Midfield Creativity

[Hibees07]

Massive improvement yesterday in the defensive area's but we were woeful in terms of midfield creativity.

Although I have never seen 'Pitbull' play I'm sure he is also a defensive minded midfielder, so where is the link from defence to attack going to come from?. :dunno:

[MSK]

Massive improvement yesterday in the defensive area's but we were woeful in terms of midfield creativity.

Although I have never seen 'Pitbull' play I'm sure he is also a defensive minded midfielder, so where is the link from defence to attack going to come from?. :dunno:Soares or Osborne..Claros doing the dirty work ..

[Andy74]

Massive improvement yesterday in the defensive area's but we were woeful in terms of midfield creativity.

Although I have never seen 'Pitbull' play I'm sure he is also a defensive minded midfielder, so where is the link from defence to attack going to come from?. :dunno:

From what I hear he can play a bit. Soares has a bit to go with fitness as well and more to come from him. Still have Griffiths to come back.

[Spike Mandela]

Completely lacking in midfield of anyone who can put their foot on the ball and dictate play. Hopefully Claros is the man. If not it will be more of the same surrendering the midfield to other passing teams and relying on our defence, albeit the defence is better.

[Deano_70]

Rome wasn't built in a day guys!! These players have been brought in short term in most cases to save us from relegation! Do lets not get ahead of ourselves by forgetting this. We were screaming for a more physical midfield and we got it, now that we have it we are wanting creativity. I aint trying to sound negative I am just trying to be realistic. Baby steps and all that! I just hope it's a physical midfield that will boot teams up and down the park.

Let's hope we get at least one day out at hampden and secure our premier league status so we can build a solid team that is owned by us.

[Deano_70]

Next season!!

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

seems like our new left back is plenty creative. All we need to do is be disciplined enough to tuck in behind him when he takes off.

[Spike Mandela]

Rome wasn't built in a day guys!! These players have been brought in short term in most cases to save us from relegation! Do lets not get ahead of ourselves by forgetting this. We were screaming for a more physical midfield and we got it, now that we have it we are wanting creativity. I aint trying to sound negative I am just trying to be realistic. Baby steps and all that! I just hope it's a physical midfield that will boot teams up and down the park.

Let's hope we get at least one day out at hampden and secure our premier league status so we can build a solid team that is owned by us.

Have we got a more physical midfield? :confused:Were we crying out for a more physical midfield? :confused:Personally I have always thought we were crying out for a more creative midfield. We have a more physical defence that's for sure.

[Twa Cairpets]

Have we got a more physical midfield? :confused:Were we crying out for a more physical midfield? :confused:Personally I have always thought we were crying out for a more creative midfield. We have a more physical defence that's for sure.

Yes and yes. Stronger midfield means more of the ball and less pressure on defence which is a good thing. Bit of time for soares and Osborne to do more positive work, griffiths has some trickery, doyle looks like a finisher.

I'd love a zemama or latapy type too, but we'll get there.

Cheer up man! First time I've come away chuffed froma weekend fitba in god knows how long

[Deano_70]

Have we got a more physical midfield? :confused:Were we crying out for a more physical midfield? :confused:Personally I have always thought we were crying out for a more creative midfield. We have a more physical defence that's for sure.

I can't believe your even asking that question!!

We had a midfield that offered NOTHING! They had no physical presence, they were all small, they all panicked with the ball at there feet, should I go on? I hate being critical of my team but our midfield pre-january was non existent.

I am hoping with the introduction of claros it will allow Osborne and soared to push on! I wouldn't be surprised to see an almost 4-5-1 formation of

.........................stack.................... ......
Doherty.....McPake......Hanlon....KUJABI
........................Claros.................... .....
...............Osborne.......Soares............
...Doyle..................................Gritffit hs
.......................O'Connor................... ..

[Winston Ingram]

Lewis will take some shifting

[Beefster]

Lewis will take some shifting

If you mean that he's difficult to drop, I reckon he's the one to make way when Claros is ready. Stevenson is a trier but he's just not a good enough footballer to be commanding a place every week IMHO.

[Deano_70]

Lewis will take some shifting

Behave!!

