Nixonator
Well-known member
A very good player. My issue has always been that he's not built for what has been coined the 'Stephens role' in our current system, and our failure to capture Delaney twice, and the crocked Brazilian means we have no real cover for the simple yet effective work he does on the pitch. Propper is brushed aside very easily, is just as slow if not slower than Stephens and fills me with a certain degree of dread when closed down by a pack and the angles narrowed sitting deep. He has lost possession in some critical positions and despite popular belief, has the greatest amount of sideways and backwards passes out of the four (largely no fault of his own and more how we set up and the role he is deployed in).
We have 3 central midfielders for whom it is in their nature to drive forward with the ball, and one defensively minded. This makes me feel very vulnerable when we play without Stephens - an integral part of our defensive solidity. It is by no means condusive to a defeat without him, but I notice his absence quite glaringly and I doubt I'm alone on that. I wonder how many of our resident football purists wished Dale was there to concede one of his "needless fouls" today? Say around the 21st minute. This is why I have always maintained Stephens + a rotation of the other 3, with the exception of some very winnable home games. Even then I think it is risky because the winnable games tend to be more physical in nature.
Basically, if we are to continue starting with 2 out of 3 forward thinking central midfielders, we put greater pressure on ourselves to take our chances when they come as we will no doubt concede at some stage until Chris can make changes to see the game out. Either that or our CBs and full backs need to play a blinder every week. They need to show why we are playing them, we need standout performances, goals, assists to justify why we have weakened our defensive structure to accomodate them, a structure that got us promoted, and further kept us in this division.
Some will twist what I say as if I'm making out Stephens to be some kind of world beater. On the contrary, all I'm saying is that he is the only midfielder we have who is disciplined enough with almost 100% certainty to; track runners, close spaces, put himself about and won't blow over with a strong gust of wind. By all means suggest replacements in January, but don't suggest anybody in our current squad can do his job as effectively. Propper most definitely cannot and is not suited to it.
We have 3 central midfielders for whom it is in their nature to drive forward with the ball, and one defensively minded. This makes me feel very vulnerable when we play without Stephens - an integral part of our defensive solidity. It is by no means condusive to a defeat without him, but I notice his absence quite glaringly and I doubt I'm alone on that. I wonder how many of our resident football purists wished Dale was there to concede one of his "needless fouls" today? Say around the 21st minute. This is why I have always maintained Stephens + a rotation of the other 3, with the exception of some very winnable home games. Even then I think it is risky because the winnable games tend to be more physical in nature.
Basically, if we are to continue starting with 2 out of 3 forward thinking central midfielders, we put greater pressure on ourselves to take our chances when they come as we will no doubt concede at some stage until Chris can make changes to see the game out. Either that or our CBs and full backs need to play a blinder every week. They need to show why we are playing them, we need standout performances, goals, assists to justify why we have weakened our defensive structure to accomodate them, a structure that got us promoted, and further kept us in this division.
Some will twist what I say as if I'm making out Stephens to be some kind of world beater. On the contrary, all I'm saying is that he is the only midfielder we have who is disciplined enough with almost 100% certainty to; track runners, close spaces, put himself about and won't blow over with a strong gust of wind. By all means suggest replacements in January, but don't suggest anybody in our current squad can do his job as effectively. Propper most definitely cannot and is not suited to it.
