RamNut Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Looks much better as a box to box midfielder. the holding role suits a more defensive player and brings out the worst in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkFruitsRam7 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I can guarantee you he’ll be playing holding midfield for at least a good couple of months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeedsCityRam Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 20 minutes ago, RamNut said: Looks much better as a box to box midfielder. the holding role suits a more defensive player and brings out the worst in him. I thought he was more of a 10 than a box to box midfielder for that first 30 mins? That said, thought he was excellent in both positions today. Thought the first half hour cameo further forward suited him well though - he was winning the ball much further up the park, linking up well with the front line with little pop passes, always happy in possession despite more traffic there & of course was desperately unlucky not to score. As I've pointed out elsewhere, Max has a killer pass in him (examples v Luton for our goal there & v Huddersfield where Knight was hilariously given offside) and that ability is much better served up the park. I also rate him as a holding midfielder. His positioning is so valuable in snuffing out attacks & his willingness to receive the ball off defenders even when men are around him are two very under-rated skills. There's a lot of chat about him playing sideways & backwards balls but that's entirely sensible when you've only got the back 4 behind you. It also helps to set the tempo & control the game - something that Max did really well second half. I don't see his displays there as negative at all. Whilst Bielik's injury will give Max a run of games, it's really disappointing we're unlikely to see the Bielik-Shinnie-Bird axis in midfield anytime soon - it looked very promising indeed. I think we'd have walloped Bristol today if Bielik had stayed on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orphanram Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I thought he did well in both the roles today. I’m pretty sure pre lockdown Rooney was injured and Max and Shinnie played in the two holding roles together in the 3-0 win at home to Blackburn. That performance seems to have got forgotten with everything that has happened. The midfield trio of Shinnie, Bird and Sibley were tremendous that day. I think a potential dilemma for Wayne is if he plays Shinnie and Bird as the midfield engine room with an AM, who does he pick as the AM? Knight had been unbelievable but talent wise and with those two players is Sibley the better option? Don’t get me wrong I love Knighty but football is a tough business and sometimes different players work with different combinations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abertawe_ram Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 20 minutes ago, Orphanram said: I thought he did well in both the roles today. I’m pretty sure pre lockdown Rooney was injured and Max and Shinnie played in the two holding roles together in the 3-0 win at home to Blackburn. That performance seems to have got forgotten with everything that has happened. The midfield trio of Shinnie, Bird and Sibley were tremendous that day. I think a potential dilemma for Wayne is if he plays Shinnie and Bird as the midfield engine room with an AM, who does he pick as the AM? Knight had been unbelievable but talent wise and with those two players is Sibley the better option? Don’t get me wrong I love Knighty but football is a tough business and sometimes different players work with different combinations. I was thinking back to that Blackburn game earlier, the last live game I went to. Bird was exceptional. Knight was out on the left that day I think wasn't he? If I remember rightly it was: Bird Shinnie Waghorn Sibley Knight I seem to remember Waghorn making a diagonal run a couple of times from the right and being picked out in behind. It did look a very good balance that day. The striker that led the line that day isn't around but I think there would be potential to use that set up behind CKR if Rooney fancied it. With the option to add Joz into the mix as well I wouldn't mind seeing that set up again at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millenniumram Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I think he’s equally adept as a defensive midfielder and a box to box midfielder to be honest - though I think he’s likely to play as CDM going forward. Thought he had a very good game today as well, his passing was crisp and precise throughout. Still don’t have a bad word to say about the lad, despite him coming in for a bit of criticism at times this season - on the ball he’s absolutely fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malty Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 He’s so frustrating as a defensive midfielder. Am I the only one that sees that? So often he will turn and pass it back into the defenders. It’s what sets bielik and he apart. Bielik will take the ball and half turn and run forward and pass. Bird just comes back to the defenders again meaning the hard work of creating space and moving forward positively had to be done again by someone else. I totally agree that he is a better further up the pitch. It forces him to be more on the front foot. When he’s there he’s actually really good. It forces him to do what he’s uncomfortable with but actually really good at. For me we should put knight next to shinnie and push bird further up. Either that or leave him out and play knight shinnie and someone else in the midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ck- Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 7 hours ago, Malty said: He’s so frustrating as a defensive midfielder. Am I the only one that sees that? So often he will turn and pass it back into the defenders. It’s what sets bielik and he apart. Bielik will take the ball and half turn and run forward and pass. Bird just comes back to the defenders again meaning the hard work of creating space and moving forward positively had to be done again by someone else. I totally agree that he is a better further up the pitch. It forces him to be more on the front foot. When he’s there he’s actually really good. It forces him to do what he’s uncomfortable with but actually really good at. For me we should put knight next to shinnie and push bird further up. Either that or leave him out and play knight shinnie and someone else in the midfield. I wonder how much of that was due to Cocu’s direction? Rooney seems to have the players much more prepared to make the forward pass. If he can instil the same confidence in Bird, then we’ll have a fantastic player on our hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbydaz22 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I think he’s a class act you can give him the ball in tight situations and he never panics and always looks like he has more time on the ball than anyone else technically he’s better than Knight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkFruitsRam7 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 The analysis of the first bit of play with Forsyth and Martin is class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyinLiverpool Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 14 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said: The analysis of the first bit of play with Forsyth and Martin is class. Slightly off topic but that cross is even better than the last time I saw it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamNut Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 19 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said: The analysis of the first bit of play with Forsyth and Martin is class. And that’s why I think he’s wasted in holding midfield where he has to hold his position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 1 minute ago, RamNut said: And that’s why I think he’s wasted in holding midfield where he has to hold his position. Zimbabwean defensive midfielder priority for tomorrow then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtains Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Deserved a goal yesterday with that shot that rattled the post. He is improving a lot now and I’ve always rated him and it was clear he would be a star for the Rams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premier ram Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Max Bird , simply outstanding yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Bird is very good technically, if Rooney can get a bit of Knights attitude into him he'll be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammieib Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 We will still struggle unless any of our midfield three can deliver goals. Shinnie, Bird, Bielik - none of them are going to score many and this’ll hurt us in the long run. Many times I found myself shouting “forwards” when he took the easy option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angieram Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 4 hours ago, Curtains said: Deserved a goal yesterday with that shot that rattled the post. He is improving a lot now and I’ve always rated him and it was clear he would be a star for the Rams. I remember you taking that, we were a few rows behind you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtains Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 22 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said: Bird is very good technically, if Rooney can get a bit of Knights attitude into him he'll be awesome. Don’t think it’s a attitude thing with Max mate. Just a learning and development process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Sick to death of the naysayers where Max is concerned. If you really can't see what a good player this lad is then I despair. He's a very able replacement in CDM role for Krystian. It's unfathomable to my mind how quick some on here are to pile in on younger players but whatever floats your boat I guess. As we keep being informed by those who love to sling mud but cry when any heads back in their direction, it's a forum, after all ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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