Our midfield is far too one dimensional.

Mezzala said:
This is the third game in a row that our midfield has been very unimpressive against teams that don't give them loads of time on the ball.

Jack, Davis and Kamara have all been very good over the course of the season. Aribo and Arfield have been brilliant for spells and not so good the rest of the time. The issue is that 4 of the 5 are virtually identical in terms of the job they'll do, we can recycle possession really well when everyone is on form but that's about it.

The way we play means most of our attacks are built around giving the ball to either our fullbacks or our 10's, there's nothing inherently wrong with that but we really need some more dynamism in the middle of the pitch. There is a very real danger that we will stagnate if this isn't addressed.

We need to go from strength to strength rather than taking sideways steps and saying it's ok because it's good enough for most games in Scotland.
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FFS we are back where we belong and loving it, breaking all sorts of records at home and in Europe and somebody wants to moan that we are not good enough. B-D
 
wee bud's pit boots said:
In the summer of 1964 and had everything, it all turned to mush.

Don't get too over complacent.

Yesterday's p1sh showed we have nothing to be too over confident about.

The first weekend of this month was a monumental step for us all. Especially for the young troops. It was a long train coming.

But people saying, we need to prepare all over again I think are only echoing the manager's inner thoughts.

I could say the manager's innervisions, because oor Stevie's a Wonder. Boom boom.
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Yes, 1964 should be a lesson to us all. Treble winners, we'd won the last 5 trophies on the bounce. We had two world class players in Baxter and Henderson at their magnificent peak.....and then we go and finish 5th!

In more recent memory the year 2000 again shows how quickly things can turn. We'd won the league by 21 pts from the Vermin,we strolled the Scottish Cup Final in the Orange. We were miles ahead. They went on to win the treble.

The time to strengthen is when you're on top and I'm quite sure our manager knows this only too well as his beloved Liverpool were past masters at it in the 1970's & 80's.
 
Mezzala said:
This is the third game in a row that our midfield has been very unimpressive against teams that don't give them loads of time on the ball.

Jack, Davis and Kamara have all been very good over the course of the season. Aribo and Arfield have been brilliant for spells and not so good the rest of the time. The issue is that 4 of the 5 are virtually identical in terms of the job they'll do, we can recycle possession really well when everyone is on form but that's about it.

The way we play means most of our attacks are built around giving the ball to either our fullbacks or our 10's, there's nothing inherently wrong with that but we really need some more dynamism in the middle of the pitch. There is a very real danger that we will stagnate if this isn't addressed.

We need to go from strength to strength rather than taking sideways steps and saying it's ok because it's good enough for most games in Scotland.
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To be fair they looked knackered which is understandable. Theyve been emptying the tank week on week and its caught up a little bit, especially after all the emotion of recent weeks. Just lacked a little zip around execution yesterday with too much crafting about.

My one slight annoyance from the game was they didnt hit more long shots. If theyre a bit off at least have a dig, could break for someone else or force a corner.
 
Theresa May said:
Far too easy a point to make, which totally avoids engagement in a legitimate debate

We n leed variety in midfield, if we are to progess to the next level, of that there is no doubt.
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Yes I think with Jack almost always injured and Arfield who has obvious limitation
EH47 said:
FFS we are back where we belong and loving it, breaking all sorts of records at home and in Europe and somebody wants to moan that we are not good enough. B-D
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I don't think it's moaning I think it's being realistic and our midfield was shown up as pedestrian in our last game in Europe Gérard knows this and there will be new midfielders targeted I am sure, we have had a great season and I am happy but we have to improve for next season.
 
EH47 said:
FFS we are back where we belong and loving it, breaking all sorts of records at home and in Europe and somebody wants to moan that we are not good enough. B-D
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you must be female and dont know the difference between a discussion and a moan. Why come onto a discussion board to shut down discussion, as a wise vulcan once said

tenor.gif
 
It needs some additions in the summer but to say that the midfield is too one dimensional is very harsh imo.
 
I don't think one dimensional is the correct term. I think we have players that can win the ball back, some players that are fantastic at controlling games, but we also have players like Aribo and Hagi who offer something completely different when played in the middle park. We can certainly improve the midfield and personally I think we need to replace Jack (due to fitness rather than performance). Think sometimes we could do with more energy in a player like Arfield but with slightly more technical quality. He was excellent for a spell and always a goal threat, but he's not been the same since his injury.

I think we could also improve in bringing another player in Kent's mould.
 
Alex Venters said:
Yes, 1964 should be a lesson to us all. Treble winners, we'd won the last 5 trophies on the bounce. We had two world class players in Baxter and Henderson at their magnificent peak.....and then we go and finish 5th!

In more recent memory the year 2000 again shows how quickly things can turn. We'd won the league by 21 pts from the Vermin,we strolled the Scottish Cup Final in the Orange. We were miles ahead. They went on to win the treble.

