Our Midfield

[Bingo Lewis]

Does it line up

DM DM DM LW(on right wing)

or does it line up

-----DM DM LW(on right wing)
-------DM

????????????

Either way is fucking shit anyway. One option you've got a slow arse plodder on the wing, the other hand you've got no Left Wing at all.
What the fuck is this formation all about? I could understand him doing it if it confused the other team and got results, but it doesn't. Its just shit.

[Wooders]

it really bothers mid that we play so many defensive midfielders but we still don't boss the centre of the park in most games.

[ant london]

Dunno mate, but there's these two triffic lads called Roque and Emmanuel.....they should try to meet up with them sometime

[Bingo Lewis]

it really bothers mid that we play so many defensive midfielders but we still don't boss the centre of the park in most games.

Its because they have no inventiveness between them.
They just sideways pass between the three of them, and half the time underpass anyway and lose it.
De Jong and Vieira need to be out of the team
hows about this one?

Petrov--------Johnson---------SWP

---------Barry----------Ireland

if he insists on playing with 3 central midfielders

I'd personally go 442 with an Ireland / Barry midfield but hey ho, what do I know?

[Geo123]

Ive said it before and will say it again, he obviously doesnt rate Ireland hence why he didnt even bring him on last night at 1 down against ten men and will never start with two man of Barry and Ireland Bingo.

[lets all have a disco]

We really miss M Johnno IMHO he is the missing link.

[Bingo Lewis]

Ive said it before and will say it again, he obviously doesnt rate Ireland hence why he didnt even bring him on last night at 1 down against ten men and will never start with two man of Barry and Ireland Bingo.

Well he needs to realise that he is making shit judgements and get him in the fucking team then.

[lets all have a disco]

Ive said it before and will say it again, he obviously doesnt rate Ireland hence why he didnt even bring him on last night at 1 down against ten men and will never start with two man of Barry and Ireland Bingo.

Well he needs to realise that he is making shit judgements and get him in the fucking team then.

This.

We have no fucking cutting edge,nobody to play that killer pass.

Get Ireland in the team Mancini you dim shit.

[Wooders]

We really miss M Johnno IMHO he is the missing link.

I agree, we need a player in his mould if we're going to persist with this formation

[Mike J]

We really miss M Johnno IMHO he is the missing link.

it would be very nice to see a fully fit johnno back, to link up the midfield and attack. i really hope he can get back to what he was.

[lets all have a disco]

We really miss M Johnno IMHO he is the missing link.

I agree, we need a player in his mould if we're going to persist with this formation

We do pal,can pass,shoot,tackle,control the game,is clever,inventive etc.

Shame he is injured again he looked properly fit before doing his other knee,he links the attack and midfield he is killing me being out again.

[Bingo Lewis]

Its too crowded in the middle.
Even someone with Jonno's class would struggle.

[lets all have a disco]

Its too crowded in the middle.
Even someone with Jonno's class would struggle.

The solution there is to drop one or both of De Jong or Pat.

Get a creative lad next to M Johnno and lets so how we go with two wingers.

Anyway,im gonna cry soon he is out for the rest of the season so get Barry and Superman set up there.

[Bingo Lewis]

Its too crowded in the middle.
Even someone with Jonno's class would struggle.

The solution there is to drop one or both of De Jong or Pat.

Get a creative lad next to M Johnno and lets so how we go with two wingers.

Anyway,im gonna cry soon he is out for the rest of the season so get Barry and Superman set up there.

agreed.

[Im_Spartacus]

I watched the game, and for the first 26 minutes, was totally amazed that we did not have a spell of more than 20 seconds in the Stoke half, without needlessly giving away posession and immediately ending up defending on the edge of our own area.

Shocking, shocking display, and the game left me genuinely feeling empty, because I didnt know whether to blame the manager for setting the team out like this, or for the 3 supposedly world class midfielders being so utterly inept.

