Midfield Solidarity

In recent weeks our midfield hasn’t been a midfield, as such. Playing Conor McGrandles with Ted Bishop and Chris Maguire on Saturday, in my eyes, saw us playing with one proper midfielder (McGrandles), an attacking midfielder in Bishop, and Chris Maguire who seems to roam about a bit. There’s little protection for the back four, and in a game where second balls were frequent, I think we needed additional protection in front of the back four; ie Max Sanders. Ironically, when Sanders did come on, we conceded two, but that was more a symptom of the game than the change.

Here’s a stat for you. Since the turn of the year, we’ve now played 11 games, winning four, drawing one and losing six. In games where we have started with Sanders and McGrandles as a two, a dedicated midfield pairing, we’ve lost just one, Doncaster (which I personally think was a good performance). When we play with McGrandles as a lone four, one other midfielder and effectively four forwards (Maguire included), we have collected three points from a possible 18. When we’ve started with either McGrandles and Sanders in a double four role or with three actual midfielders (any three from the four), we have taken ten points from a possible 12. The only anomaly in this is Plymouth, where we started with four forwards and the two midfielders, Fiorini and McGrandles.

For me, the first two names on the teamsheet right now should be Conor McGrandles and Max Sanders, as it gives us something of a heartbeat. Let’s be honest, in some games, a draw would have been infinitely better than a defeat (Doncaster and Gillingham), and having a tougher midfield facilitates that a little.