Do we really need a true DM?

There are several rumors linking us to several DMs each week: Diarra, M'Villa etc
However I think that we don't need one(I may be wrong). Why?
Lucas and Spearing are not real DMs but they are both making wonderful things for us; Lucas is EPL's best tackler and Spearing is proving that he's worth of being in the squad.
If we were to buy a central midfielder it should be a box-to-box CM in the Nuri Sahin or Pizarro mould. A CM who can tackle decently and distribute good passes(THE killer passes).

Having a player like Diarra, or Mascherano might TODAY affect our beautiful pass+move game. The best example is POULSEN. He is not good enough(or is no more) but he's a true DM. I think that at the moment we play better than any other team in EPL.

I just want to share this opinion and know yours.
YNWA!

There are several rumors linking us to several DMs each week: Diarra, M'Villa etc
However I think that we don't need one(I may be wrong). Why?
Lucas and Spearing are not real DMs but they are both making wonderful things for us; Lucas is EPL's best tackler and Spearing is proving that he's worth of being in the squad.
If we were to buy a central midfielder it should be a box-to-box CM in the Nuri Sahin or Pizarro mould. A CM who can tackle decently and distribute good passes(THE killer passes).

Having a player like Diarra, or Mascherano might TODAY affect our beautiful pass+move game. The best example is POULSEN. He is not good enough(or is no more) but he's a true DM. I think that at the moment we play better than any other team in EPL.

I just want to share this opinion and know yours.
YNWA!

Well fortunately there are plenty of DM's who have a first touch and can pass, so no, buying a DM wouldn't ruin our pass and move system.

Whether we need one considering Lucas and Spearing's improvements this year? Another debate, but I do think we need another defensive minded midfielder in our squad.

I'm not sure where this stat about Lucas being the Premierships 'best' tackler has come from? I saw some stats saying that he'd attempted the most tackles, but I'd like to see the percentage of those that were successful, because despite his other talents, I still don't think Lucas has a very good timing in the tackle.

I saw this on another forum:


"Of the top 5 tacklers by number of tackles attempted:

Vaughan (Blackpool) 93 successful tackles
Parker (West Ham) 89 successful tackles
Lucas (Liverpool) 88 successful tackles
Holden (Bolton) 81 successful tackles
Murphy (Fulham) 77 successful tackles"

I saw this on another forum:


"Of the top 5 tacklers by number of tackles attempted:

Vaughan (Blackpool) 93 successful tackles
Parker (West Ham) 89 successful tackles
Lucas (Liverpool) 88 successful tackles
Holden (Bolton) 81 successful tackles
Murphy (Fulham) 77 successful tackles"

Not that I go by any of this, but he has been rated as the top tackler in the premiership by those Opta Index Stats.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_2705370,00.html

Not that I go by any of this, but he has been rated as the top tackler in the premiership by those Opta Index Stats.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_2705370,00.html

Whats the story with that 1st half pl table and second half pl table? Is it implying that we did better under Woy??

I think the addition of a new CDM would be down the list of players we need to buy when you look at the current squad we have now and what need to be brought in to make this club stronger. New CDM wouldn't be a bad choice to replace Poulson but who knows what kind of funds will be left after buying players to fill in at LM, LB, and CB

Lucas is our proper defensive/holding midfielder. That's his game.

We do need to bring in a strong DM though. We've not much cover there.

Whats the story with that 1st half pl table and second half pl table? Is it implying that we did better under Woy??

It's first half of matches, not first half of the season.

Not that I go by any of this, but he has been rated as the top tackler in the premiership by those Opta Index Stats.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_2705370,00.html

That's all attempted tackles with successful tackles as a percentage. The the other is just the number of successful tackles

Whats the story with that 1st half pl table and second half pl table? Is it implying that we did better under Woy??

That'd fit with the Sky Sports narrative I suppose, but it means first half of games and second half of games actually.

As in how the table would look if we only played the first or second halves.

In answer to the question no we don't need one. Why? Because they don't exist. They are central midfielders who don't do what a central midfielder should.

Lucas and Spearing on the other hand during this little run they've played together are doing what a central midfielder should. They are influencing the game in both halves. 20 goals we've scored during the last seven games that Lucas and Jay have been in the middle together. At the same time, we've conceded only five - three of which were penalties and none of which have come at Anfield.

Lucas and Jay have done enough in the past seven games to say to me they should be partnered together for the start of next year. Even if we don't score against Spurs or Villa, with those two in the middle we'll still be averaging more than two goals a game.

Central midfielder is the least of our worries right now.

Scotty Parker would do for me. BTW.

In answer to the question no we don't need one. Why? Because they don't exist. They are central midfielders who don't do what a central midfielder should.

Lucas and Spearing on the other hand during this little run they've played together are doing what a central midfielder should. They are influencing the game in both halves. 20 goals we've scored during the last seven games that Lucas and Jay have been in the middle together. At the same time, we've conceded only five - three of which were penalties and none of which have come at Anfield.

Lucas and Jay have done enough in the past seven games to say to me they should be partnered together for the start of next year. Even if we don't score against Spurs or Villa, with those two in the middle we'll still be averaging more than two goals a game.

Central midfielder is the least of our worries right now.

