Missing midfield conductor?

[WestBelfast Spurs]

Dembele should be doing this picking up the ball driving forward, love how other players bounce of him

 

[JollyHappy]

Eriksen is the only current player capable of filling the role we're talking about but his recent performances have been very very very worrying!

I seem to remember it took Modric 2 seasons for people to accept him as a genuine class player and longer than that to play in centre mid. Eriksen is obviously a class player and it will just take time for him to adapt and settle.

 

[CowInAComa]

Unbelievably and worryingly Rose has been a huge loss to us a threat to the opposition and in terms of our lack of creativity

I think anyone thinking Rose is the missing piece of our attacking jigsaw is in for a big shock when gets back in the lineup.

 

[Khilari]

At WHL yesterday, I think Capoue looked brilliant on the ball. His touch is assured, he spread play left and right. Tried some through balls, some were rubbish (first game back) and more importantly he wins the ball back, giving us something Modric didn't.

With Eriksen or Holtby further up, perhaps we'll have more of that Modric creativity in and around the box as the team gels.

I think AVB sees ET Capoue as a SR Sandro alternative, which in most games is agree, however in games where we need to be tight, compact and defensive (eg away against the big teams) they could play together sacrificing creativity. I think ET Capoue has a different skillet to offer to SR Sandro and they aren't mutually exclusive.

<Edited due to retardness from sleep deprivation>

 

[TheSecretNonFootballer]

I think anyone thinking Rose is the missing piece of our attacking jigsaw is in for a big shock when gets back in the lineup.

ROSEBERTO CARLOS WILL SOLVE ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS.




He won't.

 

[eddiebailey]

I personally don't think any of the current 'playmakers' we have are as good as Carrick or Modric were

None of them show for the ball as much as those 2 did and none of them read the game as well either

At one time I hoped Huddlestone would fill that role, and the more I see of him at Hull with a run of games under his belt, the more I wonder if it wan't a mistake selling him. Certainly against these park the bus teams his ability to find a pass would be more help to us than Dembele surging past two opponents only to stand still for five minutes scratching his head.

 

[CowInAComa]

At WHL yesterday, I think Capoue looked brilliant on the ball. His touch is assured, he spread play left and right. Tried some through balls, some were rubbish (first game back) and more importantly he wins the ball back, giving us something Modric didn't.

With Eriksen or Holtby further up, perhaps we'll have more of that Modric creativity in and around the box as the team gels.

I think AVB sees ET as a SR alternative, which in most games is agree, however in games where we need to be tight, compact and defensive (eg away against the big teams) they could play together sacrificing creativity. I think ET has a different skillet to offer to SR and they aren't mutually exclusive.

Proper Spurs player.

 

[jezz]

You're clueless.

Is this an emotional knee jerk response ?or are you posting the finer details once you have thought about it.
Your creative writing is captivating.

 

[Shadydan]

I think anyone thinking Rose is the missing piece of our attacking jigsaw is in for a big shock when gets back in the lineup.

Don't know of anyone is saying that but he is has an important role in the way we play especially as we rely on width.

When was the last time we actually looked like creating chances...against Norwich which was his last league game.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

At one time I hoped Huddlestone would fill that role, and the more I see of him at Hull with a run of games under his belt, the more I wonder if it wan't a mistake selling him. Certainly against these park the bus teams his ability to find a pass would be more help to us than Dembele surging past two opponents only to stand still for five minutes scratching his head.

Mmmm Thudd was always a bit of a conundrum for me, another 1 that had great parts to his game as well as terrible bits

Like your Dembele assessment. Poor old Moussa

I hoped Ryan Mason could have been the 1 after watching him years ago......

 

[LeSoupeKitchen]

Everytime I see Demebele play he shows flashes that remind me of Modric. Just picking up the ball from the defense, losing a couple of players and driving into space. I can picture him doing this a thousand times but just can't picture anything past that.

Its about as close as I can relate to someone with some kind of damage to one side of their brain where they can only remember the first half of the alphabet.

 

[Shadydan]

I really don't think so. Dembele and Paulinho are capable of coming forward and picking a pass, as are the 3 players in front of them. The problem is the team's movement as a whole. There were still games when people parked the bus and Modric struggled. Modric is outrageously gifted and that's why he's playing for the biggest team in the world so any team would miss him. but I don't think we're necessarily missing a player that can knit things. We have enough quality in the squad to be able to do it, it's just the implementation, not the lack of an individual player. Bar a striker of course, we're certainly missing a certain type of striker.

It's not really about getting forward and picking a pass, we are missing someone desperately to dictate the tempo of our play, we're missing that player who is able to receive the ball in tight spaces therefore dragging players out of position infield so that it opens up spaces further up the pitch. We are also missing that player who is able to show for the ball when other players are in trouble and re-start attacks.

Even under Redknapp where the movement was also poor we still created chances because we had a deep lying playmaker who would probe and look for different angles for a breakthrough.

I always said that we'd struggle to replace Modric more than Bale and people laughed, now it couldn't be more obvious.

I do think though that Holtby can be that player, he needs to trust his ability with the ball more and improve his first touch, this will come in time as he's only 21 and is still learning.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

Soldado
Townsend --------------------- Lamela
Eriksen/Holtby
Capoue/Sandro - Paulinho/Dembele​

 

[dondo]

Is Capoues passing that good? I saw him as more a win the ball pass it simple kind of player

 

[dondo]

With all the money we got for bale im sure we would have signed a deep playmaker if we wanted one maybe avb didnt want one/ doesnt fit his system?

 

[SlickMongoose]

It's not really about getting forward and picking a pass, we are missing someone desperately to dictate the tempo of our play, we're missing that player who is able to receive the ball in tight spaces therefore dragging players out of position infield so that it opens up spaces further up the pitch. We are also missing that player who is able to show for the ball when other players are in trouble and re-start attacks.

I thought we had a player like that.... Was it Tom Barroll? Tom Darroll? Tom Farroll?

Damn, i'm sure it'll come to me in a minute.

 

[TheSecretNonFootballer]

I thought we had a player like that.... Was it Tom Barroll? Tom Darroll? Tom Farroll?

Damn, i'm sure it'll come to me in a minute.

Andy Carroll

 

[parklane1]

we .

I always said that we'd struggle to replace Modric more than Bale and people laughed, now it couldn't be more obvious.

.

I did not, Modric is a far bigger loss the Bale.

 

[kaz Hirai]

At WHL yesterday, I think Capoue looked brilliant on the ball. His touch is assured, he spread play left and right. Tried some through balls, some were rubbish (first game back) and more importantly he wins the ball back, giving us something Modric didn't.

With Eriksen or Holtby further up, perhaps we'll have more of that Modric creativity in and around the box as the team gels.

I think AVB sees ET as a SR alternative, which in most games is agree, however in games where we need to be tight, compact and defensive (eg away against the big teams) they could play together sacrificing creativity. I think ET has a different skillet to offer to SR and they aren't mutually exclusive.

Who the frak are ET and SR?

 

[markieboy]

I said a few weeks ago that we should try for Cabaye in the January window,I think he is a player that could really drive this team forward.