Our midfield

[Nick Jansky]

Norwood
Fleck
Doyle
Osborn
Berge
Coulibaly

Think this is a main priority in January along with a striker. Them six are either not good enough, injured or can't be expected to play every minute.

5 of them are clearly good enough, the other one we won’t know until we see a bit more of him. All but that one should be fully fit by January. You have also missed out Arblaster, who will pick up more & more minutes as the season progresses.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

5 of them are clearly good enough, the other one we won’t know until we see a bit more of him. All but that one should be fully fit by January. You have also missed out Arblaster, who will pick up more & more minutes as the season progresses.

Fleck - past his best.
Osborn - shouldn't be a starter and doesn't have a solid position.
Berge - doesn't play well in midfield.
Couilbaly - never played a game.
Arblaster - isn't ready yet.

Doyle or Norwood missing and were weak.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Fleck - past his best.
Osborn - shouldn't be a starter and doesn't have a solid position.
Berge - doesn't play well in midfield.
Couilbaly - never played a game.
Arblaster - isn't ready yet.

Doyle or Norwood missing and were weak.

What about McAtee? he's a midfielder...the Man City fans rate him as being far more talented than Doyle.
They don't think Doyle has any genuine chance of breaking into their team but they have high hopes for McAtee.

My view is that Berge and McAtee are good attacking midfielders (especially Berge) but I'm not confident if we're playing away against a physical team.
Where as Doyle and Fleck are more all rounders, who can attack and defend, although Fleck is showing his age and should now be cover for Doyle.

My view is our best midfield is Norwood + Doyle (with Fleck as cover) + Berge (with McAtee as cover)
Slightly concerned about Berge as he looks top quality in spells but can also disappear and be very ineffective, similar with McAtee. At least Doyle and Fleck are reliable and will always do a decent job, altho since his collapse on the pitch the other year we've not seen JF have anywhere near a great game like he used to.

Osborne can be cover (sub) for multiple positions, so he's always really useful to have on the bench.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

What about McAtee? he's a midfielder...the Man City fans rate him as being far more talented than Doyle.
They don't think Doyle has any genuine chance of breaking into their team but they have high hopes for McAtee.

My view is that Berge and McAtee are good attacking midfielders (especially Berge) but I'm not confident if we're playing away against a physical team.
Where as Doyle and Fleck are more all rounders, who can attack and defend, although Fleck is showing his age and is now cover for Berge.

My view is our best midfield is Norwood + Doyle (with Fleck as cover) + Berge (with McAtee as cover)
Slightly concerned about Berge as he looks top quality in spells but can also disappear and be very ineffective, similar with McAtee. At least Doyle and Fleck are reliable and will always do a decent job, altho since his collapse on the pitch the other year we've not seen JF have anywhere near a great game.

Osborne can be cover (sub) for multiple positions, so he's always really useful to have on the bench.

The attacking midfield position doesn't worry me, it's the two in CM.

 

[Sheffsteel]

The attacking midfield position doesn't worry me, it's the two in CM.

"The engine room". Agree it does seem to be non existent in some games.

Think Doyle is probably our best option in that position.
The perfect example was the recent game against Norwich
1st half they were just casually playing around midfield with hardly anyone closing them down, our central midfield seemed non existent.
Then Doyle comes on 2nd half and they no longer control midfield so easily, it becomes a more even midfield battle.

Makes me wonder if it's already been identified as a weak area, hence why we're showing interest in Kone in the MLS.
Fortunately Norwood has found more physicality and bite, at least he's having some impact regards defensive duties.
At the moment the best 2 centre mids are Norwood + Doyle and we need to hope that Norwood keeps contributing when he doesn't have the ball.
Against a quick athletic team like Watford, then Norwood can be chasing shadows when out of possession but he's been defensively OK a lately.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Same midfield for 4 years and still needs strengthening. Blind if you disagree

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Fleck - past his best.
Osborn - shouldn't be a starter and doesn't have a solid position.
Berge - doesn't play well in midfield.
Couilbaly - never played a game.
Arblaster - isn't ready yet.