The time to strengthen is when you're on top and I'm quite sure our manager knows this only too well as his beloved Liverpool were past masters at it in the 1970's & 80's.
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They just don't get it do they? Some of ours.
 
Mezzala said:
This is the third game in a row that our midfield has been very unimpressive against teams that don't give them loads of time on the ball.

Jack, Davis and Kamara have all been very good over the course of the season. Aribo and Arfield have been brilliant for spells and not so good the rest of the time. The issue is that 4 of the 5 are virtually identical in terms of the job they'll do, we can recycle possession really well when everyone is on form but that's about it.

The way we play means most of our attacks are built around giving the ball to either our fullbacks or our 10's, there's nothing inherently wrong with that but we really need some more dynamism in the middle of the pitch. There is a very real danger that we will stagnate if this isn't addressed.

We need to go from strength to strength rather than taking sideways steps and saying it's ok because it's good enough for most games in Scotland.
Click to expand...
I think it’s a fair point - the European matches demonstrated to me that our midfield needs to offer a bit more offensively. They are great at soaking up pressure and doing the defensive side of things - not so effective at unlocking a defence.
the 433 formation is key to Gerrard’s philosophy and it clearly isn’t changing - which means that our players need to take on a bit more responsibility.

Ryan Jack is vital but we struggle to get 4 or 5 months of uninterrupted football from him without injury striking. Aribo & Hagi are magnificent footballers but both need to learnt to take a game by the scruff of the neck and dominate it.
 
Without the ball out midfield are outstanding. In terms of the work they deliver and the quality in winning back possession.

Football is about levels though and right now it looks like our level is last 32 in Europe. Absolutely no disgrace in that, but the Champions league will be a step up.

Davis or Jack with Kamara is a great two in a midfield. Where I think an upgrade is due is in the third midfielder spot.

If we could add one or two who would bring energy and goals into the third midfield slot I think it would take us to another level.

To have aspirations of making our mark at champions league level an upgrade there and another body in up top who has really Kent like quality and we would be golden.

I'm not delving into replacements for anyone leaving, as its just too early to call who might be sold.
 
RabSpackman said:
I think it’s a fair point - the European matches demonstrated to me that our midfield needs to offer a bit more offensively. They are great at soaking up pressure and doing the defensive side of things - not so effective at unlocking a defence.
the 433 formation is key to Gerrard’s philosophy and it clearly isn’t changing - which means that our players need to take on a bit more responsibility.

Ryan Jack is vital but we struggle to get 4 or 5 months of uninterrupted football from him without injury striking. Aribo & Hagi are magnificent footballers but both need to learnt to take a game by the scruff of the neck and dominate it.
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nailed it
 
CaptainStaunch said:
Possibly guilty of being a homer, however I'm not convinced that Slavia are a better team than us. They certainly were better over the two legs of the tie, which is when it counted. But they benefitted massively from 2 uncharacteristic errors by McGregor. I don't think our team did themselves justice in the tie. They're capable of far better than they produced, but unfortunately you get games like that. It doesn't diminish what's been a magnificent season from them.
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I think they are better ( horrible team but better)
If they were in our league..they'd win it.

We have a wee bit to find before we'd comfortably beat them on a regular basis.
 
What ever summer budget we have should go on a centre midfielder and a right sided number 10.
 
The midfield have been amazing this season, an integral part of our defensive stability and also giving decent support to forward line.

It is however an area we really need to upgrade IMO, Jack’s injury record is a worry and Davis age means we shouldn’t be reliant on him being a start for majority of the games.

I’ll get pelters for this as Davis has been immense this season but time waits for no man and Davis is at the age now where we should expect a decline in performance levels. I hope the contract extension is with a view to allowing us to bed in his replacement, we can’t wait until Davis struggles and then look to replace him. Cel’ic have paid the price for not replacing brown before he was done, we shouldn’t make the same mistake.
 
Alex Venters said:
Yes, 1964 should be a lesson to us all. Treble winners, we'd won the last 5 trophies on the bounce. We had two world class players in Baxter and Henderson at their magnificent peak.....and then we go and finish 5th!

In more recent memory the year 2000 again shows how quickly things can turn. We'd won the league by 21 pts from the Vermin,we strolled the Scottish Cup Final in the Orange. We were miles ahead. They went on to win the treble.

The time to strengthen is when you're on top and I'm quite sure our manager knows this only too well as his beloved Liverpool were past masters at it in the 1970's & 80's.
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Totally agree this season has been exceptionally good outstanding. But we are lightweight in midfield and to a degree it showed yesterday and we need a game changer in midfield which won’t be cheap. That mob won’t sit still whether they have lots of cash to spend who really knows but yesterday Brown looked pretty good and he’s done which for me was alarming.
 
