Addicks: We need a true defensive midfielder.

[hartley]

We cannot play with three holding-type midfielders at the same time unless we run a 4-5-1. So, we cannot have Murphy, Holland, and Kishishev all on the field in a 4-4-2. It doesn't work. If even two of them can't get it done, what good are they anyway? Besides, Murphy is much better going forward in attack. He should be in the center at the top of a diamond in a 4-4-2, but he can't go forward enough because he's also got to be a dmid when he shouldn't.

We need a Papa Bouba Diop or a young Roy Keane type to really get stuck in on the defensive end and go forward only when the situation warrants.

I think Curbs wanted that to be El Karkouri and it still could be if we could get some more central defenders.

Thoughts?

[kevruth]

I think the problem is that all of the money was spent on midfield players. He brought in Hughes, Rommedahl and Murphy and only lost Jensen. He finally let Stuart go, but promoted yet another midfielder in Thomas. And on top of that, he's moved Lisbie, JJ and Euell into the midfield as well. All of these people can't play at once. There is even too many players for squad rotation.

Money should have been spent on out-and-out strikers especially those with pace. He also didn't do anything about central defense continuing to rely on Mark Fish and Jonathon Fortune. El Karkouri was a decent move, but he started him as defensive midfielder, too.

In a nutshell, we've just got way too many midfielders and not enough strikers or defenders.

[RobtheAggie]

In a nutshell, we've just got way too many midfielders and not enough strikers or defenders.

Agreed

[hartley]

In a nutshell, we've just got way too many midfielders and not enough strikers or defenders.

So, who should we get, go after?

[kevruth]

So, who should we get, go after?

A lot depends upon who they sell and how much they get. I'm sure we'll do just like we did last summer: sign a bunch of cheap players instead of a few expensive names.

I haven't got anybody in mind simply because of the nit-picking on the overall price. We are not going to get good players in the fashion we did when we got Danny Murphy or Matt Holland where others wanted to pay more than we did but the player didn't want to go there. As Murphy has shown we really haven't profited from his cut-rate fee (Holland is a slightly different story).