Lack of a creative player in the middle

[nasser95]

Blackburn at home I'd expect to see the side JFH wanted from the start barring any injuries.

Perch/Ned Hall Caulker Bidwell
Borysiuk Cousins
Yeni Chery New signing
Polter/new signing.

I read on here Sako from Palace is of interest and he'd be perfect to play on the left. Sako, Chery and Yeni would arguably be the best 3 behind a striker in the league with cousins being box to box and Borysiuk holding.

I can't see us (and frankly hope we don't think about) dropping Luongo as a long term thing. The guy is absolutely phenomenal on and off the ball. For me, he should be the first name in every starting 11 when fit and energised.

[West Acton]

I can't see us (and frankly hope we don't think about) dropping Luongo as a long term thing. The guy is absolutely phenomenal on and off the ball. For me, he should be the first name in every starting 11 when fit and energised.

Could not make my mind up about him yesterday. Done some good bits then he has you pulling your hair out

[West Acton]

Ned towards the end of the game picked ball up out wide level with our box and went on mazy run taking on and beating three or four of their players on his way to their box. Was a great run and whole away end was up thinking he was going beat last man and score.

Ccccchhhhiiieeeeeffffffff

[nasser95]

Ned towards the end of the game picked ball up out wide level with our box and went on mazy run taking on and beating three or four of their players on his way to their box. Was a great run and whole away end was up thinking he was going beat last man and score.

Ccccchhhhiiieeeeeffffffff

Apparently he's not good on the ball and isn't comfortable on it... Ned always runs with the ball and pushes into the opp half, creates space for our plays and plays a horizontal ball to end it which is such a useful asset to have in defence.

[Mattyqpr]

I can't see us (and frankly hope we don't think about) dropping Luongo as a long term thing. The guy is absolutely phenomenal on and off the ball. For me, he should be the first name in every starting 11 when fit and energised.

Average at this level imo. Good squad player to have but not good enough to be our main defensive midfielder and lacks hugely going forward. The two in the middle will be a combination of defensive and box to box and I'd imagine JFH thinks the two for that role are Borysiuk and Cousins.

[Kevin Mcleod]

I read on twitter that Luongo has made the most succesful tackles of any other midfielder in the division with 22.

[nasser95]

I read on twitter that Luongo has made the most succesful tackles of any other midfielder in the division with 22.

Not only that, most successful tackles of any player in the league, period, including defenders and attackers, joint with Conor Hourihane who has a worse success rate. Only 3 midfielders have made more successful dribbles than him as well, and for someone as short as him, he's won the 5th most aerial duels of any midfielder in the league, also, for people who say he doesn't do enough going forward, only 4 players have made more short key passes than him. The guy has been a rock for us and will only improve when one of Cousins or Borysuik come alongside him to give him a bit more freedom.

[West Acton]

He must have the lowest shooting percentage as can rarely recall him having a shot. Had perfect opportunity to shoot just inside the box yesterday and opted to pass backwards

[Hubble]

Well it's all work in progress, innit. But we can see what JFH wants coming together, which is a good thing, surely?

[Rangers77]

He must have the lowest shooting percentage as can rarely recall him having a shot. Had perfect opportunity to shoot just inside the box yesterday and opted to pass backwards

Good defensively and an asset to the team, but needs to offer more offensively. Think you need to score the odd goal or create a few to merit the accolade of phenomenal.

[Mattyqpr]

Not only that, most successful tackles of any player in the league, period, including defenders and attackers, joint with Conor Hourihane who has a worse success rate. Only 3 midfielders have made more successful dribbles than him as well, and for someone as short as him, he's won the 5th most aerial duels of any midfielder in the league, also, for people who say he doesn't do enough going forward, only 4 players have made more short key passes than him. The guy has been a rock for us and will only improve when one of Cousins or Borysuik come alongside him to give him a bit more freedom.

A small sample though isn't it mate!

