Smash and grab?= no midfield

[King Paddy]

Yes we won 3-1 at the Falkirk Stadium, but IMHO we struggled for long periods of this match. Infact i would say our midfield is no better than last season under Mixu. We seem to light in that area, with cregg, mcbride,rankin. Deeks is the enigma for me as i would have subbed him at half time so bad was his work rate. I was thankfully proved wrong as he won the match for us with his two goals. If we persist with 3 in midfield we will be overun like last season. My solution with the present squad would be to allow Ian Murray to sit infront of the back four and play Mcbride and Rankin futher forward. Thoughts:confused::confused:

[Brando7]

We need to drop nish n play deek n stokes up front n play 4 in midfield

Hate to think of the result next week if we only play 3 in midfield

[Baw187]

We're much better in midfield than last year... we had NO midield last year.

Cregg and McBride give us a lot of industry in there, winning balls and setting up moves with short passes.

Not saying we don't need to improve it (we defo can!) but it's much better than last year.

[davym7062]

Yes we won 3-1 at the Falkirk Stadium, but IMHO we struggled for long periods of this match. Infact i would say our midfield is no better than last season under Mixu. We seem to light in that area, with cregg, mcbride,rankin. Deeks is the enigma for me as i would have subbed him at half time so bad was his work rate. I was thankfully proved wrong as he won the match for us with his two goals. If we persist with 3 in midfield we will be overun like last season. My solution with the present squad would be to allow Ian Murray to sit infront of the back four and play Mcbride and Rankin futher forward. Thoughts:confused::confused:

what you have to remember is that 2 of our better players wern't playing. the midfield will be a lot better when murray and zouma are back.

oh, and i would never sub derek riordan :agree:

[Franck is God]

it's strange that Deek is the problem and the match winner at the same time.

Having him on the pitch is like playing a with a man down however he can always do what he did yesterday. He only had two good moments in the 70 minutes he had on the pitch but they were both goals.

IMO if he plays we can only afford to have one striker on the pitch along with him so I suppose it has to be Nish, Stokes or Benji through the middle with either Zemmama, Wotherspoon or maybe even Byrne supporting from the right hand side.

If we were to play a straight 4-4-2 then I think Nish would be your man as he does link well with another striker, Stokes movement looked really good yesterday and picked up a few of Nish's flicks really well. Not sure if Deek fits into that though?

I'm hoping that Yogi will simply pick sides to win games based on who we are playing, I seem to remember that Mowbray very rarely used Riordan in games against the old firm, particularly not from the start. I know that I would probably not have him start on Sunday, he'll just get lost in the game and be ineffective.

[BoltonHibee]

Yes we won 3-1 at the Falkirk Stadium, but IMHO we struggled for long periods of this match. Infact i would say our midfield is no better than last season under Mixu. We seem to light in that area, with cregg, mcbride,rankin. Deeks is the enigma for me as i would have subbed him at half time so bad was his work rate. I was thankfully proved wrong as he won the match for us with his two goals. If we persist with 3 in midfield we will be overun like last season. My solution with the present squad would be to allow Ian Murray to sit infront of the back four and play Mcbride and Rankin futher forward. Thoughts:confused::confused:


You have absolutely no idea about football if you wanted him subbed at half time!

[Purehibee_MYB]

Yes we won 3-1 at the Falkirk Stadium, but IMHO we struggled for long periods of this match. Infact i would say our midfield is no better than last season under Mixu. We seem to light in that area, with cregg, mcbride,rankin. Deeks is the enigma for me as i would have subbed him at half time so bad was his work rate. I was thankfully proved wrong as he won the match for us with his two goals. If we persist with 3 in midfield we will be overun like last season. My solution with the present squad would be to allow Ian Murray to sit infront of the back four and play Mcbride and Rankin futher forward. Thoughts:confused::confused:


You may be forgetting we have been missing our talisman in midfield through Zemmamma, who pulls the strings in midfield and along with Mcbride and Cregg, I personally think our midfield looks pretty strong, with a good balance of attack and defence. Up front we also look very dangerous, the only place we need to strengthen IMO is defence, as there is now pressure of Maka to perform with Stack waiting.

[500miles]

You have absolutely no idea about football if you wanted him subbed at half time!

If Riordan got subbed at half time he could have had no complaints. He had contributed nothing, gave he ball away, hadn't beat his man, and looked very very flat.

