A midfield is like a jigsaw, Arthur would be where Pogba is in our midfield, he still as Busquets sitting behind him at the base of the midfield.
Potential Matic Replacements
- Thread starter FootyGirl88
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A midfield is like a jigsaw, Arthur would be where Pogba is in our midfield, he still as Busquets sitting behind him at the base of the midfield.
Our entire team needs fixing. Our Midfield is in disarray... Pogba seemed to be our main CM but his future is in doubt while Herrera is out for certain and Matic isn't good enough. We need 2 quality midfielders. Our forwards include Martial, Rashford and Lingard with Lukaku interchangeably used. Neither of them can be trusted to put in consistent performances for the rest of the season. We need our forwards to score a total of 80 goals between them. Our defense which leaks goals for fun also needs refurbishing. Lindelof and Shaw seem like the only ones to retain while the CB & RB positions need addressing now. De Gea... with his contract not extended, it puts us in jeopardy to lose him in the summer and having to act quickly to replace him with a better than an average goalkeeper.
De Gea and Pogba cannot leave this summer. We need to fix other issues... maybe we can leave to replace them in the following summer. Both players are immensely important to the rebuilding of our team.
De Gea and Pogba cannot leave this summer. We need to fix other issues... maybe we can leave to replace them in the following summer. Both players are immensely important to the rebuilding of our team.
@Kaglish10 mentioned Donny Van De Beek as a possible acquisition in the #6 role. He's still very young and will be turning 22 later this month. I don't know too much about him, but he seems to be a very good footballer with good passing and very mobile from the video below. He's also press resistant and has played very well for Ajax in the UCL. What's your opinion on him @Ajaxsuarez ?
Hopefully @Devil may care approves..
Yeah a good shout from @Kaglish10. Very impressive player. Whether it's for the 6 or the 8 or both, I'd be all for signing him. We desperately lack that kind of quality on the ball in the center of the park.
what sort of quality on the ball are you referring to? I obviously think he's a good player, but on the ball he's inferior to most of the Ajax' key players
Van De Beek looks a bit gangly on the ball due to his tall frame which is more pronounced in the crowded final third area but his ball skill is quite excellent. He doesn't go on a mazy dribbles like Frenkie does but that doesn't diminish his technique. Besides, he doesn't need such mazy dribbles skill in the no 6 role which is why I think Ajax coach is underutilizing him in the no 10 role.
As a matter of fact, I have never been impressed with Frenkie in the central midfield role. He holds on to the ball far too much for my likely, and tends to make lot of bad decisions by picking wrong options. His expansive passing range isn't consistent too. I watched his touches keenly against Madrid and was unimpressed with lot of the decision he made, especially the one after beating Modric, he kept on running with the ball instead of making a quick pass to progress the play but he failed to do that and the chance was lost. It's not all about mazy dribbles. It's all about quick smart thinking, spatial awareness, good movement, good touch, vision and reading of the play which De Beek all has in his arsenal! I feel he's being cheated by playing in the no 10 role just to make room for Frenkie and Schone in the midfield. If only Bozz didn't leave for Dortmund.
How's Weigl been developing at Dortmund? Last I heard, there were rumors that Tuchel wanted to sign him at PSG.
I fully expect him to leave in the summer! He has indeed been linked very strongly with PSG, and they wanted to sign him in January, and even though Dortmund seem willing to sell in the summer, they wouldn't in January, as they needed him for the rest of this season.
He's had a strange season really, he is no longer a first choice in midfield, in fact, he is now 4th choice, behind Witsel, Delaney and Dahoud, he's only started maybe 4 or 5 games in midfield this season. But he has played a few games in central defence. And looked quite good there too. But he's only made 10 starts in the league all season.
But his stock has fallen here. Maybe he just needs a change of scene to kickstart his career. As he's really stagnated here and is not in the plans of the coach Lucien Favre. So I would say he's not developed at all the last couple years, he's gone backwards, a change of club may be best, I think he was quite keen to make the move to PSG. I don't know if it expected that they come back for him.
Thanks - that's a shame I had high hopes for him, how much do you think he's worth currently?
Cc @Ish
@FootyGirl88 thanks for the cc
Yeah, that's a bummer. Thought he'd go on to become a top DM/CM. Also, in your post, how is Dahoud? He was the other player I was wondering about. I know very little about him, other than Klopp was interested in him before Borussia signed him. Sort of like a Gundogan/Sahin type?
Not sure re worth, I think when PSG where after him in Janauary, the fee was rumoured to be around 20m Euros. He has a contact with Dortmund till 2021.
