- Aug 18, 2012
- 18,534
- 48,899
I firmly believe that our often turgid build up play and toothless attack is due to a lack of a playmaker in central midfield who can quickly transition into attack and link up properly with our forwards. A player like Scholes, Pirlo or Modric.Whenever I saw them, it always looked more like a 4141 type format, just a very oddly set up one, with a very attacking AM and a very defensive DM in the 4.
Grealish is an AM, but the scary thing is, so was Sissoko, didn't stop Pochettino playing him as some kind of a CM though, so I have absolutely no confidence that he doesn't see Grealish as some sort of Dembele, dribbling CM replacement.
Poch's notion of "midfield" worries me enormously.
Poch seems to place priority on possession and control. Wanyama, Dembele and (recently, to a lesser extent) Dier do that well, but there's no link with the attack, and the build up is often so ponderous that we waste chances to break, or simply just pass it around slowly and aimlessly, hoping that Kane or Eriksen will pull something out of the bag.
Obviously world class players like those noted above aren't readily obtainable for us, but surely we can can get someone in CM who isn't just power, who can really play.
I'd rather we had a bit less possession, and play one DM with a playmaker CM. Sissoko is an unfair scapegoat, but it's unfathomable to me how he has got starts for us in CM. Even with injuries.
I think Winks is a decent player, but i find it hard to judge objectively, because he's such a breath of fresh air in our midfield. His ability to receive the ball on the half turn and quickly play it forward shouldn't look as revelatory as it seems.
Last edited: