The word coming out of West Ham over the last 24 hours is that Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos have decided they want another attacking midfielder at the club and that a defensive operator is not on their list.
Now whilst I find it very easy to become confused at my time of life that one has left me – even after sleeping on it – unable to comprehend the thinking.
Here are our out and out attacking midfielders: Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini, Jack Wilshere, Robert Snodgrass, Arthur Masuaku, Grady Diangana, Andriy Yarmolenko.
Here are our defensive midfielders Declan Rice and Carlos Sanchez!
Now let’s assume the worst case scenario and that Dec were to be injured in the first game of the season which we understand WON’T be at Watford by the way 🙂
What sort of pickle does that leave us in because I can’t believe that Carlos Sanchez is an adequate replacement or that Mark Noble would be the permanent answer to such a disaster.
Even forgetting any possibility of injury to Declan it seems more than odd to have a squad which includes seven attacking midfielders and one defensive.
It all becomes even stranger when one remembers that the manager revealed during the season that his only inquiry for a winter signing was to Besiktas for Gary Medel (defensive midfielder) whom he believed as on a free – in fact he wasn’t.
I trust Manuel Pellegrini and maybe a more utilitarian midfielder will eventually arrive ho can do both jobs but right now confusion reigns in my head and I’m probably not alone!
Plenty of teams play with one defensive midfielder. Most teams in fact why do we suddenly have to have two
For the reasons mentioned
Arthur masuaku is a left back lol? And as much as I think we need a midfielder I don’t think a defensive one or attacking is needed I think we need more of a box to box someone who can boss the midfield form both aspects would be the one for me
He is a left sided midfielder now
Hugh, take a deep breath and say this mantra:
In Pelle we trust.
I have faith that we will get the player’s we need and will suprise everyone. My biggest concern is that we get rid of Arnie and his brother, who will cause major disruptions mid season again.
Hugh I agree with you wholeheartedly on this one – to my way of thinking what we are crying out for is a strong tackling defensive midfielder – I would be happy with Isaac Hayden or someone like that. In too many games last season even mediocre sides just waltzed through our midfield (Cardiff even Wimbledon)
Anyway we will wait to see what happens
I wholehearted agree with Zahama. As one was was at the embarrassing display at Cardiff, I believe we need another defensively minded midfielder with a bit of grit – a young Bonzo would be perfect, of course. Petit and Vienna were pretty good together, for example. Let’s not forget we really need a left back who can defend …
Spellcheck put in Viper and Vienna. I typed Viera I think. Definitely not the Ultravox song …
Coventry maybe?
Is this just a bit of misinformation by the club to muddy the waters?
Re cbwhu, strength in depth is necessary to compete at the highest levels. Quality competition / cover for all positions should be a given for any club and I don’t think Sanchez fits the bill in this case!
Josh Cullen maybe? Connor Coventry perhaps?
I don’t know enough about them to say they can play as defensive midfielders, but I’d like to think they can be back up to Declan and Mark rather than Sanchez. I’d rather see them in fact.
I may be totally naive as to their level compared to the first team, but I still struggle to see how much worse they can be than some of our pretty poor squad players over the years. At least they aren’t on 70k and they care about the club.
Well currently we still have Obiang, noble, Josh Cullen, and Sanchez.
Maybe MP is going to mold some of the players we already have to play more defensive.
A fit Wilshire, Snodgrass, Noble plus youngers Coventry and Powell could easily play slightly deeper to help Rice out.
Also its worth mentioning that the attacking midfielders you mentioned play in different positions.
CDM is a certain position, where attacking midfielder there is multiple. So its not like all the players you have listed our taking up one spot.
Not saying that we couldn’t do with another CDM, just adding some balance.
Thank you James. Valued input
Hugh, take a deep breath and say this mantra:
In Pelle we trust.
I have faith that we will get the player’s we need and will suprise everyone. My biggest concern is that we get rid of Arnie and his brother, who will cause major disruptions mid season again.
“In Pelle we trust.” 🙂