Dahoud's trajectory seems to be going slightly the opposite way of Weigl, in that he's now making some positive strides, after being quite underwhelming initially. He was always seemed a bit more attacking at Gladbach than he's been here, but this season he has sometimes played futher forward of the 3 midfielders when he's played. I am still not sure what will become of him, the fact they spent 40m on midfielders last summer suggested it was an area of the pitch the coaches felt was lacking. To be honest, I am not sure what Delaney offers more than Dahoud, apart from physicality (we had a rather lightweight midfield), and woukd have liked to see Dahoud get a good run of games at some point! But he always seems to be in and out of the team which makes him hard to judge. He is a rather big level below Gundogan and (a fit and healthy) Nuri Sahin.
Thanks for the info bud. Much appreciated.
btw van de beek was fantastic against Juve, but again not as a Matic replacement
Fred. Already done
Have to say, this seems less of a priority after tonight. It’s the attacking/creativity part we should be focusing on.
I heard that on the radio, nearly netted as well? Did he play as the advanced midfielder of a 3?
took a chance in the box with his weaker left foot and it literally missed the top corner by half a cm. yeah that's where he always plays hence not understanding why he's being mentioned in this thread
yes
Is Mctominay the matic replacement? Or herrera replacement? Or something different?
Yeah, he was pretty convincing tonight against barca. Strange he's taken so long to start to make his mark.
Kinda Ander. He plays further forward in his recent games but still has that determination to try and win the ball. Not as good at it as Ander and nowhere near as good at spotting danger near the back, but he's not playing that close to the back so its okay. And attempting to win balls high up the pitch means Fred can intercept bad passes and has less to do defensively, the same way Ander's combativeness got Matic by when his defending has been poor.
Van de Beek was fantastic yesterday. I feel he's growing into the no 10 role but I feel he's at his best as a no 6. You're probably championing him as a no 10, so big clubs won't come for him because I also found out that many Ajax fans think he was fantastic in the no 6 role hence I ain't the only one with such opinion. I could recall he was really fantastic against us when he came on for Schone at Europa final. He's just a tactically astute player who has got good football brain to understand the basic of the game hence why it wasn't difficult for him to slot seamlessly into the no 10 role. Take for example, Frenkie would have never adapted in the no 10 role.
Ajax fans comments on him as a no 6 below (I used Google translation):
*Dutch*
*Het middenveld staat verdedigend ook beter met Donny op 6. Schone is een liability als het op verdedigen en omschakelen aankomt. Ik vind Donny heel uitgenast in het hinderlijk onderbreken van een (potentiële) tegenaanval. Het is vloeken in de kerk, maar daarin vind ik hem bijna op z'n Van Bommels acteren. Ik begrijp wat je daarmee bedoelt. Het kan een klootzak zijn en *** hebben we ook gewoon nodig en vooral op de 6 positie*
English Translation:
Midfield is defensively better with Donny at 6. Schone is a liability when it comes to defending and switching. I think Donny is very much in the mood for interrupting a (potential) counterattack. It is cursing in the church, but I find it almost acting like Van Bommels.I understand what you mean by that. It can be a bastard and we just need that and especially at the 6th position.
*Dutch*
*Ik vind Schöne tekort komen in de topwedstrijden dit seizoen. Kan het fysiek niet meer aan en is voetballend niet direct een meerwaarde als je onder druk komt. Vind VD Beek in de topwedstrijden het beter invullen*
English translation:
I think Schöne is inadequate in the top competitions this season. Can't take it anymore physically and playing football is not immediately an added value if you come under pressure. Find VD Beek in the top matches the better fill
*Dutch*
*Goed om er nog een jaar bij te houden als ervaren jongen met veel voetballende kwaliteiten maar zal in de basis plaats moeten maken voor vd Beek of De Jong*
English translation:
Good to keep it up for another year as an experienced boy (Schone) with many footballing qualities, but will have to make way for vd Beek or De Jong in the base
*Dutch*
*Donny is veel meer de voetballer en mist de kwaliteiten op de positie waar hij nu staat die Ajax juist nu zo nodig heeft, imo zou binnen het huidige systeem de plek van Schone de zijne moeten zijn. Door de huidige (veld)bezetting op het middenveld krijgt ook Ziyech minder ruimte om zijn echte kwaliteiten tentoon te spreiden omdat hij en Donny in een te kleine ruimte opereren en te vaak voor dezelfde bal gaan. Volgens mij was het Kieft die daar gister ook een voltreffer opmerking over maakte.*
English translation:
Donny is much more the football player and lacks the qualities in the position where he is now (no 10) that Ajax needs just now, imo should be the place of Schone in his current system. The current (field) occupation in midfield also gives Ziyech less room to display his true qualities because he and Donny operate in too small a space and too often go for the same ball. I think it was Kieft who also made a direct comment about that yesterday.
