Morsy

[hallamblue]

Whilst standing there last night watching Man City dismantle us with consummate ease all over the pitch, a fact that strangely didn't make me angry, upset, or suicidal. I just accepted that we were in the presence of truly world class players in the maroon shirts of Man City, and sometimes you just have to watch, and admire at the monumental step up from our players you are witnessing.

Having said that, i once again pondered us attacking deficiencies and returned yet again to our midfield. There is no link between our defence and our forwards (which for most of last night were absent as an entity). Morsy is our adored king of the team and revered captain. Last night he was back in the side and as usual just about every Ipswich went through him at some point. But here's the conundrum. We heavily rely on Morsy, yet watching him beaver away last night, I felt maybe, just maybe hus time has now come.

He demands the ball, and usually sets us in motion from defence to attack, with his aggressive running, tackling and 360degree turns to shake off opponents. You can't fault his efforts. But I feel he's now also the problem. Now one else takes responsibility in the team.

Morsy seems to need at least 3-4 touches of the ball, turning circles to shake off opponents, before the ball moves forward. Meanwhile the rest of his team mates watch. It's slow, ponderous, and predictable. Stop Morsy, you stop Ipswich has an increasing ring to it.

I feel the biggest signing yet to come , and it needs to happen this summer, is Morsys replacement.


What do others feel?

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Personally, Liz, I think we need to completely refresh our midfield with the exception of Cajuste.
I hear you regarding the lack of creation and the ponderous build-up. But can we afford to bring in another 4 or 5 midfielders, even if we could offload 4 or 5 that really need to be offloaded? I'm not so sure.

[Ricco]

Personally, Liz, I think we need to completely refresh our midfield with the exception of Cajuste.
I hear you regarding the lack of creation and the ponderous build-up. But can we afford to bring in another 4 or 5 midfielders, even if we could offload 4 or 5 that really need to be offloaded? I'm not so sure.

Just wondering if you could define the midfield you're talking about Rossi, because arguably we only have two players in midfield. Are you including our wide forwards in that, maybe the 10 if we play it or our wing backs?

It's a really tricky one with Morsy, you're probably right with us being over reliant on him Hallam, but I think with wing backs in our new structure, it will improve, because there are more channels open without our forwards having to drop as much to collect. It's probably not a fair game to analyse. It's tricky because every system has it's drawbacks and as has been pointed out a few times in the match thread, we simply don't have the quality of many teams in the division, nor the resources or time to rectify that in this window.

[Bluemike]

I think it goes beyond the Midfield tbh, we have a left back who can't defend, we shuffle Right Backs like a pack of cards, Two average at best goalkeepers, only One out and out striker on the pitch at any one time, attacking wide players who do tend to run up blind alleys and who often forget the art of passing.

Regarding Morsy, the guy next to me summed it up perfectly when he said Morsy is a pivotal part of the team but like Delap is shot by 70 mins and needs replacing, the difference from Delap is that he's never taken off and is expected to play 100 minutes every game, that decision is down to KM.

It could well be Sam is nearing the end of his time with us but as it stands none of Taylor, Phillips, Luongo are good enough to replace him, even Cajuste Sunday was poor but that goes for the whole team on this occasion.

[Ricco]

I think it goes beyond the Midfield tbh

You're right Mike, but on the flip side of that... you can go on to any forum of any club, and after a thumping they will be able to reel off half a dozen major flaws with their team, squad or manager too. We don't have to be anywhere near as good as Man City, we don't even have to be half decent, we just need to be better than Southampton, Leicester and Wolves.

Davis is a big worry as a defender, but with three centre backs, that is circumnavigated. Hirst is now back, which can lessen the burden on Delap, which will probably improve his performances too, plus we might be able to source another striker before the window closes too.

There is hope!

Admittedly I don't know what we do with goalkeepers, Walton hasn't been at fault for many of the goals, but like I have said before, he doesn't have the presence that Muric does, he doesn't scare me as a striker and invites easy finishes.

I know I would have been set on recruiting a GK and CF as number one targets. Forget Philogene when we have 75 similar players and forget Godfrey if Tuanzebe is nearly back. Yes they may be handy players to have, but I think we should have put that money and effort in to different areas.

[Bluemike]

Yes there is definitely hope as long as we stop throwing winnable games away. Hirst and Tuanzebe returning are big plusses but as you say without another striker I am of the opinion we won't survive.

[mendipblue]

If we beat Southampton, Leicester, Wolves, Everton, Spurs and get 5 points from the rest of our games we will stay up.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Just wondering if you could define the midfield you're talking about Rossi, because arguably we only have two players in midfield. Are you including our wide forwards in that, maybe the 10 if we play it or our wing backs?

I'm old school, so can't be doing with modern definitions such as No 10 (what about no , defensive midfielder, playing in the hole (wherever that's supposed to be) - and as for wing backs, well in the old days wing backs were numbers 2 and 3 and proper wing backs charging up and down the line, I don't think we now utilise as such whatever we choose to call them.

