A Proper Midfielder

Initially I thought we overpayed for a player from the championship who never really caught my eye when he was at Wigan. But he looks good, I like the guy. If he keeps on improving like he apparantely has done last years, dare I say he will be off to Man U/City/Chelsea in two years??

The Barkley situation is a concern. OK, he's involved in most of our goals but are we asking too much of him at this stage? He was pushing himself on auto-pilot ten minutes before his substitution, hence the daft back heels and not seeing team-mates. The lad was knackered and is probably still learning the art of giving himself a breather. The trouble is, youthful enthusiasm is making demands his body can't endure and Martinez will have to be careful. Youngsters don't know their own limits.

Once he stops doing this he'll not be half a knackered as he looks..

I agree McCarthy has done well for us, I have always said I didn't rate Rodwell and that we should get rid and replace him with McCarthy. But as expected we are now looking shaky during set pieces as he and Barry are struggling with some of the aerial battles.

The combination of Ross, Barry & McCarthy, can only improve, now Pienaar is back, hopefully for the better.

Saturday at Villa will be a good test, they are smarting after yesterday's result.

As Sam mentions above, he is a tremendous prospect just turned 16 and already playing for the U21s. I think, but not entirely sure that he used to be a centre half and is now playing in midfield so his defensive qualities will be good.

We should sign Barry on a free at the end of the season and then, when he is ready to retire, Ledson steps in and we have a new Holy Trinity!

He's exactly what we could use; how the hell he landed at Hull I'll never know.

Anyway, anyone thinking McCarthy is/was overpriced — we paid £14M less than the Mancs paid for Fellaini; I think that puts it into perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDK_P7aLdOo

Ball wasn't flashy, not overly creative or a great finisher but he would be the 1st name the manager put on the team sheet each week!

He will become valued at twice what we paid for him before the seasons out, we need to stick hold of him though, if we have any ambition at all.

One thing he has over his team mates, he understands Roberto's playing style. Second half on Saturday he was urging Distin to slow it down, to keep the ball on more than one occasion. He get's the concept of controlling the tempo of the game, I expect him to become a vital player for us this season, more so than Barry.

And dad, my Skype ain't working.

I'm now not sure although I felt so at the time that we did fork out well above the odds: look at the JM/silly hair fella comparisons right now on manure boards and they leave you in no doubt who they believe to be the better player.

There's been some real silly shite spouted on here at times about all things Wigan - e.g. look at Walling's 1st post on the 'Passing it to Death' thread and Nick Entwhistle's proof of his total lack of footie nous in his bizarre comments on JM in the Hull 'tussle' thread (great choice of word there, 'tussle', sums the match up perfectly). A handful of whingers and whiners and wigan-warriors aside, it's so nice to see so much harmony on here now about the gaffer, the team, and man-of-the-match by a country mile on Saturday James Mccarthy.

It is awesome to know we have 2 of the most exciting youngsters in the heart of our midfield... I can see Lundstram being the 3rd.. The others seems a little far away and too much water will flow under that bridge to make any guesses... Even Lundstram is a shot in the dark.

I don't know Ledson much, but will definitely keep my eye out now. I was thinking we might have mcarthy and Barkley in the engine room with Green behind the striker! Geez imagine Lukaku was ours... What a prospect for 2015 ! Don't know why I do that to myself!

£13m is a lot of money, but 50% of Fellaini...., it was good business all round. I'd fancied Ramsey to go with him in the summer. I got laughed at for that, but i'd seen him shine for Wales which suggested he was about to up his game. That isn't going to happen, but another decent young centre midfielder would do a treat (ideally that bracket with a bit of height and a good left peg). Certainly fishing in the 18 to 24 bracket, is a welcome change.

I'm loving the way that those fans who spouted the "he managed / played at Wigan. Wigan got relegated = they must all be complete shite" are being made to look more and more silly with every week that passes.

I don't understand the MoM lark as I thought Barry was head and shoulders above anybody.

James - you mention "speed of play, he just gets it & moves it". One thing I would like to add is that most of the team seem happy to receive the ball now & are pretty comfortable in possession. Nobody is treating the ball like a hot potato which I felt was the case in seasons past.

God only knows how many we would have conceded if we didn't have both Barry and McCarthy in the team. I think they give us a really good base to allow the front 4 to get at the opposition.

For me, we have been crying out for legs in midfield for a long time. I know the likes of Arteta, Fellaini, Carsley etc were all fit, and covered a fair amount of ground. But they all operated in 3rd gear. McCarthy does seem able to get about the pitch with much more freedom than our previous centre mids.

A word of caution though. Previously I heard some people saying he doesn't look like a £13 million player. This lad is not gonna beat 5 men or score 15 goals a season or anything like that. But what he will do is keep possession, cover the ground, press people & win tackles - all of the stuff that is necessary, but goes unnoticed. And exactly what we have been lacking in centre mid.

Ironically, it seems to be what Man U are also lacking now they have the twin towers Carrick and Fellaini in midfield. And that thought makes it even sweeter for me!

Crap being so prolix I could never have put your points in so few sharpshooter words.

Nice one.

Everyone seems to agree the defence has been at sixes and sevens in several games this season. Coleman and Baines are undoubtedly great on offense but are sometimes caught way out of position leaving the speed of Jags and Distin to cope. Having said that, Jags has been a little erratic by his standards and Distin is starting to lose a yard.

It is worrying especially with Alcaraz unavailable, Stones not quite ready to replace any of the centre backs, and Heitinga not a reliable replacement either.

In the meantime, the answer will have to be greater tracking back by the midfielders when possession is given up. Pienaar replacing Osman would be a positive step to this end.