In fact, if we had put Wotherspoon for Deek on and reverted to a 4-4-2 we probably still would have won, as we would have got a foothold on the midfield, and we would have had someone linking Nish and Stokes to the rest of the team.

Riordan got away with it on Saturday because he can produce something out of nothing. However, as often as it goes for him, there will be other games were it won't, and he won't score, and therefore people will say "Yogi should have subbed him". Playing Derek Riordan can sometimes be like the ref saying "right, You're playing with ten men, but if you guess what side this coin will land on, I'll give you a goal advantage". He needs to contribute even when he isn't scoring.

[500miles]

You may be forgetting we have been missing our talisman in midfield through Zemmamma, who pulls the strings in midfield and along with Mcbride and Cregg, I personally think our midfield looks pretty strong, with a good balance of attack and defence. Up front we also look very dangerous, the only place we need to strengthen IMO is defence, as there is now pressure of Maka to perform with Stack waiting.

I think you're forgetting that Mixu also missed that, and never got any slack for it.

[matty_f]

Have to say I'd go 4 in midfield, and put Stokes and Deek up front against Celtc, especially if Zouma is fit.

Can't really argue with Yogi's decision to start with 3 up front on Saturday, given that we got 3 points, and 3 goals in the process.

[BoltonHibee]

If Riordan got subbed at half time he could have had no complaints. He had contributed nothing, gave he ball away, hadn't beat his man, and looked very very flat.

In fact, if we had put Wotherspoon for Deek on and reverted to a 4-4-2 we probably still would have won, as we would have got a foothold on the midfield, and we would have had someone linking Nish and Stokes to the rest of the team.

Riordan got away with it on Saturday because he can produce something out of nothing. However, as often as it goes for him, there will be other games were it won't, and he won't score, and therefore people will say "Yogi should have subbed him". Playing Derek Riordan can sometimes be like the ref saying "right, You're playing with ten men, but if you guess what side this coin will land on, I'll give you a goal advantage". He needs to contribute even when he isn't scoring.

The way Yogi had the team set out on Saturday was the reason that Riordan had a very quiet 1st half, indeed 2nd half too. I know we won, but IMO we played the wrong tactics, the wrong formation and the wrong side.

Set up like that and we will be found wanting. At any rate DR scored 2 goals and that is good enough for me, you seem to have some sort of different agenda when it comes down DR

[Hibs Spain]

Yes we won 3-1 at the Falkirk Stadium, but IMHO we struggled for long periods of this match. Infact i would say our midfield is no better than last season under Mixu. We seem to light in that area, with cregg, mcbride,rankin. Deeks is the enigma for me as i would have subbed him at half time so bad was his work rate. I was thankfully proved wrong as he won the match for us with his two goals. If we persist with 3 in midfield we will be overun like last season. My solution with the present squad would be to allow Ian Murray to sit infront of the back four and play Mcbride and Rankin futher forward. Thoughts:confused::confused:I was struggling to work out why we couldn't get the ball to the forwards on Sat till I worked out that we were playing 4 3 3 .. It doesn't work when your three forwards do nothing in midfield. Ironically enough Nish who is a complete mystery to to me was the one forward working a bit. Nothing to do with the prospect of being punted of course due to our riches of strikers?

[500miles]

The way Yogi had the team set out on Saturday was the reason that Riordan had a very quiet 1st half, indeed 2nd half too. I know we won, but IMO we played the wrong tactics, the wrong formation and the wrong side.

Set up like that and we will be found wanting. At any rate DR scored 2 goals and that is good enough for me, you seem to have some sort of different agenda when it comes down DR

I want more from a player that is capable of it. He's probably the most TECHNICALLY gifted player we have produced recently, but he fails to dictate games. Fletcher done it on occasion, Brown did it all the time, Thomson did for a while, and O'Connor bullied defences. Riordan should be pulling CH's out of position, and opening up the game for other players too - he's capable of it.

Riordan can pass, has skill, but seems happy to fall back to scoring goals, as it is well within his comfort zone. If Stokes gets 15 goals this season, Riordan will get 20. If Stokes get 20, Riordan will get 25. He NEEDS to be challanged, otherwise he will stagnate.

[Purehibee_MYB]

I think you're forgetting that Mixu also missed that, and never got any slack for it.

Only because it was Zemmammas choice to stay out on loan, to be with his wife according to reports...