*Dutch*
*Opvallend detail gister: Toen Schöne inviel, ging Lasse spelen op de halfpositie en niet meer op "6". Lijkt me ook verstandiger. Lasse op "6" kan echt niet meer en ik vond VD Beek daar wel goed gister (en eigenlijk altijd). Brengt veel meer power, loopt verdedigend meer dicht en is opbouwend sneller en beter dan Schöne*
English translation:
Striking detail yesterday: When Schöne came in, Lasse (Schone) started playing in the half position and no longer on "6". Also seems better to me. Lasse on "6" is really not possible anymore and I thought VD Beek was good there yesterday (and actually always). Brings a lot more power, is more defensively close and is constructively faster and better than Schöne.
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Seems like our coaching staff have finally realised that Fred is a defensive player. He should be given a run of games in this position until the end of the season with Pogba and McTominay in the more attacking roles. The fact that he can run means we can get away with just the one defensive midfielder like other top teams unlike when we play with Matic.
Another stinker from Ruben Neves today. Was very poor again according to the Wolves fans. Below are the thoughts on their loss earlier..
https://www.wolvesforum.co.uk/showthread.php?35299-Southampton-3-1-Wolves-The-Verdict
https://www.wolvesforum.co.uk/showthread.php?35299-Southampton-3-1-Wolves-The-Verdict
There are reports that City are going to trigger the 70m euro release clause of Rodri who is the perfect replacement for Matic. Maybe we might suddenly jump into action now that City have set their sights on him. Hijacking City's deals is the only thing we are good at now.
The ironic thing is that we had the Matic replacement before Matic even signed in Herrera.
maybe driving his price down
Matic is "just" 30 y.o. I believe he can get back to his old self. The whole squad is doing a terrible season.
This is true, I wouldn't want to sell him, but I do want an adequate replacement for when he stinks the place up. Tbh Fred is OK, if we get a more energetic midfielder in the mix. Fred, Matic and Pogba just means Fred is all over the place. McTominay grafts enough so Fred doesn't have to do all of the running, all the time.
There are quite good options for the DMC or CMDf position. We can buy a good young with tons of potential solutions without breaking the bank. From the top of my head there's Sandro Tonali, Arne Maier and there's this guy I saw on Ligue 1 named Sangaré from Toulouse who looks a very composed midfielder every time I see him.
Watch Evertons second goal, Matic’s attitude towards stopping Sigurdssons shot was appalling he totally gave up when he’d knocked it two yards away from Matic.
If ever a moment resonated to Gary Nevilles interview about poor attitude then this was it for me.
Matic needs moving on in the summer, looks majorly like he doesnt give a toss
If ever a moment resonated to Gary Nevilles interview about poor attitude then this was it for me.
Matic needs moving on in the summer, looks majorly like he doesnt give a toss
Yeah, Tonali would be great and @Ekeke has done a few write ups on Sangare. @Adnan brought Lucien Agoume to my attention as well, who looks like a carbon copy of Pogba in style - he rejected Barca as he didn't want to play for their B side. I think the CM area you can get great value, the issue for me is the CB market these days.
IMHO there are two positions in football where experience counts much more than others, which are goalkeepers and center backs. The main reason for that is because when a keeper or a center back commits a mistake, the probability of that mistake leading to a goal is huge.
That's why it is so hard for players in those positions not only to get game time, but also to develop their concentration levels and learning how to antecipate the play, which is something you'll get after becoming an experienced player.
Antecipation is the key for both keepers and center backs. If you are very reactive, sooner or later you will be caught on the wrong foot.
In my opinion Scott Mctominay and Fred are both better suited to the 6 position rather than a CM/#8. Neither players are going to contribute enough in the attacking passages of play to warrant them solidifying a place in those positions.
For me, getting rid of Matic and bringing in a quality hard working CM to replace Herrera and another CAM/#10 to add depth to the squad and to give pogba a rest every now and again is the direction I would go.
Our midfield has too many players that are too defensive minded or with not enough quality going forward. Thus leaving Pogba as our only attcking midfielder. Shocking stuff IMO. Other teams have 2-3 top players rotating in attacking midfield.
For me, getting rid of Matic and bringing in a quality hard working CM to replace Herrera and another CAM/#10 to add depth to the squad and to give pogba a rest every now and again is the direction I would go.
Our midfield has too many players that are too defensive minded or with not enough quality going forward. Thus leaving Pogba as our only attcking midfielder. Shocking stuff IMO. Other teams have 2-3 top players rotating in attacking midfield.
I watched him since his Chelsea era and I must say I never really impressed with him as what people always rated him. He’s decent in everything overall but doesn’t have any wow or special asset in him to be called top midfielder.
He’s getting worse & worse every season, and this season he’s becoming passenger and tends to be ball watching.
Getting a replacement or not playing him in the role is one of our solution of the problem.
Very true. Far more ruthless as well when it comes to moving players on or dropping them.
His old self wasn't that good anyway
What happened to that Dortmund guy? He was such a big hype a few years ago.