They offered plenty of protection, it was creativity that we were woefully short on.
So the fact we were continually outfought away from home in the PL was down to lack of creativity was it?
You have to have the ball to create, and too many times last season Carrick and Fletcher were found wanting. There is an initial battle for supremacy that must be won before the right to play football is earned, and we did not earn that right often enough. That is why so many teams gave us such a hard time last year, not through lack of creativity, through lack of control in the middle.
Liverpool, Arsenal, West Brom, Bolton, Sunderland, Fulham, Birmingham, Blackpool, Stoke, Blackburn, Newcastle and most especially Villa all completely dominated our midfield for uncomfortably long periods last year.
If you think that was down to lack of creativity then that is your choice, but i attribute it to a lack of a dominant figure, and an inability to keep the ball under pressure. Sneijder may address the keeping the ball problem, but the fact he usually plays in front of specialised DM's like De Jong do not suggest he will add much defensively. That is my concern.