Our Midfield can't handle physicality.

Still have no idea why this has become such a popular opinion after Sunday. We had no problems in midfield against Hibs, we dominated large parts of the game.

It's been a popular trope on this forum for years now. That we need a hard bastard sitting in the midfield to protect us from the jobbers. When actually we just need better and more attack minded players than them. Having a hatchet man in the middle last weekend makes zero difference to the overall result.
 
We failed to shut down two crosses, one for each side that led to their goals. Connor Goldson had an uncharacteristically bad game. First goal McGregor wouldn't have lost that goal. Davis and Arfield didn't track back their man. Individual errors, nothing to do with physicality at all.

Our concentration is easily disrupted. After losing both goals we went really flat, poor very poor attitude from the team. We lack leaders on the park, not hammer throwers.
 
We won leagues with Davis in midfield. Do you really think Arfield is weak ? Kamara isn't robust enough for me, he never gets angry.

Davis is nearly 10 years down the line since then.
Arfield is 32 in about 6 weeks.

Teams play with high intensity against our midfield for one reason, it works.
 
This lad would be a good addition.....

Jakub Moder, 21, 6ft 3, Lech Poznan.
Breaks up play for fun, good range of passing, two footed, loves a long range shot.....
 
FFS We got a 2 each draw with a team away from home who are playing really well. They didn't boss us even though we didn't dominate as we have recently but that's football. We had chances to bury the game which we didn't take and they tied with a dodgy goal. Despite missing key midfielders we still edged the play in a difficult tie and should have won.
Good summary. Sick of all the negative shit - after one game where we still should have won against an in form team at theirs. Beat Willem II and we will all be good again.
 
I've been saying this since last fecking summer!!!!!!

Not just a hatchet man in midfield someone with pace and power to drive the team on and take the game by the scruff of the neck when it's needed.

Obviously not going to be cheap but those players are out there.
While I agree with you mate .that sort of player for rangers would spend more time in the stands than on the park with the refs we have in Scotland. Just look at Scott Brown of Celtic a thug who gets off with rash and dangerous challenges simply because he plays for Celtic and refs are to scared to send him off.
 
While I agree with you mate .that sort of player for Rangers would spend more time in the stands than on the park with the refs we have in Scotland. Just look at Scott Brown of Celtic a thug who gets off with rash and dangerous challenges simply because he plays for Celtic and refs are to scared to send him off.
I think we need to try and get past this we need good players the one I described would be perfect just need to find him.
 
That’s not the problem with our midfield at all

If we match the aggression and tackles opponents make we play with 8 men every game

We need to improve the midfield but nothing to do with physicality
 
Rather than a hatchet man, I would much prefer for a player that will run like %^*& for an hour chasing down everything and pressuring teams. It’s obvious we don’t have a team that can keep the pressure up for a full game, so have players that bust a gut for as long as possible and use one of the subs to replace him.
 
Whilst I hope we sign a commanding, forceful midfielder, as has been pointed out this is not why we dropped points at the weekend, sloppiness at both ends of the pitch cost us, when we play quickly with high intensity we are a match for most teams, we are not good enough yet to be able to drop the pace then pick it up again we need players who can do it for 90 +minutes or have enough quality on the bench to ensure standards do not drop.
 
We had Jason Holt and Docherty who could run all day and they were not the answer.

We need football players who can dictate tempo, know when we need to keep hold of it and play simple, but also know when, and how, to lift the pace.

Its quality and a range of passing we need not blind endeavour.
 
personally i dont see the physical side of the midfield the problem i honestly think when we play against a team who play 2 up top we struggle big time. maybe a proper holding midfielder will help that tho
 
Good summary. Sick of all the negative shit - after one game where we still should have won against an in form team at theirs. Beat Willem II and we will all be good again.
Bang on mate. People on here expect us to win every game and not just by a goal, oh no, 3,4 or 5 is the favoured option, home or away.

When we won 9 in a row, we were the most powerful and biggest spenders in the league. In fact if we hadnt taken our second season as a given under souness, then we would have had 11 in a row.

Hard as it is for some, we are no longer the most powerful club and dont give me the usual nonsence about them being in financial free fall, being hearing that since we came back to the top league.

Sadly football has changed and when you see 2 strong football nations like italy and Germany turning into one club shows, it shows you the way football has went.
 
A centre mid who can run the game, knowing when to play a simple side pass, but then move into a different position to create space, when to take on a man, when to burst forward, when to give away a foul to break up play, etc etc . We have very little of that, just tidy players who can move the ball around side to side without really hurting a team.
 
Tavernier’s words from last season stuck with me, we don’t like it when teams get in our face.

We need to change that mentality in the squad and as mentioned in other threads we haven’t signed any first team players other than Hagi and Roofe.

We need players in that are up for a fight and that won’t mind getting stuck in.
 
