Losing Sterling and Diomande from midfield

bluereason

bluereason

Well-Known Member
With Sterling being taken from midfield to fill in at left back (which he doesn’t look comfortable) and Diomande out with the hand injury all our midfield rhythm and synergy has gone. It doesn’t explain the rest of the team’s lack of desire and effort but when both of them are in the midfield we look a much more dangerous proposition. How far away is Yilmaz?
 
Personally I’ve not seen enough of Diomande to think he is our saviour and a strapped up thumb keeping a player out is baffling, is he hiding?
Sima had a great start to season and was predominantly playing on the left but is out right to accommodate Silva who offers nowt. Can’t think of many games where shoe horning Silva onto the pitch has worked for us.
Sterling would make a massive difference to midfield as long as the back 4 stay where they are. At one point last night Lawerence and Lundstrum were sitting at the back while Tav and Souttar were away for a jog.
I think the midfield will look after itself if the defence actually defended.
 
SATM33k said:
The other option was having that shitebag Barasic back in at LB, yesterday was hard enough without the thought of Borna shaking like a shitting dog.
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I'm no fan of Borna, but I'd still rather that and have Sterling in midfield.

Midfield is far more in need of Sterling and his attributes in there. It's a more important area of the team.

Poor management from Clement again.
 
The warning signs were there even with Diomande in midfield.

I don’t even think the issue with the midfield is the personnel, it’s a structural issue.

If you look at the positions of our entire team when we lose the ball it’s frightening. Only a couple of months ago this was our main strength and now it’s our biggest weakness.

Step one in improving has to be to control games a lot better. Deny teams prolonged possession of the ball even if it sacrifices creative output in the short term.
 
Not one player in our squad is a dirty, nasty, aggressive piece of work. Diomande might be that guy but he started well and faded at the same time the team has.
With aggression comes desire to win and we need to find some of these going forward.
I woke up today hating that team of losers and seriously concerned about Clement.
 
FrazzGers said:
I was in favour of having Sterling at LB because I can’t stomach the sight of Borna bottling it time and time again. But in hindsight, you’re better having a strong midfield with legs and drive in there as opposed to at LB.
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I really don’t get this, forget Borna he’s done, we must have a left footed player who can fill in at LB rather than Sterling who is utter gash at LB.
Take your pick from Fraser, Davies even play Dowell there rather than upset the whole balance of the team.
 
Kinghornloyal said:
Diomande hadn't shown he is the answer yet
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Bit unfair on diomande. Hes an intelligent player who gets about the pitch well. Full of energy. Has also weighed in with a couple of goals and only been with the club a few months. Will be a good player for us. However for the life of me cant see why a thumb injury is keeping him out the team at a crucial stage
 
Jingle64 said:
Bit unfair on diomande. Hes an intelligent player who gets about the pitch well. Full of energy. Has also weighed in with a couple of goals and only been with the club a few months. Will be a good player for us. However for the life of me cant see why a thumb injury is keeping him out the team at a crucial stage
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That's why I said yet. Too early to judge either way mate. He hasn't come in and radically changed anything yet
 
Wavy Davy said:
Personally I’ve not seen enough of Diomande to think he is our saviour and a strapped up thumb keeping a player out is baffling, is he hiding?
Sima had a great start to season and was predominantly playing on the left but is out right to accommodate Silva who offers nowt. Can’t think of many games where shoe horning Silva onto the pitch has worked for us.
Sterling would make a massive difference to midfield as long as the back 4 stay where they are. At one point last night Lawerence and Lundstrum were sitting at the back while Tav and Souttar were away for a jog.
I think the midfield will look after itself if the defence actually defended.
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Silva has looked good in 1 and half games that I can think of. Benfica away and aberdeen at home. Other than that offering next to nothing.
 
Cooper's left peg said:
Clement choosing not to put Sterling in midfield is another example of his bizarre management.

It's an absolute joke.
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Its the one I'd have said was more obvious with Yfeko at LB - for the obvious reason that Barisic has a contract elsewhere and can't remain professional enough to do what he's paid for.
 
Kaiser said:
Its the one I'd have said was more obvious with Yfeko at LB - for the obvious reason that Barisic has a contract elsewhere and can't remain professional enough to do what he's paid for.
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We actually played Ben Davies at LB in one game, the reason I remember this is because he took a couple of corners.:confused:
 
Losing Ridvan from left back and Sterling from the middle has hampered us massively, it isn't the sum of all the issues of course.

Clement is better playing Yfeko or Davies there and having Sterling in midfield.
 
Raskin has not shown any form of lately but I would have been tempted to start with him as it is we are staring down the barrel of a semi final defeat against a good Hearts team.
 
Before our home game with THEM, after watching how porous we were against Motherwell, i wanted us to change the system, and go to a midfield 4 with two up front.

It would make our midfield much more secure as a unit i think.

Phil doesn't seem willing to adapt his tactics, which is a worry.
 
Midfield desperately needs some energy and drive in there.

