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The Defensive Midfielder

I have been saying all season that the number one player we are missing is a proper DM, we have tried to slot in several players into that posistion but NONE of them are up to what we need. Bentacur is the only one who has looked anything like but he is not the answer. I know some fans will disagree but for me it should be a priorty and should be fixed before any other posistion.
Agree completely. I think a really, really good, positionally sound, defensive minded central midfield player would make a huge difference to this team. Put the Michael Carrick that played for us under Jol in this team and we'd be a good team with a decent balance. Put a peak Carrick in there after he'd continued to develop at Man Utd and we'd be great.
 
I have been saying all season that the number one player we are missing is a proper DM, we have tried to slot in several players into that posistion but NONE of them are up to what we need. Bentacur is the only one who has looked anything like but he is not the answer. I know some fans will disagree but for me it should be a priorty and should be fixed before any other posistion.
Bent or Biss would be absolutely fine if the FBs stuck a little closer (and were less knackered).
 
Agree completely. I think a really, really good, positionally sound, defensive minded central midfield player would make a huge difference to this team. Put the Michael Carrick that played for us under Jol in this team and we'd be a good team with a decent balance. Put a peak Carrick in there after he'd continued to develop at Man Utd and we'd be great.

Could not agree more, i do not really rate our other CM players like some do on here but they are all decent players but it takes a special mentality to play the DM role and its a big hole in our CM not having one. As you say Carrick [ or one with his vision for that posistion] would be the ideal player for us.
 
Bent or Biss would be absolutely fine if the FBs stuck a little closer (and were less knackered).

Disagree, Biss is too hit and miss as a player and for that posistion you have to be on your game all the time. I have said before that Bent is probably the best we have at the moment but his talents are wasted there imo. As for the FBs a proper DM player will talk them through the posistions they should be taking up.

Its a posistion in any side that needs a player who can see the danger that is coming and dictate those around him.
 
Problem is we need/want a DM that can do it all (pass, tackle, quick, athletic and covers ground, good in the air etc.) when they are like unicorns.

People suggest players players all the time but they are all completely different. Some are great athletic tackling machines, but have terrible passing, Or they are great at playing out from the back and starting attacks but not strong and robust enough defensively etc.

Like GB mentioned, We could find another DM that is more of a 'pure' DM than Bissouma or Bentancur but the way we play with full backs pushing up so much would still leave him exposed. It would be better if one went and the other stayed at least but what do I know, I assume Ange has a plan and we are either not implementing it correctly or don't have the right players yet to make it work well.
 
Problem is we need/want a DM that can do it all (pass, tackle, quick, athletic and covers ground, good in the air etc.) when they are like unicorns.

People suggest players players all the time but they are all completely different. Some are great athletic tackling machines, but have terrible passing, Or they are great at playing out from the back and starting attacks but not strong and robust enough defensively etc.

Like GB mentioned, We could find another DM that is more of a 'pure' DM than Bissouma or Bentancur but the way we play with full backs pushing up so much would still leave him exposed. It would be better if one went and the other stayed at least but what do I know, I assume Ange has a plan and we are either not implementing it correctly or don't have the right players yet to make it work well.

Do not disagree with most of that but what we need is a CM player who has a defensive mindset first and formost. ie seeing danger before it actually get to the point when its too late. All our present players in that posistion are looking forward first and not making sure that we have good posistions to try and stop the play from another team. ie looking to play forward before they concentrate on the opposing team and the danger they may create.
 
Going back to the Carrick thing, as well as Stalteri and LYP being more defensive FBs than we have now, we were also playing with Edgar Davids at LM for most of that season. So he was hardly holding fort by himself.
 
Would be great
£45m but they won’t sell in Jan whilst they are top

It's on Ange
- Look how hard we went after Porro (similar price tag)

I think if Ange went, I have to get that guy (may have to be a compromise about who else he doesn't get), outside of another bigger club offering a better deal, we can go after
 
It's on Ange
- Look how hard we went after Porro (similar price tag)

I think if Ange went, I have to get that guy (may have to be a compromise about who else he doesn't get), outside of another bigger club offering a better deal, we can go after
I mean Atlanta won’t sell
 
Disagree, Biss is too hit and miss as a player and for that posistion you have to be on your game all the time. I have said before that Bent is probably the best we have at the moment but his talents are wasted there imo. As for the FBs a proper DM player will talk them through the posistions they should be taking up.

Its a posistion in any side that needs a player who can see the danger that is coming and dictate those around him.
Agreed. Of the two of them I have higher hopes for Bentancur adjusting further into that role as he's still seen limited time there. But neither is a natural there.
Problem is we need/want a DM that can do it all (pass, tackle, quick, athletic and covers ground, good in the air etc.) when they are like unicorns.

People suggest players players all the time but they are all completely different. Some are great athletic tackling machines, but have terrible passing, Or they are great at playing out from the back and starting attacks but not strong and robust enough defensively etc.

Like GB mentioned, We could find another DM that is more of a 'pure' DM than Bissouma or Bentancur but the way we play with full backs pushing up so much would still leave him exposed. It would be better if one went and the other stayed at least but what do I know, I assume Ange has a plan and we are either not implementing it correctly or don't have the right players yet to make it work well.
I agree that the "unicorn" probably isn't going to be found. Some compromises will have to be found if we sign a new player there.
Bent or Biss would be absolutely fine if the FBs stuck a little closer (and were less knackered).
I think an awful lot of our defensive problems stem from us struggling to play out from the back and failing to recycle possession well when needed.

Bissouma's press resistance is imo overrated. And his ability to dictate tempo is severely limited. Particularly when we then miss our best ball playing CB in Romero we struggle even more in this regard, but also do so at times when Romero plays.

These aren't strengths for Bentancur either. His passing is better than Bissouma's, but his awareness and reading of the game (when we have possession) lets him down too often.

We're sorely missing a deep playmaker type. And I think a player like that can play in this system, at least with Sarr (or Bentancur or Bissouma) in one of the box to box roles.
 
Yeah possibly
They wouldn’t wanna sell regardless and don’t need to
They are going for the title
Yeah, a player of Ederson's importance and quality is one you really need to grab in the summer window or you're gonna have to pay a real premium to prise them from their club in January.
 
Yeah, a player of Ederson's importance and quality is one you really need to grab in the summer window or you're gonna have to pay a real premium to prise them from their club in January.

I'm not sure we have the attractiveness as a club to buy these types of prime players. What we probably need to find is the younger version of Edersen before they have hit the heights.
 
I'm not sure we have the attractiveness as a club to buy these types of prime players. What we probably need to find is the younger version of Edersen before they have hit the heights.
Attractiveness aka money. If you are willing to pay the player what it takes you can pretty much sign anyone. Not that I think that's something we should do, but it's what works.
 
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