[Archived] The Lowe / Williamson Midfield

[Darwen Rover 007]

I actually believe our best starting formation is a 451... Most games we should be starting 4-1-4-1 with Lowe protecting the back four and Cairney and Evens in front of him and either one of Rhodes or Gestede up front..

There is then the option to go 4-4-1-1 with either Dunn coming in to play behind the striker or even two up front.

Our best performances have been with Cairney in CM, playing there he is the best CM we have had since Tugay... Playing him on the wing completely voids his ability as many have stated before.

[Bucksrover]

Williamson should never play. Bowyers fondness for him is completely beyond me.

Lowe seems ok when he plays alongside cairney because he can just give him the ball when he gets it. And cairney has the mindset to go forward and create which stops us having 2 defensive midfielders inviting teams onto us and parting when they attack.

[AJW]

i always thought Lowe was much better right back than midfield

[K-Hod]

I wouldn't actually object to him playing at right back, Henley was very poor again yesterday, and I don't think Kane is any better....

[cn174]

The irrelevance is that you don't need to be qualified in football matters to see what he offers. The shame is, you don't see highlights of counter attacks being broken up or ball winning tackles to win back possession (unless it leads to goal... Like the reading away one..).. And thus your agenda falls down. I'm starting to believe that you don't watch anything beyond highlights.

This is a very rare occurrence though...him breaking down counter attacks and making tackles. Didn't him and Williamson make 3 tackles in 3 games between them, one of the games was Forest then the two after. That clearly doesn't suggest he's doing much of that. How many goals this season have come straight through our midfield, just look at the ones yesterday. For such a defensive midfielders they don't half make it easy for the opposition to score.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

AJW, you're right again.

[Shabani]

I made this point a while ago on another thread, when these two play together, we nearly always lose and rarely win. It's not a coincidence

[thenodrog]

Lowe should be right back, working the line. He'd be great in midfield where the remainder consisted of ball players.

Williamson would be ok at Gigg Lane or Globe Arena.

What have Bury and Morecambe done to offend you?

I made this point a while ago on another thread, when these two play together, we nearly always lose and rarely win. It's not a coincidence

When those two play together in a '4' it's even worse.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

What have Bury and Morecambe done to offend you?

When those two play together in a '4' it's even worse.

Those two are living proof you can become seriously wealthy and not have a modicum of real footballing ability. The likes of Eamonn Rogers, Don Martin, Ken Knighton, Barry Hole etc had more skill in one leg than those two imposters.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I actually believe our best starting formation is a 451... Most games we should be starting 4-1-4-1 with Lowe protecting the back four and Cairney and Evens in front of him and either one of Rhodes or Gestede up front..

There is then the option to go 4-4-1-1 with either Dunn coming in to play behind the striker or even two up front.

Our best performances have been with Cairney in CM, playing there he is the best CM we have had since Tugay... Playing him on the wing completely voids his ability as many have stated before.

Totally agree with you - our best midfield this season (by a long way) was when we had Evans, Lowe and Cairney playing together, It will be interesting to see how we line up against Burnley - IMO Dunn (if fit) has to start, as does Evans, Cairney, Lowe and Conway. But who starts up front - Gestede or Rhodes - a tough call.

[OJRovers]

Where is Etuhu these days anyway??

Btw I agree with above of Cairney/Lowe/Evans being our best midfield.

[K-Hod]

Where is Etuhu these days anyway??

Btw I agree with above of Cairney/Lowe/Evans being our best midfield.

Being Vince Grella mark two,earning a tidy living from doing very little.

[Amo]

Being Vince Grella mark two,earning a tidy living from doing very little.

Speaking of Grella, I found on this on Nzonzi's wikipedia:

Soon after N'Zonzi found himself dropping down the pecking order as a result of both Phil Jones and Vince Grella's form in midfield.

What form? I can barely remember him stringing two games together.

[thenodrog]

Totally agree with you - our best midfield this season (by a long way) was when we had Evans, Lowe and Cairney playing together, It will be interesting to see how we line up against Burnley - IMO Dunn (if fit) has to start, as does Evans, Cairney, Lowe and Conway. But who starts up front - Gestede, Varney or Rhodes - a tough call.

Corrected for you DMTP.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Totally agree with you - our best midfield this season (by a long way) was when we had Evans, Lowe and Cairney playing together, It will be interesting to see how we line up against Burnley - IMO Dunn (if fit) has to start, as does Evans, Cairney, Lowe and Conway. But who starts up front - Gestede or Rhodes - a tough call.

Gestede should be a shoe in up front. Rhodes is out of form and can't hold it up. Gestede is built to play 1 up front.

[Muddboy]

Gestede should be a shoe in up front. Rhodes is out of form and can't hold it up. Gestede is built to play 1 up front.

I reckon Bowyer will drop Rhodes at the weekend and play Dunn in the hole behind the proverbial battering ram, Gestede.

That's assuming Dunn's fit, of course.

Aside from that, I just pray that Williamson is nowhere hear the starting 11.

[tomphil]

No way will he drop Rhodes. Prob won't drop Willo either.

[thenodrog]

If he plays 4-4-2 then there is something very fishy going on.... and it's us that will get battered.

[Neal]

Jim once had a good do at me for summing this duo up as "Anti-Football"... I'd say I've been pretty accurate there. A nicely thought out midfield from someone claiming to be from the school of Brian Clough.

Unambitious, unimaginative, futureless and uninspiring.

[rickard]

Speaking of Grella, I found on this on Nzonzi's wikipedia:

Soon after N'Zonzi found himself dropping down the pecking order as a result of both Phil Jones and Vince Grella's form in midfield.

What form? I can barely remember him stringing two games together.

I know! According to wikipedia Grella played 38 games for us. When did that happen? Maybe it should be 38 minutes...

[Howler]

Genuine question - is Evans that good? I can't recall him having that long a spell in the team (did it correspond to better results/performances?) and as I haven't seen him play in the flesh I don't know how good he is.

I'm sure he will be an improvement on Lowe/Willo but my suspicion is that his reputation is being built up by virtue of not playing (witness Vukcevic, Rochina et al) and, as for those players, he may not be the saviour some on here are hoping for.

[Rover_Shaun]

Evans had a run of a couple of games just before his injury where he looked good and the midfield had more balance. The opposition on the day could have also been a factor but it certainly won't harm Rovers chances to get him back and ditch one of the two statues.

It could also be the usual case of "absence makes the heart grow fonder"

There have been quite a number of those cases down the years. Both Rochina and Kalinic both became more 'messi-eque' as their absence from the team lenghtened.

[sharpysharps]

Given that Willo was off at half time on Saturday I would be amazed for him to start the Burnley game. There was a stay of execution due to the win at Reading but I would hope that the Bolton game was the last we will see of Willo as a regular starter providing Evans stays fit and Cairney returns as well.

[Bucksrover]

Given that Willo was off at half time on Saturday I would be amazed for him to start the Burnley game. There was a stay of execution due to the win at Reading but I would hope that the Bolton game was the last we will see of Willo as a regular starter providing Evans stays fit and Cairney returns as well.

I hope you are right.

But I remember the brum game - willo and lowe in the midfield, anchoring us on the edge of our area then parting for every attack. 3 nil down at half time, willo goes off at half time, cairney comes central and we get right back in the game.

Driving home that day I consoled myself with the hope that at least bowyer would have realised 'the williamson affect' but he has started a lot of games since.

[Hasta]

If anyone still wld rather have lowe infront of the (admittedly mediocre) Williamson, please analyse the last 5 results.