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The midfield problem


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Looking at the derby squad we really don’t have much depth if the Weimann and Vydra deal go through at rb, cb or on the am but we have a massive unbalance in central midfield. This seems to be partially made worse by academy products who either haven’t been given a chance or the club has failed to make a finite decision on:

Bryson

Butterfield

Huddlestone

Johnson

Thorne

Ledley

Guy

Hanson

 

That isn’t including Elsnick as a more AM and Bird as he is still young.

At most you could crowbar 3 into a team and 2 for most formations played last year!

Surely either Hanson and Guy should have been let go by now or offered a chance before signing Ledley (as much of a massive impact he had). Particularly as the muppet had already made a mess of his loan to Sheff wed by that point.

Question is realistically who do you see leaving and where to? And loan/permanent?

Estimates on weekly cost for all 8? My guess is £130000-140000 a week! Ouch! £7.28 mill a year of the rumoured £22 mill wage budget!

I think you’d be lucky to get rid of any of the senior pros except Thorne and Huddlestone without losing money paying them off.

And to make it worse, with that many players many (probably rightly) believe we need more!

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I would sell whichever four we can, with the caveat that if Thorne is properly fit for the new campaign he's the one to keep. I think Lampard can even redeem Butterfield if he stays. The great news is that the manager should be a good judge of our midfield quality and be able to decide how to make the most of our options.

Edit - I do think you could have this kind of thread for every position. We're so bloated as a squad we have an excess in all areas.

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Bryson is rumoured to be earning £15,000-a-week. Butterfield & Johnson will be on a sizable wedge each, between them I'd suggest closer to £40,000-a-week. Thorne & Huddlestone will no doubt be on a similar amount, so £40,000-a-week for them two as well. Ledley, I'd probably bank on being more due to the circumstances around his signing - £30,000-a-week. 

Guy, Elsnik & Hanson, I'd suggest will be pulling roughly £10k-a-week between them. 

£135k-a-week, so right in the middle of your prediction. It's important we let Lampard see all of them in action to see what he fancies. All have shown something in the past, but there clearly is an imbalance. I really don't think I have the answer, either. Thorne, I rate more so than any of the rest providing he's match fit. Huddlestone, he's got obvious ability & Bryson offers the engine we lacked last season. I'm personally drawn to those three. 

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Preferred midfield.....

weimann.      Bryson.      Vydra.      Lawrence

.                          Huddlestone

 

revised midfield....

 

Thomas    Bryson    Elsnik    Lawrence

                     Huddlestone

 

Altho i haven't seen much of Thomas tbf

 

 

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I'd love to see Thorne/Elsnik form a solid central midfield pairing this season. I've no idea how likely that is both with Thorne's form or Elsnik's readiness but they're the two i'm most excited about. All the rest are for sale.

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21 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Edit - I do think you could have this kind of thread for every position. We're so bloated as a squad we have an excess in all areas.

I disagree:

rb: either just right or well under equipped depending on how you rate bogle and whether you see wisdom best at rb or cb. Oh and anya if he doesnt fit as a winger/5 at the back. Gordon if you think he can step up and isn’t a winger?

cb: only 3 seniors feels about right but not a sniff of anyone seemingly ready to step up makes me think it’s light.

am: Vydra going leaves only moving Lawrence.. see below or elsnick

Wg if we play with them: again possibly anya, assume Weimann completes, that leaves Lawrence as the only definite if you don’t lose him to central roles. Thomas, Bennett and possibly Gordon are all unproven.

I’m not saying drop the unproven players but you’d want at least a proven senior pro per position in the formation he settles on and then maybe the academy product to back that up

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It really will bare down to what formation we will end up playing but having listened to lampard talk about being outnumbered in midfield especially for England I just don’t believe we will see anything like we did last season. I am expecting at least three central midfielders for most of the matches we take part in next season who are capable of a lot more mobility- formation wise I am expecting 352 or as some say 3511 

currently maybe

                 Carson                                                                               Carson

       Wisdom Keogh Davies                                                   Keogh Davies Forsyth 

Anya New Huddlestone Bryson Lawrence              Wisdom New Huddlestone Bryson Da Silva 

            New       New                                                                    New           New 

obviously the forwards could be a mix of martin Vydra Jerome and I am expecting someone new in midfield and up front and depending on Thorne’s fitness he could swap and change as could Bryson and Anya could even serve a purpose.and da Silva might sign for more balance altough lowe could also do that but we have options

           

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If we are selling Weimann, that leaves us with two wingers in Blackman and Lawrence. One of them is more of a striker and another attacking midfielder... Hanson I see as a back up for Wisdom.

So without wingers, we need something else! There's is an option to go for midfield diamond, then the balance would be much better. Especially if we loan out one or two again. At least Lampard has had some success with it as a player, so you never know?

                         Thorne/Hudds

Bryson/Ledley/Guy                  Butters/Johnson

                    Lawrence/Elsnik/(Bryson?)

 

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On 2 July 2018 at 17:26, RamNut said:

Preferred midfield.....

weimann.      Bryson.      Vydra.      Lawrence

.                          Huddlestone

 

revised midfield....

 

Thomas    Bryson    Elsnik    Lawrence

                     Huddlestone

 

Altho i haven't seen much of Thomas tbf

 

 

revised revised midfield.......

 

Lawrence   Elsnik   Bayliss   Bennett

                  Huddlestone

 

 

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On 02/07/2018 at 17:24, Ambitious said:

Bryson is rumoured to be earning £15,000-a-week. 

Didn't Mel confirm in a fan forum that Bryson's new contract after Wembley made him the first 20k+ a week player in the club's history? Can't remember if he's had another one since 

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19 minutes ago, Ryan O'Meara said:

Didn't Mel confirm in a fan forum that Bryson's new contract after Wembley made him the first 20k+ a week player in the club's history? Can't remember if he's had another one since 

It could be, I just had in my head £15k for some reason. I wouldn't be surprised - it's unthinkable what he did that season (16 goals, 13 assists) I don't think he took many penalties either. I rate Tom Cairney very highly, and he managed 6 goals, 5 assists to put in perspective. 

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29 minutes ago, Ryan O'Meara said:

Didn't Mel confirm in a fan forum that Bryson's new contract after Wembley made him the first 20k+ a week player in the club's history? Can't remember if he's had another one since 

Who we gonna get cheaper?

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