They are not the same type of player. How anyone can say we dont need Pearson because we have Scowen is beyond me. Scowen is a box to box midfielder. He could probably play any role asked of him too. Pearson is an out and out holding midfielder. And Hourihane as we all know is a very good attacking playmaker but not much else. The 3 compliment each other perfectly and I look forward to seeing them work together.
I agree. Hourihane is the one of those 3 that needs to pull his finger out. As for Scowen wouldn't suprise me if in our time honoured tradition we flogged him next. Best player we have got. Hth
Agree. If we find a system to utilise all 3, without nullifying our attack or weakening our defence - eg playing Winall out wide, or over exposing Smith / Bree then they have potential to rip L1 apart. it does mean only playing one up front: out of watkins, wilkinson and Winall. Imagine it will be Wilkinson or Winall Central and Watkins wide. So need at least two quality wingers in. Also would definitely need more experienced full backs to both help Bree and Smith and add cover. If we do this then squad does look to take shape. But if def needs at least 4 signings!
3 of Rothwell, Scowen, Hourihane, and Pearson, will only be effective if they can just do their own jobs and don't have try doing it all. We need two tricky quick attacking wingers and another two for the beach. Not just crossers of the ball but blokes that can pin the full backs back and drag their holding midfielder towards him too
Didn't think that a midfield 3 of Scowen, Hourihane and Pearson worked particularly effectively last season and will undoubtedly result in Sam Winnall playing quite averagely as a winger again.
Without the addition of pace and trickery it'll be more of the same lump it up to the big lad and chase after it so midfield will be by passed anyway.
Just imagine how many goals and assists Hourihane would end up with if he pulled his finger out. LOL.
Yeah that's true. But then didn't Johnson bring up in the press how next season things would be different as he'd have the summer to sort it?? Sure he said something like that.
Agree that they do compliment one another. Although if we play all three we tend to just have one up front, or Scowen or Hourihane out wide which suits neither. No problem with us signing a player of Pearson's type, we definitely needed one, but I'd much prefer us to sign our own rather than take in a player on loan. We have no say in Pearson's future. Man Utd may recall him at any time. They may sell him from under our noses. They may prefer he went out on loan to a team in the Championship. Contracts aren't worth much these days, but if another team wants what we've got, but we don't want them to go, at least we get some money for a replacement and there are only certain stages in the season when the player can leave. As far as Pearson is concerned, he started really well for us last season, but his play dropped off considerably during his time with us. By the end, every pass he played went backwards and for me he wasn't worth his place in the side.
I think LJ's intentions are for us to play a 4-3-3, this would be 1 striker up top and two winger type players either side, the 3 in the middle of the park would be Pearson just in front of the defence and then Hourihane and Scowen in front of him but playing in the center. What we didn't have last year was good wingers, we had some fast and some trickery but not the full package of speed, skill, shooting and crossing. With that in mind our lineup will be: GK Davies DL Smith DR Bree DC Nyatanga DC Mawson DMC Pearson MC Scowen MC Hourihane LW ?? RW Watkins AC Winall or Wilkinson Another attacking winger and our first 11 will look better than last year imo, maybe this Northern Irish kid or this other Man U kid play there.
Scowen's natural position actually is as a holding midfielder. It's where he always played for Wycombe & it's only since coming to us that he's had more freedom to get forward or play wide because of how many other central midfielders we'd got. I hope we don't use Scowen as a holding player though because he looks suited to playing alongside a holding player & seems to have an eye for a goal
