Pogue Mahone
The caf's Camus.
Originally made this comment in the Berbatov thread but it's a slow day so feck it, might as well start a new thread.
There's been a lot of talk about us lacking attacking fluency this season and I'm inclined to agree with that. The obvious scape-goat is Berbatov, with Ronaldo also being implicated, due to a perceived lack of application, combined with him (allegedly) being played in a different position.
Does anyone else think we are lacking fluency due to the lack of a settled and on-form central midfield?
IMO the midfield is critically important to how the team plays. Fast, early, accurate passes into the feet of the likes of Berbatov and Rooney are what they thrive on. Similarly, Scholes' sweeping cross-field passes are meat and drink to a winger like Ronaldo.
As it stands, the stuttering midfield means that hard-working players like Rooney and Tevez are generally escaping criticism, while flair players like Berbatov and Ronaldo are getting dog's abuse, despite the fact that the whole team is clearly a good bit short of it's fluent best. Our defence has been immense and, to be fair, our midfield deserves a lot of credit for providing them with excellent protection (especially Michael Carrick, during our run of clean sheets) but I think the lack of a settled midfield has been a big factor in our (relative) lack of goals this season. We've only occasionally got into a really good groove in the middle of the park.
If Fletcher and Carrick can start the next 5 or 6 league games on the trot I think we'll see a vastly improved team performance, with individual players like Berbatov and Ronaldo suddenly looking much more potent.
Or has our midfield been absolutely fine and the only problems are purely up front / on the wings?
Discuss.
There's been a lot of talk about us lacking attacking fluency this season and I'm inclined to agree with that. The obvious scape-goat is Berbatov, with Ronaldo also being implicated, due to a perceived lack of application, combined with him (allegedly) being played in a different position.
Does anyone else think we are lacking fluency due to the lack of a settled and on-form central midfield?
- Giggs has been sensational and has been at the heart of some of our best football this season but is constantly in and out of the team, which just has to be disruptive to his central midfield partners.
- Paul Scholes has looked magnificent in patches but distinctly mediocre at times too (obviously not helped by his long-term injury)
- Anderson is having a bit of a second season syndrome and - up until the Fulham game - was the only CM who feature in all 5 of our defeats this season (obviously not helped by his long-term injury)
- Carrick and Fletcher are clearly our best midfield pairing, as proven by the fact that our record with them in midfield is superb. We've started 7 league games (out of 29 ) with a Carrick-Fletcher central midfield pairing, we've won 6 and drawn 1, scored 11 and conceded 1 (the VdS howler away to Newcastle) Our most impressive team performance of the season came with these two playing together (in the San Siro)
IMO the midfield is critically important to how the team plays. Fast, early, accurate passes into the feet of the likes of Berbatov and Rooney are what they thrive on. Similarly, Scholes' sweeping cross-field passes are meat and drink to a winger like Ronaldo.
As it stands, the stuttering midfield means that hard-working players like Rooney and Tevez are generally escaping criticism, while flair players like Berbatov and Ronaldo are getting dog's abuse, despite the fact that the whole team is clearly a good bit short of it's fluent best. Our defence has been immense and, to be fair, our midfield deserves a lot of credit for providing them with excellent protection (especially Michael Carrick, during our run of clean sheets) but I think the lack of a settled midfield has been a big factor in our (relative) lack of goals this season. We've only occasionally got into a really good groove in the middle of the park.
If Fletcher and Carrick can start the next 5 or 6 league games on the trot I think we'll see a vastly improved team performance, with individual players like Berbatov and Ronaldo suddenly looking much more potent.
Or has our midfield been absolutely fine and the only problems are purely up front / on the wings?
Discuss.