The manager and the club has said nothing about playing or buying tall, big midfielders. Its something people made up on the basis of St Pauli having some tall midfielders. That matched up with people's childhood fantasies so now people are literally living the dream - pretending the manager is going to give them what they always wanted.
In reality, one of our midfield signings this summer is 169 cm tall, while a 172 cm loan returnee has been given a lot of game time in midfield during the pre-season. And its been looking good. Much to the, I assume, surprise of many, our game won't revolve around winning aerial duels in the midfield.
It’s a lot more than St Pauli having ‘some tall midfielders’ though isn’t it?
It’s Hürzeler’s specific tactic of using one of your countrymen as a hybrid centreback/deep lying playmaker midfielder. Here is your Eric:
Eric Smith - Market value over time
This is the market value site of FC St. Pauli player Eric Smith which shows the market value development of the player in his career.
www.transfermarkt.co.uk
So when people are looking at Hürzeler’s tactics and thinking, will he play a hybrid centre back/deep lying playmaker midfielder and we sign Wieffer, a man with very similar attributes to your 6ft3” Eric, the penny starts to drop.
You are of course correct in suggesting that other Hürzeler midfielders from St Pauli don’t need to be 6ft+. However, we both know that they need goals and assists to justify their selections in his starting line-up.
WBG is not a hybrid centre back. WBG has never racked up the goals and assists up like a Moran, O’Riley or Enciso.
It’s nothing against a great guy like Billy but the conclusion from most on NSC is that WBG is not a fit for Hürzeler’s tactics. The conclusion is not that he is a poor player. He is clearly a specialist that lacks adaptability and utility but that is going to be a huge strength in the right system. I think he’ll be a massive success under Conte.
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