my late view on our problem

[Jonaldiniho 88]

I've been to most home games this season and what i believe our biggest problem has been this season is that the central midfielders have no penetration and no desire to penetrate. All our central midfielders do is pass the ball sideways and expect the wide men to make things happen. I'm all for stretching the pitch but you can go through the middle and if we start to do this our fortunes will change. Not blaming tom but last season he was always looking to shoot. This season only wants to play it sideways mainly to wingbacks. Goals are rarely scored from tight angles. Teams dont worry about our central midfielders this term and for good reason. If defenders are worried about the middle the wingers have a better chance. If they are only about the wingers the middle has more chance. We need to attack them face on. Its been the biggest difference in my opinion.  No thteat or intention to even try to beat a man, get a shot off. Its like we can't get beyond the line of their box if its not out wide. Nonsense.  Go for the jugular. Take it upon yourself to open the whole width of the goal up rather than passing it sideways EVERY time. Love to know what you think and if it hasn't crossed your mind keep an eye on it.

[EJL]

100%

One of our most effective weapons was Johansen breaking in between the lines and beating the press. His form and injuries have meant we've seen McDonald carrying the ball a lot more when we've had to take the game to other teams. It's the reason why De La Torre has looked good during his cameo appearances.

[Woolly Mammoth]

By the Beard of Zeus, you are absolutely spot on, and yes I would imagine most of the football population have asked themselves the same question.
Which is one of the reasons why we are so predictable and the main reason we rely on 1 0 victories over the likes of relegation candidates Birmingham and Millwall, and have no impact against the likes of Wolves, Bristol City and Aston Villa, and fluff our lines and be one of the very few teams who lose against Burton Albion.
7 victories in 21 attempts 5 by the odd goal and 2 by two clear goals, tells you all you need to know.
Round pegs do not fit into square holes, and never will.

[Matt10]

I would agree that this is the case within the last 2-3 matches, but it hasn't been like this all season. Look at the matches from QPR, Preston and Bolton for example. We lost our way against Bristol City though. After that, no answer against Wolves, and Slav started to play around and went away from what was working.

Johansen, before being labeled in the tactics as a false-9, was integral in our matches. He floated in an advanced midfield role, but instead of switching with Tom the way he does now, he used to switch with Norwood. The problem with this is Tom has been playing too hesitant and safe this year, as he should considering the fitness and nature of his frustrating injury (which the cure is to only keep playing and hoping it doesn't flair up). Last year though, Johansen was on the left side of Tom, and they wouldn't need to switch back and forth. The [good?] problem now is the fact that Norwood is hard to leave out and no way is Kmac going anywhere...and neither is TC, so...our midfield is a bit packed, and the only outlet is to the wingbacks.

Slav wants to run a 4-3-3, but that 3 up top is really a 2 and it crowds the midfield. We have attack minded midfielders, and they're running into eachother. This is good for defense, but not adequate in attack. Slav has to make a tough decision and bench either Johansen or Norwood so we can get a true 4-3-3 without forcing a False-9. I am not sure he is willing to do that, but I guess we will see.