Bet you like conspiracy theories mate don't you :roll:
Modric in the middle
- Thread starter Archibald-CPH
- Start date
Bet you like conspiracy theories mate don't you :roll:
True too many diminuative midfielders would leave us open to an aerial attack, but we need to look at maximising our assets, Modric could be the best player in our team, we need time to find out, and certainly playing him out of position is not the way to find this out.
Time may tell us that you are correct in your assessment, but playing him out wide and limiting his impact does not allow us to find out, and i don't believe to date we have given him a fair crack in the centre without compromising him through the personnel we have made him play with ie Zokora/JJ.
thfcsteff
Well-Known Member
- Jul 30, 2005
- 1,117
- 339
I'm sorry, did you say 'sub Modric'?
Come on mate...seriously, come on!!!! Too many of these :beer:?
:duh:
walworthyid
David Ginola
- Oct 25, 2004
- 7,059
- 10,242
Great post but you are wasting your time. There are a group of people on this forum, we all know who they are, and they are clueless and ignorant and will never admit being wrong!
Somebody telling you that they called Modric being poor before he kicked a ball is telling you all you need to know about their mentality.
mil1lion
This is the place to be
- May 7, 2004
- 42,731
- 78,669
Reading through some of these posts you would think we have a weak midfield which is at fault for us leaking goals. When reality is, its the set pieces that are our biggest problem defensively (as usual.) Take the set pieces we've conceded out of the equasion, and we're actually very solid defensively. And thats even before we signed Palacios. We need a bit more strength in the air, no matter what position it is, to help at set pieces. King, Woodgate and Dawson are the only players i'm confident can win headers.
Not one of our central midfielders is strong enough in the air. Huddlestone, for all his height, is weak in the air. Jenas is pretty non existent in our box from set pieces. Zokora cant head. Neither can O'Hara or Modric. Palacios is a strong marker and can help, but again, isn't the strongest in the air. So whatever central midfield we have, we will still have the same problems at set pieces. Theres no reason why Modric cant play alongside Palacios in the middle. We wont leak goals in open play and we'll have 2 players who can keep us in possession.
I also like the idea of playing O'Hara on the left actually. A midfield of O'Hara--Modric--Palacios--Lennon is well worth trying. We just need to try and defend set pieces better. Get Pavylchenko to help out. Corluka has the height and needs to be stronger in the air. But most important, one of the keepers will need to command the box better. I prefered when Gomes used to just come for everything. Even if he didn't get much on the ball it can still be enough to stop the opposition getting a clear head at goal.
Not one of our central midfielders is strong enough in the air. Huddlestone, for all his height, is weak in the air. Jenas is pretty non existent in our box from set pieces. Zokora cant head. Neither can O'Hara or Modric. Palacios is a strong marker and can help, but again, isn't the strongest in the air. So whatever central midfield we have, we will still have the same problems at set pieces. Theres no reason why Modric cant play alongside Palacios in the middle. We wont leak goals in open play and we'll have 2 players who can keep us in possession.
I also like the idea of playing O'Hara on the left actually. A midfield of O'Hara--Modric--Palacios--Lennon is well worth trying. We just need to try and defend set pieces better. Get Pavylchenko to help out. Corluka has the height and needs to be stronger in the air. But most important, one of the keepers will need to command the box better. I prefered when Gomes used to just come for everything. Even if he didn't get much on the ball it can still be enough to stop the opposition getting a clear head at goal.
Coyboy
The Double of 1961 is still The Double
- Dec 3, 2004
- 15,506
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I get that sense but still there may be hope. I just cannot let the sentence 'Bentley has been better than Modric' go unanswered.
- Jan 14, 2004
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- #71
I can't tell whether people are saying some of these things tongue in cheek or not. Personally I hope we build around Palacios and Modric as a central midfield partnership. I honestly believe that is the way forward for us.
stemark44
Well-Known Member
- Mar 17, 2005
- 6,598
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I have been saying for 2/3 years now that our squad is very weak in the air but for some strange reason,we still haven't sorted it out and even the taller players we have brought in,like Pav and Corluka are not that great at jumping and heading balls.
If you look at the amount of goals we have conceded from set pieces in the last few seasons - its easily costing us 15 points a season and thats an absolute disgrace!
Kendall
Well-Known Member
- Feb 8, 2007
- 38,502
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Simply not enough between the two of them to pull it off imo. Modric barely tackles and gets shoved over every 5 minutes.
I assure you I'm not tongue in cheek IOMLS
I think jj & WP is our best Cm ATM - it is unbeaten (4 points from 2 games - and we ''won' the 2nd half when it was first tried re bolton where went in 2-0 down I believe)
I suspect HR thinks it's the best CM - and tongue in cheek is not him or any decent manager in a relegation battle
I think jj & WP is our best Cm ATM - it is unbeaten (4 points from 2 games - and we ''won' the 2nd half when it was first tried re bolton where went in 2-0 down I believe)
I suspect HR thinks it's the best CM - and tongue in cheek is not him or any decent manager in a relegation battle
good stuuf as usual 44 - and once again we are in agreement - that's why I wanted a big/strong striker in who was good or better in the air, as priority over robbie (who is poor in the air - and that's being kind)
not only for attacking set pieces but defending them
mido and les ferdinand were really useful at the latter, for example
- Jan 14, 2004
- 15,105
- 9,122
- Staff
- #77
Completely disagree that there isn't enough between the two of them. I think Modric is twice the player when he plays in a 442 than we he plays behind the striker in a 4411, simply because he has more options. He has very very good feet, is excellent in tight spaces and should be bringing players into the game. We've hardly seen Modric play centrally in a 442 and so we've yet to see the best of him.
Defensively I don't see it as a big problem either. I'm trying to think of all those teams that batter us through the middle and can't really think of any. They all set up to wait for us to give up possession, play it wide and break at our fullbacks. I think the advantages would far outweigh the negatives in this case, but it I'm not going to persuade people who have written Modric off already.
- May 8, 2005
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- #78
:clap:
To me it's so obvious. It really frustrates me seeing Modric forced out to the left to accomodate Jenas at the moment. Almost as much as it frustrated me that Keane was captain even though Ledley was playing.
Kendall
Well-Known Member
- Feb 8, 2007
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I see it as sacrificing a potential left wing threat to accomodate Modric because he's not strong enough for CM.
- May 8, 2005
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- #80
He's plenty strong enough, he battles, tackles, and is stronger than many give him credit for, just because he's small. Jenas for all his athleticism and other attributes, doesn't do enough, and isn't any stronger on the ball than Modric, or any better on the ball. Nor does he make many more tackles, from what I've seen in the last two games. I'd be much happier to see Modric in the middle where he can really impose himself on the game, and Jenas on left or the right where he isn't such a liability, and can use his pace and athleticism more. We'd use the ball much more efficiently, and would have more cover on the left hand side too.
