Centre Midfield

[Moody Blue 9,412]

7 hours ago, IRed said:

Do we have a shortlist of potential midfielders signings Steven Gerrard is looking at ? Realistically.

[teddybear1975 2,031]

2 hours ago, The Blues said:

Give Zungu a chance now for a couple of games.

Doubt Zungu will play again this season after the hearing on Thursday.

[rosspollock93 20]

Fair to say I agree with 90% of comments made here about hagi and aribo. Aribo starting in the middle drives me mental and just always think we’re so exposed cos Davis is covering the full backs, definitely ok against lesser opponents but not in yer big games. We really do need a box to box midfielder it’s a shame Arfield got injured cos before he did he was on fire!!

[IRed 209]

8 hours ago, Moody Blue said:

😂 Well that’s a long one.

[Negri's lovechild 14,188]

39 minutes ago, IRed said:

😂 Well that’s a long one.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

20 hours ago, bluenoz said:

You are sounding like a broken record. 

Whether you like it or not, Aribo & Hagi are better players than Arfield & Zungu all day long.

Sure, Aribo hasn't been good lately but nowhere near as bad as you go on about him.

Aribo may have more natural ability, but Arfield contributes far more to the team.

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

14 hours ago, onefootwillie said:

Ofoborh will not be a first team starter. He will be a work in progress. Just look at the number of games he has started and not at a high level. He must have been identified as having potential but definitely not a starter next season. 

Probably not a starter, but he doesn't have to be that to replace Zungu.

[Negri's lovechild 14,188]

14 minutes ago, Jeffrey said:

Aribo may have more natural ability, but Arfield contributes far more to the team.

I agree, but I do think Arfield is now getting to the point where we have to manage his playing time to maximise his contribution. We seem to be getting an outstanding half season from him and then some patchy performances. 

Injuries play their part as well, so I do think we need to manage him but have someone ready to step in when he isn't at it. 

[Raligt 2,541]

I think the games seem to pass Arfield by lately and he isn't imposing himself enough compared to his performances at the start of the season.

[graeme_4 34,678]

10 minutes ago, Raligt said:

I think the games seem to pass Arfield by lately and he isn't imposing himself enough compared to his performances at the start of the season.

Ankle ligaments are a bastard of a injury to come back from. 

[Getstiffed 8,863]

Another half season from Arfield sans international duty. Guess that's that put to bed.

Said it before serious money needs spent on finding younger fitter versions of those players.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

17 minutes ago, Negri's lovechild said:

I agree, but I do think Arfield is now getting to the point where we have to manage his playing time to maximise his contribution. We seem to be getting an outstanding half season from him and then some patchy performances. 

Injuries play their part as well, so I do think we need to manage him but have someone ready to step in when he isn't at it. 

Agree with that. At least an out of form Arfield contributes in terms of pressing and maintaining a defensive shape. Obviously you need more that that to start in the middle of the park for Rangers but Aribo when he isn't on it is a man down in all aspects of the game.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

6 minutes ago, Getstiffed said:

Another half season from Arfield sans international duty. Guess that's that put to bed.

Said it before serious money needs spent on finding younger fitter versions of those players.

No international football but an injury that he hasn't recovered from

[docspiderman 1,234]

Arfield has never in his career been a consistent performer, he has always played in bursts of 6 or 7 games then average for the next few months. Nothing to do with age or internationals just the way he has always been.

 

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

This sums up Aribo perfectly for me. Here's who he's scored against this season.

St Johnstone in a 3-0 win, Livingston in a 2-0 win, Hamilton x2 in an 8-0 win, Ross County in a 5-0 win and Dundee Utd in a 4-1 win

All easy wins against dross. All at Ibrox.

[BridgeIsBlue 66,614]

Aribo needs to hit the ground running next season or he'll be left behind. 

[bluenoz 30,971]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey said:

Aribo may have more natural ability, but Arfield contributes far more to the team.

