My thing - Modric in the middle

[Archibald-CPH]

Once again - and I know I havde said this many times... But why don't we try with Luka and Wilson in the middle and with Niko on the left... Has it been done?

Especially at WHL against teams who parks the bus, which seems to be every team outside the current top 4..

It seems like we don't have enough creativity and just keep aiming against Crouch. (this said, I do think that Crouch had a good match yesterday, and work his ace off)


Could/Will it work, and if no, why not? (It works for Bilic)

 

[MendD3]

Against Leeds we tried Modric with Jenas in the middle and we missed BOTH Huddlestone and Palacios.

We just miss our best player, Lennon. With Azza teams double up on him, which Modric/Kranky benefit from, or they don't and their defence gets streched which Defoe benefits from.

Bentley and Bale need to keep bombing their box with quality crosses until Lennons back and hope Crouch gets on the end of them.

I have got to say after watching the West Ham game, Scott Parker looks like mustard at the mo and would improve on Jenas and offer something different to Thudd.

 

[piedpiper]

I want Kranjcar back on the left. we played some our better football in Nov/Dec with Niko out left. i can't help but think that first shot that Luka had would have been in had Niko been on the end of it. Modric just cannot shoot. somehow we need to find a place for both in the team, at least until Lennon is back.

 

[THOWIG]

The only way I can see it working is if we played three in Midfield, which personally I wouldn't mind. Modric is still finding his feet in my eyes where as Kranjcar has impressed me all season.

 

[Archibald-CPH]

Against Leeds we tried Modric with Jenas in the middle and we missed BOTH Huddlestone and Palacios.

We just miss our best player, Lennon. With Azza teams double up on him, which Modric/Kranky benefit from, or they don't and their defence gets streched which Defoe benefits from.

Bentley and Bale need to keep bombing their box with quality crosses until Lennons back and hope Crouch gets on the end of them.

I have got to say after watching the West Ham game, Scott Parker looks like mustard at the mo and would improve on Jenas and offer something different to Thudd.

Yeah, but I don't think it will work with Jenas. Luka needs a hard worker/tackler like Wilson... Thats the difference

 

[Darrkespur]

I think Huddlestone has been too good this year to drop, and without Palacios we're too weak. Huddlestone is really starting to dominate midfields and we'd be silly to drop him now, if he pushes on over the next few seasons he could be a truly world class player.

 

[theShiznit]

Here is a way it could work
_______________________Gomes

________________________King

____________Kaboul__________________Bassong

Bentley/Lennon______Hudd________Palacios_______Bale

_______________________Modric

__________________Defoe________A n Other

that back 5 could all comfortably shift accross one either side making a flat4 depending on what side you are being attacked on, and that would be quite good going forward, at least it would give another dimension.

It's nice to have the squad to be able to have these options though.

 

[Krafty]

Huddlestone has been on great form this season, I cannot see a reason to drop him. His passing ability, specifically his vision and the pace of his passing, creates so many opening and avenues for attack I think its crucial he plays the majority of games. Plus he has that shot on him, which can draw defences out as they have to press him quickly.

What we need to do is be a little quicker with the ball when we get it wide, and also see a few more men getting beyond the strikers. Our strikers sit too central and can be easily tied up when we face teams with 10 men behind the ball. They need to move wide or drop deep to pull the centre backs around, but the attacking midfielders also need to make sure they attack the space the strikers vacate. Its getting there though.

 

[Mornstar]

Just want to warn some of our younger readers against misinterpreting the thread title

 

[Archibald-CPH]

Just want to warn some of our younger readers not to misinterpret the title of this thread

:rofl: Please do.... warn I mean

 

[theShiznit]

Huddlestone has been on great form this season, I cannot see a reason to drop him. His passing ability, specifically his vision and the pace of his passing, creates so many opening and avenues for attack I think its crucial he plays the majority of games. Plus he has that shot on him, which can draw defences out as they have to press him quickly.

What we need to do is be a little quicker with the ball when we get it wide, and also see a few more men getting beyond the strikers. Our strikers sit too central and can be easily tied up when we face teams with 10 men behind the ball. They need to move wide or drop deep to pull the centre backs around, but the attacking midfielders also need to make sure they attack the space the strikers vacate. Its getting there though.

This has been highlighted as one of the problems having the imobile Crouch presents, Defoe (or whoever the strike partner is) has to stay close to Crouch, who rarely strays away from the central area, meaning defences can stay more compact and there is little space or movement for midfielders to drift into or beyond the striker.

 

[jamesc0le]

it's interesting that people say huddle has to be somewhere in the middle controlling affairs. i didn't think about it yesterday, but when we needed a substitution , it would have been perfect to bring off dawson or king, move huddle to the back, and bring modric into the middle with kranjcar on the left. we were chasing 3 points and this system would have allowed for the new look midfield and huddle could still have picked out some passes from the back.. ah well - maybe next year



p.s people were saying we could have brought off wilson, that's just retarded 0_o