[500miles]

Only because it was Zemmammas choice to stay out on loan, to be with his wife according to reports...

Absolutely right. I've just noticed that Mixu is still taking a bit of flak from some quarters (not on this thread in particular), and thought i would throw that out there.

[jgl07]

One encouraging fact is that Hibs have twice come from behind to win.

How many times was that acheived last season?

[RoYO!]

I want more from a player that is capable of it. He's probably the most TECHNICALLY gifted player we have produced recently, but he fails to dictate games. Fletcher done it on occasion, Brown did it all the time, Thomson did for a while, and O'Connor bullied defences. Riordan should be pulling CH's out of position, and opening up the game for other players too - he's capable of it.

Riordan can pass, has skill, but seems happy to fall back to scoring goals, as it is well within his comfort zone. If Stokes gets 15 goals this season, Riordan will get 20. If Stokes get 20, Riordan will get 25. He NEEDS to be challanged, otherwise he will stagnate.

the manner that the ball was being played from half way to final third will never suit deeks. i have some time for nish but as soon as he is subbed the ball starts to be played on the deck and riordan comes into it.

tbh i dont see any chance of him stagnating, he enjoys scoring goals too much. over 3 consecutive seasons for hibs i seem to remember him scoring 60+ goals, that'll do for me, and i dont see that trend dwindling.

it seems a similar problem to the gers with boyd, but put him on and he scores

[erin go bragh]

We need to drop nish n play deek n stokes up front n play 4 in midfield

Hate to think of the result next week if we only play 3 in midfield
:top marksnish has to be left out for sun,with zemmama in the midfield[if fit]or wotherspoon. defo deeks and stokes up front:wink:

[J-C]

By playing the 3 strikers Yogi sacrificed his midfield hoping 3 upfront would do the damage, it did but we struggled for long periods because of the extra man they had.

[davym7062]

Absolutely right. I've just noticed that Mixu is still taking a bit of flak from some quarters (not on this thread in particular), and thought i would throw that out there.

mixu would have played zouma at left back such was his management skills:wink:

[Dashing Bob S]

One encouraging fact is that Hibs have twice come from behind to win.

How many times was that acheived last season?

Good point. Once we went behind last season we were toast.

[rightwinger]

It's a fair observation but there are some important differences from last season IMO.

Firstly, I feel that front-three complement and rely on each other to a great degree. Nish is a hard-working huddy who we need for his height and workrate. Riordan has neither height nor workrate (and isn't that pacy either) but can score and create out of nothing - a latent threat. Stokes has the pace and plays through the middle well and seemed to be gelling well with both on Saturday. We also have Benji to consider, who is not dissimilar to either Riordan or Stokes.

Secondly, the midfield 3 is comprised of three fairly experienced, hard-working and combative midfielders. Not one midfielder, one defender and one winger as Mixu did so often last season. There will still be times when the man less shows, but it shouldn't be as bad as it was last season as the three in there know what they're doing. I think the more pressing problem is the full-backs - particularly Hanlon. With a narrow 3-man midfield we really need the full-backs to overlap, take men on and play more of an offensive role to ease the burden on the midfield. DVZ's a poor defender but he does try to do this. Hanlon, however, rarely seems to, and McCann's not much better. Hopefully, when Murray comes back at left back this will change.

Murray at left back, a new right-back (Barr would be great) and potentially a new goalkeeper and centre-back and we'll really be on to something.

[Phil MaGlass]

Watching the game in the boozer,half time we were all in agreement that Deek had to be subbed.Mibbe the team setup wisnae working but ah wouldnae have him starting against Celtic if we use the same setup.

[--------]

We're talking about a lad who could very well score his 100th senior goal this season - how many of those are around in the SPL right now? - and discussing how we shouldn't play him on Sunday?

Who scored twice on Saturday - a delightful touch to finish off JR's free-kick, and one of the best dead-ball strikes you're ever likely to see - from how far out? 30 yards?

I respect the arguments both sides, and I have no problem with the discussion - it's a valid question, no doubt at all. We can, maybe should, play partnerships up front without Deek on Sunday. Bringing him on with 25 to go has in the past been a good thing, remember.

And Stokes/Nish, Stokes/Benji, Benji/Nish could all make trouble for most SPL defences this season.

How did things come to such a state?

FOUR first-team strikers, plus JJ now on the mend, and young guys like Byrne and Deane hammering on the door to get into the team? :devil: