We don't have the midfield

[Idxomer]

I just can't see how a midfield that has either Bruno or Eriksen can compete with City or Arsenal in the long term. Also of course we need a much better backup for Casemiro than McTominay.

They just look clueless against teams like this.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I've only said for fecking years that Bruno isn't a midfielder that will work if you want to dominate games. Eriksen doesn't have the legs. He's a great option if you could rotate him constantly but it's a bit like when we had to have Matic play every week and he just couldn't handle it.

 

[Kag]

Wasn’t this obvious already? It’s well reported that Ten Hag wants another midfielder.

I’d probably be after another three if I were him.

 

[Vapor trail]

I agree, I think Bruno has had a decent season but maintaining possession amongst him and Mctomminay / Fred is poor. Eriksen should realistically be off the bench, we are asking too much of him only last season he was playing for Brentford.

The team needs two windows, Arteta has had 36 months ETH has been here not even a full season he's already exceeding expectations but the depth and quality of the team is what needs to be addressed.

 

[Borys]

Every time we play Eriksen in the big game we take a risk. Usually this pays off, not today vs Arsenal.

Casemiro is huge for us, we knew that before the game.

This midfield has been overperforming anyway.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

The balance isn’t right yet but it’s better than it was and moving in the right direction, we need 2 more to rotate with casemiro and Eriksen of equal quality.

 

[TheNewEra]

We need a world class CM to partner Casemiro in the summer alongside a Striker, the expectation for me has always been top 4.

I think we will win a trophy this season, but we have to manage expectations last year to now has been a huge turn around. We still have the likes of McT that we need to move on and we need a top #9.

Just need to be realistic.

 

[Skills]

The Eriksen obsession is all on the manager. Fred, Casemiro and Bruno is a perfectly serviceable midfield. Eriksen would be a decent bench option, but it's mental to keep doing the same thing

 

[charlenefan]

I just can't see how a midfield that has either Bruno or Eriksen can compete with City or Arsenal in the long term. Also of course we need a much better backup for Casemiro than McTominay.

They just look clueless against teams like this.

Can't compete with Arsenal

They've won nothing yet so I'm not having them as the bench mark. Game would have gone much differently had Casemiro played but yes we need more options as we can't be fecked in a big game missing just one player

 

[Superunknown]

The attack concerns me much more, to be honest.

 

[one340]

We clearly have a strong starting midfield but no bench. Casemiro is the glue that holds it together and with him out of the lineup against top 6 teams we lose control of the game. This game is a perfect example.

 

[AltiUn]

We're obviously looking at replacing Eriksen in the summer anyway, he was always a cheap, makeshift option.

 

[AjaxCunian]

Not only that, playing out from the back with AWB, DDG, Varane is nearly impossible at this level.

 

[In Rainbows]

The Eriksen obsession is all on the manager. Fred, Casemiro and Bruno is a perfectly serviceable midfield. Eriksen would be a decent bench option, but it's mental to keep doing the same thing

We'll miss Eriksen if we play Fred. You'll never get a midfield where you won't miss a quality another player possesses when there isn't an equivalent talent like Casemiro in the other 2 spots. Fred isn't the answer. He provides some energy, but he's not a good passer, nor is he good in possession.

 

[croadyman]

Wasn’t this obvious already? It’s well reported that Ten Hag wants another midfielder.

I’d probably be after another three if I were him.

Certainly need two

 

[Leg-End]

He's had one proper transfer window and now we have no money to fix it in January, we simply don't have the resource to go and fix all areas immediately.

 

[Samid]

The Eriksen obsession is all on the manager. Fred, Casemiro and Bruno is a perfectly serviceable midfield. Eriksen would be a decent bench option, but it's mental to keep doing the same thing

What's mind-boggling with the Eriksen obsession is he keeps shoving Bruno to the wing (where he's useless) just so he can keep Eriksen on. Means we have no attacking outlets bar Rashford out there and opponents can pin us back as they please.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Away from home against the league leaders with several first teamers out and were minutes from a draw. Yes, we can upgrade on some players but I'm sure just Casemiro and Dalot, we win today.

