Stuck in the middle with you

In the 'Warnock years' there was a titular song bellowed from the stands by the faithful about Michael Brown, it went;

'Number One is Michael Brown, Number Two is Michael Brown, Number Three is Michael Brown' until it reached Number Eleven.

The song was finished off with the chorus of; "We all dream of a team of Michael Brown's."

It was funny, but it was more a sideswipe at the management of Neil (Colin) Warnock. We had an abundance of midfielders and nowhere to put them and now history seems to be repeating itself.

Now under the tenure of Garry Monk we have a multitude of midfielders within the squad, increased further by the Deadline Day signing of Eunan O'Kane from Bournemouth.

Here's the list:

Stuart Dallas
Toumani Diagouraga
Matt Grimes
Alex Mowatt
Luke Murphy
Kalvin Phillips
Ronaldo Vieira
Pablo Hernandez
Liam Bridcutt
Eunan O'Kane

That's ten midfielders for four or five places in the first eleven, you can add Kemar Roofe who for the majority, when picked he has played on the wing and not his natural position of a striker. Even Hadi Sacko has played on the wing but is listed as a striker on the club's website.

We have now, after the sudden departure of captain Sol Bamba only three centre halfs; Bartley, Cooper and Jansson and worryingly the strikers department is just as threadbare with only Chris Wood, Marcus Antonsson and Sully Doukara to score the goals.

It's so 'middle heavy' that it's hard to understand the logistics of the recruitment department and as I mentioned in a earlier article we seem to be getting quantity more than quality.

Maybe Cellino will find a 'hidden gem' in the free transfer market that will be brought into the club. One thing certain is he won't be offered big money to tempt them into joining.

The coming months will obviously see different combinations of the ten midfielders we have in the squad until Monk finds his preferred quartet or quintet. He may have to be quick though as patience has been a virtue of the somewhat madcap owner of Leeds United FC.

Myself, my preferred four would be Bridcutt and O'Kane in the middle with either Dallas or Roofe on one wing with Sacko on the other.

I cannot see Murphy, Diagouraga or Grimes being used within the eighteen unless injuries occur, which obviously could happen.

It would be ideal for both Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira to learn their trade from the bench and not relied on as much as they have been. They are young and need time to gain experience in the game, the last thing we want is to burn the young lads out.

MOT

By Keith Ingham