Not in the six games he has played since coming back from injury. One of my favourite players at the club has done nothing lately. If Aribo is getting called out for poor displays (I"m not disputing that) then so must Arfield.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

2 minutes ago, bluenoz said:

Not in the six games he has played since coming back from injury. One of my favourite players at the club has done nothing lately. If Aribo is getting called out for poor displays (I"m not disputing that) then so must Arfield.

I'm not talking about a 6 game spell. I'm talking about their entire careers here.

[Getstiffed 8,863]

4 hours ago, Jeffrey said:

No international football but an injury that he hasn't recovered from

See tbf if it was one season out of 3 then fair enough but for one reason or another we only seem to get half a season all in from him.

You could say the same about Morelos tbf bit I think it would also be unfair to compare the level of contributions either makes when on form. Alfie's dips are easier to swallow. Not easy. Easier.

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

This has context, Silva is clearly better than Aribo I know this.

Bernardo Silva, attacking midfielder has 2 assists and 3 goals for City, some players aren't judged on such measures and are looked at in terms of their overall tactical production - Aribo pretty much plays when fit, given how driven a tactical team we are it seems goals aren't his expected outlet. 

These aren't the words of a manager who seems pissed at the player...

"He's a fantastic talent, great to work with, low maintenance."

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

5 minutes ago, Dennis Reynolds said:

This has context, Silva is clearly better than Aribo I know this.

Bernardo Silva, attacking midfielder has 2 assists and 3 goals for City, some players aren't judged on such measures and are looked at in terms of their overall tactical production - Aribo pretty much plays when fit, given how driven a tactical team we are it seems goals aren't his expected outlet. 

These aren't the words of a manager who seems pissed at the player...

"He's a fantastic talent, great to work with, low maintenance."

What does he offer then?

More specifically against better opposition.

[King Jela 20,456]

Think this is the time Gerrard has to show a bit of ruthlessness. Davis and Arfield should be used as cover next season, same with Jack, as much as I love him, you'll be doing well getting 20 games a season these days. Need 2 first team midfielders signed. A replacement for Davis and a box-to-box midfielder alongside Kamara, if he's still here that is. But what to do with Aribo? You'd imagine the right inside forward position will be between Roofe and Hagi next season with Kent and Wright occupying the other side and he isn't good enough to be a starter in centre mid for us. 

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

4 minutes ago, Jeffrey said:

What does he offer then?

More specifically against better opposition.

What the manager and the coaching team want clearly.... 

He is pretty excellent at possession retention, keeping us up the park, teams pinned and the ball the fuck away from our goal and close the other teams goals quite a lot which is a pretty shit hot talent trait to have. 

We rarely play better opposition these days TBH. 

 

[The Specky Forum Organiser 65,152]

Just now, Dennis Reynolds said:

What the manager and the coaching team want clearly.... 

He is pretty excellent at possession retention, keeping us up the park, teams pinned and the ball the fuck away from our goal and close the other teams goals quite a lot which is a pretty shit hot talent trait to have. 

We rarely play better opposition these days TBH. 

 

I didn't mean better teams than us, I meant better as in the best level of opponents we come up against.

Defnding him with the manager rates him is such a cop out on a discussion forum so I'm just going to leave this here.

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

15 minutes ago, Jeffrey said:

 

I didn't mean better teams than us, I meant better as in the best level of opponents we come up against.

Defnding him with the manager rates him is such a cop out on a discussion forum so I'm just going to leave this here.

To me your first point is pretty much two cheeks of the same arse - it would mean Europe where Aribo has typically been very good - Antwerp for instance, when needed, he did as I have just said, kept the ball, kept the ball the fuck away from them which decreased their chances of scoring goals to knock out us out... that's a fucking great attribute to bring to a football team. 

The second point, I'm using the information I have at my disposal to form an educated view on a player, we have a smart as fuck tactical team who have a want and need from players, if they value that then aye it is something I would use when assessing a player.... they are literally in the process of building a season where they likely won't lose a league game FFS, why wouldn't I take that into consideration.