Boro v Chelsea (FA Cup QF) 0-2

[estonpidge 1,449]

and Dijksteel has all the pace need to cover so I see him remaining as the RCB going forwards, Mount would never runaway from Dijksteel the way he did from McNair.

[Redcar Rioja 5,976]

58 minutes ago, TeaCider24 said:

He played about 2 games for them as a midfielder in his entire time there.

He made his debut in 2017, as a defender, he's played almost every game in the 5 years since then as a defender, and will have trained and been coached as such in that time too.

It surely makes far more sense to just keep him a defender than hope he can go back to position he was playing when he didn't have a football club as a teenager.

McNair had far more experience of playing in midfield in his career than Dijksteel does, they're only a year and a half apart in age too, if you were going to move one to fit them both in the same side, it would be him.

He had only broken through when we signed him, he was trained and coached in Amsterdam as a defensive midfielder then later at Charlton. Addicks fans were joking saying that we thought we had a signed a RB at the time. His breakthrough opportunity came due to Solly being injured at RB and Bowyer having no alternative cover. Since then as I've said he hasn't looked back.

McNair has filled a lot of positions in his career (not always to his benefit, I think it has held him back as nobody was really sure what he was) undoubtedly though his versatility is useful. He has been one of our better performers this season despite a couple of blunders through being right footed. If he has been excellent as a LCB he could be even better as a RCB despite Dijksteel's better than decent form.

Dijksteel joins in attacks, links up and works well with Jones, Paddy also likes to drive forwards. I could see either of them being used in the DM role based on their technical abilities.

[Changing Times 12,347]

It's strange cos I'm not sure I see either Dijksteel or McNair as what we need in this particular midfield.  Dijksteel has the legs for it but lacks the passing ability.  McNair is better driving forward with the ball than knocking it around.  If they are there for purely defensive purposes then maybe they'd be ok but I'm not sure.  I think being a defensive midfielder requires a certain amount of intelligence as well as the obvious physical attributes, and I'm not convinced that either have it.  I don't believe our midfield as it is will be good enough to get us promoted, and moving players from the back into midfield doesn't feel like the solution to me at least.

[Changing Times 12,347]

4 hours ago, Bruce said:

Really, the only failing part of the team is the strikers

Is that true? 

I think we have a decent defensive unit but is it the best in the division?  We have an ok midfield but it's definitely not the best in the division.  We lack the ability to attack down the left hand side with any quality or consistency.  We have a goalkeeper who makes routine things into an adventure in goalkeeping.  We have one right hand side player, and no cover for him that could get close to replacing him.  And yeah, we have issues up front.

I don't see a couple of new strikers putting this squad on a par with Fulham, who are the best team in the Championship.  I assume our aim is to be the best team in the Championship, in order to win promotion, and have a crack at the Premier League with some belief that we can stay up.  The current squad looks short of that even if you add in a couple of new strikers.

[Bruce 1,559]

2 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

It's strange cos I'm not sure I see either Dijksteel or McNair as what we need in this particular midfield.  Dijksteel has the legs for it but lacks the passing ability.  McNair is better driving forward with the ball than knocking it around.  If they are there for purely defensive purposes then maybe they'd be ok but I'm not sure.  I think being a defensive midfielder requires a certain amount of intelligence as well as the obvious physical attributes, and I'm not convinced that either have it.  I don't believe our midfield as it is will be good enough to get us promoted, and moving players from the back into midfield doesn't feel like the solution to me at least.

As we're set up it's also not a classic defensive midfielder position. Howson is the deepest of the three but he's not meant to be a destroyer, he's meant to dictate the game. It requires a massive amount of game intelligence plus extreme fitness. For example, if you put a pure defensive midfielder like Morsy or Clayton there, they would come up short. McNair might be able to do it but I think his endurance might not be up to scratch. What you're looking for is a Brian Robson/Steven Gerrard type midfielder. In more recent times, Barry Robson and Ledbitter would also have been ideal. It's definitely not a role for Payero but in the little bit I saw of McGree, he looked to have a really good reading of the game. Crooks, again, I'm not sure he could last for more than 70 minutes in that role. Tav has the fitness but not the match intelligence.

It's always hard to know when a player is about to decline but you kind of think that Howson might have another season in him at his current standard.

 

[Bruce 1,559]

3 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

Is that true? 

I think we have a decent defensive unit but is it the best in the division?  We have an ok midfield but it's definitely not the best in the division.  We lack the ability to attack down the left hand side with any quality or consistency.  We have a goalkeeper who makes routine things into an adventure in goalkeeping.  We have one right hand side player, and no cover for him that could get close to replacing him.  And yeah, we have issues up front.