Lewis sideways stevenson will be dropped quicker than Usain Bolt can run the hundred meters!! I have no idea what some people's infatuation is with him but I will put it plain and simple, he is not good enough. Yes he gives 100% when he plays but if we as a club want to move forward then that is the kind of player we need to move on. He offers nothing going forward and defensively he is to small and weak! (I am ready for the barrage of abuse from some people)

110 appearances 1 goal, superb stats for a midfielder, yes I am aware he played some in defence

Like Ivan sproule I like his commitment but pure and simply not the quality of player we need to move forward.

[calumb]

I can't believe your even asking that question!!

We had a midfield that offered NOTHING! They had no physical presence, they were all small, they all panicked with the ball at there feet, should I go on? I hate being critical of my team but our midfield pre-january was non existent.

I am hoping with the introduction of claros it will allow Osborne and soared to push on! I wouldn't be surprised to see an almost 4-5-1 formation of

.........................stack.................... ......
Doherty.....McPake......Hanlon....KUJABI
........................Claros.................... .....
...............Osborne.......Soares............
...Doyle..................................Gritffit hs
.......................O'Connor................... ..

eh - with the exception of soares the midfield on saturday were all pre january men

[AlbertK86]

Lewis will take some shifting

Stood off his man too often for my liking on Saturday but one excellent sliding block near the end.

[Golden Bear]

I presume they are only complying with instructions, but our goalkeepers preference to punt the ball up the park at every opportunity does not help our midfield players to build up an attacking passage of play.

[hibsbollah]

I like Lewis but i guess he's the natural candidate to make way when Claros arrives. Lewis and Ivan should be options coming off the bench; Lewis to tighten things up and press to protect a lead, Ivan when we want tostretch a tiring defence late on.

For those complaining about the midfield on saturday i say Have a bit of patience! these guys are just getting to know each other FFS. The shape was SO much better on saturday.

[blackpoolhibs]

I liked Soares in the first half, but he was blowing out his erse pretty much in the last half hour. You can see he has a brain and likes to get forward. His movement and vision for the goal was good, and also his run and shot at goal. He needs a little time to get match fit though, but that will come.

I thought the midfield played well for a time, especially in the first half when the ball was sticking to the front men, but when that stopped we drifted deeper and with tiredness and lack of fitness for a few, we panicked a little, and instead of seeing an easy pass, decided to launch the ball as far away from goal instead.

As others have said, Claros is supposed to be a player, and Griffiths back should improve us further.

[Andy74]

If you mean that he's difficult to drop, I reckon he's the one to make way when Claros is ready. Stevenson is a trier but he's just not a good enough footballer to be commanding a place every week IMHO.

I think his attitude will go a long way with Fenlon and it won't be forgotten that he has been one of the only real triers from the previous regime.

If Claros was to come into that team from Saturday then I think Wotherspoon would drop out with Lewis moving left. Wotherspoon bottled two or three things on Saturday that looked like he was favourite to win.

[Franck is God]

Our creative edge for the remainder of this season will come from the wide areas, despite playing on the left Spoony did well against the Killie full back and got to the byline quite a few times and his delivery from corners and free kicks he took were good too, his delivery for the wrongly disallowed O'Connor goal was excellent.

Soares did well although it is clear he needs a few more games to get right up to speed, his run and shot was a great effor and it was nice to see a Hibs player comfortable enough to simply run straight at a team with a bit of pace and drive rather than pass the responsibility to a team mate, Osbourne has that ability too.

What is positive going forward is with the additions to the squad he has made has given him a selection problem for next week and the remainder of the season. Nobody that played against Killie could be accused of not doing their job well and none particularly deserve to be dropped.

[Spike Mandela]

Yes and yes. Stronger midfield means more of the ball and less pressure on defence which is a good thing. Bit of time for soares and Osborne to do more positive work, griffiths has some trickery, doyle looks like a finisher.

I'd love a zemama or latapy type too, but we'll get there.

Cheer up man! First time I've come away chuffed froma weekend fitba in god knows how long

Hing oan a minute here we are broadly in agreement. I was only contesting the notion we are MORE physical in midfield. The only new face in midfield was Soares and he hardly constituted adding grit to the midfield. We again surrendered midfield to a passing team but limited their chances due to a stronger, better organised defence. Hopefully Claros is the man to put his foot on the ball and help us retain possession and become a passing team that puts other teams under pressure for the majority of the game.

[Franck is God]

Hing oan a minute here we are broadly in agreement. I was only contesting the notion we are MORE physical in midfield. The only new face in midfield was Soares and he hardly constituted adding grit to the midfield. We again surrendered midfield to a passing team but limited their chances due to a stronger, better organised defence. Hopefully Claros is the man to put his foot on the ball and help us retain possession and become a passing team that puts other teams under pressure for the majority of the game.

