Can anyone justify the midfield selection tonight?

[algie]

What is he then? Whats happening in the summer

Adams will get rid off him along with Hart,Mayo,Dixon,loft and a few others.Thats obvious.

 

[Silent Bob]

Robinson isn't a f***ing striker.Jesus christ why people he banging on about him god knows.Besides i bet i'm right in the summer.

Sticking your neck out there ALGAE aren't you, a true gambler. I bet it's going to be Saturday tomorrow!

 

[blue and white army]

Adams will get rid off him along with Hart,Mayo,Dixon,loft and a few others.Thats obvious.

Obviously there on 1 year deals and pick up too many injuries, what a bold statement

 

[HseagullsH]

I really think people go overboard about Robinson being shit. Yes he isn't amazing but he's pacy and offers something different to the squad. People say hes only scored 13 from 100 blah blah blah but how many goals do our current midfield score.
Robinson would offer more threat in front of goal.

How can we play two very defensive midfielders and Cox who is average at best....

 

[Don Quixote]

robinson is not shit, he is f***ing shit

 

[algie]

robinson is not shit, he is f***ing shit

Tell that to the morons on here

 

[1066familyman]

Yes, you're right, but my point was that those four players should never have been picked in the first place. Johnson is the ONLY one who should be let near our team. To play El Abd, Thomson, and Cox in the same midfield is just SUICIDE.

I'm sorry, but tonight I thought Johnson was poor. Granted, the whole team were poor, but Johnson pissed me right off tonight. Very quick to want to take the free kicks in sight of goal but not so quick to get his foot in when it matters. No I don't want thugs over ball players, but at least show some f***ing passion if the ball playing ain't working. Their fourth goal had me out of my seat screaming at Johnson because he was totally unprepared to cover when we got caught on the break. He was in a position to pick up their goal scorer but instead chose to stand there and watch. If he ain't prepared to put it in then he can f*** off back to Leeds now.

 

[HseagullsH]

What I don't get is, the line ups suggest we are setting out to be solid, a team that is tough to beat.
Generally we start with the back four plus 2 defensive midfielders.
When Savage was here, we had THREE defensive mids in a few of the games.

YET we are torn apart so easily, does not make any sense at all....

 

[bright1064]

In answer to the orinal post Tom...

No I certainly can't. I don't think anyone on here can, and I don't even think Adams could if put on the spot!

CLUELESS

 

[HseagullsH]

The thing is these players are only classed as "defensive midfielders" because they're so utterly inept going forward. I don't see any of the traits of a successful defensive midfielder in El Abd or Thomson. Both are just 'nothing players.'

Where we ALWAYS fail is in pace and speed of thought. Our general play is so dull and predictable. MK Dons, in my opinion, weren't an especially good team, but what they did do was get the ball into dangerous areas and attack with pace and strength. The same as Stockport did to us. After which Micky claimed we "outpassed them." Well I suppose we did, but football matches aren't won on possession or territorial advantage. You win them through posing a threat and scoring goals - something that MK Dons and Stockport did and we don't.

El-Abd certainly gets himself around and works very hard. Problem is he has very little talent. Thomson seems scared to shoot. He barely ever looks to play the ball forward and always just opts for obvious pass back.

We need a strong, imposing holding midfielder to drive the play forward

 

[Finchley Seagull]

How about justifying the selection by saying he was making as few changes as possible to a team that played well last weekend. People accuse him of not knowing his best side and changing the team every week but also have a go at him when he keeps the same midfield.

 

[1066familyman]

...... MK Dons, in my opinion, weren't an especially good team, but what they did do was get the ball into dangerous areas and attack with pace and strength......

Totally agree. I don't think they were anywhere near as good as the Scunthorpe side that trounced us 4-1.

We very nearly got something out of the game tonight when Fleetwood scored, yet we were poor all round.

Against Scunthorpe I actually thought we played some nice football at times, yet we were totally outclassed and never once looked like getting back in the game. It wasn't just a one man team in Hooper either, despite the hat trick.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

The only decision Adams has got right this season is dropping Robinson out of the first team.

Adams problem is he does not know what system to play and looks a poor coach, which has turned most of the players Wilkins was getting to perform into half the players they were last season.

 

[1066familyman]

I'm not saying he's brilliant at all, and he was fairly anonymous tonight. But he does at least have talent, he can strike a football cleanly, he has a bit of vision, and he's at least got a chance of scoring a goal. None of that can be said of El Abd, Fraser, Thomson etc. For that reason alone, I'm happy to see Johnson in the team.

What I'm not particularly happy about is the fact he's on loan. I think one or two loan players are ok but our squad is too reliant on them. If you go and watch Hereford or Cheltenham tomorrow then I'll bet my life that they fight, scrap, play ugly, and show some desperation to get a result. We don't, we don't fight at all, and I think that's mainly because we have too many loan players (although of course several of the permanent players we do have just don't care which doesn't help).

I tend to agree. Johnson probably is one of the better midfielders we have at the club at the mo in terms of footballing talent. He's got a demon shot on him and given the right game, he can look up, pick a pass and offer a threat going forward. His biggest weakness though is that he gets muscled off the ball too easily and doesn't seem too keen to want to mix it up to win it back again. He'd rather go into hiding.

Tonight really got me annoyed because of their fourth goal. We deserved nothing from this game, yet when it went 3-2 and we started to press a bit I got all excited, especially as half of our so called supporters had f***ed off home by then. So to see Johnsons part, or complete lack of, in their fourth goal, really wound me up. I don't really like picking on individual players, but it's late, cold and....well

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Away to Oldham, one of the toughest games of the season, it's ok to play the talentless yobbos. We'll almost spend the whole game defending so it's no real disadvantage having El Abd or Thomson in the team. At home when we need to play some football it is NOT acceptable to play people like this.

I disagree. MK were a decent side (certainly better than Oldham) and we tried to close them down in midfield. El Abd has played that position quite well this season e.g. Man City, Oldham etc although I do agree with you about Thomson on the right.

I don't think either of them are talentless or yobbos and both have their strengths. The main problem was the lack of width for most of the game.

Also, you mentioned McLeod earlier. He may be our best crosser but has not looked match fit for a while and has looked disinterested in a number of recent games. Thornton flatters to deceive although is our most creative player and Anyinsah final delivery when out wide is poor (he is much better up front in my opinion).