 

[Tottenham_God]

Lol we haven't even see eriksen play for us yet.

Party pooper

 

[Holtby City]

If we've learned anything from the last few weeks, including preseason, it's that the "dominant middle three" concept does not work. AVB's moves at the end of the window lend further evidence to this.

I don't know - we've been dominating possession and have conceded just 1 in 5.

All we've lacked has been a spark in that final third - to link our commanding CM with Soldado. And our last two summer signings give us exactly that.

Try Eriksen and Lamela in place of Chadli and Townsend, and lets see how the wall of steel starts conquering all comers.

 

[DaSpurs]

I don't know - we've been dominating possession and have conceded just 1 in 5.

All we've lacked has been a spark in that final third - to link our commanding CM with Soldado. And our last two summer signings give us exactly that.

Try Eriksen and Lamela in place of Chadli and Townsend, and lets see how the wall of steel starts conquering all comers.

The creativity is lacking in the middle, and needs to come from the middle. Eriksen or Holtby in that CAM role provide a massive plus in linkup play between the other two central mids and the forward three.

 

[parklane1]

If we've learned anything from the last few weeks, including preseason, it's that the "dominant middle three" concept does not work. AVB's moves at the end of the window lend further evidence to this.

Considering we have not even see Eriksen or Lamela play yet i would suggest we have not learnt anything at the moment.

 

[Tottenham_God]

Considering we have not even see Eriksen or Lamela play yet i would suggest we have not learnt anything at the moment.

I have seen them both play.