Central midfield vs Swansea

[Phyllis Stein]

Nev took himself out of the game last night with a clumsy late chopping challenge that Cisse (?) did him a favour with by not making a meal of it. It was something like 12 minutes in and from the moment he was booked he was literally a tenth of the player. That then put Osman on reducer duty, trying to get to every break and 50 50 as quick as possible because Nev couldnt. Osman was knackered, no one player can police an entire defensive midfield and be expected to win every tackle, anticipate and be first to every ball.

I just dont know how this situation is upon us, Gibson hasnt had 20 games. Anyone saying Rodwell was the cover man for the position is telling porkies, anyone can sit there and play the ball 10 feet left or right every time.

 

[bluejock]

Lets play the best defensive midfielder in the league behind the striker lads.

HAVE WE SIGNED LUCAS???!!!??!!?!

 

[Skeleton Crew]

Ehh, did you watch us the first half of last season before he got here?

We also had a pretty good one we sold to Manchester City, that we didn't replace.

Not arsed about the Rodwell sale since we added Mirallas who appears to be a great signing.
The other belgian lad that fell through would have made up for losing Rodwell.


Lets put Pienaar and Fellaini in the middle with Naismith and Mirrallas on the outside.
...or just bring in Heitinga in front of Jags/Distin
Let that Oviedo guy make an appearance too after 75min. (or is he still unavailable?)

 

[Phyllis Stein]

Of course, Oviedo Osman, perfection.

Hibbert Heitinga Distin Baines
............Osman Oviedo
Mirallas ...... Fellaini ....Pienaar
.................Jelavic

Perfect sense.

 

[bluejock]

How is left back/left wing Oviedo now being touted as the answer to our defensive midfield problems?

 

[Phyllis Stein]

How is left back/left wing Oviedo now being touted as the answer to our defensive midfield problems?

Cos hes played it before.

 

[pfim]

Not arsed about the Rodwell sale since we added Mirallas who appears to be a great signing.
The other belgian lad that fell through would have made up for losing Rodwell.


Lets put Pienaar and Fellaini in the middle with Naismith and Mirrallas on the outside.
...or just bring in Heitinga in front of Jags/Distin
Let that Oviedo guy make an appearance too after 75min. (or is he still unavailable?)

No problem with selling Rodwell either. There has to be a replacement though. I understand what happened with the other guy may not be the club's fault, but fact of the matter is we're short in that area.

It will probably be Heitinga, though every time I see him in the midfield I want to vomit.

 

[Brennan]

How is left back/left wing Oviedo now being touted as the answer to our defensive midfield problems?

 

[tsubaki]

This is probably evidence of my own declining sanity, but watching the game yesterday I wouldnt mind seeing Hibbert in a defensive midfield role with Coleman at right back - he reads the game well, tackles well, and if all he has to do is pass the ball ten yards sideways he can do that better than Neville. Most importantly, he wouldnt be Neville.

 

[bluejock]

Cos hes played it before.

Have you seen him play there? Have you seen him play anywhere?

Now, have you seen Fellaini play there? With man of the match results?

It really is a no brainer. I bet it'll still be Peroxide Phil though.

Indeed.

 

[pfim]

Oviedo making his PL debut in a defensive midfield role isn't even worth discussing.

 

[Brownie]

The dangerous thing with Neville is his confidence has started to go as well. You could see it happening within five minutes after he took the ball off his own player only to miscontrol it, chase after the loose ball, slip and slide into the opposition player and get booked for his trouble. I hope the crowd doesn't turn too far on him, there were signs of it last night.

I also don't think Fellaini particularly enjoys playing up front either, he gets frustrated at not seeing so much of the ball. It seems strange that Moyes is unwilling to try anything else.

 

[mankers88]

Junior looked sharp in pre-season, only just come back from injury though and probably is a little too soon to throw him in for a first premier league start. But if he can pass to a team mate, tackle and be fairly mobile then he's already offering more than Neville.

Wouldn't mind seeing Pienaar in there alongside Fellaini though. I Remember him and Heitinga playing together at Spurs away a couple of seasons ago (Baines freekick) and he was instrumental in the middle that day - shame the rest of the team was garbage.

 

[Shaun4658]

Can we stop making Neville the main scapegoat, Osman was also beyond awful.

Neville and Osman are not the answer, whatever the question, honestly, if Moyes doesnt move Fellaini back into midfield he needs sacking.

Vey true mate. It must be stubbornness that makes him stick with these awful team decisions. It's cant be tactical naivety after 10 years. The WBA game showed everyone that Neville and Ossy don't work together in a defensive midfield role.

 

[tsubaki]

The dangerous thing with Neville is his confidence has started to go as well. You could see it happening within five minutes after he took the ball off his own player only to miscontrol it, chase after the loose ball, slip and slide into the opposition player and get booked for his trouble. I hope the crowd doesn't turn too far on him, there were signs of it last night.

I may have said this last night but his performance was very reminiscent of his brother's last game, where (iirc) Matthew Etherington made him look like a slow-paced inept fool for 45 minutes, and G-Nev realised that the game was up for him.