Tavernier as a number 8?

I could see tav being more of a 6 than an 8. In the same way that lahm and kimmich amongst others transitioned from full back. Would be worth a try as it could potentially save us a good few million.
 
I’m not sure Tav, for all his great attributes, has the technique to play 8 in our team and system. One of his best attributes is his crossing, he’d do little to none of that at 8. We really rely on our 8 to cover defensively and track runs, which is a whole new thing to learn doing that from a midfield position rather than right back,
 
Seen the point made on twitter so I thought I'd raise it here.

Tavernier has all the attributes of a very good number 8 at this level, he's athletic, has a good range of passing and is brilliant at carrying the ball forward in wide or central areas of the pitch. He'd arguably be an upgrade on anyone we have in that position and it allows us to play Patterson regularly.

People might think it's a ridiculous decision but I think it's worth the conversation at least.
Behave yourself , do you actually watch football? Tav as a right mid ? Get a grip.
 
Behave yourself , do you actually watch football? Tav as a right mid ? Get a grip.
Behave yourself , did you actually read the post? Tav as a right mid ? Get a grip.

That isn't the position change I suggested.
 
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Tav has all the qualities to play the role that Arfield plays and I genuinely believe he'd be better at it after a couple of months (no slight on Arfield)

But by moving him inside takes away a massive part of how we play. As much as I love the start young Patterson has made, I don't think he's close to having the quality Tav does in an attacking sense.
 
Behave yourself , did you actually read the post? Tav as a rid mid ? Get a grip.

That isn't the position change I suggested.
My point exactly - you know hee haw about football , number 8 ha ha ha . Even Tav would piss his pants are your nonsense.
 
nope! if we have a midfield injury crisis or have used all our subs or something, im sure he could do a job in midfield but i wouldnt entertain trying to convert him to that position.
 
Why would we actively try to convert our best right back into a completely new position?

What’s the point?
Very soon we will have to find a way to play them both or possibly lose Patterson. The boy has had a taste of first team football and wont want to go back to warming the bench. IMO he could be better than Tav.
 
Tavernier should stay in the position he excels in and Patterson needs to give the manager something to think about when making the selection. I'm not sure why anyone feels Tavernier should be moved to an unfamiliar position to accommodate.
 
And my tuppence worth ? literally or not, is that James Tavernier will lose his place to a better player and won’t expect to be shoehorned into a side that doesn’t need him.
 
Very soon we will have to find a way to play them both or possibly lose Patterson. The boy has had a taste of first team football and wont want to go back to warming the bench. IMO he could be better than Tav.

He’s played half a dozen games. Let’s take it easy.

When Patterson contributes 50% of James Tavernier stats then we can look at it again.

But we’re not about to start shoehorning our Captain into an unfamiliar position because we have a promising 19 year old.
 
I'd at least try him playing in front of Patterson in one of the remaining games, if Patterson is available. A lopsided midfield 4, but worth a look.
 
Mate in football this is what you want, you want atleast 2 brilliant players fighting it out for one position, that's healthy for the squad. Just cos you have 2 strong players doesnt mean you start messing around with their positions.
It was just a conversation. I Haddon to agree with you. Just don't want to see Paterson lose momentum
 
Sandy Jardine was an attacker/midfielder who was turned into one of the greatest full backs we have ever seen...then became POTY at Hearts as a sweeper.

Davie Smith was a midfielder who became a jewel of a sweeper.

John Greig was a midfielder who became a right back, then a left back, and lifted trebles. He was even tried (unsuccessfully) at centre forward after scoring something like 5 goals in 3 games.

Davie Cooper was tried at Centre Forward.

Derek Parlane scored against Bayern at right half.

Derek Johnstone...well, I need not go on.


Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

How do you know if you don't try?

We don’t need to try it, Tav’s performances throughout the season have been sensational. His statistics are ridiculous. He got injured, a young kid has come and done brilliantly. He’ll now drop back out due to suspension and the captain will return to the team. Paterson will get plenty games in the coming seasons. Phil Foden doesn’t play every game for Man City and is the best prospect England have had for years.
 
I could maybe at a push see him play at right wing but he's the best right back in the country.

I understand the need to keep Patterson progressing but I believe he will learn more on the training pitch from Tav than out on loan for talking sake.

He'll get his chances next season as well.

Having the two best right backs in the country is a great problem to have.
 
Tavernier is the best Right-back in the country, to play him in another position would be crazy.

Patterson is still developing as a replacement for Tavernier and will still be given game time.
 
Not midfielder or winger he’s right back and a good one. The reason he scores goals he get lots of freedom as a full back. Was tried forward before.
 
Thought I heard yesterday that young Patterson played further forward earlier in his career
He still does, for Scotland youth.

However, having watched a few of their games it is proper dinosaur stuff with 8 defenders playing and a midfield that emphasises “dig” rather than ability.
 
McAllister also hinted that they could accommodate both:

"As a club we are uber-delighted to have two outstanding players in that area of the pitch. There are different formations that, you never know, you might be able to get them both on the pitch at the same time."

From The Athletic.

Surprised so many people are against this when football has been littered with players developing into other positions throughout history, with examples from our own club.

Our assistant manager seems to think it could happen, a member of our staff who's delivered a season like this. I think I'll trust their opinion.
 
I don’t see it happening but a few folk in the thread being a bit cheeky towards the OP.

If there’s ever a position where a player can be versatile and adapt to new things it seems to be full backs.

Seems to happen regularly at Bayern Munich for full backs to change position to centre half or even midfield across the years.
 
Gary mac strongly hinting at tav and Patterson being able to play in the same team. As I said before, I can definitely see tav being adapted in the same way Phillip lahm was for bayern. If it works, it'll save us a fortune on another midfielder and would probably add a couple of years onto tav's career as his pace and stamina are less important in that role.
 
He does have the attributes to play where Arfield is playing but that doesn't mean that's where we should play him. If Patterson really kicks on it's a possibility but at the moment Tavernier is our number 1 right back.
 
He does have the attributes to play where Arfield is playing but that doesn't mean that's where we should play him. If Patterson really kicks on it's a possibility but at the moment Tavernier is our number 1 right back.
But surely for him to really kick on, he needs to be playing regularly, especially in the bigger games.
 
But surely for him to really kick on, he needs to be playing regularly, especially in the bigger games.
Yeh, but Tavernier isn't just going to be dropped and playing him centre mid is just a theory. It will interesting to see how it plays out.
 
But surely for him to really kick on, he needs to be playing regularly, especially in the bigger games.
Not necessarily, you can ease him by having him play 15 games a season - not everyone requires to play games.

I’d rather not risk burning him out and he’s done by the age of 26, whilst we still have a right back who’s a few levels above him.
 
Can't see it happening but it's not as mental a shout as folk are making out.

He played in a similar role for much of his youth career and was used there often for Wigan. Even Warburton tried him centrally, albeit that was out of desperation more than anything.
 
I agree with the op, tav does have all the attributes you want in a box to box midfielder. Brilliant passing, can carry the ball, good in both attacking and defensive positioning. I don’t think you’ll see it much for the first half of the new season, maybe as the season goes on and Patterson does need that extra game time I think we may see it. It’s clearly something the management team have spoken and thought about if Gary Mac is speaking about it at press conferences.
 
Tavernier already plays RB, right mid, right wing and on occasion centre forward. Gie the guy a break ffs.
 
I’d like to see Tav in the position Arfield played on Sunday.

I don’t get why people are dismissive of these ideas. Players get moved into different positions so another good player can make it into the team.
 
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