Could Brayford play Defensive Midfield?

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Slug

Slug

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Now before i start I know this is slightly hypocritical of me as i hate that we always seem to play square pegs in round holes.
But with Freeman one of our only decent players playing at right back and the return of the beard imminent i was thinking maybe we could try him in the CDM and leave Freeman to continue at right back?

Brayford is full of energy, aggression, can head, tackle, pass, dribble and shoot and more importantly he is a winner and a leader who i feel could give us the drive from midfield that we are desperately lacking at the minute.
He should also be a shoe-in to receive the armband.

I am just looking at possible in-house solutions as it doesn't appear likely we are going to sign a player any time soon.

Feel free to shoot me down and tell me I'm talking bollocks :)
 



You're talking bollocks. And clutching at straws.
 
You actually raise a good point. I'd never contemplated it, I must admit.

I wouldn't mind if Adkins tried it, especially if we fail (predictably) to get any midfielders in the loan window.

Been crying out for a pair of bollocks in midfield for quite some time.
 
Not really.

Brayford isn't as good defesively as a lot of people make out and for this reason alone i'm out. Keep him in his best position where he reaks havoc as a maurading full back with support from who ever plays on the right flank. He will suit how Adkins has been setting up perfectly for an attacking full back, nice try though Slug :)
 
I can see the logic to this for the reasons given, ie his defensive skills, leadership and passing ability. My reservation would be that by playing that position (as it did at CB) would rather restrict his best attribute which is making those marauding runs - unless of course we can trust the other CM to cover him, which I doubt. Personally I'd rather Freeman switched to left back to make way for JB at right back as I think Freeman would be a better option than any of our current left backs, and that includes Bob.
 
I wouldn't rule it out. He's probably the only one in the current squad who could maybe do a decent job there.

However, I'd only see it as a short-term fix until the role is properly filled in January.

The major flaw in this is Brayford hasn't played for 6 months and we don't know how fit he will be over the next 3 months.
 
Slug said:
Now before i start I know this is slightly hypocritical of me as i hate that we always seem to play square pegs in round holes.
But with Freeman one of our only decent players playing at right back and the return of the beard imminent i was thinking maybe we could try him in the CDM and leave Freeman to continue at right back?

Brayford is full of energy, aggression, can head, tackle, pass, dribble and shoot and more importantly he is a winner and a leader who i feel could give us the drive from midfield that we are desperately lacking at the minute.
He should also be a shoe-in to receive the armband.

I am just looking at possible in-house solutions as it doesn't appear likely we are going to sign a player any time soon.

Feel free to shoot me down and tell me I'm talking bollocks :)
Click to expand...
Personally I'd leave him in the position that we paid £1m+ for. As far as midfield is concerned, as I said to my mate last tuesday night at Burton and again on Saturday afternoon at Vale, what I'd really like to see is us investing in a really good 'old un' like we have done in the past. A Stuart Mcall or a Gary Speed. A real experienced leader with some real quality and guile. As before, as an incentive we could try and link it up with a future coaching opportunity.

What do you think someone like Messi, Cazorla, Jedinak, Silva, Mata?
 
coaxingstar71 said:
I can see the logic to this for the reasons given, ie his defensive skills, leadership and passing ability. My reservation would be that by playing that position (as it did at CB) would rather restrict his best attribute which is making those marauding runs - unless of course we can trust the other CM to cover him, which I doubt. Personally I'd rather Freeman switched to left back to make way for JB at right back as I think Freeman would be a better option than any of our current left backs, and that includes Bob.
Click to expand...

Could you see him making those marauding runs from central midfield, in a different formation?:

Howard

Freeman - - - Edgar - Collins - - - Harris

- - - - - - - - Baxter (or Reed/Coutts)
Brayford - - - Basham

- - - Done - - - -- - - - Sharp - - - - Adams (Sammon)
​
 
Went to barnsley last season bryford/Kennedy played brilliantly as centre halves
along with coutes
 



Bergen Blade said:
Could you see him making those marauding runs from central midfield, in a different formation?:

Howard

Freeman - - - Edgar - Collins - - - Harris

- - - - - - - - Baxter (or Reed/Coutts)
Brayford - - - Basham

- - - Done - - - -- - - - Sharp - - - - Adams (Sammon)
​
Click to expand...
You get more space out wide in general so my answer to your question bergs would be no, no where near as much as he does at full back anyway, it just gets too congested in the middle for my liking to want him to play there.
 
wizadry said:
Not really.