Watching Lundstram so deep between the CB’s is horrendous. We’re far too pedestrian.
 
EK1422 said:
The warning signs were there even with Diomande in midfield.

I don’t even think the issue with the midfield is the personnel, it’s a structural issue.

If you look at the positions of our entire team when we lose the ball it’s frightening. Only a couple of months ago this was our main strength and now it’s our biggest weakness.

Step one in improving has to be to control games a lot better. Deny teams prolonged possession of the ball even if it sacrifices creative output in the short term.
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Totally agree, however another problem last night was our lack of creativity when it was us having the prolonged periods of possession. It was like they didn’t know what to do next, infuriating.
 
I can’t think it would’ve made much difference.

Deeper issues at play here than one or two personnel.
 
Grigo Yossarian said:
Before our home game with THEM, after watching how porous we were against Motherwell, i wanted us to change the system, and go to a midfield 4 with two up front.

It would make our midfield much more secure as a unit i think.

Phil doesn't seem willing to adapt his tactics, which is a worry.
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I keep being told that we don’t need 2 holding mids in Scotland, our last really solid, functioning midfield had 3, Jack, Kamara and Davis.
How Clement thinks a midfield of Lundstram, Cantwell and Lawrence will work sends out major red flags.
 
I’m a huge fan of Sterling but let’s be honest he is raw as %^*& and all the energy and power in the world doesn’t hide the fact that he is too far from the finished article to be the saviour of our midfield. I love the guy and think he and Butland are the only two who give me some hope but on his own he cannot compensate for the general uselessness and shitebaggery of Lundstram, Dowell and Lawrence. As for, Dessers, words fail me.

We need a play maker, somebody who can pull the strings and Sterling can slot in beside him.

I’ll finish on will someone please tell the manager that Sterling is not a left back and playing him there is fucking stupid.

Rant over.
 
Los Pollos Hermanos said:
I really don’t get this, forget Borna he’s done, we must have a left footed player who can fill in at LB rather than Sterling who is utter gash at LB.
Take your pick from Fraser, Davies even play Dowell there rather than upset the whole balance of the team.
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You don’t get that I’d rather have Sterling in there than Borna? Clement has a choice between starting an utter liability in Borna at left back but strengthening the midfield. Or strengthening us at LB but leaving Lundstram in there to plod about on his own. Like I said, in hindsight, we’re better with Sterling in the middle at the expense of a decent LB.

Sterling is not “utter gash” at Left Back. He’s competent there and rarely anyone gets by him. Unfortunately due to him being right footed it hampers him going forward but he’s still willing to get up and down the park.

You know we’re struggling in that position when we’re suggesting invisible men like Davies, Dowell who’s absolutely anonymous in his favoured position or a youth player who’s not started in anger for the first team yet. The Yilmaz injury has totally fucked us.
 
EK1422 said:
The warning signs were there even with Diomande in midfield.

I don’t even think the issue with the midfield is the personnel, it’s a structural issue.

If you look at the positions of our entire team when we lose the ball it’s frightening. Only a couple of months ago this was our main strength and now it’s our biggest weakness.

Step one in improving has to be to control games a lot better. Deny teams prolonged possession of the ball even if it sacrifices creative output in the short term.
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Totally agree, but I do think that more defence minded players than Dowell and Lawrence would help. The space Ross County had in our half was something I don't know if I’ve seen before from Rangers. Really incredible stuff. And the worst part is that it was exposed after 40 seconds, but continued for another 90 minutes.
 
SATM33k said:
Totally agree, however another problem last night was our lack of creativity when it was us having the prolonged periods of possession. It was like they didn’t know what to do next, infuriating.
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Agree with this.

Winning the ball back in the oppositions half more often is imperative to us finding space and not having to always break down 10 men behind the ball.

Our press has become woefully disjointed lately.
 
It’s a fcking shambles that folk are pinning their hopes on Sterling being the saviour of our midfield. He’s just an athletic right back really.

Answer this truthfully- would he get in Celtics midfield?

Not a chance. And that’s why we are second best. They have better players in every single position bar goalkeeper.
 
I don't get the raving over Diomande. So far he's been OK. Good in some games, not so in others. He might be really good and make us a lot of money down the line but it's too early to say at this stage. I think people just want him to be the answer, which is understandable as there's an element of desperation coming through now. The thing with the thumb though is bizarre. In all my years I have never heard of a player missing a match due to a thumb injury/operation.
 
I’m starting to realise that our recruitment isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be. We do bring in talented players however we very rarely go on to make them better players. There obvious failures in there but every club has them.

The signing of Raskin, Matondo, Diomande etc were coups at the time. I’m not absolving them of blame for their poor form.

But at what point do you say the bigger issue is the players clearly not being in an environment that is conducive to success, be it through poor coaching, lack of a sustained run in their preferred position or whatever.
 
FrazzGers said:
I was in favour of having Sterling at LB because I can’t stomach the sight of Borna bottling it time and time again. But in hindsight, you’re better having a strong midfield with legs and drive in there as opposed to at LB.
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Absolutely -- as said before, what we did by shunting Sterling into the LB spot was to shore up a defence against feffing Dundee !!
Rather than play him in his best position and give THEM something to worry about.