I don't see a couple of new strikers putting this squad on a par with Fulham, who are the best team in the Championship.  I assume our aim is to be the best team in the Championship, in order to win promotion, and have a crack at the Premier League with some belief that we can stay up.  The current squad looks short of that even if you add in a couple of new strikers.

I said "failing" not the best in the division. I would say we have play-off standard midfield and defence, a mid-table keeper and a bottom 6 strike force. 

[wilsoncgp 9,283]

1 hour ago, Bruce said:

It's always hard to know when a player is about to decline but you kind of think that Howson might have another season in him at his current standard.

I think he's going to hit the point soon where doing this every week is going to become too much for him. I also think we need to plan for a future without him. I'd like him to be part of the squad as it stands as at least we know, when fit, he can do this role and managed it against a Prem side as well. But I feel the decline will show sooner rather than later. We need to enter the market, the only question is whether we need to bring in one or two potential replacements.

It's really frustrating that this is probably the best we've ever seen Howson play and he's now hitting the age where he needs to consider his future in the game.

[Downsouth 6,327]

As a match day thread this one has passed us by with posts all related to what we need and dare say contents that would be better in a new transfer thread.

Time to put to bed, hate the IB lol!

[Foxtrot Oscar Colin 607]

21 hours ago, Bruce said:

Wood's problem is that his route to the first team is blocked. He only really plays RCB and there's no way he's getting a game there ahead of Dijksteel, McNair or even Peltier. Coulson, like Connolly, has gone backwards since he broke through. He's now not getting a game for POSH. Shame because I really liked Coulson as a player.

Seems to me that if we buy a better LCB than McNair that Paddy will move into midfield and cover LCB. If we buy a better central midfielder than Howson then Paddy stays LCB. I don't see us buying both. 

As far as I can tell, our first team priorities are a striker, one of a LCB or a central midfielder and, possibly, a keeper. The rest all looks like cover unless we lose a 1st teamer to another club or season-long injury. Oddly, I think this is the same regardless of what division we're in. If we get promoted we definitely need a keeper upgrade and the incoming 1st team players will need to be Premier league battle-hardened rather than Championship pros. Newcastle have shown that what you need are unglamorous, oven-ready players. 

Totally agree if we go up then our outlook will have to change as far as trying to bring through the more inexperienced players as you can't really afford to be playing anybody not ready in the prem. Definitely we will need a gk if we go up but if we dont then we could bring somebody experienced like Randolph in on loan with the view of giving Brynn some games also then that would be ideal for me. 

Wood obviously won't be first choice but there's cup games and dijksteel will not stay fit for a full season so there's a chance for him to show what he can do there. I like Peltier he's a solid pro but with Wood being back now he shouldn't be playing over him imo and definitely not next season

As for coulson as a wingback he's shown in a boro shirt in the past he can do a job. Obviously he would be a backup possibly 3rd choice at times but going forward he's better than Bola from what I've seen atm and would be a good option especially at home. We're pretty desperate for a an attacking option in lwb position at home and we have a lad who's done well before ready to go for next season so for me get him in the squad and give him a chance. I'm not too convinced by Bola as a WB yet and his injury record is dodgy so a signing and another more attacking option would leave us well stocked in a position that's been a problem this season.

[Foxtrot Oscar Colin 607]

17 hours ago, estonpidge said:

and Dijksteel has all the pace need to cover so I see him remaining as the RCB going forwards, Mount would never runaway from Dijksteel the way he did from McNair.

To be fair mcnair was carrying a knock he's normally a bit more mobile than that.

[Foxtrot Oscar Colin 607]

16 hours ago, Changing Times said:

It's strange cos I'm not sure I see either Dijksteel or McNair as what we need in this particular midfield.  Dijksteel has the legs for it but lacks the passing ability.  McNair is better driving forward with the ball than knocking it around.  If they are there for purely defensive purposes then maybe they'd be ok but I'm not sure.  I think being a defensive midfielder requires a certain amount of intelligence as well as the obvious physical attributes, and I'm not convinced that either have it.  I don't believe our midfield as it is will be good enough to get us promoted, and moving players from the back into midfield doesn't feel like the solution to me at least.

I don't think many clubs would have a better dcm/cm than mcnair in the league if he was to move there and in all fairness in wilders system they are more like 3cms as howson gets forward more than a typical holding midfielder. Mcnair has got everything you need to play well there with the added bonus that he can contribute going forward. He's comfortable on the ball with decent passing. Decent in the air and mobile reasonably strong. He can get forward and shoot well also. Ticks alot of boxes for a midfielder. I think he's wasted as a cb although a good cover option I don't think he's a good enough defender overall to be a viable long term option there.