How do you suggest Ox will be better in midfield?
He certainly doesn't have the skill set or experience!
Sounds a bit like Milner - he can play CM when in reality he can't at the highest level and I suspect neither can Ox.
Sometimes different is better. Our lads are all too similar. Can, Henderson, Gigi, Lucas - They have a very similar skill-set, they all like a tackle, they're all hard-working, they are all half-decent passers of a ball but generally keep it safe, they are all technically solid but none of them really excel in this, none of them can really beat a player (Can does it on the odd occasion), none of them is particularly comfortable carrying the ball (again Can does every now and then) and none of them really score enough goals. Klopp putting Lallana in the middle of the park raised a few eyebrows at the start of the season but it proved a master-stroke because he offered something different ie. he plays on the half-turn and is always looking to play forward, he has very quick feet, great control in tight areas of the pitch, draws a lot of fouls and he moves the ball quickly.
I'm not saying Ox would be as successful but he would/could bring some new skills to our otherwise functional midfield. He's a powerful little player who is tough to knock off the ball, he will carry the ball whenever the opportunity arises and he'll create many of those opportunities himself. We need someone who can offer this threat in a central area to break the lines of the opposition. We're too easy to defend against, we saw it countless times last season. You need players with skill who can beat the first man thus forcing the next man to come and put pressure on the ball, we don't have enough of them, not nearly enough. Having someone in midfield with the skill-set and desire to run at teams and force them out of their shape would do us some good, particularly if we're not going to strengthen up top (and I'm not sure that we are). Also, given that Jürgen likes a total philosophy with players popping up all over the place I am sure Ox would find regularly fund himself in an inside-right or wide-right position at times in games and he is pretty decent crossed of a ball.
As for the Milner comparison it's a valid one but I suspect that Ox can bring a bit more to the position than Milner can because he offers a genuine threat to beat a player.
We're not spending £60 million on this lad everyone is raging about in the other thread. Let's face facts. £25 million for Ox is deffo worth the punt in my eyes.
« Last Edit: Jun 27, 2017 02:26:38 pm by Scottbot »
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