DEFchenkOE
Well-Known Member
- Feb 13, 2006
- 10,527
- 8,052
I think this position will be very important. I'm more specifically thinking about when he attempts to implement his 4-3-3. When he was at Porto he often used Fernando or Freddy Guarin in the middle of the midfield 3 and used Moutinho there a few times.
There are some very good defensive midfielders at the moment, the likes of Javi Martinez, Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, Carrick. For me though the best player currently in a 4-3-3 is Busquets, main reasons being:
+ His passing with either foot is near perfect
+ Able to play the short passing game or long/over the top
+ Has great awareness and usually knows where he's going to pass before receiving the ball
+ rarely gives the ball away even when receiving it from defenders with back to goal
+ tactically aware and knows how to cover the spaces left by a defender when they move forward
+ Very good awareness and positioning, able to nick the ball away without always resorting to slide tackles
+ Not that quick but quick enough to get around those nifty attacking midfielders he's opposing.
- Dives a lot and is a cheat (nobody is perfect though right?)
Anyway I've been thinking a lot about who Avb will use as his central defensive midfielder when he tries to play a 4-3-3 with Tottenham, Dembele is looking like he will be a guaranteed starter on the left of the central 3 and I guess Siggurdson might be on the right since we don't have too many other options. I know that Parker is out now but it will be interesting when fit to see who he opts for.
Sandro seems to be a lot of fans choice but I have some serious concerns about his sloppy passing and also seems to get caught in possession quite a bit. The more I see of him the more I start to think that he won't be suitable being the defensive hub of a midfield 3. Hope he can prove me wrong but he seems a bit more at home charging about the pitch rather than just being the 'water carrier'. I don't know I could be wrong but he seems more like a Gatusso type player to me, will give 100% but not the best on the ball so needs to play close to someone who is, a Modric for example. His slide tackles are usually on point though and I know the fans usually like that.
Livermore is not really a fans favorite it seems and is on the end of a lot of fans frustrations, seems cumbersome on the ball and not really able to make any effective passes. Defensively he seems to be a bit suspect and gives away a lot of silly freekicks. Avb has started him in every match I think so far so it will be interesting to see if he continues with him. Personally if we play a 4-3-3 with one defensive mid it will probably prove very costly if that one is JL.
Huddlestone Has good vision and able to play some amazing long passes, I can't back this up by any stats at all but from what I see his short passing game is not the best, it's very rare that I see Hudd pass and move but that could be down to his size and lack of mobility more than anything. If he had a bit more pace then I think he could work there but he can't really change that so I don't think he will be the man.
Parker
When fit he'd be my choice, for this season at least. His long passing range is limited but at least he's able to keep it simple and give it to the more creative players with minimum fuss. Some people get annoyed by his lack of invention in some of his passing but I prefer that he keeps it simple and just keeps the ball moving instead of giving the ball away cheaply. Also has the leadership skills which we seem to be lacking. I do have concerns about his fitness but hopefully he'll be able to get through the rest of the season after this injury.
Who would you play there? If the midfield would have been how avb wanted, I believe it would have been:
Dembele ?????? Moutinho
(LCM) (CDM) (RCM)
There are some very good defensive midfielders at the moment, the likes of Javi Martinez, Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, Carrick. For me though the best player currently in a 4-3-3 is Busquets, main reasons being:
+ His passing with either foot is near perfect
+ Able to play the short passing game or long/over the top
+ Has great awareness and usually knows where he's going to pass before receiving the ball
+ rarely gives the ball away even when receiving it from defenders with back to goal
+ tactically aware and knows how to cover the spaces left by a defender when they move forward
+ Very good awareness and positioning, able to nick the ball away without always resorting to slide tackles
+ Not that quick but quick enough to get around those nifty attacking midfielders he's opposing.
- Dives a lot and is a cheat (nobody is perfect though right?)
Anyway I've been thinking a lot about who Avb will use as his central defensive midfielder when he tries to play a 4-3-3 with Tottenham, Dembele is looking like he will be a guaranteed starter on the left of the central 3 and I guess Siggurdson might be on the right since we don't have too many other options. I know that Parker is out now but it will be interesting when fit to see who he opts for.
Sandro seems to be a lot of fans choice but I have some serious concerns about his sloppy passing and also seems to get caught in possession quite a bit. The more I see of him the more I start to think that he won't be suitable being the defensive hub of a midfield 3. Hope he can prove me wrong but he seems a bit more at home charging about the pitch rather than just being the 'water carrier'. I don't know I could be wrong but he seems more like a Gatusso type player to me, will give 100% but not the best on the ball so needs to play close to someone who is, a Modric for example. His slide tackles are usually on point though and I know the fans usually like that.
Livermore is not really a fans favorite it seems and is on the end of a lot of fans frustrations, seems cumbersome on the ball and not really able to make any effective passes. Defensively he seems to be a bit suspect and gives away a lot of silly freekicks. Avb has started him in every match I think so far so it will be interesting to see if he continues with him. Personally if we play a 4-3-3 with one defensive mid it will probably prove very costly if that one is JL.
Huddlestone Has good vision and able to play some amazing long passes, I can't back this up by any stats at all but from what I see his short passing game is not the best, it's very rare that I see Hudd pass and move but that could be down to his size and lack of mobility more than anything. If he had a bit more pace then I think he could work there but he can't really change that so I don't think he will be the man.
Parker
When fit he'd be my choice, for this season at least. His long passing range is limited but at least he's able to keep it simple and give it to the more creative players with minimum fuss. Some people get annoyed by his lack of invention in some of his passing but I prefer that he keeps it simple and just keeps the ball moving instead of giving the ball away cheaply. Also has the leadership skills which we seem to be lacking. I do have concerns about his fitness but hopefully he'll be able to get through the rest of the season after this injury.
Who would you play there? If the midfield would have been how avb wanted, I believe it would have been:
Dembele ?????? Moutinho
(LCM) (CDM) (RCM)