Seen it countless times, its the main problem in our team right now, hopefully the board back the manager and get the meanest looking b*stard they can find, we need an enforcer who'll stand up to the bullies in our league!
Absolute bunkum our players are not allowed to tackle aggressively by the referees for fear of a early bath you know it they know it and the players know it.
 
I've been saying this since last fecking summer!!!!!!

Not just a hatchet man in midfield someone with pace and power to drive the team on and take the game by the scruff of the neck when it's needed.

Obviously not going to be cheap but those players are out there.
Thats at least two players then. But who? Within our price range...
 
You have to wonder if we as a club are just viewed as a soft touch in general. Today's action by the SFA seem to be a slap in the face to us all for just accepting everything that is thrown at us. The time for meekly just accepting the status quo and turning the other cheek has to change from the players and management to the board room. Enough is enough.
 
This board is genuienely getting ruined. Anytime someone has an opinion they post a brand new thread. Its a mess.

The same shitey misinformed opinion has been posted 100 times, tore apart 100 times, and posted again.

There is no function to search threads as far as I can see. That isn't helping.
 
Seen it countless times, its the main problem in our team right now, hopefully the board back the manager and get the meanest looking b*stard they can find, we need an enforcer who'll stand up to the bullies in our league!


Can you give me examples of this?

Can't recall many, if any games where we've been out muscled in the middle of the park since Gerrard came.
 
Hearts twice last season and Kilmarnock the teams lacks physicality it's plain to see.

When teams turn games into a battle we don't like it.


Sorry mate, don't buy that.

Individual defensive errors, (McGregor, Barisic, Edmundson, Kamara), along with a glut of missed chances, cost us those games.

Our midfield, can look after themselves fine.
Hibs tried it on Sunday too and they couldn't lay a glove on our midfield for the majority of the game.

I think they mustered about 30% possession against us.

Against the mentally challengeds at Hampden and the piggery last season too, our midfield was way too strong for their's.

Brown, McGregor and Christie simply couldn't cope with Kamara, Aribo and Arfield (Hampden) and Davis (piggery).
We regularly hustled them into surrendering possession.

If you look at the vast majority of points we've dropped, it's been because of individual errors, at the back or up front, as opposed to being out muscled in the middle of the park.
 
Says it til I'm blue in the face-

SG was a physical midfielder who loved a battle, he knows what's required in the engine room but time after time we see our powder puff midfield kicked from pillar to post.

When was the last time we had a hard man in there, someone to be in referees faces, cherishing a 50-50 and having opponents running scared?

I'm bemused as to why SG can't see this blatant issue staring him in the face. When we are sitting at 1-1 75mins on a winters night away to Aberdeen, County etc we need to through tippy tippy football out the fucking window and win at all costs.

Until the manager sees this and puts his pride to the side then we sadly won't be challenging.
 
Hard to be physical when officials are ready to whistle and flash cards. Jack seen that his first few months despite playing as he did with aberdeen.
 
Intensity is what we need. Someone who gets the other players playing and working hard, an effort-shamer, if you like. See Stuart McCall. It’s all in the mind.
 
We get into great attacking positions time and time again without a resultant effort at goal far to bloody often.

Our opponents on the other hand get into a fraction of the attacking positions but usually somehow muster an effort towards goal or sometimes even manage a goal.

Why can Hibs for example score 2 goals from a fraction of the chances they got compared to us? Do they have a better intent when they get into a threatening position Vs us who are happy to get there, add 7 or 8 extra passes or even find a way to work it back to Goldson?

Look at our various league killing or cup killing slip ups. Why do they manage to hurt us with a fraction of possession and goalscoring opportunities? They cant be more clinical as we have better players. They therefore must have more intent when they do find an opportunity presented.

For me.
Have an intent to get more efforts on goal more often during a game.
Stop looking for the perfect tap in goal.
If we manage 10 efforts on goal, get that up to 20.
If we are managing 20 efforts on goal, get it up to 30 or 40. We have plenty of opportunities. Get a shot at goal more often and even these stubborn defences will crack from the barrage of efforts hitting their busy keeper. Opposition keepers should leave that field covered head to toe in dirt/pellets from diving about all afternoon.

We need midfield players in particular who have a natural instinct (and ability) to shoot when a good opportunity presents.
We have too many who's first natural instinct in a goalscoring area is not to shoot and instead naturally want to move the ball onto someone else (who in turn naturally wants to move it on).

Attack, work it forward and have something to show as an effort for getting into that attacking position.
Get those shots on goal stats up. We should never ever play a team in Scotland where we have limited our attempts/shots at goal.

Hit the fecking thing! Shoot!!!
 
