Answer to Midfield Problem..predictions & options - Merged

[cottage cheese]

so why the hell did jol say we needed to bring some midfielders in?

[ffcbulgaria]

Diarra and Sidwell
then you get Baird who is obviously gonna play a role there this year
we also have a player called Simon Davies who used to play playmaker for Wales national team - i know you will say he's mostly injured nowadays but it's an option

Berbatov used to play a bit deeper at Spurs and I dont see why we can't go with one DM and Berbatov and Ruiz behind Petric - for the wingers you have a lot to pick from as u see.

if we continue there's that Kasami guy who can fill in the middle and I am ready to bet Kerim Frei will be tried there at one point or another.

Maybe I'm being too optimistic but I like it that way :D

[MrFFC]

Maybe this is good and can be a chance for Donegan or Minkwitz? Also Kasami could be really good in there and Richardson can play in there aswell we have

Diarra
Sidwell
Kasami
Baird
Richardson
Minkwitz?

We will be fine

[BestOfBrede]

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....

We've already played twice without Murph & Dempsey and some of others you mention were always squad players and so we have really only lost Dembele. I admit he's a big loss but even so it's not as bad as peeps are making out?

[Swedish Terrier]

I'm thinking Baird is fourth in line after Diarra, Sidwell and Kasami followed by Donegan and Minkwitz.

[SuffolkWhite]

Is it worth pointing out that the only player from the team that punished Norwich is Dembele! I would have liked Dem's to stay and added another two CM's but the point still stands, one player does not make a team.

Lets see what happens and give the team a few games to gel.

My two pennies worth anyway.  :scarf:

[F(f)CUK]

It was a good transfer window for Baird, Davies and Kasami.

[Riverside]

Did we or did we not sign Chris David ? Don't see anything official so I assume not.

[MJG]

Did we or did we not sign Chris David ? Don't see anything official so I assume not.

No he didnt sign

[Grant]

Couldn't Simon Davies have a go?

[alexbishop]

Obviosly Jol is going to have to adapt his system slightly due to our failings yesterday to sign a Dembele replacement, any ideas how he might do this?

Options:

- Diarra and Sidwell with Ruiz as number 10.
- Drop Ruiz deeper and play Diarra and Ruiz with Petric as number 10.
- Bring Kasami into the team alongside Diarra with Ruiz number 10.
- Baird and Diarra with Ruiz number 10 allowing Diarra more freedom to be box to box.
- Any other ideas? Convert Frei into a central midfielder? Don't think he has the defensive qualities to be a success in that role.
- Any free transfers going?

[Luffy86]

To be honest fella, I think Kasami has been groomed over the past season to play in the midfield slot. I was trying to remember if he had played central midfield in the cup away at Chelsea last season?

[BishopsParkFantastic]

Without completely un-balancing the team and putting people outside their best and most effective playing positions, he will have to perservere with Sidewall and Diarra in the two central midfield positions, with Riether and Baird as back-up for injuries. That's not great, is it?

This is our engine room, driving what I think is great strike force ...... but they need midfield service, that they may not get.

Hopefully, with the £10m or £12m we have surplus from this summer's transfers we can reinforce next January, with:
a high quality, creative CM player, from the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Boateng et al.  
plus a young emerging talents, the likes of Chris David  
plus an experienced loan player, the likes of Huddlestone

Lack of planning and strategy regarding CM - still baffles me why it was all last minute.

Hey ho, onward and upward as they say

COYW

[elgreenio]

Remember he tried Ruiz in centre mid last season and changed it at half time cos we were being run ragged (think it was Newcastle at home). Not sure Jol would go back to it.

Personally think he'll go with Sidwell

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[MrFFC]

I think we will see

Sidwell Diarra

Ruiz Petric Kaca/Richardson

Berbatov

With Duff Frei Rodallega Kasami and Dejagah on the bench hardly a bad side

[grandad]

With no top class creative midfielder we will have to use the wings more as Man Utd do. They don´t plough through the middle,they stretch the game wide. Just look how their backs & wingers played against us. We are awash with wide players so we must use them.

[aussierod]

Obviosly Jol is going to have to adapt his system slightly due to our failings yesterday to sign a Dembele replacement, any ideas how he might do this?

Options:

- Diarra and Sidwell with Ruiz as number 10.
- Drop Ruiz deeper and play Diarra and Ruiz with Petric as number 10.
- Bring Kasami into the team alongside Diarra with Ruiz number 10.
- Baird and Diarra with Ruiz number 10 allowing Diarra more freedom to be box to box.
- Any other ideas? Convert Frei into a central midfielder? Don't think he has the defensive qualities to be a success in that role.
- Any free transfers going?

I think Sidwell will get the call up to play alongside Diarra, with Ruiz in the more advanced role, and I think Sidwell's box to box nature may work well, however it places more emphasis on Diarra's ball playing ability in getting the ball from deep and playing it out wide to Duff/Dejagah/Richardson or up the pitch to either Berbatov/Petric & Ruiz

Along with a lot of folk here, I think the key signing we didn't make was the signing of a CM to replace Dembele, but hopefully Sidwell can step up and plug the gap for us until January, but currently leaving us with a front 6 of:

       Diarra - Sidwell
Dejagah - Ruiz - Richardson
          Berbatov

and a bench of Duff, Petric, Rodallega, Kasami, Kacankilc

Personally, I would like to see more of Kasami, I think he's got his head down a little and is in need of some confidence and faith shown in him and he could really turn into a star but I get the feeling Jol is disappointed with how he looks to play (from his comments a few days ago about the possibility of loaning Kasami out)

[SKSW6]

I'm really looking forward to today's game, even if just to see what formation we'll play. Sky will have us down as a 4-4-1-1 like they always wrongly do, so we'll have to actually watch to figure it out. I think the inability to bring in a CM may mean we have to adapt to a new formation away from the 4-2-3-1 Jol has been gearing us up for, with quite a lot of people mentioning a diamond in a 4-1-2-1-2 with Diarra as DM, Dejegah RM, Kaca/Richardson LM, and Ruiz behind Berba and Petric.

[ScalleysDad]

I sort of understand the flak being thrown at Jol regarding not buying a creative centre midfielder but who would that have been? We had two last year and one went North and one was sold to, I'm guessing, buy or balance the accounts for the purchase of three players. I bet nobody had Richardson, Berbatov or an Iranian in the squad this time last week so perhaps there is one more to join up.

[Berserker]

I sort of understand the flak being thrown at Jol regarding not buying a creative centre midfielder but who would that have been? We had two last year and one went North and one was sold to, I'm guessing, buy or balance the accounts for the purchase of three players. I bet nobody had Richardson, Berbatov or an Iranian in the squad this time last week so perhaps there is one more to join up.

Still depressed : (