Definitely quality. A team with serious promotion ambitions shouldn't be starting Jamie Allen.To the people that are desperate for a CM - is it numbers or quality you're concerned about?
I think numbers wise we're OK and if we do sign a CM then we'll have to move someone on (Allen or Palmer).
At the moment we have 6 players for 3 positions which seems like reasonable depth, 7 might be too much?
And we won’t tonight either even though Sheaf is out ….Definitely quality. A team with serious promotion ambitions shouldn't be starting Jamie Allen.
Definitely quality. A team with serious promotion ambitions shouldn't be starting Jamie Allen.
Eccles statistically one of the best defensive midfielders in the league
Absolute drivel as usualWithout Sheaf I don’t think he’s half as good, and I still find that he’s not adventurous enough on the ball. If we’re playing a 4-2-3-1 then fine he’s decent enough in the 2 with Sheaf, but if we’re playing a 4-3-3 then there’s more onus on that right or left side for him to create attacks from midfield and try and thread the ball through to our attackers, and that’s the issue I personally have with Eccles.
Just my opinion, I know lots of people will disagree and see Eccles in a different light and that’s fine, I just think he needs to be more confident and creative with the ball for him to be a real quality midfielder.
Quality, we have the numbersTo the people that are desperate for a CM - is it numbers or quality you're concerned about?
I think numbers wise we're OK and if we do sign a CM then we'll have to move someone on (Allen or Palmer).
At the moment we have 6 players for 3 positions which seems like reasonable depth, 7 might be too much?
Eccles is the least of our problems in that midfield thoughWithout Sheaf I don’t think he’s half as good, and I still find that he’s not adventurous enough on the ball. If we’re playing a 4-2-3-1 then fine he’s decent enough in the 2 with Sheaf, but if we’re playing a 4-3-3 then there’s more onus on that right or left side for him to create attacks from midfield and try and thread the ball through to our attackers, and that’s the issue I personally have with Eccles.
Just my opinion, I know lots of people will disagree and see Eccles in a different light and that’s fine, I just think he needs to be more confident and creative with the ball for him to be a real quality midfielder.
Crikey, Allen is taking some stick here. He’s a perfectly good championship midfielder.
No, he’s not.Crikey, Allen is taking some stick here. He’s a perfectly good championship midfielder.
Crikey, Allen is taking some stick here. He’s a perfectly good championship midfielder.
Well we’ve had him in our team for the last two years and been in and around top 6. He’s part of a squad. He will start now and again.No, he’s not.
what other top six challengers would have him in their side? The answer is none
QualityvTo the people that are desperate for a CM - is it numbers or quality you're concerned about?
I think numbers wise we're OK and if we do sign a CM then we'll have to move someone on (Allen or Palmer).
At the moment we have 6 players for 3 positions which seems like reasonable depth, 7 might be too much?
I think he's a very good league 1 player.Are you referring to Joe Allen or Jamie Allen?
If the real question is how many top 6 contenders would have him in their midfield options of 6/7 I think the answer is most of them …..No, he’s not.
what other top six challengers would have him in their side? The answer is none
I still think we could do with another CM/ CDM type player with a bit more physically and a good passing range, but Allen would not be my first choice to move on if we did get one in. I wouldn't imagine he's one of our top earners, so I think he probably represents value to the squad.
I agree he doesn't seem to casually jog back, but in a majority of cases he just runs alongside a bigger faster midfielder/attacker and doesn't cause any problems for them. Not having a go at him perse, but we need better starters in the first 11 then him, as others have said, maybe an impact sub when others are tiring and playing in the opposition half, not as a defensive midfielderI think Allen seems to be taking a lot of flack a little unfairly. I don't think Robins would see him as a starter when the squad is all fit, but he's a great option off the bench. He has energy, can play in a couple of different positions and has shown he has enough quality for this league on a number of occasions. His movement in the attacking third is often better than some of our other players (Palmer for example). He's contributed some important goals and you never see him casually jog back when the ball is overturned. At the start of last season I had serious doubts about him, but he changed my mind.
I still think we could do with another CM/ CDM type player with a bit more physically and a good passing range, but Allen would not be my first choice to move on if we did get one in. I wouldn't imagine he's one of our top earners, so I think he probably represents value to the squad.
It's a shame to say it, but Palmer would be my first choice honestly. Don't think he fits our system, has bags of potential but we probably only see it 1/5 times he has the ball. I would imagine he's on higher wages and we have a number of other players who could play CAM (even though we don't have one in the current system) as well (Rudoni, EMC, BTA, Torp, Allen etc.)Surely you wouldn't move on Torp or Eccles before Allen though?
If we do bring in another CM and have to ship someone out it has to be Allen really.
I agree about being a starter. And I also know what you mean about having limited ability to win the ball back against bigger players. But I wouldn't say that this is ineffective. Just like O'Hare did, heal gets close to players and puts them under pressure, hovering them less time to make decisions. Pretty sure we saw that against Bristol a few times where the pressure on the player on the ball caused them to make wayward passes resulting in a Cov throw in.I agree he doesn't seem to casually jog back, but in a majority of cases he just runs alongside a bigger faster midfielder/attacker and doesn't cause any problems for them. Not having a go at him perse, but we need better starters in the first 11 then him, as others have said, maybe an impact sub when others are tiring and playing in the opposition half, not as a defensive midfielder
Crikey, Allen is taking some stick here. He’s a perfectly good championship midfielder.
Crikey, Allen is taking some stick here. He’s a perfectly good championship midfielder.
Two seasons ago he was.No he isn't
Two seasons ago he was.
There seems to be an acceptance among a lot of people that we have somehow switched to 4-3-3, with a 'flat' midfield.we have a number of other players who could play CAM (even though we don't have one in the current system)
I have watched live and its a 4-3-3There seems to be an acceptance among a lot of people that we have somehow switched to 4-3-3, with a 'flat' midfield.
Admittedly I haven't attended live yet, just watched on screens where it's harder to see overall patterns. But I'm still seeing 4-2-3-1, maybe a bit more flexible than last year, but with one midfielder generally playing ahead of the other two.
There seems to be an acceptance among a lot of people that we have somehow switched to 4-3-3, with a 'flat' midfield.
Admittedly I haven't attended live yet, just watched on screens where it's harder to see overall patterns. But I'm still seeing 4-2-3-1, maybe a bit more flexible than last year, but with one midfielder generally playing ahead of the other two.
Glad I'm not going completely insaneIt was 4-2-3-1 in the first two games and the average position maps show it.
It was particularly clear against Stoke:
View attachment 37816
And a little less clear against BC because of all the subs and players swapping positions, but Palmer clearly playing as a 10:
View attachment 37817
Ill trust my own eyes rather than that graph tbhThese are the average positions for the Stoke match (copied from a post by Stupot the other day)
Looks far more like 4-2-3-1 than 4-3-3 to me...
View attachment 37815
The Roy Keane approach to tactical insight.Ill trust my own eyes rather than that graph tbh
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