Summer transfer window 2024 (16 Viewers)
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And we won’t tonight either even though Sheaf is out ….
Oh I agree with that. I don't think we'll see him starting as the sitting CM again this season, with or without a new signing.
BlueSkiesForever
Well-Known Member
Eccles statistically one of the best defensive midfielders in the league
Without Sheaf I don’t think he’s half as good, and I still find that he’s not adventurous enough on the ball. If we’re playing a 4-2-3-1 then fine he’s decent enough in the 2 with Sheaf, but if we’re playing a 4-3-3 then there’s more onus on that right or left side for him to create attacks from midfield and try and thread the ball through to our attackers, and that’s the issue I personally have with Eccles.
Just my opinion, I know lots of people will disagree and see Eccles in a different light and that’s fine, I just think he needs to be more confident and creative with the ball for him to be a real quality midfielder.
Perennial Lurker
Well-Known Member
Absolute drivel as usual
Matt smith
Well-Known Member
Matt smith
Well-Known Member
Eccles is the least of our problems in that midfield though
Sheaf
Eccles
Torp
New CM
then I’d be content with our options in there
Cally Fedora
Well-Known Member
Crikey, Allen is taking some stick here. He’s a perfectly good championship midfielder.
I’m fine with him coming on for 15 or 20 minutes when we need some energy in the middle.
I’m absolutely not fine with him starting as a holding midfielder, I don’t want to see that again.
If he were to leave right now I don’t think he’d have many championship suitors tbh, other than probably the newly promoted sides.
Matt smith
Well-Known Member
No, he’s not.
what other top six challengers would have him in their side? The answer is none
RoboCCFC90
Well-Known Member
Are you referring to Joe Allen or Jamie Allen?
Cally Fedora
Well-Known Member
Well we’ve had him in our team for the last two years and been in and around top 6. He’s part of a squad. He will start now and again.
Skyblue Bangkok
Well-Known Member
If the real question is how many top 6 contenders would have him in their midfield options of 6/7 I think the answer is most of them …..
SkyBlueGuy
Well-Known Member
I think Allen seems to be taking a lot of flack a little unfairly. I don't think Robins would see him as a starter when the squad is all fit, but he's a great option off the bench. He has energy, can play in a couple of different positions and has shown he has enough quality for this league on a number of occasions. His movement in the attacking third is often better than some of our other players (Palmer for example). He's contributed some important goals and you never see him casually jog back when the ball is overturned. At the start of last season I had serious doubts about him, but he changed my mind.
I still think we could do with another CM/ CDM type player with a bit more physically and a good passing range, but Allen would not be my first choice to move on if we did get one in. I wouldn't imagine he's one of our top earners, so I think he probably represents value to the squad.
I still think we could do with another CM/ CDM type player with a bit more physically and a good passing range, but Allen would not be my first choice to move on if we did get one in. I wouldn't imagine he's one of our top earners, so I think he probably represents value to the squad.
Surely you wouldn't move on Torp or Eccles before Allen though?
If we do bring in another CM and have to ship someone out it has to be Allen really.
I agree he doesn't seem to casually jog back, but in a majority of cases he just runs alongside a bigger faster midfielder/attacker and doesn't cause any problems for them. Not having a go at him perse, but we need better starters in the first 11 then him, as others have said, maybe an impact sub when others are tiring and playing in the opposition half, not as a defensive midfielder
Perennial Lurker
Well-Known Member
Seen a few Championship clubs are looking at Max Johnston from Sturm Graz . He would fit the bill as right sided cover
SkyBlueGuy
Well-Known Member
It's a shame to say it, but Palmer would be my first choice honestly. Don't think he fits our system, has bags of potential but we probably only see it 1/5 times he has the ball. I would imagine he's on higher wages and we have a number of other players who could play CAM (even though we don't have one in the current system) as well (Rudoni, EMC, BTA, Torp, Allen etc.)
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SkyBlueGuy
Well-Known Member
I agree about being a starter. And I also know what you mean about having limited ability to win the ball back against bigger players. But I wouldn't say that this is ineffective. Just like O'Hare did, heal gets close to players and puts them under pressure, hovering them less time to make decisions. Pretty sure we saw that against Bristol a few times where the pressure on the player on the ball caused them to make wayward passes resulting in a Cov throw in.
Again, not getting at Palmer specifically (he made an absolutely crucial tackle against Bristol at one point). But when he's on the flaw complaining he didn't get a free kick, or makes the wrong pass, the lack of pressure really shows.
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
He’s really not.
Saddlebrains
Well-Known Member
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
Two seasons ago he was.No he isn't
KenilworthSkyBlue
Well-Known Member
He was in a midfield with both Hamer and Sheaf though. Inevitably that's going to make his life on the pitch significantly easier.
Without that level of quality around him he looks horribly exposed.
Calista
Well-Known Member
There seems to be an acceptance among a lot of people that we have somehow switched to 4-3-3, with a 'flat' midfield.
Admittedly I haven't attended live yet, just watched on screens where it's harder to see overall patterns. But I'm still seeing 4-2-3-1, maybe a bit more flexible than last year, but with one midfielder generally playing ahead of the other two.
Balli001
Well-Known Member
I have watched live and its a 4-3-3
Calista
Well-Known Member
These are the average positions for the Stoke match (copied from a post by Stupot the other day)
Looks far more like 4-2-3-1 than 4-3-3 to me...
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It was 4-2-3-1 in the first two games and the average position maps show it.
It was particularly clear against Stoke:
And a little less clear against BC because of all the subs and players swapping positions, but Palmer clearly playing as a 10:
Ccfcisparks
Well-Known Member
Allen is good as a 5th choice and you won’t find better for free
Is a strange one because particularly in the Everton pre season game Rudoni was dropping very deep to get the ball off the centre backs at times which i thought really helped us link Defence and Midfield. That was massively lacking in the BC game and position maps show it
Glad I'm not going completely insane
As a matter of interest, where do you find these position maps? I can see it's WhoScored.com, but which part of the site do you have to go to?
Click on Match Report, then scroll down to Player Positions
Balli001
Well-Known Member
Ill trust my own eyes rather than that graph tbh
The Roy Keane approach to tactical insight.