Answer to Midfield Problem..predictions & options - Merged

[WestCountryWhite]

Am I to believe we have sold:

Dembele
Smurf
Etuhu
Gegov

and purchased not one replacement?

[BishopsParkFantastic]

That's it then! Our central midfield engine room: Sidwell and Diarra. Still, always loans possible?

[God The Mechanic]

Gecov was hardly a player tbh, Etuhu was squad at best while the other two are proper losses - Dembele the biggest.

Dembele is simply not replaceable - at least quality wise - and maybe Jol has high hopes for some of the kids?  Would you prefer one of them get a chance or a 30 something year old?

[hazzaffc]

i have a feeling that either ruiz will drop to cm, so that petric and berbatov can play up front, therefore bringing creativity to the centre of the park. Or dejagah is going to play in the centre next to diarra, and ruiz will play up front with berbatov. kerim frei could possibly be converted to a cm because although he is quick, i dont think his end product is good enough as a winger, just my personal opinion though

[Mr Fulham]

Still, always loans possible?

NO!

[WestCountryWhite]

Gecov was hardly a player tbh, Etuhu was squad at best while the other two are proper losses - Dembele the biggest.

Dembele is simply not replaceable - at least quality wise - and maybe Jol has high hopes for some of the kids?  Would you prefer one of them get a chance or a 30 something year old?

Id prefer that we had some options.
Sidwell has his injury issues as we saw last year.

I hope that players such as Minkwitz get a chance but its clear by the panic rush at the end of the window that we just didn't get who we wanted. It amazes me that we didn't get this problem area sorted earlier in the window

[General]

Sarah Brookes has made it official - there have been no moves for Palacios or Huddlestone according to her and we're done with the transfer window. Severely dissapointed. We've now go two fully experience recognised CMs at the club.

We've really sold ourselves short this window and should've made moves earlier to sign other CMs instead of leaving it so late - especially as Jol said he had money to spend.

Schoolboy error and perhaps the Berbatov move goes to show our "ambition" isn't as heavy hitting as we would have hoped. Bollocks.

[Mc God is godly]

hmm... well whats done is done  but i can see other options then just sidwell and diarra... i believe its time for jol to try mould ruiz into a central midfielder he has good vision and seems stronger this year which is good but there will need to be alot more work done to convert him to a more defensive player. And i may be wrong but im pretty sure riether can play a midfielding role and put kelly or baird right back and who knows maybe richardson can fufill the quota

[jarv]

Sidwell and Diarra will do well.  Hope they don't get injured though.

[kiwiwaka]

I think we're going to be playing Ruiz in a number 10 type role behind two strikers leaving Diarra, Sidwell and Baird to rotate as the MC/DM type player.

[General]

no competition for the places and if one gets injured.

Also, let's be honest, if we get exposed or these two can't cope then we're going to get trampled on frequently. Sidwell and Diarra may be alright, but there are a lot of equally good CM pairings and also a lot more depth and competition at more clubs...


I wonder why noone else signed?

[WestCountryWhite]

In order for Ruiz to convert to a central midfielder he would have to learn to put a tackle in, get some strength and not think he has half hour on the ball every time. I don't want to be anti Ruiz but he is most definitely not a central midfielder. He is a luxury no 10 which concerns me when playing him with Berbatov if you play two players of that type then you need disciplined combative central midfielders to do the spade work. We lose Diarra/Sidwell and who steps in as a ball winning midfielder?

[Patterson]

Well, we converted Dembéle into a great mid.  Maybe we can do it again?

[Northern Cottager]

There is still time hoping something was put in place just before the deadline and it could be finalised! Otherwise, I too agree we could be caught a little short...

[BishopsParkFantastic]

It is all an unwelcome mess. No quality or creativity in central midfield - the engine room of our team. With all those spare £millions. Think Aaron Ramsey!

[Mr Fulham]

There is still time hoping something was put in place just before the deadline and it could be finalised!

No, Sarah Brookes says Dejagah was our final transfer.

[fulhampa23]

Could we do a 4-1-3-2?

Just Diarra in DM, Ruiz in the middle of the three with Petric/Berbatov/Rodallega (still can't those are our options, unbelievable!) as the front two. Duff/Dejagah and all the youngsters on the wings. Diarra would not have as much freedom forward, but maybe that can help. If it doesn't work we have over £10m to reinvest in four months.

Also he may believe Davies to be a cover for CM, as he did fill in last year. Not ideal, but he does not have the pace to beat out our wing options now, and he can always pick out a killer ball. Just an idea...

[General]

Sarah Brookes said that all deals had been done - huddlestone and Palacios and Ofie weren't coming in and Charlie David wasn't signed either...

[General]

Murphy
Gecov
Dempsey
Dembele
Kasami
Duff
Davies
Etuhu
Diarra
Frei
Kacaniklic
Sidwell

After

Sidwell
Richardson
Ashkan
Diarra
Frei
Duff
Kasami
Kacaniklic
Davies

I know where i'd rather be.... our midfield has been weakened significantly and it only hits home when you put the lists next to each other like that...

2 wingers in and 4 CM's and an attacking midfielder/winger out....

[hongkongfulham]

just to play devils advocate, not sure if frei and kaca would be on alist from last year as they were just getting into the team. Sidwell and davies were both injured for lengthy spells. Gecov never played, and kasami "should" be more involved than last year. I agree that we are weak but maybe not as much as is being stated, defo think we are in need of another CM!