I dont care what the reasons were for the shocker in midfiled, when you have 3 players of the calibre and experience of Vieira, De Jong and Barry, all of whom expect to be the rock of their country's world cup hopes being massively overrun by (all due respect) journeymen, they should be big enough and experienced enough to go to the manager at half time and tell - yes tell - him to change it.

I am genuinely shocked at how badly our midfield have played, and I think all concerned including the manager need to take a long hard look at themselves after this game.

[Crossie]

With Ireland not inform, and basically none of our midfielders in form except Johnson, what choice do we have?

Ireland is our only recognised central midfielder, but he isnt doing the job,

IMO Mancini is doing what he can with whats available. He probably doesnt rate Barry, Dejong, Zabs and even Vieira at the moment either. But then we are fucked arent we? Its up to him to get something together that works NOW, and MAKE them fucking play with passion atleast.

We had been playing some great stuff, and hoping we would score more than we conceeded. Now we are playing long ball SHIT, and still conceeding

[john68]

Quite simply we are defending too deeply and with too many bodies.
Our back line defends our area with our midfield closely attached to them. The gap to the forwards is stretched and they are left isolated.
Time and time again we clear the ball into empty space, simply giving up possession, putting ourselves immediately back under pressure.
This tactic may be fine when we are holding on to a lead against some yop side away but is nonsense when we are losing and need to move the game upfield.
In that respect, it doesn't matter what creativity we put in midfield. Whoever it may be would be too deep to be really as potentially effective as they should be.

[Ted Hughes]

It seemed to me we lined up:

...................De Jong..................

Vieira..................................Barry

..................Johnson......................

With Johnson kind of moving accross, well they all did to some extent but Vieira was mainly right of centre which I found very strange. Later we went to two wide men when SWP came on. Ireland should in theory be playing in Johnson's spot in a diamond but only performed for 15 mins when given the job last game.

When Johnson went wide, he clearly doesn't have an understanding with Ade or RSC as to where they want the ball or where he wants them to run, you could see them pointing & talking about it on the pitch. If they get that, he'll create goals for them but how can they get it when he never plays in that position?

[Lees Alter Ego]

Im glad that most people here can just not get their head round Mancinis midfield tactics. I mean how are we ever going to create something with so many players who cant pass forward. its so dull to watch and amazingly we dont even seem that solid. We've gone from one extreme to another, Hughes brought attacking players on when we were winning, Mancini brings DM players on when we are losing. cant we just have a manager with some common sense.

For me if Mancini doesnt rate Ireland then hes a bit of a dick, esp if he thinks Patrick is the better option.

[C & C]

It seemed to me we lined up:

...................De Jong..................

Vieira..................................Barry

..................Johnson......................

With Johnson kind of moving accross, well they all did to some extent but Vieira was mainly right of centre which I found very strange. Later we went to two wide men when SWP came on. Ireland should in theory be playing in Johnson's spot in a diamond but only performed for 15 mins when given the job last game.

When Johnson went wide, he clearly doesn't have an understanding with Ade or RSC as to where they want the ball or where he wants them to run, you could see them pointing & talking about it on the pitch. If they get that, he'll create goals for them but how can they get it when he never plays in that position?

Unfortunately when we're in this formation we have no width as neither Vieira nor Barry will get down the wing. If we're able to get the ball played into one of the strikers then he's collapsed upon quickly and the striker is forced to try to play a quick ball back to someone. Again neither Vieira nor Barry are far enough up the pitch so it's likely going to have to be Johnson who's likely marked by a DM. If we are able to get it to one of our midfielders then the ball is played backwards too often.

I would really like to see a 4-2-3-1. This gives us width and hopefully a play maker behind the striker. Who this play maker is, I'm not sure. Maybe Tevez, but to be honest I'd rather see him up top (which mean Ade is on the bench).

With 3 DM's there just isn't enough width for me and the gap between them and the strikers is just too much.