??? MIDFIELD COMBO ???

[rob9182]

Some of the combinations in the middle of the pitch have felt strange to me and I'm sure some of you might agree. So if you were manager who would you use in midfield and why?

MINE: Karacan for work effort and Gunnarsson for his sensible choice of passes.

[Royalee]

Karacan and Sigurdsson after bringing in the winger we should have signed...3 seasons ago now instead of Kebe/Oster/Fae/Doyle/anyone else we've thrown in there to excuse bringing in a long term replacement for Little.

[Fezza]

Tabb and Jem... or Tabb and Howard.

Either way Tabb is for me the best midfielder at the club.

[Ian Royal]

Karacan & Sigurdsson IF we had an alternative (and solid defensively) left sided midfielder.

As we do not, Sig needs to stay left. Which means Karacan and Howard for me.

Howard is not hugely athletic but has quick feet and a good passing range. He drives us forward, but is capable of putting his foot in and is stocky and strong. Get him to curb his long shooting tendency a bit and he is a good midfield workhorse to allow creativity on the wings.

Karacan is athletic, he is small but strong and has a good leap. He can get up and down the pitch well and has a good range of passing, if not the slickness of Howard. He can tackle and harry.

Tabb is similar to Karacan, but stockier and probably shorter. He would be my next in line for a midfield berth.

Cisse is athletic, big and strong, but weak in the air, has poor awareness and positional sense (in terms of the game moving all around him... put him with his back to the goal and facing play and I think it improves) and has poor control and passing, certainly in the midfield melee. He's a headless chicken who just reacts there.

Gunnarsson is probably the most talented and positionally and tactically aware of the midfielders. He is excellent with the ball at feet, tall and strong and is very footballing clever. BUT he is sluggish and immobile and can't be relied upon to play well regularly.

Matejovsky has as much if not more skill than Gunnarsson, but is a lightweight luxury prone to giving the ball away too easily in needless situations. He offers very little defensively, but he can create goals. Don't think we can afford to play him much.

[Ian Royal]

On a side note, Sig and McAnuff should work well as one tends to hug the line and uses pace, whilst the other cust inside. This is supported by Bertrand's pace down outside Sig and Griffin able to come inside McAnuff and cross from deep.

[rob9182]

I can go along with everything but the Howard selection. I would put him at the bottom of the pecking order as he tends to have more off games then good games meaning that he gives the ball away way too easily and far too often. If he was to look up and pass forward a bit more then he would be brilliant but unfortunately atm he does not.

I can totally agree with the siggy situation, I think he would be much more effective playing through the middle but as we have forgotten to get another attacking winger and apparently about Hal Robson-Kanu then I think it is unfortunate that he has to stay out there.

[rfcjoe]

Karacan and Sig for me. Sig isn't wasted as such on the wing, but he offers SOOOOO much more in the centre. He has the same, if not better creativity levels as Marek.

Karacan for his good workrate and hussle and bussle in there.

[Archie's penalty]

I like Kara and Boris as a pairing but they can't play together all the time due to Boris' age.

So Kara and Tabb when Boris is knackered.

[West_Reading]

I'm a big Matejovsky fan so I would like to include him in there, but with how weak we are defensively, you probably can't play him in a two-man central midfield. So if I was picking two it would be Karacan and Bryn or Tabb and Bryn. Keep Sig out on the left, he offers a lot of threat cutting in.

[CMRoyal]

Karacan and Sigurdsson after bringing in the winger we should have signed...3 seasons ago now instead of Kebe/Oster/Fae/Doyle/anyone else we've thrown in there to excuse bringing in a long term replacement for Little.

Ironically having finally replaced Little with McAnuff, we now lack a left-sided midfielder. The Sig and Kara must be the way forward once we resolve that issue, although I worry at how much Jem gets bullied off the ball sometimes. For now I would go with Kara and Marek, with Tabb and Howard as backup. Sorry Kalifa and Gunnar, you're too inconsistent.

[leww_rfc]

Tabb/Gunnarsson and Karacan

[Terminal Boardom]

Karacan and Sigurdsson after bringing in the winger we should have signed...3 seasons ago now instead of Kebe/Oster/Fae/Doyle/anyone else we've thrown in there to excuse bringing in a long term replacement for Little.

Isn't McAnuff the replacement for Little or have I been watching a totally different game?

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Karacan and Sigurdsson or Karacan and Howard.

[SteveRoyal]

The Sig should stay on the left until we can play a natural left winger there.
Then I'd have Karacan and Howard in the middle. It's the obvious choice, is it not?

[rob9182]

I wouldn't say Howard is an obvious choice because he can have quite a few off games where he does not make much of an impact. However i think Karacan is, his work rate is amazing. always chasing the ball down and always up for a scrap.

[loyalroyal4life]

IF khishniv.... doesnt play CB then i would go him and SIG

then get new winger on loan to play opposite to Mcanuff or even bertrand on left and armstrong at left back

[Scarface]

The best run of results came when Howard and Marek played together, so that would be my favoured pairing. However with Marek injured I'd probably pick Karacan for his work rate.

Jobi - Karacan - Howard - Siggy

Cisse, Tabb and Boris have all played the odd excellent game, but I think the players above have been the most consistent when selected.

[rob9182]

or even bertrand on left and armstrong at left back

Armstrong is injured and is apparently out for a long time

[rob the royal]

i know we've said that tabb hasn't been particularly impressive on the left of midfield but personally i would play these two combinations depending on who we're playing:

McAnuff, Sigurdsson, Karacan, Tabb
McAnuff, Gunnarsson, Karacan, Sigurdsson

At the end of the day the guy can dribble a bit, he's got a bit of shot on him and can cross, and will work hard to close down and track back. It might not be perfect but it's not bad.

[RobRoyal]

Karacan and Sigurdsson after bringing in the winger we should have signed...3 seasons ago now instead of Kebe/Oster/Fae/Doyle/anyone else we've thrown in there to excuse bringing in a long term replacement for Little.

Isn't McAnuff the replacement for Little or have I been watching a totally different game?

Agree with TB. Apparently Royalee can't tell his left from right.