Absolutely horrible midfield

Posh Red said:
Thanks.

Out of interest, who would you replace him with if you could have your pick?
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When I didn't want him back in 2016 or whatever I'd have rather got Pjanic and Fabinho and some change for the same fee.

Right now it's a similar approach. Unsure whose there on the market but it's clear there isn't a lack of talent. The role he was brought in for can be replicated by a Kai Havertz or Zainoldo type together with a midfield destroyer to sit and break up play.
 
Can't believe some are suggesting we go after Leicester's midfielders, as if we didn't get taken to the cleaners last purchase. They have no reason to sell and I can't see the players wanting to switch clubs after the cautionary tale that is Maguire.

We need to be creative in our purchases, and look for mentally strong players that don't cost an arm and a leg. Each and every of our 'marquee' signings have been underwhelming (Maguire still has time of course). Pogba is a brilliant player with the mental fortitude of child whose iPad got taken away. We need midfielders that lift the talents of our forwards and support the defense from getting ran at all game.

Wish we threw more money at Herrera. He's the exact type we need - not terribly flashy with little in the way of a Hollywood ball, but rarely puts a foot wrong and supports the attack by allowing them the freedom to be the creative ones.

Once we get these types of midfielders in, we'd have a strong base for the creative AM type that could propel us forward.
 
Surprised none of the midfielder threads have been bumped after yesterday. Fred is starting to look like a PL-level midfielder, and we had a massive boost in quality with just McTominay returning.

I really think we need a new striker, but it can't be denied that bolstering the midfield would see us improve considerably and give the forwards ahead of them a platform to play off of.
 
Samid said:
Matic
Pereira - Mata​

This is our midfield in 2020 :(
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Our quality isn't at the required level to get us back to the top, that's obvious. However, in Pogba and McTominay, we have our best midfielders out injured, and Fred, who has made a vast improvement this season, is in desperate need of a rest.

Going forward, we buy two midfielders: a deeplying playmaker and advanced playmaker, and players like Matic and Mata go, with the likes of Fred and McTominay being more squad players.
 
Samid said:
Matic
Pereira - Mata​

This is our midfield in 2020 :(
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It wouldn’t look out of place in the bottom half of the table. Been saying it all season. Disastrous squad planning.

It’s so bad that you’ve got people convincing themselves that the likes of Fred and McTominay are anything other than huff and puffers.
 
Well I an optimist because we have TfM have who can do the defensive duties that Matic can't, and thereby is his natural replacement. And Periera is getting better and better now because he's getting playing time in an attacking role.

Gardner is the excellent youth player coming through and Pogba is the floater doing whatever role he wants.

Once the injuries have toned down a bit I think we'll have a decent midfield there requiring a Pogba replacement and 1 more purchase of the same potential top level.
 
Most midfields in England would look poor if their 3 best players were missing (+ the best youngster in Garner) - and when we are already thin in that department it gets especially bad.
 
DeepSpace said:
I like Matic, I hope he gets to play more. Press-resistant, gets into intelligent positions and picks the right passes often
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I agree. I think he tries to keep the tempo in the game. More than often he can't find an option ahead of him due to lack of movement from his teammates, which makes him take on the task to move the ball forward. He therefore often end out of position when we inevitably lose the ball, but I won't blame him too much for that. The alternative is to just pass the ball sideways or backwards. At least he shows some sort of urgency compared to most others.
Needs the right players around him to really thrive though. But have to only be a short term solution as his peak was a long time ago.
 
I wonder how Ed is going to sign the 3 new midfielders we’ll need in the next 2 transfer windows?
I suspect Matic and Pogba will be gone very soon, then we have 2 players and a few kids for the 2 most vital positions on the pitch. We’ll inevitably get quoted 50 million plus for any identified targets.
 
How is Mata, Pereira and Lingard getting into this team. We might as well play with 10 men when one of these are in the side. Surely Garner or Levitt deserve their place before these 3.
 
MiracleInMadrid said:
I agree. I think he tries to keep the tempo in the game. More than often he can't find an option ahead of him due to lack of movement from his teammates, which makes him take on the task to move the ball forward. He therefore often end out of position when we inevitably lose the ball, but I won't blame him too much for that. The alternative is to just pass the ball sideways or backwards. At least he shows some sort of urgency compared to most others.
Needs the right players around him to really thrive though. But have to only be a short term solution as his peak was a long time ago.
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I don’t see what you see. The complete opposite is the case! Matic is a ponderous plodder who slows our counter down to an irrelevance. He breaks up play, nothing else! Should have fecked off with Maureen.
Our midfield is completely devoid of any vision or creativity. Sell Pogba go get Maddison & Kante ...
 
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