So to me, back line are defenders, front line are strikers, everything in between is midfield. Keep it simple

[Bluemike]

If we beat Southampton, Leicester, Wolves, Everton, Spurs and get 5 points from the rest of our games we will stay up.

Piece of cake then.

[Ricco]

So to me, back line are defenders, front line are strikers, everything in between is midfield. Keep it simple

So against City, our midfielders for you were Davis, Clarke, Cajuste, Morsy, Hutchinson, Johnson?

I'm trying to work out what positions you're least happy with? Because it's a lot of disruption to want another 4 or 5 players across that, the players we have are the best we could recruit, so I don't think we'll be finding big upgrades on them without becoming bankrupt.

[Charnwood]

Liz I think your being overly kind to Morsy. Everything didn’t go through him at all yesterday and his touches on the ball were absolutely minimal. If I’m honest I think he’s found it extremely difficult to make the step up from the Champiobship to the Premier League and he doesn’t have age on his side. Jack Clarke aside I think Morsy was our poorest player on the pitch yesterday and this wasn’t the first time which in my opinion is why he wasn’t selected on Thursday v Brighton because yesterday it wouldn’t have mattered who played.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

So to me, back line are defenders, front line are strikers, everything in between is midfield. Keep it simple

So against City, our midfielders for you were Davis, Clarke, Cajuste, Morsy, Hutchinson, Johnson?

I'm trying to work out what positions you're least happy with? Because it's a lot of disruption to want another 4 or 5 players across that, the players we have are the best we could recruit, so I don't think we'll be finding big upgrades on them without becoming bankrupt.

Once again you twist what I write in an attempt to undermine me . Don't think I cannot see what your aim is - it won't work I'm afraid.

Liz was postulating about our midfield in general and Morsy in particular. My comment is that in my opinion the midfield as a whole are not contributing much, are moving the ball too slowly, and are leaving Delap isolated up front, and that I would be looking to replace all of them apart from Cajuste. I didn't say I would replace them all in one go: I didn't say that I would be looking to bankrupt the club: but you, as ever, just look to jump on the bandwagon and distort the facts .

[hallamblue]

I think in hindsight my posting this Morsy thread was timed wrong. I've felt this way about Morsy for a few weeks now.

Yesterday's game just brought it into focus more. Any of our players could be picked to pieces against Man City's players and that wasn't my intention.

I said you're Mike last night that when Morsy doesn't play ( rare but ut happens), the team looks rudderless. I think that's because we rely on Morsy so much, and to instigate so much that when he's not in the side, no one else seems to know what to do.

Our midfield as a whole is too slow and not dynamic enough. I said last season I felt our MF was too slow, and ar thus level it definitely is. MC were like an express train running towards our box when the gir possession. It was magnificent to watch tbh. I'm not expecting us to ge that good but our midfield is way off the pace for this level and the Championship tbh.

[Ricco]

Once again you twist what I write in an attempt to undermine me . Don't think I cannot see what your aim is - it won't work I'm afraid.

I really wasn't Rossi, I was/am actually just trying to clarify what you mean by midfielders so I can understand what bits of the team/squad you're not happy with.

Personally:

Left Back... Davis/Townsend - fine as wing back, not FB

Right Back...Johnson/Tuanzebe/Burns - fine but not great

Left Forward... Broadhead/Szmodics/Clarke - loads of choice and 'good enough' if no more

Right Forward... Hutchinson/Philogene/Burns - again plenty of good choice even if they're not ripping things up.

I don't know which of those roles are considered midfield to you and which you consider too weak at the moment.

I don't have much issue with them, I'm more worried about GK, CF and maybe CM before any of them.

[hallamblue]

So to me, back line are defenders, front line are strikers, everything in between is midfield. Keep it simple

So against City, our midfielders for you were Davis, Clarke, Cajuste, Morsy, Hutchinson, Johnson?

I'm trying to work out what positions you're least happy with? Because it's a lot of disruption to want another 4 or 5 players across that, the players we have are the best we could recruit, so I don't think we'll be finding big upgrades on them without becoming bankrupt.

Once again you twist what I write in an attempt to undermine me . Don't think I cannot see what your aim is - it won't work I'm afraid.

Liz was postulating about our midfield in general and Morsy in particular. My comment is that in my opinion the midfield as a whole are not contributing much, are moving the ball too slowly, and are leaving Delap isolated up front, and that I would be looking to replace all of them apart from Cajuste. I didn't say I would replace them all in one go: I didn't say that I would be looking to bankrupt the club: but you, as ever, just look to jump on the bandwagon and distort the facts .

Don’t worry Gary, Ricco tends to stonewall my posts anyway. Can’t say he’s ever replied directly to anything I’ve posted on here….. always choosing to answer someone else’s post in the thread. I’m used to it now .