Goals - Zero
Assists - Zero
Shots Per Game: 0.4
Key Passes Per Game: 1
Dribbles Per Game: 1.4

He's been playing with Karl Henry, so I'm not sure how he's going to get more freedom?

Interestingly last season he made 30 league appearances starting 26:

Goals: Zero
Assists: 6
Shots Per Game: 0.9
Key Passes Per Game: 1.4
Dribbles Per Game: 1.2

He played quite a lot as our attacking midfielder as well.

Luongo the crab. Good squad player but offers nothing going forward and I believe we have better defensively.

[West Acton]

A small sample though isn't it mate!

Goals - Zero
Assists - Zero
Shots Per Game: 0.4
Key Passes Per Game: 1
Dribbles Per Game: 1.4

He's been playing with Karl Henry, so I'm not sure how he's going to get more freedom?

Interestingly last season he made 30 league appearances starting 26:

Goals: Zero
Assists: 6
Shots Per Game: 0.9
Key Passes Per Game: 1.4
Dribbles Per Game: 1.2

He played quite a lot as our attacking midfielder as well.

Luongo the crab. Good squad player but offers nothing going forward and I believe we have better defensively.

We were having exact debate you put there yesterday. As attacking midfielder he don't offer an awful lot. Ther fact he's not even averaging a shot a game is a concern to me. He seems frightened of shooting

[Mattyqpr]

We were having exact debate you put there yesterday. As attacking midfielder he don't offer an awful lot. Ther fact he's not even averaging a shot a game is a concern to me. He seems frightened off shooting

Spot on mate.

[nasser95]

People are getting him mixed up... he's a deep lying creative midfielder, not an attacking midfielder. People who think we have better defensively really need to pay attention to his play because his tackling quality is really phenomenal considering his limited reach due to his height, alongside his aerial prowess which is great too. Offensively, no one got more open play assists last season than him and he didn't take set pieces. We're nitpicking by saying he doesn't score because there are 4 players playing in front of him who should do that instead. He just needs to supply them. He doesn't like shooting because he's not good at it, but that's not the sort of player he is. He's the player who moves the ball from just before the centre circle to just outside the box. There, we'll have 4 players who can shoot and who should be doing it.

As for how he'll get more freedom with someone other than KH, the reason is simply pace. KH doesn't have it so Luongo tends to hang back and cover for him, meaning he releases the ball early as opposed to getting further forward because if anything happens, he knows KH can only do so much in terms of covering for him. With Cousins or Borysuik, he's got two players who can stay back when he goes forward and cover the entire centre of the park, as opposed to one side of it.

[Rangers77]

People are getting him mixed up... he's a deep lying creative midfielder, not an attacking midfielder. People who think we have better defensively really need to pay attention to his play because his tackling quality is really phenomenal considering his limited reach due to his height, alongside his aerial prowess which is great too. Offensively, no one got more open play assists last season than him and he didn't take set pieces. We're nitpicking by saying he doesn't score because there are 4 players playing in front of him who should do that instead. He just needs to supply them. He doesn't like shooting because he's not good at it, but that's not the sort of player he is. He's the player who moves the ball from just before the centre circle to just outside the box. There, we'll have 4 players who can shoot and who should be doing it.

As for how he'll get more freedom with someone other than KH, the reason is simply pace. KH doesn't have it so Luongo tends to hang back and cover for him, meaning he releases the ball early as opposed to getting further forward because if anything happens, he knows KH can only do so much in terms of covering for him. With Cousins or Borysuik, he's got two players who can stay back when he goes forward and cover the entire centre of the park, as opposed to one side of it.

I'm not knocking the fella; he's clearly better suited to CM than he is anywhere else and he can't play in the hole as far as I have seen. But at least one of the central two in 4231 have to contribute something offensively. Playing two DMers there limits our attacking options. One of the CMs in 4231 really has to be a box to box player to get the most out of the system.