Doyle or Norwood missing and were weak.

Still stand by this.

 

[Keen Blade]

Still stand by this.

Both missing at Cardiff

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Has been our biggest weakness since Lord Lundstram went on strike and was never replaced, and until Doyle came in we've done nothing to address it.

We have no legs in midfield, no energy, no drive. Last night was crying out for a midfielder to break lines and carry the ball into the 'danger zone'. The list above are a bunch of pass it sideways or run sideways merchants...

TuftyBall was all about switching play horizontally across the pitch, but since that got unravelled we've need a more vertically aligned midfielder and we've simply not got anyone.

 

[coolasanidiot]

Norwood was absolutely fine last night (apart from free kicks) Osborn and Macatee were the issue- too small- too weak, we need power and strength in midfield its just not possible for these two to give us what we need. Both not good enough.

 

[AnstonBlade1]

When teams come and set up like Rotherham did we look absolutely clueless, we can’t break them down.

There’s nobody in that midfield who can run at teams take someone on and score or create a chance. Khadra did more in 10 mins than the rest of them.

Same boring midfield, Flecks past it at this level, Norwood was awful, just kept banging it up to no one( I know your not allowed to slag him off on here) he had two free kicks in decent positions, I’m sorry but you’ve got to hit the target l, work the fucking goal keeper!

 

[Berkshire Blade]

No Doyle, no Berge, no Bogle as an attacking outlet McAtee not anywhere near good enough and Fleck carrying a injury going into the game having to play all the time with Norwood.

Not surprisingly it catches up.

 

[Gimli]

When teams come and set up like Rotherham did we look absolutely clueless, we can’t break them down.

There’s nobody in that midfield who can run at teams take someone on and score or create a chance. Khadra did more in 10 mins than the rest of them.

Same boring midfield, Flecks past it at this level, Norwood was awful, just kept banging it up to no one( I know your not allowed to slag him off on here) he had two free kicks in decent positions, I’m sorry but you’ve got to hit the target l, work the fucking goal keeper!

Fleck just hides now, goes through the motions, it’s sad to see.

Norwood is great, but there’s got to be movement in behind for him to be most effective- and also he has to take responsibility for driving the team forward, so so so many safe sideways passes today.

Ozzy works hard and I don’t think he was as bad last night as others make out, but he’s a battler not really a creator.

Need Berge and Doyle back ASAP - Doyle and Norwood behind Berge is a very good midfield at this level.

 

[finlaytheblade]

I think this guy would be the sort of shout we should be looking at:

Amir Richardson - Player profile 22/23

Amir Richardson, 21, from Morocco ➤ AC Le Havre, since 2022 ➤ Central Midfield ➤ Market value: €3.00m ➤ * Jan 24, 2002 in Nice, France

www.transfermarkt.com

Amir Richardson. French/US, left footed midfielder. Plays on loan to LeHavre from Reims. He's 20 and 6'5". Probably can't get someone who ticks so many boxes at once!

Also a player who is o/c at the end of the season from Toulouse, Branco Van Den Boomen. 27, 1 goal and 4 assists in 13 games. 6'2", know even less about him but what a name!

I think the main issue in rising up to the PL is that in many games you see only a fraction of the ball. It does therefore require a completely different skillset.

Is he an international at some level as without it foreign players can't play in England,something a lot of fans seem to forget.
Blame Brexit for that new rule

 

[finlaytheblade]

Is he an international at some level as without it foreign players can't play in England,something a lot of fans seem to forget.
Blame Brexit for that new rule

Is it 15 points young players without international appearances will find it difficult to reach 15, Coulibaly is a good example of this.

 

[SwissBlade]

Posted elsewhere but Fleck went off injured, some dont seem to have realised that…. we had shape with him on.
Osborn isn’t a midfielder, well done to him for trying though. Stick Bash in there on Saturday if Doyle isn’t fit

 

[Houston_Blade]

Fleck needs a run of 10 games to get back up to speed, the problem is he’s not fit enough to have a run of 10 games without getting injured. He’s pretty much done at our club.