It rather smacks of a fear that imo we really shouldn't have against a team like that.
 
Barry Slimfit said:
It’s a fcking shambles that folk are pinning their hopes on Sterling being the saviour of our midfield. He’s just an athletic right back really.

Answer this truthfully- would he get in Celtics midfield?

Not a chance. And that’s why we are second best. They have better players in every single position bar goalkeeper.
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Brutally honest - but honest.
 
Wavy Davy said:
Personally I’ve not seen enough of Diomande to think he is our saviour and a strapped up thumb keeping a player out is baffling, is he hiding?
Sima had a great start to season and was predominantly playing on the left but is out right to accommodate Silva who offers nowt. Can’t think of many games where shoe horning Silva onto the pitch has worked for us.
Sterling would make a massive difference to midfield as long as the back 4 stay where they are. At one point last night Lawerence and Lundstrum were sitting at the back while Tav and Souttar were away for a jog.
I think the midfield will look after itself if the defence actually defended.
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Sima isn't playing out left to accommodate Silva. He's playing on the right bc we don't have anyone else to play there.

As for Diomande, he's clearly the most natural technically gifted central midfielder we have. Whether or not he's a saviour I'm not sure. Imv, we are missing him badly. He gets about the pitch in a way our other midfielders don't and is comfortable in all phases of play.
 
A more glaring issue for me is that Raskin is now fit but not trusted or fancied to play or even come on as a sub.

Does he have a part to play next season or is he added to the growing list of players that aren't good enough and should be sold?
 
I think there's a couple of things
  • Lundstram is injured, or knackered or has stopped trying 100% because it's became clear he's not going to be here next season. He's not doing the same amount of running or playing with the same aggression as he was at the start of Clement's run.
  • We miss Dio or Sterling next to him in the midfield, Lawrence has a bit of dig, but he doesn't cover a lot of ground pressing or tracking. Dowell... who knows, he's not going to be match fit, but he doesn't look the kind of player we need in there. Teams can keep a hold of the ball a lot easier against us than they could two months ago.
  • Sterling playing LB with a right footed winger cutting inside in front of him isn't working. Makes us too narrow and predictable - but we don't have any left footed wingers
  • We are not creating high quality chances, if I think about the goals we've scored recently it's deflections, penalties, screamers (which are anomalies in the context of creating chances) - when we do create a decent chance, it inevitably falls to Dessers.
 
A lot of good counter arguments on both Sterling and Diomande not being the polished player we require but based on the pool we have to pick from at the moment they have to be in our starting 11 played in their correct positions. Based on the form from a matter of weeks ago where almost everything was going well, (some can deny it) but there was a lot of positivity especially around these two players ability potential and how much more fluid we looked middle to front. The past 2 games we have looked disjointed, in disarray at times and toothless up front but the most glaring thing for me was the lack of creativity or different ideas when we got near the final third. Lost count on how many aimless high balls were played in that were dealt with easily and it felt like we were missing out the midfield. Even Souttar was charging forward with the ball to almost their 18 yard box at times as the ball just kept coming back at him when he played it into midfield.
 
Gazzaflag said:
Losing Ridvan from left back and Sterling from the middle has hampered us massively, it isn't the sum of all the issues of course.

Clement is better playing Yfeko or Davies there and having Sterling in midfield.
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Ridvan worries me, he is injured a LOT. Barisic is only one of a very long list of players who have downed tools at the end of their contract. I am more concerned that we have paid a lot of money for his replacement to sit in the stand.
 
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Was a thread (now locked) started before the game by @Flying Dutchman on Sterling being used in midfield. Hindsight is one thing but there are obvious issues we can see coming even before KO.

Sterling always in midfield

Find of the season, even if it was by chance was when Sterling was put into midfield. He should be the 1st name in midfield on the team sheet, it's by far his best position. If Davies is fit to be on the bench then he should be starting at LB tonight and Sterling in midfield in place of...
www.followfollow.com www.followfollow.com
 
bluereason said:
With Sterling being taken from midfield to fill in at left back (which he doesn’t look comfortable) and Diomande out with the hand injury all our midfield rhythm and synergy has gone. It doesn’t explain the rest of the team’s lack of desire and effort but when both of them are in the midfield we look a much more dangerous proposition. How far away is Yilmaz?
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I don’t understand why we have Sterling at left back. By doing that we have two weak positions not one.
 
ao2 said:
I don't get the raving over Diomande. So far he's been OK. Good in some games, not so in others. He might be really good and make us a lot of money down the line but it's too early to say at this stage. I think people just want him to be the answer, which is understandable as there's an element of desperation coming through now. The thing with the thumb though is bizarre. In all my years I have never heard of a player missing a match due to a thumb injury/operation.
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It's not bizzare, he's had surgery on it so he possibly has supporting pins exposed so he wouldn't be allowed to play for various reasons.
 
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