 

[cyberman]

We do, he was just suspended today

 

[Skills]

What's mind-boggling with the Eriksen obsession is he keeps shoving Bruno to the wing (where he's useless) just so he can keep Eriksen on. Means we have no attacking outlets bar Rashford out there and opponents can pin us back as they please.

Exactly. Eriksen is gassed off his feat, and both games we were crying out for some pace on the wings to see the game out. And he just makes it worse by shunting Bruno there for no reason

 

[croadyman]

He's had one proper transfer window and now we have no money to fix it in January, we simply don't have the resource to go and fix all areas immediately.

Yeah we can't do anything until the summer

 

[DWelbz19]

Yeah, realistically, both need to be phased out and replaced.

We either go midfield three with all action ball carriers playing ahead of Casemiro, or, we get a midfield ball retention magnet and keep Fernandes for a bit longer (before replacing him with a no.10 more in the Odegaard mould)

 

[Skills]

He's had one proper transfer window and now we have no money to fix it in January, we simply don't have the resource to go and fix all areas immediately.

On him for the worst £80m ever spent on a player. As soon as the signing was made the club said it was money borrowed from future windows. Now he needs to make it work.

 

[MiceOnMeth]

How many years has it been since we were all happy with our central midfield? 2008? feels like every season we are still crying out for at least 2 quality centre mids

 

[r3idy]

Can't compete with Arsenal

They've won nothing yet so I'm not having them as the bench mark. Game would have gone much differently had Casemiro played but yes we need more options as we can't be fecked in a big game missing just one player

Thank you @charlenefan for being the voice of reason in this thread

There is a big drop off when Casemeiro is not playing.

 

[redNATION]

Hence the chase for FDJ, it’s an obvious hole in the team along with striker

 

[charlenefan]

Thank you @charlenefan for being the voice of reason in this thread

I often am

But thank you for noticing

 

[wangyu]

I already dread the barca games, they will run rings around us

 

[Long Time Red]

A midfielder is top priority.

McTominay just isn't anywhere near good enough.

 

[ForeverRed1]

We need to go big on our midfield in the summer and find a world class partner for casmiro. Mctom was non existent today. Eriksen isn’t the best defensively and lacks pace, Fred serves a purpose and can be effective but we need top class.

why not go all out and rival all other teams for Bellingham. I feel like the team that wants him most and shows him the most love gets him, why can’t that be us? He will be expensive I get that but you could have him for 15 years and him and Casemiro would be top notch. Also he is forward planning for when Casemiro leaves.

 

[StiffTackle]

Guys, hes been in charge for 6 months and had one real window (not including Jan when the club is for sale).

Eriksen has been a massive improvement over what we’ve seen in the last ten years. Hes played in the middle against Arsenal, City and Liverpool and we’ve beaten them all at some point.

Of course de Jong, Bellingham or Enzo would improve us but we cant do anything about that until the summer.
Playing alongside someone as erratic positionally as McTominay is hard, especially for a 31-year old with a heart condition who was never blessed with pace.

Focus on the fact that we are competitive on the field against teams that are much further along in their development than us and we’ve done that in 6 months.

Imagine where we’ll be with a ball playing gk, an attacking rb, a top cm, a top striker and more options off the bench on the wings. The future is bright and despite the result the mentality, grit and bravery we showed on the ball compared to the recent past is evidence of that.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

It was equal in the first half in terms of possession and possible chances created.

Big difference is, Arsenal are 3 years into their development, whereas ten Hag has only been here for a matter of months. I mean, no one would have said the Arsenal midfield of Xhaka, Partey and Odegaard would have been this good for Arsenal a season or so ago. Players need time to really understand the philosophy of the manager and develop.

That's not to say we don't need additions because we do. Teams should always be looking to improve but we've already seen how much we've improved under ten Hag in such a short space of time. Given more time, I don't see why this time next year, we can't be playing at a similar level throughout the whole 90 minutes because as I said before, we matched them in the first half.