[hallamblue]

Liz I think your being overly kind to Morsy. Everything didn’t go through him at all yesterday and his touches on the ball were absolutely minimal. If I’m honest I think he’s found it extremely difficult to make the step up from the Champiobship to the Premier League and he doesn’t have age on his side. Jack Clarke aside I think Morsy was our poorest player on the pitch yesterday and this wasn’t the first time which in my opinion is why he wasn’t selected on Thursday v Brighton because yesterday it wouldn’t have mattered who played.

I think the Plastic League is a challenge to him but to be kind to him, he’s in his 30’s now…. Mind you so is De Byrune, and I wouldn’t mind him in a Town shirt lol

[Ricco]

Don’t worry Gary, Ricco tends to stonewall my posts anyway. Can’t say he’s ever replied directly to anything I’ve posted on here….. always choosing to answer someone else’s post in the thread. I’m used to it now .

What are you on about HB, we have plenty of discussions?! The whole huge second paragraph from my first post was a direct response to yours. Rossi extended the discussion to include the whole midfield, not I. So I really don't know what you're getting at?

Take my posts however you feel they've been intended, but I've only tried to nail down exactly what 'midfield' means and which positions it encompasses, because still no one is giving me a solid answer and I struggle to discuss a topic when I don't even know what is being discussed!!

And people chat among themselves in a thread, they don't always talk about every post above theirs. If you want a direct response to your last post, two reasons I didn't respond directly... I had already answered in my first post... I said with wingbacks there are more channels to link up the pitch and less will have to go through Morsy... and secondly you didn't ask any questions, nor respond to me, so I'm not sure what I'm meant to do?

[hallamblue]

Well, I'm sorry Ricco. It's just how numerous post on threads have felt, and for quite a while. I even mentioned it to Mike at a game recently as wondered if I was mis understanding things. No offence intended.

[Ricco]

Well, I'm sorry Ricco. It's just how numerous post on threads have felt, and for quite a while. I even mentioned it to Mike at a game recently as wondered if I was mis understanding things. No offence intended.

Certainly not intentional, often your posts are your feelings/emotions, which are just good to read to be honest and don't necessarily seem a talking point to me, and the rest I probably just casually agree with, so not much to disect and question!

[hallamblue]

Lol, Moi? Emotional?? ....OK occasionally

[marko69]

Get a room you two!

[hallamblue]

Well no, i think I do post opinions and thoughts and often ask questions so I dont think im anymore emotional or knee jerk than a lot of others on here tbh.

[marko69]

Should we start a knee jerk league table?

[Bluemike]

Liz I think your being overly kind to Morsy. Everything didn’t go through him at all yesterday and his touches on the ball were absolutely minimal. If I’m honest I think he’s found it extremely difficult to make the step up from the Champiobship to the Premier League and he doesn’t have age on his side. Jack Clarke aside I think Morsy was our poorest player on the pitch yesterday and this wasn’t the first time which in my opinion is why he wasn’t selected on Thursday v Brighton because yesterday it wouldn’t have mattered who played.

I think everyone has found the step up hard Andy, including McKenna

[Ricco]

Should we start a knee jerk league table?

I swear I go through all seven stages of grief during every Town games

Well no, i think I do post opinions and thoughts and often ask questions so I dont think im anymore emotional or knee jerk than a lot of others on here tbh.

I've never thought of it that way, and it's valuable... there aren't too many regular posters on here that are also regular game attendees. It's more creditable than someone scratching their arse in Mauritius and raging at a 3 minute highlight clip on their 3 inch phone screen.

[marko69]

Should we start a knee jerk league table?

I swear I go through all seven stages of grief during every Town games

Well no, i think I do post opinions and thoughts and often ask questions so I dont think im anymore emotional or knee jerk than a lot of others on here tbh.

I've never thought of it that way, and it's valuable... there aren't too many regular posters on here that are also regular game attendees. It's more creditable than someone scratching their arse in Mauritius and raging at a 3 minute highlight clip on their 3 inch phone screen.

Ricco! Please. I suffer from phone envy. Could you cut that sort of thing out!!

[Ricco]

Found this interesting, it's the oldest player played by each club this season. Morsy is merely a spring chicken when viewed in this context:

[Ricco]

Ricco! Please. I suffer from phone envy. Could you cut that sort of thing out!!

Sorry, I have been told many times to understate measurements in order to not make others envious

[marko69]

I like how "Young" is second top of the "old" league.

Also I think we went camping at Ben Mee once.

[hallamblue]

Should we start a knee jerk league table?

I swear I go through all seven stages of grief during every Town games

Well no, i think I do post opinions and thoughts and often ask questions so I dont think im anymore emotional or knee jerk than a lot of others on here tbh.

I've never thought of it that way, and it's valuable... there aren't too many regular posters on here that are also regular game attendees. It's more creditable than someone scratching their arse in Mauritius and raging at a 3 minute highlight clip on their 3 inch phone screen.

youve obviously never met Mike