Transfer Window - COMPLETE. Where’s Gregg?

[rovers11]

It does seem a little surprising we'd make a big investment, by our standards, in a player who plays in the same position as Dack. I know Szmodics can play across many positions but it sounds like he's best in the hole. 

That to me suggests there are big doubts about Dack's fitness and ability to play a pressing game. For me, Dack is still our most naturally gifted player who has a huge role to play. 

 

[Trinidad Rover]

Morton looks an exciting prospect and clearly rated by Liverpool. Hope he can bring some quality.

Szmodics leaves me very underwhelmed, especially for the rumored fee. I was at Peterborough away last year and he didn't stand out, bar running around a lot. I feel we could have used that money more wisely.

Hope to be proven wrong!

[tomphil]

JDT wants a hardworking team that defends from the front and hopefully creates openings through that sheer graft.

We've been through this before you cannot football your way out of this league with average players.  The only way is add quality which we can't afford or you come up with a different system to make best use of what you can get.  

That's where we are and it looks like we now have a coach and set up who realise it, you want intensity you have to bring in those players.

[Exiled_Rover]

26 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Hardly glowing.

"Surprised by the transfer"

Also

"He's a great presser, he's a nuisance, he will harass defenders, he's good at linking up play - started the move for our 3rd goal at the weekend. He's a nice player to have at #10".

Very strange interview, that. 

[roversfan99]

There is a lot of talk about a "fluid front 4" but equally it shouldn't be forgotten that players in general tend to thrive in a specific position more often than not for a reason. Indeed when Mowbray mentioned players being versatile he was often lambasted.

By all means I can understand encouraging players to roam from their positions at times but looking at the players we have at the moment, who prefers to play where? Brereton is best suited to the left, Dack undoubtedly as a number 10, Hedges and Markanday seemingly from the right, Gallagher central (albeit not to the standard that people have made out) as well as Vale. Szmodics seemingly also central with the most flexible being Dolan, but then again, is that because he has never consistently excelled in a specific position?

I am not too keen on the idea of moving players around constantly to the point when too much fluidity leads to inconsistency. Peterborough fans seem to be consistent in the idea that Szmodics is best centrally, we only really have Dack there so in a way I hope he has to find a role elsewhere as it would mean that Dack is back firing, but it does seem a lot of money for a player in that position.

I felt that on Saturday, Brereton was the only one of the front 4 to be effective and from his natural role. Vale struggled in general, Gallagher again looked lost out wide for all the talk of it being different him playing there under Tomasson and Hedges got crowded out too often starting central rather than coming in from the right where would be more space.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

We play a formation that includes a player in his natural position, rather than trying to stick him elsewhere, surely he plays in his actual position?

Get where you're coming from but it seems to me there's an emphasis on tenacity, speed & winning the ball back in those midfield/attacking midfield areas. I think if the assumption is that Dack can't do that as effectively as a Szmodics, Hedges, Buckley etc.. then the one place he can play effectively is at 9.

[roversfan99]

Just now, JoeH said:

Get where you're coming from but it seems to me there's an emphasis on tenacity, speed & winning the ball back in those midfield/attacking midfield areas. I think if the assumption is that Dack can't do that as effectively as a Szmodics, Hedges, Buckley etc.. then the one place he can play effectively is at 9.

Is there that emphasis specific to the attacking midfield role? And Buckley has been moved out from that pressing role to further back so that doesn't tally up.

Surely the striker would be the first man to press?

When Dack has been used as a number 9 fleetingly in the past, it didn't suit him.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

Surely the striker would be the first man to press?

 

I think it's recovery and regroup rather than forward pressing. I think if you watch the midfield 5 from Saturday, you can see the emphasis on recovery. I'm just guessing that they potentially see Dack as not being great with that.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

When Dack has been used as a number 9 fleetingly in the past, it didn't suit him.

Look at the Lincoln game. Get him in the box, get balls in there, he'd be absolutely fine in that front 4, so long as he's protected in terms of what they need recovery running wise. Get a feeling he just won't start, which is JDT prerogative obviously, but not too sure where that leaves us in terms of how much we're paying him!

[Exiled_Rover]

1 minute ago, JoeH said:

I think it's recovery and regroup rather than forward pressing. I think if you watch the midfield 5 from Saturday, you can see the emphasis on recovery. I'm just guessing that they potentially see Dack as not being great with that.

Every time we've seen Dack since his second ACL injury he's been blowing out of his arse after 5 minutes.

He can't press with the rest of the front 4 for 90 minutes. He has a role as an impact sub, but I wouldn't be shocked if they're trying to move him on. 

[Mike E]

1 hour ago, Bennisfromheaven said:

.

We are definitely light but miracles don't happen over night, patience may pay off!

Miracles, by definition, happen pretty quickly 🙂

[rigger]

I think, because of a combination of JDT's favoured tactic, and Dacks return from injury. Dacks position this season will be on the bench, or at a different club. I hope I am wrong.

[roversfan99]

6 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Look at the Lincoln game. Get him in the box, get balls in there, he'd be absolutely fine in that front 4, so long as he's protected in terms of what they need recovery running wise. Get a feeling he just won't start, which is JDT prerogative obviously, but not too sure where that leaves us in terms of how much we're paying him!