 

[AnstonBlade1]

Posted elsewhere but Fleck went off injured, some dont seem to have realised that…. we had shape with him on.
Osborn isn’t a midfielder, well done to him for trying though. Stick Bash in there on Saturday if Doyle isn’t fit

Some who wear Fleck tinted glasses don’t realise he’s finished and offers absolutely nothing anymore, along with a few others.

 

[SwissBlade]

Some who wear Fleck tinted glasses don’t realise he’s finished and offers absolutely nothing anymore, along with a few others.

I agree.

 

[KiwiBlabe]

Apart from when him and the rest of the useless midfield helped us put 5 past the 16 game unbeaten league leaders.

Yeah useless, finished, get rid of em.

 

[vas borbokis]

Fleck maybe not over his leg break properly but we can't wait 10 games while he gets up to speed. Needs to get himself fit and ready to play or he's no good to us, fantastic as he has been in the pre prem years
What we need to do is bring a left midfielder in whoo is strong, tallish, can run all day and decent technically. Will take money. Board need to work out how to do it. McAttee, & Clarke are offering nothing. Two wages there if sent back.
Get looking down the back of the sofa Princey!

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Barlaser, Wiles or Lindsay worth a chance?

 

[robbiez666]

Slater Is poor but he would have been a godsend this season. We have to play 3 in CM because no two offer enough. Berge was playing in CM but was getting more foreward. Looks poor as a CM. Osborn was doing a simar role. Osborn does a great job of getting into the box and getting back but weak and small. Lacks the creativity but a good squad player. Basham is too slow (acceleration) and clumsy for midfield. Wasn't good enough in league 1 and not got the legs now.

If we're playing two at CM, we need a beast next to Norwood

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Looking likely to be out vs Cardiff.. Berge, Coulibaly, Fleck and Doyle.

Who starts with Norwood? Osborn, Basham or Arblaster?

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Some who wear Fleck tinted glasses don’t realise he’s finished and offers absolutely nothing anymore, along with a few others.

Calf issues are usually a sign of your body telling you it's time...

It's what finished me off, and I know countless others who were finally seen off by constantly tweaking a calf...

 

[Bladesman]

Calf issues are usually a sign of your body telling you it's time...

It's what finished me off, and I know countless others who were finally seen off by constantly tweaking a calf...

Turned out it wasn't a calf issue and he had been clipped on the leg on the area where he had broken it. So he felt a bit sore and Hecky seems to think he might be okay for the weekend.

It's more worrying that Doyle actually has a calf injury.

 

[Big.Dane.w]

Apart from when him and the rest of the useless midfield helped us put 5 past the 16 game unbeaten league leaders.

Yeah useless, finished, get rid of em.

Living in the past mate. If we want to progress most of the old guard need changing asap, get over it and move on

 

[CaptainMorgans]

The midfield has needed freshening up for a few years now.
We were linked with Leroy Fer recently. I've no idea whether he's as good as he was a few seasons ago with Swansea (he's 32 now) but a player of that ilk would be absolutely ideal for us.
Somebody to win the second balls in the middle of the park, shield the defence and allow Norwood to get on the ball higher up the pitch. Someone that can cover a lot of ground and cover the wing backs / centre backs pushing forwards. It would unlock a lot of possibiltiies in our team.

 

[Rochdaleblade]

I thought with the signings of McAtee, Coulibaly and Doyle, we had addressed our long standing problems in midfield. Unfortunately, only the last one has made a positive input.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

I would say McAtee is growing in basic composure on the ball, it's a slow burner but he's got an assured touch.

Doyle has been everything we've been lacking, but isn't fit.

First half at Norwich is the picture of a scenario we need to guard against. We looked nowhere near any loose ball, 50/50, nowhere at all. We need legs that can cover the middle of the park, it's as simple as that for now.