| Central midfield.... 09:05 - Jun 5 with 20543 views | itfcjoe |
.....feels like a real problem area for me.
Sam Morsy (31) - Turns 32 at start of the season, spent most of his career at top of L1 or bottom end of Champ but is undoubtedly our best midfielder. His game seems to have gone to another level under McKenna, but what role will he find when he isn't the best player on the pitch every week?
Mass Luongo (30) - Turns 31 at start of season, as above really with level he has played at, but also has had serious injury issues.
Those 2 look far and away above the rest of our midfielders, but think at their age and with their careers to date, there must be serious questions asked about stepping up.
Lee Evans (28) - Is 29 before the season starts, for me he lacks the athletic ability in his game to play in the Championship, and when he has found himself at that level previously hasn't impressed.
Dom Ball (27) - Is 28 before season starts, the much maligned on here Andre Dozzell played more minutes in Championship than Ball for QPR in his last season there - his 3 seasons there saw the minute equivalent of 27 games, 24 games and then 14 games.
Pan Camara (26) - Relatively fast rise through non league and then L2, but really it's one good season in L1, which has been followed up by around 15 months of being unfit which is going to be hard to recover from and play a lot without issues.
Youngsters
Idris El Mizouni (22) - 23 at start of the season, of the back of a brilliant loan spell, but a big jump from L2 to the Championship and unless he comes in and blows socks off McK in pre season then he is likely to be elsewhere next season either permanently or on loan
Cameron Humphreys (19) - Fantastic prospect, and one I expect to see kept around the squad next season despite talk of a loan spell but won't be one who can play week in-week out in the midfield
We play a very dominant form of football, and that often relies on having players who are better than their direct competitors - I worry looking at that midfield that Morsy may be the only one who can step up and do that (and that is far from guaranteed) with potential for Camara to do so (but that is no more than hope rather than expectation).
Morsy aside though, I wouldn't be worried if we lost all our other senior midfielders as they all feel like squad options who can be relied on in specific situations and for a dozen or so games.
The step up is going to be huge, and think we need serious investment there and can see us going out and spending big fees on a couple of options there. Wouldn't surprise me if we ended up something like:
1 MEGA SIGNING
2 Morsy
3 Jack Taylor or similar
4 Luongo
5 Humphreys
With the rest either sold or loaned out |  |
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| Central midfield.... on 13:25 - Jun 6 with 1649 views | Herbivore |
| Central midfield.... on 13:06 - Jun 6 by Exiled2Surrey |
But is Cam really a central midfielder? My uneducated view is that his best work has been further up the pitch and I would not be astonished to see him more in the Chaplin role going forwards (when he gets on).
The beauty is that no-one needs to make a choice about him because of his age and therefore position in the squad, but would be interested in others' views on this. |
No, he's definitely a central midfielder. People hold on to his goal at Lincoln as evidence he's more of a 10, but he really isn't. |  |
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| Central midfield.... on 13:26 - Jun 6 with 1638 views | RobTheMonk |
| Central midfield.... on 13:25 - Jun 6 by Herbivore |
No, he's definitely a central midfielder. People hold on to his goal at Lincoln as evidence he's more of a 10, but he really isn't. |
I think he operates better in a midfield 3 where there can be a little more protection. |  | | |
| Central midfield.... on 13:26 - Jun 6 with 1639 views | itfcjoe |
| Central midfield.... on 13:25 - Jun 6 by Herbivore |
No, he's definitely a central midfielder. People hold on to his goal at Lincoln as evidence he's more of a 10, but he really isn't. |
I could see him playing that inverted full back role which is being done by likes of Zinchenko and John Stones currently | |
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| Central midfield.... on 13:28 - Jun 6 with 1624 views | giant_stow |
| Central midfield.... on 13:26 - Jun 6 by itfcjoe |
I could see him playing that inverted full back role which is being done by likes of Zinchenko and John Stones currently |
John Stones was so good in the cup final the other day that even a know-nothing mug like me could see it. He was just brilliant. |  |
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| Central midfield.... on 13:45 - Jun 6 with 1566 views | Herbivore |
| Central midfield.... on 13:26 - Jun 6 by itfcjoe |
I could see him playing that inverted full back role which is being done by likes of Zinchenko and John Stones currently |
Agreed. Seem to remember he's played on that left side a bit, didn't he play left side in the Pizza Cup when he was first breaking through? Really don't see him as a 10 personally, he's good at pulling the strings from a deeper position and you lose that if you play him high up the pitch. | |
