Central midfield worries?

[Frankie-Peter Taylor]

Stan Collymore has been talking on Twitter about the importance of a teams midfield and it got me thinking, could this also be a problem with our season?

Yesterday was our 8th different central midfield partnership, and come to think about it, the defence has changed a lot this season as well, Stockdale had a run, Briggs had a few games, Senderos has had a couple, same as Richardson, Manolev had his debut yesterday.

Could an unsettled team be the cause of our season?

Below are the different midfield combinations and the amount of times it has happened.

Diarra and Dembele - Twice
Diarra and Sidwell - Three times
Sidwell and Baird - Ten times
Diarra and Baird - Twice
Sidwell and Karagounis - Five times
Baird and Karagounis - Twice
Karagounis and Ruiz - Once
Sidwell and Frimpong - Once

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

I agree. Not only is it a matter of the quality of the players in central midfield but also of how they complement each other and that they can be picked consistently.

Although I believe that our current squad is our strongest yet and when we play at our best we look very good, we have not been consistent as, for example, when under Roy Hodgson with Murphy and Etuhu.

Imagine how our season may have continued if we had been able to play Diarra and Dembele for most of the season or if Karagounis had been fully match fit from the start.

[Twig]

I would like to see another pairing; Diarra and Karagounis.

[Bassey the warrior]

Agreed. Diarra's injury was a big blow.

[WolverineFFC]

I think the issue is that the Sidwell-Baird combination has been the starting FFC CM pairing twice as much as any other this season. If you look at it through that lens, 12th place seems like overachieving to me.

[filham]

The loss of Dembele and Dempse has not been overcome.

Look at the players we  have tried in the wide left position that was filled so well by Demps:-
Kaca, Frei, Ruis, Rodders,Richardson, Ruiz, Duff, Dejegah. None have been a succes except perhaps Duff who is needed on the right flank.

[A Humble Man]

Most of these changes have been due to injuries, illness and suspension.  I am sure Jol knows who is best central midfield pairing is but he has never been able to play them.

Our season has been desperately damaged by injuries to our best players.

[JackyFulham90]

We now have Enoh to come in, we have decent quality in centre midfield, hopefully Jol works out his best team although it may be tough with so many good players

[FFC1987]

Personally, if I was asked how we would be doing this year pre season with the CM's as predominantly Baird/Sidwell I'd have said struggling/relegation material. I agree with the above on over achieving to some extent as this two in the middle is possibly the worst combination CM in the league IMO.

[JustOverTheRiver]

hopefully Jol works out his best team although it may be tough with so many good players

that is a good kind of tough though isn't it.