Midfield - What is the right mix?

[DEFchenkOE]

If we are going to play 433 with Bale on the right, I can see the use of Sissoko being on the right of the midfield 3, especially against stronger teams as Bale's defensive work is poor.

But for the sake of gaining more meaningful possession against worse teams than us we have to use Lo Celso and Ndombele. At the moment though Jose is playing Ndombele too high up imo. Need to have both him and GLC in the middle of the park. With Hojberg obviously.

 

[Haddock]

The long term plan must be to play PEH - Ndombele - Lo Celso together as much as possible.

For far too long we've lacked actual football prowess in midfield. There will be games where physically may be more important but over the course of a season technical players with quality on the ball do make a difference. The more technical players you have, as in players that can receive a ball under pressure and release a quality pass to a team mate, the team as a whole will be much more solid defensively and cohesive offensively. If you look at the absolute best team, such as this current Bayern Münich team. The quality on the ball is just superior to most teams they play and it makes all the difference. Yes, they couple that with immensive work rate amongst other things, but what stands out to me is that pure superior technicality every player in that 11 has.

Lo Celso and Ndombele are young enough to improve some of these aspects that they lack. You can work on defensive aspects like awareness and positioning. You can work on your work rate (See Lamela). Some of these traits come from experience gained by playing in a position. Very few times have I seen a player that I felt lacked technical aspects, or intelligence on the ball, develop those skills.

 

[idontgetit]

I've said it a million times already but PEH should given a role centrally, right in front of the defence. He shouldn't be having to carry the ball forward or play higher up the pitch. He shouldn't be fucking around off to one side of the pitch because you want to squeeze in one more tackler. Play him in the hole.

Then play N'dombele deeper where he can get on the ball more and dictate the play more. And play Lo Celso because he's fucking quality on the ball but still properly gets stuck in. We don't need Sissoko or Winks there, they actually unbalance the defensive shape of the side by cramping PEH out of a central role in front of the defence.

It's PEH's job then to scream at N'dombele and Lo Celso if they're not doing their defensive jobs properly and getting the sitting vs going forward balance wrong.

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

Solid win against West Brom, but if I had to pick a problem that stood out, it was that we struggled a bit through the middle, particularly when it came to trying to win the ball back. West Brom had multiple 5+ minute spells with 70% possession, which our defence thankfully stood up to strongly, but I still wonder what the right combination for the midfield is going forward.

Obviously Hojbjerg is a lock-in starter playing a deeper, anchoring role. He's playing a similar role to Dier and Dembele over the years, but is much more efficient with his distribution by foot.

After that?

Tanguy Ndombele - A high quality talent, but not 100% there yet. We know just how effective powerful, but technical midfielders can be in the EPL with the likes of Yaya Toure, Mousa Dembele, Michael Essien in the past, so I'm sure many here would definitely want to persist with him. That being said, can he be trusted to play a deeper role alongside Hojbjerg? Or will he always be competing for the more attacking-minded midfield slot? For those of you with good memories, I'm sure you all understand the dangers of putting an attacking-minded midfielder in a role that requires strong defensive discipline after Paulinho.

Moussa Sissoko - Solid, okay player. Plays his role pretty well, but limited in ways that are frustrating at times, particularly his efficiency in the final third. I think the coach is partial towards him because you just know what you're going to get, and is very comfortable playing in a deeper role.

Giovani Lo Celso - Excellent technically, questionable fitness according to the coach. Clearly does his best work further up the pitch, and I'm not sure he's suited to a deeper role at all. I remember watching a PSG vs Real Madrid Champions League knockout a few years back where he was deployed as a deep midfielder; he conceded a penalty and looked uncomfortable all game.

Harry Winks - Getting written off, and seems down the pecking order in midfield as of today. That being said, once upon a time, Barcelona had this academy graduate to took until the age of 25 to really explode as a player and fulfill his potential. That player was Andres Iniesta. Meanwhile, Harry Winks is 24....... and he does have Spanish blood running through his veins...............

Comparing winks to iniesta LOL

 

[Duck]

Comparing winks to iniesta LOL

I admit, it's pretty insulting to Winks.

 

[UncleBuck]

What does worry me is when PEH picks up a knock as we’ve got no one who can replace what he’s doing at the moment, and he’s starting every game.
£15m? Got to be the buy of the season!

 

[defoes5]

What does worry me is when PEH picks up a knock as we’ve got no one who can replace what he’s doing at the moment, and he’s starting every game.
£15m? Got to be the buy of the season!

makes you think, if he did get a serious injury, recalling skipp might actually be the best tactical opiton- only if he plays that is

 

[Shadydan]

Hojbjerg doesn't get injured that much, an underrated ability is durability and he seems to have a lot of stamina and a very good mentality, I just think he's one of those players that can play every 3 days and maintain the same sort of level throughout.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

For me the best premier league midfield in recent times is Silva - Fernandinho - De Bruyne.

While Lo Celso and Ndombele don't have the attacking qualities of De Bruyne and Silva, I would say defensively they're probably not too dissimilar. Hojberg and Fernandinho have similar type of attributes I think.

So if City can excel with those two predominantly attacking players in midfield I don't see why we can't with Ndombele and Lo Celso. They don't have to be the toughest tacklers in the world but they do need to be disciplined, when we don't have the ball especially.

I can see why Jose prefers Sissoko at the moment, the issue is the massive drop in technical quality when he's on the ball. Really our next signing in Jan or the summer HAS to be an upgrade on Sissoko. He works hard and has improved for sure, but just not at the level of what we require.. Not his fault he's just extremely limited. Poor passing range, poor control, doesn't score, adds nothing to the team when in possession.

For now though Jose needs to give our most talented midfielders a run in the team. Unfortunately we all know with the run of fixtures we have coming up that it won't happen.

 

[wrd]

For me there's only real two scenarios I'd like to see. One is the obvious, 4-3-3 with Hojbjerg behind Lo Celso and Ndombele with Gio operating slightly wide right to accommodate Bale. If either Lo Celso or Ndombele are not fit enough for the 4-3-3 then instead of trying to force the 4-3-3 I'd rather see a midfield 2 with Hojbjerg next to one and I'd have Lamela coming into the front 4 to add some defensive work and good technical ability. I'd even be happy to see Dele as part of that front 4 if he is willing to work hard and that would be preferable to me over seeing Sissoko, who's main role these days seems to be charging around and fouling opponents when there isn't a need to.

I know the 4-2-3-1 only happens once we're convinced that Tanguy or Gio is ready for the responsibility. As far as I'm concerned I only want to see Sissoko when we're trying to close games out.

 

[double0]

Its probably my Dele Alli blinkers but I'm not writing him off coming into that midfield also Skipp's developing fast we might well have the solution within our squad.

The key for me is getting Ndombele on that ball more.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

winks, sissoko and gedson are all upgradable, hope we can get brozovic and promote skipp and white next season

 

[DogsOfWar]

This season it's PEH, Sissoko, and Lo Celso with us all hoping that Ndombele can get to a level in terms of physical presence to displace Sissoko.

Next season I'd bring back Skipp and bring in another all rounder like Sabitser and rotate the three in the two CM positions. I'd fund it by moving on Dele and Winks. Then have Sissoko and White as emergency cover. And let Lo Celso and Ndombele keep battling it out for the third, more advanced role.

 

[faze_coys]

Bump