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| Central midfield.... on 13:46 - Jun 6 with 1557 views | Herbivore |
| Central midfield.... on 13:26 - Jun 6 by RobTheMonk |
I think he operates better in a midfield 3 where there can be a little more protection. |
At this stage possibly, although worth remembering that 90% of the time he played in a two this season he looked more than capable, it was literally a couple of occasions where he got outmuscled or caught slightly out of position. For the most part he looked a very capable League 1 midfielder. | |
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| Central midfield.... on 14:24 - Jun 6 with 1495 views | itfcjoe |
| Central midfield.... on 13:45 - Jun 6 by Herbivore |
Agreed. Seem to remember he's played on that left side a bit, didn't he play left side in the Pizza Cup when he was first breaking through? Really don't see him as a 10 personally, he's good at pulling the strings from a deeper position and you lose that if you play him high up the pitch. |
He played a fair bit there in the Youth Cup run, in Dyer's podcast he spoke about how he would run the game from there for the 23s | |
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| Central midfield.... on 14:47 - Jun 6 with 1423 views | the_toff |
| Central midfield.... on 13:46 - Jun 6 by Herbivore |
At this stage possibly, although worth remembering that 90% of the time he played in a two this season he looked more than capable, it was literally a couple of occasions where he got outmuscled or caught slightly out of position. For the most part he looked a very capable League 1 midfielder. |
I think his biggest issue was that he was relied on so much over a short period of time. Obviously that was down to injuries but it looked a case of young legs on heavy pitches, in multiple competitions Tuesday - Saturday etc. He started 5 games in little over a fortnight in February and seemed to just run out of steam as much as anything else, which was understandable. Ideally he would've been introduced much more sparingly so I don't think those more leggy latter performances can be read into too much in terms of his best position. Agree with you, looks a very capable central midfielder in League 1. I would like to see him go and start 20 games for the first half of next season at a top half side and then see if we want to bring him back or leave him out on loan. |  | | |
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| Central midfield.... on 16:07 - Jun 6 with 1307 views | NthQldITFC |
| Central midfield.... on 13:06 - Jun 6 by Exiled2Surrey |
But is Cam really a central midfielder? My uneducated view is that his best work has been further up the pitch and I would not be astonished to see him more in the Chaplin role going forwards (when he gets on).
The beauty is that no-one needs to make a choice about him because of his age and therefore position in the squad, but would be interested in others' views on this. |
I think you might be right in that. Also, do we play every game next season with two physically imposing CMs (Morsy/Luongo or similar), or do we adapt on a per game basis, and potentially play Morsy+Camara behind Chaplin? As you say, I see him somewhere between the two roles.
Edit: just realised that you were talking about Humphreys, not Camara. Too many Cams! [Post edited 7 Jun 2023 8:04]
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| Central midfield.... on 17:21 - Jun 6 with 1254 views | Herbivore |
| Central midfield.... on 14:47 - Jun 6 by the_toff |
I think his biggest issue was that he was relied on so much over a short period of time. Obviously that was down to injuries but it looked a case of young legs on heavy pitches, in multiple competitions Tuesday - Saturday etc. He started 5 games in little over a fortnight in February and seemed to just run out of steam as much as anything else, which was understandable. Ideally he would've been introduced much more sparingly so I don't think those more leggy latter performances can be read into too much in terms of his best position. Agree with you, looks a very capable central midfielder in League 1. I would like to see him go and start 20 games for the first half of next season at a top half side and then see if we want to bring him back or leave him out on loan. |
Yep, he was asked to play way more minutes than anyone had really imagined and the bulk of them in the colder winter months on heavy pitches. It was a tough gig and a couple of games and couple of errors aside he looked very good. | |
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| Central midfield.... on 21:34 - Jun 6 with 1136 views | DJR |
Depending on fitness and pre-season, I wonder if Ball may well have a role to play, given he perhaps offers a greater bulk and physicality than our other players, something that may be needed in what will be a more demanding league.
Admittedly, he has been a little disappointing when he has played this season, and doesn't look to have the attacking flair of Morsy or Luongo, but I wonder if there may be some games which will suit him. [Post edited 6 Jun 2023 21:38]
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