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Midfielders

Midfielders

Walton

Walton

Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
5,442
Location
Lostock Hall
We have a lot of midfielders and we need different types for different jobs, if we did sign yet another what would be the strengths we should be looking for?


Whiteman, Bayliss, Browne, Harrop, Johnson, McCann, Ledson and Potts, you could put Barkhuizen and Sinclair in there also.
If someone can add any youngsters who fit in here your welcome.

Not looking for who is good, bad or complete shite but what is considered their best position?
 
Given how Whiteman, Browne and Johnson are Lowe's first choice midfield three then anyone else signed needs to be an upgrade on these - effectively a ball carrying box to box midfielder who can tackle.

All three have their strengths and also their limitations and of these three perhaps only Whiteman's career is still on an upwards trajectory whereas Browne and Johnson are well set and confirmed as being mid-table Championship level. Whether Whiteman can continue to progress we'll find out in the next 18 months.

Of the others, only McCann is worthy of dislodging one of these three but has yet to find his role at Deepdale, given what we've seen so far then it would perhaps be Browne he would dislodge. Bayliss was touted originally for the Whiteman role but seeing how we then went on a signed Whiteman says enough about that. Harrop was comfortable on the ball at times and most similar to Johnson but I doubt we'll see much of him again. Ledson was perhaps signed for the DCM role but then we signed Bayliss and in turn signed Whiteman so after four seasons this perhaps suggests that he's not good enough for even a midtable Championship team. Potts would be the Browne role in the midfield but well behind McCann in that position.
 
Whiteman and DJ should be locks for almost every game because without them, we dont have many other technically sound players.

For the 3rd central player, I'd rather see McCann next to Whiteman than Browne further up the field. Sure we lose some goal threat and creativity, but we'd go along way to solving the ease at which opposition sides can move through our midfield.

Under no circumstances should any of our transfer budget be used on centre mid. Need all available funds for wingbacks and central defensive reinforcements
 
We've got four good ones in Browne, Johnson, Whiteman and McCann, as well as some acceptable backups in Potts and Ledson.

I'm not saying it couldn't be improved upon, but if we spend our entire transfer budget on another central midfielder again when we haven't got a single decent wingback, fullback or goalkeeper contracted for next season, and only one decent striker I'll be furious.
 
For me, there is no combination of our current midfield options which will have us fighting towards the top end of the table. I feel bad writing that but I just can’t see any of them - not even Whiteman or Johnson - ever playing at a higher level than this. And although they each have their individual virtues, I’m not sure any of the current combination dovetail or complement each other particularly effectively. But what do we do for the best? There are positions in a far worse state than our midfield, goalkeeper and wing backs to name just two. So investment in midfield is a long way down the list. And let’s face it, on recent form we could hardly be confident that the club would make the right transfer dealings anyway.
 
RL's midfield setup seems to have followed directly from the way he set up at Plymouth. He plays with a deep playmaker (Whiteman), a box to box midfielder on the right (Browne) and a more creative midfielder who pushes out to the left wing (Johnson). I can't remember where I saw it, but I'm fairly sure I've seen a heat map which illustrates this perfectly.

I think we have options for the deep playmaker and the box to box. Ledson played in the deep role at the start of the season under the Postman and despite some turgid team performances, he showed a real Gallagher-esqe ability to control the play from deep. I think he could also do a job if needed in the box-to-box, and this could arguably be McCann's best position to make the best use of his energy.

My biggest concern is the creative midfielder. Without Johnson I really don't think we have anyone who could fill this role. Maybe Izzy Brown could have been a candidate but that was never likely to be a long-term solution. Is there anyone else who could fill this void? Again, there will be those who say that Harrop has the quality, I held this opinion once but I think 1 senior appearance by the age of 22 says all you need to know about the lads character, he just doesn't have any drive to make it as a pro at a decent level. What does Bayliss bring to the party? I haven't really seen enough of the lad at all, but he doesn't seem to have made any big impacts in any of his loans thus far.

I know that we need to have a fair share of business done over the summer, with the Wing-backs and a Goalkeeper being top priority but I think backup to Johnson should also be pretty high up that list.
 
Best position for 22/23...

Defensive Midfielder: Whiteman, Ledson
Box To Box: Browne, McCann
Attacking Midfielder: Johnson
League 1: Potts
League 2: Harrop, Bayliss
Major League Soccer: Sinclair
 
Dreyfuss said:
Best position for 22/23...

Defensive Midfielder: Whiteman, Ledson
Box To Box: Browne, McCann
Attacking Midfielder: Johnson
League 1: Potts
League 2: Harrop, Bayliss
Major League Soccer: Sinclair
Click to expand...
Agreed barr Potts also being RWB cover
 
I'd be pretty confident that none of the favourites for the top 6 next season will be enquiring on the availability of any of our midfielders.

And therein lies the problem. Some may be deemed good enough for PNE, but none are good enough to drive us forward to the promised land.
 
ernest said:
Look at Bennett in the highlights of the Youth Cup Final - now there is a midfielder running the show.
Click to expand...
Bennett doesn’t appear to have the stamina and physicality yet to play 90 minutes in the Championship. If and when he develops that stamina he will be a class act

If we aren’t getting a back up for DJ, O’Neill has to get that opportunity
 
ernest said:
Look at Bennett in the highlights of the Youth Cup Final - now there is a midfielder running the show.
Click to expand...
That's the problem with highlights they don't show the bigger picture...he gave the ball away quite a lot last night and does try to overdo things quite a lot but he is a good player just needs work on his weaknesses
 
jamesOB said:
Bennett doesn’t appear to have the stamina and physicality yet to play 90 minutes in the Championship. If and when he develops that stamina he will be a class act

If we aren’t getting a back up for DJ, O’Neill has to get that opportunity
Click to expand...

Agreed. However, the occasional 15 or 20 minute cameos off the bench in the League will do the pair of them the world of good.

No excuses for that not happening when we have Sinclair and Maguire on the bench.
 
I'd definitely like to see another creative attacking midfielder brought in, but get the keepers and wingbacks sorted first. I assume we would also need to sort loans for Harrop & Bayliss as well before adding anyone central.
 
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