Not even about his wage, it is about him being quite clearly (and by a million miles when Brereton goes) our best chance of a goal and our best player in his actual position.

Before his injuries, athletically he was fine, obviously the question mark is regarding his recovery but he will never return to form just playing occasional cameos. It might not be necessarily his main strength but his actual main strength makes him a critical player yet it is almost as if hes a 50 year old 20 stone veteran! We have 5 subs now too so even if it means often taking him off after 60-70 minutes of playing in his natural position, fine.

I think there seems to have been a massive reaction following him not coming on at the weekend, perhaps an overreaction.

[Galgaterover10]

3 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Every time we've seen Dack since his second ACL injury he's been blowing out of his arse after 5 minutes.

He can't press with the rest of the front 4 for 90 minutes. He has a role as an impact sub, but I wouldn't be shocked if they're trying to move him on. 

I think this is the difficulty with the opinions of Dack, pre knee injuries he’s the first name on the team sheet for me. Last season when he played he was 10 yards off the pace and running in treacle. I don’t want him to leave and would give him a chance this season first up but it doesn’t appear the club are thinking along those lines.

[Erased Citizen]

Listened to a podcast recently and they were talking about how Lewandowski will fit in at Barca given his age and the pressing game Barca want to play. In essence they suggested that a less mobile guy up front can still be useful in a pressing system by just ushering play into an area where other, more mobile players can press the ball. It's an interesting idea and could be a way to get Dack in the team. Past experiments with Dack up front haven't set the world alight though which could be a stumbling block

[Tricky]

2 minutes ago, Galgaterover10 said:

15 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Every time we've seen Dack since his second ACL injury he's been blowing out of his arse after 5 minutes.

He can't press with the rest of the front 4 for 90 minutes. He has a role as an impact sub, but I wouldn't be shocked if they're trying to move him on. 

I think this is the difficulty with the opinions of Dack, pre knee injuries he’s the first name on the team sheet for me. Last season when he played he was 10 yards off the pace and running in treacle. I don’t want him to leave and would give him a chance this season first up but it doesn’t appear the club are thinking along those lines.

other than ITV and E4, who will take him? may as well keep as an impact sub

[roversfan99]

5 minutes ago, Galgaterover10 said:

I think this is the difficulty with the opinions of Dack, pre knee injuries he’s the first name on the team sheet for me. Last season when he played he was 10 yards off the pace and running in treacle. I don’t want him to leave and would give him a chance this season first up but it doesn’t appear the club are thinking along those lines.

Last season he didn't start a single game, any player who had not started for such a long period of time would have appeared as rusty as he did.

I am not sure why people seem so convinced that the club is actively planning to discard him. Is this based on the first game in which we knew in advance (a decision I disagreed with) that he wasn't being considered to start due to his lack of pre-season action, and then that he didn't come on in a game that we led in?

[roversfan99]

https://londonroad.net/Forum/showthread.php?tid=21067&page=4

Some opinions on Szmodics.

[Exiled in Toronto]

23 minutes ago, rigger said:

I think, because of a combination of JDT's favoured tactic, and Dacks return from injury. Dacks position this season will be on the bench, or at a different club. I hope I am wrong.

I just hope that we have a manager who has a clear plan on how to play, imposes it ruthlessly, sticks to it irrespective of any disgruntlement from players he will never have heard of until two months ago, and brings in players who fit the plan better than what we already have. It’s not one player who will get us up, it’s a manager who knows what he is doing.

[Angry_Pirate]

Able to play #9: Vale, Dack, Gallagher, Brereton, (Dolan?)

Able to play #10: Dolan, Dack, Szmodics, Hedges, Buckley, 

Able to play wide: Gallagher, Brereton, Hedges, Dolan, Markanday, Szmodics, Vale

 

That's a lot of fluidity in those front 4 positions, with around 5 players able to play anywhere.

If I made the list saying "proven to play" and not "able to play", dare I say I'd say the #9 is clearly the biggest stretch, as for me I'd only count Vale and Gallagher as actual proven #9's.

Not short of options. But is the quality there IF Brereton leaves?

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

12 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

https://londonroad.net/Forum/showthread.php?tid=21067&page=4

Some opinions on Szmodics.

Even those that rate him - question he is good enough for the Championship. Anyway - lets give him chance to prove himself. Maybe the plan is for him to run around for 60 minutes, tire out the defence and then Dack to come on and score a hat trick 😃

[roversfan99]

We don't want players who are able to play in positions, we surely want ones who thrive in certain positions that best suit their abilities. Any talk of square pegs in round holes seems to have gone the other way to the point whereby anyone goes anywhere!

[Blackburn Ravers]

[Tormund]

3 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

Even those that rate him - question he is good enough for the Championship. Anyway - lets give him chance to prove himself. Maybe the plan is for him to run around for 60 minutes, tire out the defence and then Dack to come on and score a hat trick 😃

Yeah be interesting to see how he will cope, to be fair he was playing in a poor team so hopefully he will suit being in a superior team.

[phili]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

We don't want players who are able to play in positions, we surely want ones who thrive in certain positions that best suit their abilities. Any talk of square pegs in round holes seems to have gone the other way to the point whereby anyone goes anywhere!

The players mentioned will have their positions for the majority of the time and be able to interchange during a match creating a more fluid attacking threat.