It's pretty obvious Ryan Jack has an incurable fitness issue and it will be in and out for him which is a pity as he is a fine defensive midfielder. I think SG thought that Zungu was the addition we needed in midfield but he has been used so sparingly it looks like we will be looking for another in this position.
 
Hopefully got a similar budget to last summer possibly more from us winning the league, champions league money to some capacity and a better performance in Europe and maybe one or two player sales on top of it, I do think sometimes we look a bit easily overrun in midfield and miss someone with the physicality to take the game by the scruff of the neck and a bit of drive to pull the opposition out, to qualify for the groups I feel the midfield needs one or two upgrades for the starting 11 and maybe an upgrade in the rw area since I think we’d struggle a bit against the likes of slavia again, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb
 
Alex Venters said:
Yes, 1964 should be a lesson to us all. Treble winners, we'd won the last 5 trophies on the bounce. We had two world class players in Baxter and Henderson at their magnificent peak.....and then we go and finish 5th!

In more recent memory the year 2000 again shows how quickly things can turn. We'd won the league by 21 pts from the Vermin,we strolled the Scottish Cup Final in the Orange. We were miles ahead. They went on to win the treble.

The time to strengthen is when you're on top and I'm quite sure our manager knows this only too well as his beloved Liverpool were past masters at it in the 1970's & 80's.
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Absolutely, and an even more recent example is the scum themselves. When the league was halted last season they were well clear and we were in free fall. Fast forward a year and we’ve utterly trounced them in the league.

I’m enjoying every minute of this season but things can change significantly and that change can come fast so we should never rest on our laurels and always be thinking about our next move. To be honest I wish those who have a problem with it would just exit the thread and give the rest of us peace.
 
BiopsyJones said:
I think some people underestimate how much Ryan Jack is missed when he is unavailable.
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The only problem is his body can’t cope with a full season. So, what do you do? Move him on and bring in someone with similar quality, but who is a bit more robust? Keep him and get another you can rotate him with? I think if we improve the quality in that area, Jack and Arfield both probably step back as reserve/ squad players anyway.
 
Graemelins said:
The only problem is his body can’t cope with a full season. So, what do you do? Move him on and bring in someone with similar quality, but who is a bit more robust? Keep him and get another you can rotate him with? I think if we improve the quality in that area, Jack and Arfield both probably step back as reserve/ squad players anyway.
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Jack is very much under appreciated, some players just seem to get that. He is never a reserve player, in fact he's the most important midfielder we have and along with Goldson and Morelos virtually indispensable to the way we like to play..
His injury problems are an ongoing problem.
 
Graemelins said:
The only problem is his body can’t cope with a full season. So, what do you do? Move him on and bring in someone with similar quality, but who is a bit more robust? Keep him and get another you can rotate him with? I think if we improve the quality in that area, Jack and Arfield both probably step back as reserve/ squad players anyway.
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I have to agree though not with the bit in bold. I don't see Jack or Arfield being able to give us more than we've seen this season so I'd fully agree to see them more as squad players in the future.
 
Ubik said:
I have to agree though not with the bit in bold. I don't see Jack or Arfield being able to give us more than we've seen this season so I'd fully agree to see them more as squad players in the future.
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Aye mate I just meant reserve as in on the bench.
 
M@x said:
And ? You think we could have done better this season?

20 points clear and league won before clocks go forward.

Dominated 90% of games this season. But our midfield isn't good enough?
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He is saying that moving forward we need new midfielders. Given several factors like age and injuries. You always need to keep looking to improve your team regardless of how good it already is.
 
Mezzala said:
This is the third game in a row that our midfield has been very unimpressive against teams that don't give them loads of time on the ball.

Jack, Davis and Kamara have all been very good over the course of the season. Aribo and Arfield have been brilliant for spells and not so good the rest of the time. The issue is that 4 of the 5 are virtually identical in terms of the job they'll do, we can recycle possession really well when everyone is on form but that's about it.

The way we play means most of our attacks are built around giving the ball to either our fullbacks or our 10's, there's nothing inherently wrong with that but we really need some more dynamism in the middle of the pitch. There is a very real danger that we will stagnate if this isn't addressed.

We need to go from strength to strength rather than taking sideways steps and saying it's ok because it's good enough for most games in Scotland.
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I agree here mate. If we are going to try and improve, which I'd say is a certainty, then the midfield and midfield options is where I would start.

Aribo has bags of potential but he simply cannot be relied upon to play in midfield in bigger games.

There is no evidence to suggest we will be trying to keep Zungu either.

We miss Jack immensely and need support of his sort that is terrific defensively and carry the ball forward when needed.

I think arfield has shown in tbe last few games what he isnt up to playing midfield in the bigger games either.

Could see 2 or 3 coming into the midfield with Zungu departing (obviously).
 
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