The midfield puzzle

[Styles 9,790]

One criticism that people always have about Mikel is that he doesn't move the ball quick enough. But what about the players who are supposed to make themselves available for a pass? Mata came on yesterday and was moving nonstop looking for space and making angles to recieve the pass. Why doesn't Lampard do that? Why doesn't Malouda? Why doesn't Ramires? They just stand there being marked and then people complain about Mikel not moving the ball quick enough. He has no options 80% of the time! What do people want him to do? Give the ball away quickly? Strangely I think that would satisfy some people.

[eldo 868]

One criticism that people always have about Mikel is that he doesn't move the ball quick enough. But what about the players who are supposed to make themselves available for a pass? Mata came on yesterday and was moving nonstop looking for space and making angles to recieve the pass. Why doesn't Lampard do that? Why doesn't Malouda? Why doesn't Ramires? They just stand there being marked and then people complain about Mikel not moving the ball quick enough. He has no options 80% of the time! What do people want him to do? Give the ball away quickly? Strangely I think that would satisfy some people.

Even then they would find something to moan about.

[Styles 9,790]

Even then they would find something to moan about.

People just have their favourites and will just criticise Mikel no matter what.

The movement of our players is so rubbish. Look at the goal from yesterday, look at how all of them except Mata are just standing around doing nothing - http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/chelsea-3-1-norwich-city-mata

[Badboy 1,526]

@Tomo That was because they could accommodate all three of their playmakers remember ? Xavi played as a ball playing DM Iniesta and Deco ahead of him. We can not Accommodate three Playmakers in our midfield because we play in a total different league were you need a fighter in there.

[BLionheart 516]

Bacelone's Midfield :Busquets - Xavi - Iniesta

Real Madrid's : Xabi alonso - Khediera/Sahin - Ozil

Man utd's : Carrcik/Giggs - Anderson/Cleverly

Etc.

Those are 3 examples of modern midfield structure , the role of destroyers has been minimized to the point that the best two midfields in the world (Barca - Spain) don't include any , most of successful teams right now are deploying creative ball playing midfielders , who can keep possession and retain the ball rather than losing it and winning it back .

While the likes of Wilshire , Xavi , Modric , Iniesta can always make tackles , interceptions (of course to a lesser extent than the destroyers) . The likes of Yaya Toure , Song , Ramires , Mikel will never be able to retain possession a la Xavi , Iniesta , Modric .

And here lies our problem , we have 3 destroyers or 4 including Romeu (if what's said about him is true) , only 1 Technical , Ball retaining player (McEacheran) and we have Lamps .

Barca has 0 destroyers and 3 ball retaining players , Real has Khediera who can be considered as a destroyer and may be diara so 2 destroyers although they are very rarely used together and real were about to offload Diarra .

Man utd has Fletcher only so one destroyer, Arsenal only use Song as a Destroyer ....etc.

Conclusion: If we are looking to play attack-minded football we need to use only one out of Mikel/Essien/Ramires/Romue , Also Modric is very much needed and McEacheran should be used more but we not more than 17-20 starts / 27-30 appearances this season.

[DYC. 7,542]

Barca can afford to play without a destroyer because they average 96% possession per game. And Busquets might not be a destroyer but he's a great interceptor. Real Madrid do play with a destroyer, Mourinho always plays with either Khedira or Lass. Utd's destroyer is Fletcher, who always plays when fit but he's been out for months.

But I agree that we only need one defensive-minded midfielder.

[eldo 868]

Destroyer-> Mascherano.

Mikel, Romeu=destroyers The only destroyer in our team is Ramires.

Barca's system doesn't need destroyers because all of them are destroyers with their playing style of keeping posession and retaining it quickly. They put pressure on opponent with their movement.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Destroyer-> Mascherano.

Mikel, Romeu=destroyers The only destroyer in our team is Ramires.

Barca's system doesn't need destroyers because all of them are destroyers with their playing style of keeping posession and retaining it quickly. They put pressure on opponent with their movement.

Would you say Makelele was a destroyer?

[BLionheart 516]

Barca can afford to play without a destroyer because they average 96% possession per game. And Busquets might not be a destroyer but he's a great interceptor. Real Madrid do play with a destroyer, Mourinho always plays with either Khedira or Lass. Utd's destroyer is Fletcher, who always plays when fit but he's been out for months.

But I agree that we only need one defensive-minded midfielder.

Read my full post and you will realize that's exactly what i said about Madrid , United and Barca.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

The only destroyer in our team is Ramires.

Mikel is not a destoyer? he's just that.

Btw, Real playes also with Alonso, who is kind a destroyer too, but he can give more than that, unlike Khediera.

[dodojojo 510]

Very good posts here so I will only reiterate what I've posted before: Ramires, Mikel and Lampard are fine players but as a MF unit, are very limited and unbalanced. Basically they are 3 midfielders who aren't especially good at 2 of the most vital components of a midfield, create and retain possession. If you have a MF that can't do that consistently and well...I fail to see how any team can prosper. You simply can't get away with it at the elite level.

Sergio Busquets isn't a destroyer but he certainly is a defensive midfielder. Just because he's not smashing people about doesn't mean he's not a DM. He doesn't have to smash because even as a DM, he has exceptional technical skills. That's the issue here, Barca's DM is better technically than Chelsea's box-to-box MF and creator/scorer, nevermind the DM.

Too limited, too unbalanced.

[DYC. 7,542]

Read my full post and you will realize that's exactly what i said about Madrid , United and Barca.

My bad, I thought you meant Barca and Madrid when you said the best midfields in the world.

But I wouldn't compare us to them. They have mastered the high pressure game and have Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi in their team which means nobody can retain the ball better than them.

[DYC. 7,542]

Would you say Makelele was a destroyer?

Definitely, he bullied players with his tackling and chasing.

Mikel is not a destoyer? he's just that.

You call Mikel a destroyer? Mikel hardly bullies anyone around. Standing in the way and intercepting is his game.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

You call Mikel a destroyer? Mikel hardly bullies anyone around.

LOL...agree

So Mikel is at least a wannabe destroyer

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Having finally watched the full game. There's one thing that concerns me slightly, and it's actually a good thing too.

Mata definitely like to move around the pitch a lot. Instead of staying stationary on the left, till the play arrives, he chases the play and offers support even on the right by making the run there. Now I am only judging this by yesterday's appearance, but I think he has the attributes required to play behind the strikers in the no.10, playmaker role. It would suit him ideally because he's already performing the kind of positioning and instinct required to play there.

Which is why I think we should still be in the hunt for a left-winger. And I think that's what Villas-Boas has seen too, which is why he is trying to sign someone like Perreira. Because if Mata and Perreira are in the same squad, we won't be as weak on that left hand side. Mata would be able to support Alvaro as well as play in that free role.

Thoughts?