None of them ever get angry, that’s where the problem lies. We accept these ridiculous challenges. I don’t think we get bullied but we certainly get fouled and if we started getting into the refs face and putting pressure and maybe some doubt in his mind then maybe he wouldn’t find it so easy to give so many decisions in one game against us. Just about every other team has players who constantly have the refs ear, they’re telling the ref that we have a cheek to hit the ground so he only hears one side of the story so why wouldn’t he favour that.

That’s it, they never look annoyed other than the wee ten minute huff they go in after conceding as discussed on H&H this week.
 
I don't agree with the physicality argument - which is good, because the "refereeing" in Scotland would make that very difficult for us to counter. We would rarely finish a game with a full team on the pitch and also suffer the consequences in later games with key players suspended.

I don't see our midfield backing out of challenges or letting themselves be bullied. What I do see is a reluctance to take on the responsibility of shooting. I like a lot about Kamara - but he is the main offender. Couple that with the snail pace passes he habitually hits across defensive areas and he slows us down far too much. If he can correct these two habitual flaws, he will be a top player for us (IMO). If he can't, we really need Aribo or A N Other with attacking intent and energy (not thuggery) to take his place.

And while I'm having a gripe, I might as well add that Goldson needs to stop running with his elbows and wrists bent like a girlie. :))
 
This lad would be a good addition.....

Jakub Moder, 21, 6ft 3, Lech Poznan.
Breaks up play for fun, good range of passing, two footed, loves a long range shot.....
Going to be very interested to see how this lad gets on Thursday, their best player by a distance. Haven't seen too much of him but have been really really impressed with him.
 
Going to be very interested to see how this lad gets on Thursday, their best player by a distance. Haven't seen too much of him but have been really really impressed with him.
I know nothing about them. Let’s hope we can keep him quiet.
 
I think we lack a quality midfielder, perhaps this new guy can be the man. Our midfield is solid but lacks a bit of quality, Aribo is the best but he is more of an attacker really.
 
Looking back this thread is a right laugh, the number of posters posting absolute pish is incredible. Some folk on here really think they know more about playing in midfield than the gaffer and Gary Mac. Mind boggling
My least favourite excuse - we need a 'physical presence'. No, we need quality. It's went almost unnoticed, but wee bits of skill like Hagi for the first goal in Sunday where he 'flip flapped' the ball to put it inside the defender when he passed to Defoe. A beautiful piece of skill. This gave defoe more time to get his shot away. Then the quick thinking to move the ball to Aribo on the rebound. 2 sublime pieces of skill that broke Livi down. There are few players, if any, in Scotland who can do that.
Some bears moaning that we were pushed about versus Hibs.. We absolutely dominated the match and, with a wee bit more quality in front of goal we could have won easily.
 
Do an Osijek and sign him!! Looks a good player. Worth noting he is a Brighton player tho, 9m they paid
 
My least favourite excuse - we need a 'physical presence'. No, we need quality. It's went almost unnoticed, but wee bits of skill like Hagi for the first goal in Sunday where he 'flip flapped' the ball to put it inside the defender when he passed to Defoe. A beautiful piece of skill. This gave defoe more time to get his shot away. Then the quick thinking to move the ball to Aribo on the rebound. 2 sublime pieces of skill that broke Livi down. There are few players, if any, in Scotland who can do that.
Some bears moaning that we were pushed about versus Hibs.. We absolutely dominated the match and, with a wee bit more quality in front of goal we could have won easily.

A player that I feel who is a total joy to watch In my time watching football, (I'm 65); not everyone's top guy,; not my point, but, Andria Pierlo said, "Football is a game played with the head, the feet are merely the tools".

Young Hagi is that type of player.

Look at his movement, look at the runs he makes. Examine his lay off balls?

As an old bastard - you young guys are witnessing something special - Appreciate and forgive.
 
Looking back this thread is a right laugh, the number of posters posting absolute pish is incredible. Some folk on here really think they know more about playing in midfield than the gaffer and Gary Mac. Mind boggling

Yeah it’s mental isn’t it. And some people thought they knew more about defending than Davie Weir but look at how watertight our defence was when he was coaching. We never lost silly goals and we were solid at the back. Not to mention all our trophies to date make our coaches infallible.
 
It seems to be a Scottish thing to default to physicality, heart, passion and desire/mentality whenever something goes wrong in football.

Can't understand it at all.
 
My least favourite excuse - we need a 'physical presence'. No, we need quality. It's went almost unnoticed, but wee bits of skill like Hagi for the first goal in Sunday where he 'flip flapped' the ball to put it inside the defender when he passed to Defoe. A beautiful piece of skill. This gave defoe more time to get his shot away. Then the quick thinking to move the ball to Aribo on the rebound. 2 sublime pieces of skill that broke Livi down. There are few players, if any, in Scotland who can do that.
Some bears moaning that we were pushed about versus Hibs.. We absolutely dominated the match and, with a wee bit more quality in front of goal we could have won easily.
Not to forget honest officials sometimes help
 
Back
Top