Midfield Concerns

[Super_Ally 0]

I know we cannot afford to look past the cup Semi final nor the first post split fixture with Hearts, but with the importance of the league title this year and the winner of the final Old Firm likely to go on and secure the title I am really concerned about the midfield.

 

In goals Alexander or McGregor are decent keepers.

 

As long as Boogie is fit we should be solid at the back with Weir his partner and fullbacks from Dailly, Broadfoot, Whittaker and Papac.

 

Upfront Lafferty could be back, Velicka has found a goalscoring touch, Boyd has been doing it most the season and Miller should be fit again.

 

In midfield however, Davis has not played well in a long time. Mendes is hot and cold. The odd nice flick or pass cannot mask a mostly ineffective and anonymous 90-minutes.

 

Edu has filled in with Fergie suspended then McCulloch injured. Over the past few games he has been our best midfielder. But he had only spent about a year as a pro in the MLS prior to coming to Ibrox and I would not be confident if he was our biggest performer going into the final Old Firm. He lacks the experience for such a tempestuous game. Winning the midfield battle would allow us to dominate possession, dominate the match and have the greatest chance of victory if the strikers do their bit.

 

Left mid barely merits a mention. We all know we just cannot fill this position. Smith adds a bit of solidity as a full back out of position. But without a truly attack minded player we cannot exploit the weakness that is Hinkel. However with our central 2 potentially vulnerable a more solid player might be a good tactical decision. Unless of course we go for the negative 4-5-1 (I know it can be positive, just not the way we do it ).

 

Fleck has done no worse than any other out there. But would it be a risk playing such a young lad in an enormous fixture? Beasley does not impress me at all. His strength is supposed to be his pace, but he never or rarely attacks his fullback. Most the other's who have played there have done so out of position and to limited success.

 

The midfield battle in that game could be huge and I'm not afraid to admit that I worry about our midfield without the option of Ferguson's experience, class and ball retention. (Again, I know some might bring up stats about wins without him, however they don't take into account the hundreds of other variables).

 

Hopefully Edu can continue his fine form. Mendes can replicate the performance of the 4-2 game, Davis can play like the seaoned Premiership and International footballer he is and whoever plays left can emulate his colleagues.

[craig 5,199]

Strange that it is our midfield we worry about most when that was the one position that WS "strengthened" pre-season.......

[Super_Ally 0]

Strange that it is our midfield we worry about most when that was the one position that WS "strengthened" pre-season.......

 

That's a worrying point I hadn't even considered.

[alexscottislegend 2,107]

SA - let me cheer you up. THEY will be without Scott Broon, a huge loss for them. Play devil's advocate for a minute and ask yourself who you would play in their MF. Robson, Hartley, Donati or Crosas? Surely any 2 of our lot can match up to them?

[Super_Ally 0]

SA - let me cheer you up. THEY will be without Scott Broon, a huge loss for them. Play devil's advocate for a minute and ask yourself who you would play in their MF. Robson, Hartley, Donati or Crosas? Surely any 2 of our lot can match up to them?

 

On form our midfield should destroy their's. Do any of their squad have the EPL pedigree of Mendes and Davis? But those two, who should be running amok in SCotland, have been disappointing for months.

 

I take your point though. Their midfield is crap. :devil: I guess I was just thinking about Rangers and not the opposition looking ahead to that game.

 

Hopefully Mendes and Davis in particular can rediscover their talents.

[craig 5,199]

SA - let me cheer you up. THEY will be without Scott Broon, a huge loss for them. Play devil's advocate for a minute and ask yourself who you would play in their MF. Robson, Hartley, Donati or Crosas? Surely any 2 of our lot can match up to them?

 

 

Ahhhhh, but to play devil's advocate here too.......

 

The above sounds great and all - but only if we actually USE our midfield.

 

Their midfield is crap, they know it and so do we. So what does/will Strachan do ? He will by-pass it.

 

What will WS do given we have, on paper, a better midfield ? He will by-pass it too.

 

So the midfield becomes pretty much a non-event.

[gisabeer 409]

i have to disagree about edu. he gets caught in possesion far to often for my liking. Not one of our midfielders are performing at the moment and that is the most worring thing for me.

 

Smith has chopped and changed the team so much though its very difficult to maintain any sort of consistancy.

 

But its all down to winning games now and we have managed that quite well of late. I dont care if we play shit and win now.

[Super_Ally 0]

i have to disagree about edu. he gets caught in possesion far to often for my liking. Not one of our midfielders are performing at the moment and that is the most worring thing for me.

 

Smith has chopped and changed the team so much though its very difficult to maintain any sort of consistancy.

 

But its all down to winning games now and we have managed that quite well of late. I dont care if we play shit and win now.

 

I honestly don't care if we never play well again if it meant we won the league every year. :box:

[ian1964 10,486]

SA - let me cheer you up. THEY will be without Scott Broon, a huge loss for them. Play devil's advocate for a minute and ask yourself who you would play in their MF. Robson, Hartley, Donati or Crosas? Surely any 2 of our lot can match up to them?

 

They will probably play Clodwell in midfield

[alexscottislegend 2,107]

They will probably play Clodwell in midfield

 

And we could counteract that by playing Boogie there! He's played there before for other clubs. Although to be fair we probably need him at the back more.