Brayford isn't as good defesively as a lot of people make out and for this reason alone i'm out. Keep him in his best position where he reaks havoc as a maurading full back with support from who ever plays on the right flank. He will suit how Adkins has been setting up perfectly for an attacking full back, nice try though Slug :)
Click to expand...

Ignore me then, it seems I'm talking bollocks as usual

It's that long since i have seen us have a decent Central Midfielder that i would be willing to try anything
 
Personally I would rather try freeman out wide on the right in front of brayford not sure if it would work but would be worth a go. I think freeman looks good going forward and can score a decent goal, I also think it would allow brayford to come forward as well and know he has decent cover in freeman.

I could see these 2 playing good together and running forward together and overlapping well with some one always covering RB. Just a thought wonder if anyone else thinks this is possible?
 
You don't have to be a great defender to play in defensive midfield and on the face of it he has the technical attributes to play in that position at this level and also the energy. He might not be a great defender but at the end of the day he is a defender so will have better defensive instincts than most defensive midfielders. Playing in the middle, especially in midfield, requires a different mindset and it's very different from a positional point of view. Typically most flank players would struggle positionally if thrown into the middle of midfield but given that Brayford can also play centre half it might give him half a chance of being able to play there.

I don't think it's a bad shout and it could be worth a try. If we do try it though I'd want it to be in a three man midfield, not a two. In a two man midfield it would be a lot of responsibility for someone who's not a natural midfielder.
 
Maybe a cheeky bid for Jonny Jackson currently warming the bench at charlton? Came on on Saturday and scored not sure how much he'd cost.
 
Slug said:
Ignore me then, it seems I'm talking bollocks as usual

It's that long since i have seen us have a decent Central Midfielder that i would be willing to try anything
Click to expand...
I can certainly understand your frustration. I prefer to have the players playing in their natural position though. It drove me crackers with how many players played out of position last season, how you can get in that much of a mess is laughable really.
 
biggey blade said:
Personally I would rather try freeman out wide on the right in front of brayford not sure if it would work but would be worth a go. I think freeman looks good going forward and can score a decent goal, I also think it would allow brayford to come forward as well and know he has decent cover in freeman.

I could see these 2 playing good together and running forward together and overlapping well with some one always covering RB. Just a thought wonder if anyone else thinks this is possible?
Click to expand...

We tried that in the second half away at Crawley last season. They linked up well.
 
super_pig said:
he could also play in goal too:)
Click to expand...

He couldn't be any worse than Howard.

Ricky said:
You don't have to be a great defender to play in defensive midfield and on the face of it he has the technical attributes to play in that position at this level and also the energy. He might not be a great defender but at the end of the day he is a defender so will have better defensive instincts than most defensive midfielders. Playing in the middle, especially in midfield, requires a different mindset and it's very different from a positional point of view. Typically most flank players would struggle positionally if thrown into the middle of midfield but given that Brayford can also play centre half it might give him half a chance of being able to play there.

I don't think it's a bad shout and it could be worth a try. If we do try it though I'd want it to be in a three man midfield, not a two. In a two man midfield it would be a lot of responsibility for someone who's not a natural midfielder.
Click to expand...

Which two would you partner him with Herby? Baxter being one i guess?
 
judge said:
How about playing him at right back and signing a defensive midfielder




And a centre half .....
And a keeper
Click to expand...

That's a great idea.... Unfortunately we can't afford to wait the 18 months it would take us to sign 3 players at our current rate of dragging out each signing for 6 months
 
Absolutely Judge

Haven't we had enough of square pegs in round holes?

We need a couple of brick shithouse no nonsense CB's. Let the club try getting the fkers in
We need a leader in the middle of the park. Let the club try getting one in
 
How bad has it got at BTDBL when people are actually contemplating moving a right back to such a pivotal role into midfield, especially after 6+months out injured.
Jesus h Christ on a bike is it that difficult for us to get a midfielder in to play.."drumroll" in midfield, radical idea I know but how about we play players, just for shits n giggles in their natural positions.
Buy the players needed and wins will come.
 



wizadry said:
You get more space out wide in general so my answer to your question bergs would be no, no where near as much as he does at full back anyway, it just gets too congested in the middle for my liking to want him to play there.
Click to expand...

If it's congested maybe there's a need for people making forward runs on and off the ball...
 
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