I'm not going to debate whether Spearing should start next year because I don't think he's world class but form wise yes I would start him. Even so, who do you suggest cover Spearing or Lucas if either were to get injured?

we've conceded only five - three of which were penalties and none of which have come at Anfield.

Fortress Anfield back anyone?

No, we dont need a defensive midfielder, if we DID need it for any reason, then, IMO Lucas and Jay can do the job.

Luis Suarez is a major reason for our recent goal scoring form. He should probably start next season too.

The role Lucas is playing so well for us is DM, more so than Spearing. He's a ball winner and tidy on it. He'll rarely play a ball into the box, won't be in the goals & assists in this role.

I just dont get why people are so obsessed with the word DM  , as i have said on numerous occasions to play a player solely in one role is so fcking negative ,of course we want them to be able to defend when they have to , but we want them starting attacks and driving the play not just sitting there doing fck all else ,.

I am a believer of a defensive midfielder. I like a defensive midfielder simply because it can gives the other players a freedom to attack and also gives the full backs the chance to push forward every chance possible while having some cover for the center half's.

I have noticed that a defensive midfielder doesn't work well in a 442 but it does in a 433 or a 4231.

Also I have a question, name me a trophy winning big team of the last few years who doesn't use a defensive midfielder.

Real Madrid
Barcelona
United
Chelsea
Inter
AC Milan
Bayern

They are arguable the best sides in Europe of the last few years (didn't include us). All those teams have 1 or 2 defensive midfielders  When we came 2nd, we had 2 defensive midfielders, they were vital to our team.

If you look at a team like Arsenal, if they have had a defensive midfielder like Masherano or Tioté (who I think is a terrific player) then they would probably have won the title.

Defensive midfielders are the guys who don't seem to do much but you don't notice how important they are until you get rid of him.

Unfortunately, we live in a world of specialists, rather than the all rounders we used to see, especially in the centre, with the advent of different formations and tactics.

We are doing OK right now, but when we get back into the champions league, a DM is a must - but one who can provide the link between defense and midfield, and occasionally get forwards.

In answer to the original question Lucas is a DM.

The problem he had was last season when with him and Mascherano, for some bizarre reason, everyone expected Lucas to fill Alonso's boots and Mascherano to offer nothing going forward and just do the crunching.

With Mascherano gone, Lucas has more than filled his boots - all with less yellow and red cards to boot.

The only shame was that we sold Mascherano for £30M under the old thieves.  If not, you would have had a decent signing last summer as an attacking midfielder or winger. Or even a striker.

I don't think we need another DM - Lucas and Spearing are both more than capable of holding and alternating that role/covering for injury etc.

Unfortunately, we live in a world of specialists, rather than the all rounders we used to see, especially in the centre, with the advent of different formations and tactics.

That is true but there are DM who are more than  just ball winners. Scott Parker for example has 7 goals for West Ham this season.

I also think that a DM can help the team in the attacking side of the game as if one player sits in midfield it allows both FB to move forward and gives you much more attacking options. Sometimes the inclusion of a DM can actually make a side more attacking, rather than defensive as long as the right players and system are used.

It may be classed as a specialist position but I think having one defensively minded midfielder in the squad will benefit us next season.

I think it depends on our formation. I believe Spearing and Lucas can do the job if we were to use only 1 DM position in our formation. But if we use a 4-2-3-1 with 2 DM.

        Gerrard (Meireles)        Lucas (Spearing)

RW               CF              LW
               ST

If we used that set I would say we are fine, with Suarez taking the CF role and Carroll in the ST role. Getting 2 new wingers or using Kuyt on the right. This is how I would prefer it IMO with getting 2 new starting wingers. I think we are fine at the DM position unless Gerrard and Meireles will play in more of the CAM role.

I'm not going to debate whether Spearing should start next year because I don't think he's world class but form wise yes I would start him. Even so, who do you suggest cover Spearing or Lucas if either were to get injured?

Cover for Spearing or Lucas if either get injured? Simple, Gerrard or Meireles and if he's brought back Aquilani. Three central midfielders who can fill in, though all three will be played further up the field when Lucas and Jay are both available. And still have Conor Coady to push through and possibly Suso.

If not, we can change our style to the 4-4-2 as opposed to the 4-3-3 I expect us to play next year with Suarez and Kuyt either side of Carroll making it more a 4-5-1 when we don't have the ball.

Ideally for me next year it would be a case of Lucas, Jay and Stevie in the middle. For me, we then have three natural central midfielders. All of whom will sit when needed, those who say Stevie can't do it should go and watch countless England games where he had to be disciplined to let Lampard have the freedom due to the fat b***ard not being able to defend unlike Stevie. So all three would sit when needed and all three would get forward when needed - obviously not all at the same time.

Then, we'd have the balance. We'd have three pretty decent all round central midfielders then. I'd still imagine Lucas to do the majority of the holding while Stevie bombs on the most and Jay covers every blade of grass like he has done these past few weeks. But I still think Stevie would hold while Lucas bombs on occasionally. It'd certainly make a change from having two players in the middle of the park not move from the centre circle.

rather than the all rounders we used to see, especially in the centre,

Souness & Tommy Smith breaking bones every week

dunlop liddell shankly, Lucas and Stevie in a more reserved CM role seemed to work well in wins against Chelsea away, restricting them to a single shot, and United.