Central midfield

[Cardiff Ultra]

I think the OP is a little harsh. Id say that Vaulks, Bacuna and Ralls are all perfectly good Championship midfielders, the problem is that they are all more or less of a type (grafters) so playing them together is a recipe for a lack of creativity and inability to keep possession.

Theoretically that's where Pack should come. He should be the one playing the Joe Allen / Stephen McPhail role, the play should flow through him and he should be the be the link between defence and attack. In truth though weve seen precious little of that from him.

Personally I hate the 3-4-3 formation. It neutralises the wingers because they have to tuck in to accommodate the wing backs and doesn't give you the option of playing a number ten. I can see why McCarthys gone with it because the only creative midfielder we have thats worth anything is Tomlin who's had a dreadful run with injuries but playing Bacuna as one of the from three? **** right off.

That though had been a glaring problem at the club for literally years. Weve barely signed any creative midfielders, probably due to the types of manager that weve had and the fact that we dont have a director football. Perhaps the systemic problems at the club need addressing before the endless hiring and firing of managers.

[Joe Gillis]

I think the OP is a little harsh. Id say that Vaulks, Bacuna and Ralls are all perfectly good Championship midfielders, the problem is that they are all more or less of a type (grafters) so playing them together is a recipe for a lack of creativity and inability to keep possession.

Theoretically that's where Pack should come. He should be the one playing the Joe Allen / Stephen McPhail role, the play should flow through him and he should be the be the link between defence and attack. In truth though weve seen precious little of that from him.

Personally I hate the 3-4-3 formation. It neutralises the wingers because they have to tuck in to accommodate the wing backs and doesn't give you the option of playing a number ten. I can see why McCarthys gone with it because the only creative midfielder we have thats worth anything is Tomlin who's had a dreadful run with injuries but playing Bacuna as one of the from three? **** right off.

That though had been a glaring problem at the club for literally years. Weve barely signed any creative midfielders, probably due to the types of manager that weve had and the fact that we dont have a director football. Perhaps the systemic problems at the club need addressing before the endless hiring and firing of managers.

In my opinion, even if we had two ball playing Bannan types in our midfield then any of the others we have as a holding midfielder would still stand out as a weak link, they simply cannot pass the ball

[PhyllisStant]

I think the OP is a little harsh. Id say that Vaulks, Bacuna and Ralls are all perfectly good Championship midfielders, the problem is that they are all more or less of a type (grafters) so playing them together is a recipe for a lack of creativity and inability to keep possession.

Theoretically that's where Pack should come. He should be the one playing the Joe Allen / Stephen McPhail role, the play should flow through him and he should be the be the link between defence and attack. In truth though weve seen precious little of that from him.

Personally I hate the 3-4-3 formation. It neutralises the wingers because they have to tuck in to accommodate the wing backs and doesn't give you the option of playing a number ten. I can see why McCarthys gone with it because the only creative midfielder we have thats worth anything is Tomlin who's had a dreadful run with injuries but playing Bacuna as one of the from three? **** right off.

That though had been a glaring problem at the club for literally years. Weve barely signed any creative midfielders, probably due to the types of manager that weve had and the fact that we dont have a director football. Perhaps the systemic problems at the club need addressing before the endless hiring and firing of managers.

This is exactly how I see it too. These players didn't get slated in the same way at other clubs as they do here because the blend of players around them and the job they were asked to do differed. We lack someone who can create time for themselves, dictate tempo, always be available for the ball and pick a pass.

[tforturton]

I think the OP is a little harsh. Id say that Vaulks, Bacuna and Ralls are all perfectly good Championship midfielders, the problem is that they are all more or less of a type (grafters) so playing them together is a recipe for a lack of creativity and inability to keep possession..... etc....

This hits the nail on the head. They aren't poor midfielders - they are both pretty good at what they do. The problem is what's going on around them. The last few games, we have had two stand-in full-backs, plus one stand-in centre back. Against Wednesday, we also had two stand-in forwards. What did we expect?

But again, both Williams and Bacuna were out of position - if it had been those two in place of Vaulks and Pack, with Wilson and Murphy alongside Moore, we might have seen a different game.

McCarthy has his injury issues at the moment, but he's been guilty of taking his foot off the throttle, when playing two 'lesser' sides. The full back issues couldn't be helped, but he rested his best forward line, and we paid the price.