Too many guitarists, not enough piano players?

[birchwoodgingerste]

I agree with the OP. Last season we mad the likes of Liverpool look class because we weren't tenacious enough in midfield. The best teams can attack and defend with ferocity. You need 2 powerful CMs, like Fernandinho and Yaya in their prime, and at least 2 high octane attacking players, the likes of Sanchez or Tevez.

Whoever we sign I hope they add to the sharpness of our overall play, not just attack or defence alone.

Pogba,kondogbia,for centre mid sterling and de bruyne for creativity maybe isco or Barkley for back up

 

[citizens_1976]

I think Xhaka would be perfect tbh. He is young, has a great work ethic, can dictate the tempo of a game and reads a game very well. Can fill in behind Yaya and Pogba as well. Not a household name, but a very astute signing tactically.

 

[Shaelumstash]

Shaelumstash...Last season, I think we struggled against many teams that we should have blown away....Teams just liked to put 11men behind the ball and sometimes we struggled to break them down......I really think we were missing a couple of more "direct" players that had pace....we are a great passing team but seemed to lack that pace/quickness to spark the team in some games.....I think Sterling would answer many of those questions (as well as being HG)....I do think Pogba would also be an important signing, as Yaya wont be around forever and having someone to take over and build around for the long term would be amazing for the club and us fans....both are young, talented and I feel "fit" into the type of player/style we need to take us to that next level.....just my opinion tho! thanks for starting the discussion.....

Hi mate, thanks for your reply. I totally agree with you about Sterling and Pogba, I think they'd both be excellent additions. Pogba has the potential to be a long term replacement for Yaya, and there certainly isn't many of them about! Sterling is one of those rare players with pace who is comfortable drifting inside, and can beat a man from a standing start with a piece of skill. Very rare and valuable.

Regarding not being able to break teams down, personally I thought that was our major problem in the 2012/2013 season. We didn't score enough goals that season and struggled to break down teams who parked the bus. However, I don't agree that it was a major problem for us last season. We were the top scorers in the league, and I can't recall many games where we played well but just struggled to break a team down and score. Personally I thought the major reason we dropped silly points against the likes of West Ham, Burnley, Hull and others, is because it was too easy to overrun our central midfield. I think we are one of very few teams who only play with 2 central midfielders, Yaya looked laboured and unfit in many games, Fernando looked completely out of his depth, so we got swarmed in midfield too often.

 

[cleavers]

Fernando is appalling

No he isn't, he's been played badly imho, and on the couple of occasions he's been played in the right position he's looked fine. He, like many, has taken a long time to adapt to the PL, but he'll be fine next season if used correctly.

 

[Shaelumstash]

No he isn't, he's been played badly imho, and on the couple of occasions he's been played in the right position he's looked fine. He, like many, has taken a long time to adapt to the PL, but he'll be fine next season if used correctly.

I disagree, he's way below the standard required.

What would you consider his 'right position'? I assume you mean as the holding player in a 3, because I'd agree that's his best position.

But if he's been played in the 'wrong position' and not been 'used correctly' who would you say is responsible for that? Because I would say that's the managers fault, but you won't have a bad word said about him, so I'm confused?

If we play a variation of 442 next season, or even 4231, I don't think there is a position in those systems in which Fernando is good enough to play for us. As the holding player in a 433 he could possibly be 'fine', but we should be expecting a whole lot more than that.

 

[Dax777]

Pogba, Reus, Sterling, Granit Zhaka.


That's the 4 we need. By the way if we get those 4 Zhaka will turn out to be Yaya's replacement. He is on the verge of becoming great. We need to get him before Real makes him Modric's replacement. He is that good.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Just because you haven't heard about it doesn't mean we're not looking for midfielders too. But let's face it, having an amazing front 3 would give the midfield far more space to work with.

 

[auij19]

I disagree with the OP, often last season we struggled to break down opposition who were sat on the 18 yard line. we were too slow down the flanks and if silva or yaya was off the boil we lacked ideas or a plan B. I don't think sterlings final ball and finishing is good enough to warrant a 50m bid - I'd rather take jay rodriguez if we need home grown. de bruyne, pogba and isco would give us enough energy, quality and legs in midfield to correct last season's weaknesses.

 

[Crossan da Ball]

I'm as excited as anyone about us being linked with Sterling, De Bruyne and Firminio. But do they adresss the biggest weaknesses in our squad from last season?

Creating chances wasn't a huge issue, yet of the 4 main players we are being linked with, 3 of them are creative players. Even Pogba (who I think would be a sensational buy) is more comfortable going forward than he is going backwards.

The main area of weakness last season was in central midfield. Yaya's legs are a year older, Milner's gone, Lampard's gone, Fernando is appalling, which leaves Fernandinho as the only centre midfielder currently in the squad who is capable of playing regularly to a high stadard in a 442.

As I said, Pogba would be an absolute dream signing, but I definitely feel we need at least one more player capable of playing box to box. Interested to know what other Blues think?

You are so right it hurts.

I suspect Barcelona might see Pogba now as they saw Yaya when they sold him (around his prime). They opted then for less power and more mobility in midfield. Iniesta and Raketic are not great defenders, but together with Busquets, they press superbly well, and they can attack superbly well.
They look watertight with three in midfield, yet we look like a sieve with four or sometimes five. Any team that could run in midfield was straight through to our back four, making our best right back and central defender in many years looked ordinary.
We are a club that can lose Barry, discover a problem left back position, and not connect those two things. We think Silva, Nasri and Navas are strong enough, and Yaya is mobile enough, to defend adequately.
I suggest we have two great offensive midfielders, Silva and Yaya, and what we need is two versatile players who can (when needed) get back rapidly and form a three with Fernandinho.
Against the best teams we have to be able to play 4:5:1, where the five doesn’t include three Italian corporals and a Napoleonic fort. If we buy Pogba, you can make that two Napoleonic forts.

 

[OB1]

No he isn't, he's been played badly imho, and on the couple of occasions he's been played in the right position he's looked fine. He, like many, has taken a long time to adapt to the PL, but he'll be fine next season if used correctly.

You are right to say Fernando is not appalling. Any player who manages to have the second best pass completion stats in the Premier League (with an average of just under 50 passes per game) is not appalling.

However, I don't agree that he has been used badly, even though I do agree that he is better in a midfield three. I think he has taken time to settle in and that has been exacerbated by a lack of real pace, which I suspect means he has had to work on his positioning and anticipation due to the speed of the English game.