Killie did out pass us and held possession very well all afternoon however for most of the time it was with their own back four. Only once did their passing football actually create a clear opportunity, any other chances they had later on was when they resorted to humping the ball into our box time after time and a couple of times (Shiels having one of them) got a break of the ball and an attempt on goal. They also had one good effort when they hit us on the break from a corner that we had, even then it was from over 20 yards out and Stack made a decent save from it.

I think if we had had a few more good results under our belt we would have had the confidence to hold the ball for that extra couple of seconds and play the right pass in the last 15 mins and maybe get an extra couple of goals when they had pushed so far forward.

[allezsauzee]

Lewis will likely be the one to make way for Claros, if indeed Claros is player we are hoping he is. The build up he is getting reminds me a bit of when people were touting De graaf for captain before they had seen him kick a ball for Hibs. I'd still have Lewis involved in the squad but I'm not sure he'll be our first option in any single position.

[Andy74]

Lewis will likely be the one to make way for Claros, if indeed Claros is player we are hoping he is. The build up he is getting reminds me a bit of when people were touting De graaf for captain before they had seen him kick a ball for Hibs. I'd still have Lewis involved in the squad but I'm not sure he'll be our first option in any single position.

Obvioulsy it's all about how he fits in but he's a good age, you couldn't say he has been a good player in the past like De Graaf, Hart or JJ.

Fenlon says he is another step up in quality even from the other new boys so I'm happy to go with that and suggest he'll be the best player we've had since Sauzee. :greengrin

[calumb]

Obvioulsy it's all about how he fits in but he's a good age, you couldn't say he has been a good player in the past like De Graaf, Hart or JJ.

Fenlon says he is another step up in quality even from the other new boys so I'm happy to go with that and suggest he'll be the best player we've had since Sauzee. :greengrin

even if he is half as good as Sauzee he'll do well

[God Petrie]

Surely punt Wotherspoon instead of Lewis for Claros.

Wotherspoon hasn't kicked a ball for about 2 years.

[KingFranck]

We may not have a creative midfielder but looks like have two useful full backs who are able to create chances for the front guys so I'd be happy to have midfielders who can cover the full backs forward runs

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Nothing wrong in having a physical midfield as long as you play through it. Killie passed it around themselves really nicely in triangles and we were chasing shadows at times and using up energy. It was a bit like Ali and his rope-a-dope tactics letting your opponent tire himself out. But, dare I say it, Killie's desire to always score picture goals came back to haunt them.

[totalfootball]

Some people on here annoy me... How can anyone say Stevenson hasn't been worthy of the shirt since Fenlon took over? He's been excellent and his use of the ball has generallyt improved. Im excited by claros aswel but Stevenson deserves to keep the jersey at least on Saturday. Also lets get behind spoony, theres no doubt he's got ability and he worked hard on sat and as someone else said, he had the beating of the killie full back. GOC doesn't look sharp I agree but he could be the difference between staying up comfortably and pushing for the cup and struggling on both fronts, hes a class act! lets keep with the guy, he'll always gets us a goal. GGTTH

[Hibees07]

Some people on here annoy me... How can anyone say Stevenson hasn't been worthy of the shirt since Fenlon took over? He's been excellent and his use of the ball has generallyt improved. Im excited by claros aswel but Stevenson deserves to keep the jersey at least on Saturday. Also lets get behind spoony, theres no doubt he's got ability and he worked hard on sat and as someone else said, he had the beating of the killie full back. GOC doesn't look sharp I agree but he could be the difference between staying up comfortably and pushing for the cup and struggling on both fronts, hes a class act! lets keep with the guy, he'll always gets us a goal. GGTTH

I thought Spoony looked quite laboured on Saturday & was surprised Francombe never came on to replace him.

[Makaveli]

Some people on here annoy me... How can anyone say Stevenson hasn't been worthy of the shirt since Fenlon took over? He's been excellent and his use of the ball has generallyt improved. Im excited by claros aswel but Stevenson deserves to keep the jersey at least on Saturday. Also lets get behind spoony, theres no doubt he's got ability and he worked hard on sat and as someone else said, he had the beating of the killie full back. GOC doesn't look sharp I agree but he could be the difference between staying up comfortably and pushing for the cup and struggling on both fronts, hes a class act! lets keep with the guy, he'll always gets us a goal. GGTTH

:agree: Stevenson has certainly improved on the ball. He also still covers for everyone else in the side as well as holding his own position.

