Centre Midfield Problem

[shimosays]

Originally Posted by mitchelltown

Keates is obsessed with clean sheets and in my opinion not much tactical nous.

Yeah, because keeping clean sheets is easy and you can just use any old tactics to achieve them. Right.
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[draig arian]

Originally Posted by pagl

Quite surprisingly given DKs playing career and his part in our superb midfield when he was a player then our CM problems still continue and go unaddressed.

Yesterdays performance once again underlined this and just like a boxer that dominates the centre of the ring then teams that dominate the centre of midfield are usually the better team.

The amount of space given to the Halifax midfield allowed their number 10 to continually pass the ball around at ease and the equaliser was on the cards.
The manner of the equaliser again showed the lack of urgency in the team to get out of the defensive structure and close down the ball.

Wedgbury for all his attributes is basically a 3rd centre half and is very effective from a defensive perspective but this allows the opposition to dominate the CM and the area of the pitch around the centre circle.

If we are going to continue with a 442 formation then DK needs to make sure it is 442 and not 4132 which is how it seems at the moment.
Unfortunately Deverdics and Kelly were almost anonymous yesterday which compounded the problem even more and with Wright not even on the bench then we had no options.

DK has to address this problem with his last piece of player recruitment. IMO.

If we can see the problem, why can't Keates?. I'm starting to believe Keates does'nt deserve the support he's getting.

[pagl]

Originally Posted by draig arian

If we can see the problem, why can't Keates?. I'm starting to believe Keates does'nt deserve the support he's getting.

That's harsh and not what I am saying. Given our current position he deserves the support and that has been shown with attendances and BTB.

We are now at a critical stage of the season and we need to be bolder and stronger now - trying to grind out 1-0's isn't going to cut it anymore.

[corwenred]

Originally Posted by draig arian

If we can see the problem, why can't Keates?. I'm starting to believe Keates does'nt deserve the support he's getting.

Because it's not as easy as we like to make out, if it was we'd all be in the dugout there are other factors at play we wouldn't even consider.
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[billybersham]

Originally Posted by EnglishRed

For what it's worth I agree with you. The fallout from yesterday's game (especially when contrasted with the over the top reaction to our recent wins) is miles over the top.

This is still a work in progress team. The defence was sorted first. Keates has worked hard to improve the attack. The midfield needs work but we haven't done thatv badly considering it's apparently so useless.Deverdics is a new player and hasnt played or trained much with us yet. It will improve. You can't just buy a load of new players and it be miraculously fixed. This isn't Champ man. ( Admittedly I wasn't there yesterday so I'm just commenting on generalities.)

As for Akil Wright. He s just come back from injury. He s 21 and hasn't played much first team men's football in his career. Id imagine he's just being managed properly rather than just being thrown back into the team with no regard for his development.

How many 21 year olds are playing week in week out in this division.If they are good enough they are old enough.

[jackwilliams]

Originally Posted by pagl

Quite surprisingly given DKs playing career and his part in our superb midfield when he was a player then our CM problems still continue and go unaddressed.

Yesterdays performance once again underlined this and just like a boxer that dominates the centre of the ring then teams that dominate the centre of midfield are usually the better team.

The amount of space given to the Halifax midfield allowed their number 10 to continually pass the ball around at ease and the equaliser was on the cards.
The manner of the equaliser again showed the lack of urgency in the team to get out of the defensive structure and close down the ball.

Wedgbury for all his attributes is basically a 3rd centre half and is very effective from a defensive perspective but this allows the opposition to dominate the CM and the area of the pitch around the centre circle.

If we are going to continue with a 442 formation then DK needs to make sure it is 442 and not 4132 which is how it seems at the moment.
Unfortunately Deverdics and Kelly were almost anonymous yesterday which compounded the problem even more and with Wright not even on the bench then we had no options.

DK has to address this problem with his last piece of player recruitment. IMO.

I am very much a Keates fan. For me he has built his side steadily with a view to being ready to go next season. The side has done even better by getting into the top three! However I agree with you Pagl. In the games I have seen we have often conceded the midfield. At Aldershot Rowe ran the game for them and we made no effort to close them down. This tactic, conceding midfield, has worked against some sides, but where they have some clever inter passers we get exposed like Aldershot and Macclesfield. For me we probably need a more advanced midfielder who can close down playmakers, whilst being creative when we get the ball. Saturday is a big game.

[Big A]

The problem as far as I can see is we have lacked pace and quality outwide all season, wedgebury sits far too deep and has very limited passing ability. Kelly offers a bit of quality at set-pieces(this was completely devoid of his game yesterday), but doesn’t quite have the ability to match in open play. Maybe Deverdics might offer more in the middle. Rutherford puts plenty of effort in, but is a bottom end conference winger at best. Amazed we are still persevering with him on the wing.

I’m not sure what people saw in wedgebury yesterday. He runs around a lot but I’m yet to see him boss the midfield for 90 minutes. Playing in a 4-4-2, I expect more quality on the ball from a midfielder. Russell Penn did wedgeburys task last season, reading the game better and avoiding the need to bomb round the field. He could also pass the ball forward. A vast contrast in my eyes.

I’m wondering how long it will be before Raven gets a chance infront of Kevin Roberts. He looked like a decent footballer when he came on against Tranmere.

[Funny_Old_Game]

Originally Posted by LlayDragon

Indeed.

It's been proven this season that our best central midfield combination is Wedgebury and Wright; we've all seen this.

Quite what Keates sees in Kelly I don't know; but then again I can't work out why he keeps playing left-footed central midfielders on the left-wing. It's even more baffling considering that Keates' was........a left-footed central midfielder.

Having Kelly there is no different than having Carrington. All he does is pop little passes off here and there and it just doesn’t hurt the opposition. Both are clearly told to never get ahead of the ball and therefore we struggle to sustain pressure in attacks because we have nobody following up second balls near enough to the goal.

[pagl]

Originally Posted by Big A

The problem as far as I can see is we have lacked pace and quality outwide all season, wedgebury sits far too deep and has very limited passing ability. Kelly offers a bit of quality at set-pieces(this was completely devoid of his game yesterday), but doesn’t quite have the ability to match in open play. Maybe Deverdics might offer more in the middle. Rutherford puts plenty of effort in, but is a bottom end conference winger at best. Amazed we are still persevering with him on the wing.

I’m not sure what people saw in wedgebury yesterday. He runs around a lot but I’m yet to see him boss the midfield for 90 minutes. Playing in a 4-4-2, I expect more quality on the ball from a midfielder. Russell Penn did wedgeburys task last season, reading the game better and avoiding the need to bomb round the field. He could also pass the ball forward. A vast contrast in my eyes.

I’m wondering how long it will be before Raven gets a chance infront of Kevin Roberts. He looked like a decent footballer when he came on against Tranmere.

Yes exactly the point I am making.

We play a 442 and they should push up on the opposition when we haven't got the ball but the shape is all over the place with Wedgbury dropping far too deep and Rutherford often caught out of position and leaving Roberts exposed.

When the 2 CBs are in possession like yesterday then the 2 FBs are too high up the pitch and the midfield goes all over the place.

442 should be 2 solid banks that work forwards/backwards as a unit and that needs a lot more work on the training ground as we will get exposed by the better teams.