 

[Hoof the ball]

What pisses me off most of all is that this is more or less the same Arsenal as last season. Absolutely bricking it coming up against Zinchenko, Xhaka, Eddie Nketiah! Come on. There should be no world in which we face those three players and say, "we'll do well to get a point."

 

[MonkeysMagic]

We have tended to overcompensate for wide players whilst neglecting the centre. Whilst the jury is still out on Sancho/Antony I'm inclined to think that along with our previous purchases, they would simply turn out to be overpaid luxury mistakes.

And the passing ability (under pressure) is really bad. You don't think PL managers analyse Utd games and see how badly we pass when pressured? For a Utd team to rely on counter attacking when we go to any top 5 team just shows how far behind we are but even against lower league opposition we cannot create chances by recycling the ball around their pen box...just look back through the games against Palace, Bournemouth, Leic etc.

Long, long way to go I'm afraid.

 

[CloneMC16]

Eriksen isn't a #8. We're at risk with him in every big game when we won't dominate. It is what it is. He offers a lot in the attacking sense, but he's not good defensively. We're also playing McT when he's mostly anonymous in 90% of the games he plays. He had so much space at the edge of their box in two instances. He completely fecked the pass and ruined our attack. The man is useless.

The game against Arsenal at OT was similar. They completely dominated us, but we were clinical during transitions. We got the result we deserved here.

Losing Casemiro was huge for this game. Feck the PL for scheduling Palace midweek and screwing us over. We need another #6 as backup to Casemiro and #8 to start next to him.

 

[Blood Mage]

Raid Fulham for Palhinha as a backup for Casemiro and sign Enzo Fernandez in the summer. Then suddenly we have a title winning midfield.

 

[Telsim]

We have a critical lack of players who can pass and carry the ball reliably. I like Bruno and I know this will piss off his crazed fanatical defenders, but he needs to get going sooner rather than later. Controlling games with him in the midfield is impossible. Eriksen should be a squad player, not a starter. Casemiro needs backup that's not McTominay.

 

[jesperjaap]

How many years has it been since we were all happy with our central midfield? 2008? feels like every season we are still crying out for at least 2 quality centre mids

Well we have had a habit of only signing one when we needed two and it feels like we hadnt signed one fo rages until last summer.....where we signed two and I like Eriksen but he has always been a tad over rated for me as a central midfielder certainly.

We have VDB and Fred who were both poor signings and cost what £80/90m? We have McTominay who has never been more than a squad player. We have Eriksen who has done ok....but is a squad player. Then we have Fernandes who has absolutely fantastic work rate.....but on the ball, certainly with our fans is one of the most over rated number 10s in world football.

Outside of the glaring obvious needs for a striker, our midfield rebuild is still further away I feel than many think, we definately need an injection of quality in it, though we have don ewell an dyes Casemeiro was missing today, we have seen it over ran by some of the better sides this season. Speaking of Casemeiro, may be the best and certainly one of the best cm in world football, we have already seen the difference replacing an underperforming playe rin Pogba with one that is performing with leadership has made this season.

But we most certainly need a partner for Casemeiro like an ENzo Fernandez/FDJ/Caqueret that is good on the ball and defensively sound as well. We have a young player that long term can be the answer in Mainoo so personally I would have no problem with a couple of VDB/McTominay/Fred being sold to raise funds for a replacement.

We also need competition for Fernandes which could be short term Eriksen and long term again we have a fantastic talent in Hannibal. I also think Pellestri could be converted in to a quality number 10 with the attributes he posseses so I dont think we need two midfield signings

 

[Leftback99]

What pisses me off most of all is that this is more or less the same Arsenal as last season. Absolutely bricking it coming up against Zinchenko, Xhaka, Eddie Nketiah! Come on. There should be no world in which we face those three players and say, "we'll do well to get a point."

But we're going up against that with Wan Bissaka, McTominay and Weghorst. Spot the difference in technical ability.

 

[Irrational.]

We need to go after midfielders like Boehly has been going after wingers.