Fortunately Fenlon can see all of this.

[Shrekko]

Whether its Stevenson or Wotherspoon dropping out I dont think either have made themselves undroppable recently. Lewis, again is living off a couple of good games nearly 2 months ago and has been average or below for the past 6/7 games. Spoony continues to frustrate as a talented player just not quite using what he's got to good effect.

It's a harsh world but I don't see why folk are fretting about who might be dropped when all that matters is the team getting results. If Claros is as good as we think he may be and Booth is able to come in on the left of midfield, that seems a far better option than LS and DW in those positions at present. I'm prepared to trust Pat Fenlon and will be happy with what he goes with as long as we continue to improve. Midfield has been terrible recently though so I'm expecting changes in there.

[SMAXXA]

Whether its Stevenson or Wotherspoon dropping out I don't think either have made themselves undroppable recently. Lewis, again is living off a couple of good games nearly 2 months ago and has been average or below for the past 6/7 games. Spoony continues to frustrate as a talented player just not quite using what he's got to good effect.

It's a harsh world but I don't see why folk are fretting about who might be dropped when all that matters is the team getting results. If Claros is as good as we think he may be and Booth is able to come in on the left of midfield, that seems a far better option than LS and DW in those positions at present. I'm prepared to trust Pat Fenlon and will be happy with what he goes with as long as we continue to improve. Midfield has been terrible recently though so I'm expecting changes in there.

I agree with this.

LS and IO havnt been great the last couple of games, I still think they both have more to offer of course, but suspect ozzy has far more in his locker than lewis so if the pitbull is coming in it would be no surprise to see lewis drop out. Also some people saying its harsh dropping lewis and play him left midfield, is he a LM player? I don't think so, would be strange accommodating him in a position where we would have better options and really should be taken by a more attack minded player.

[Seveno]

seems like our new left back is plenty creative. All we need to do is be disciplined enough to tuck in behind him when he takes off.

Doherty was pretty quick to cover for him on a few occasions.

[frazeHFC]

Tbh i will be more than happy if we end up playing a team like Dundee United last season where you don't really need a creative midfielder.

They had Gomis and Bauben (we can have Osbourne, Claros, Stevenson) sitting in the midfield and then they had Conway and Swanson (we can have Soares, Booth, Spoony, Griffiths) etc playing wide. This would work very well imo and although you still need to be creative with your wingers, you don't need a Zemmama etc type player.

[Seveno]

Behave!!

Lewis sideways stevenson will be dropped quicker than Usain Bolt can run the hundred meters!! I have no idea what some people's infatuation is with him but I will put it plain and simple, he is not good enough. Yes he gives 100% when he plays but if we as a club want to move forward then that is the kind of player we need to move on. He offers nothing going forward and defensively he is to small and weak! (I am ready for the barrage of abuse from some people)

110 appearances 1 goal, superb stats for a midfielder, yes I am aware he played some in defence

Like Ivan sproule I like his commitment but pure and simply not the quality of player we need to move forward.


Try watching him a bit closer. He is always there to help the man in possession, covers for players that get out of position, tackles hard, has learned to pass the ball forward again and out jumps players that are nearer 6'.

PF clearly values him and I'll go with his judgement.

[frazeHFC]

I just don't get how people can say that Stevenson has had a couple of good games a few months ago, and has done nothing since. He has been terrific. I honestly see no reason why he should be dropped for anyone.

[sahib]

Surely punt Wotherspoon instead of Lewis for Claros.

Wotherspoon hasn't kicked a ball for about 2 years.

A bit harsh but not that wide of the mark. Stevenson has been getting close to what Thomo gave use under Mowbray.

[AlbertK86]

In time I would ilike to see Booth on left for a bit of creativity. Pitbull and Ozzy in centre and Soares on right would give a much better balance

[calumb]

A bit harsh but not that wide of the mark. Stevenson has been getting close to what Thomo gave use under Mowbray.

i am a big fan of stevenson but its stretching things a bit to compare him to thompson.

[Shrekko]

Stevenson has been getting close to what Thomo gave use under Mowbray.

Proof if ever that we all see things differently.

If we has a presence like Thommo in his younger days, our midfield wouldn't be getting outplayed to the extent it is at present.