13 Feb 2026 13:30:11
Ed001 what is your thoughts mate on trying Dom as an 8 alongside Grav with Grav as a 6.
I know Dom is not the best tackler, but I do think with their athleticism it would go some way to fixing the gaping holes in our midfield.
{Ed001's Note - that would be how I would prefer us to play. I think that would be our best pairing.}
13 Feb 2026 15:02:22
Ed001 what's your thoughts on Gravenberch he confuses me sometimes he looks pure world class receives the ball in the 6 position with two players round him does some mental turn loses them both and away he goes. Then he struggles all game to complete a 5 yard pass with no one on him.
{Ed001's Note - he is good in the deeper role, because of that ability to turn out of trouble. But he needs to work on his passing, desperately needs to learn to pass.}
13 Feb 2026 16:51:24
Yeah, if he could pass, Ed, he would be an outstanding player. The short passes should be no problem for him, Ed, because you can see how composed he is, the way he turns out of trouble with multiple players round him.
Long passes you would be able to work on, as most of the time deep players do have more time. But the worry is that he does give away simple passes way too often.
13 Feb 2026 16:52:40
Grav needs to keep passing simple, to avoid the trickier pass from the options of available players. Also, he needs to not take an extra touch to dribble more forward. If he kept it simple, with the turn into space and a simple pass forward at a quicker pace, his game would improve. imo.
13 Feb 2026 19:09:48
I think he's a class footballer, but his positional sense is very poor. He is constantly in the wrong place when we are out of possession. I think you'd really see the best of him with a real tough tackling No. 7 next to him.
13 Feb 2026 19:25:45
Not sure what a number 7 means nowadays, but to me it means Kevin Keegan, King Kenny, Peter Beardsley. Definitely not a tough tackling midfielder.
13 Feb 2026 20:35:20
If a midfielder can't pass the ball with at least 90% accurately then he's not a footballer.
13 Feb 2026 21:51:51
Only 5 midfielders have a passing accuracy of 90% or more this season. So by Shankly's criteria only Curtis Jones, Tom Cairney, Moises Caicedo, Sander Berge, and Lewis Miley are footballers.
13 Feb 2026 21:59:48
Pretty certain most midfielders won't have a 90% pass rate.
13 Feb 2026 22:32:17
They should, not as if they are trying 60 yard pings like Stevie was constantly landing on people's feet. Most of the passes they do are as simple as they come.
14 Feb 2026 02:56:52
imo, next year's strongest midfield combo will be Grav and Dom, with Wirtz ahead of them.
13 Feb 2026 22:03:47
I think he needs to add tackling, heading and positional sense to that too Ed
14 Feb 2026 07:10:27
That's our best combo at the moment, Faith. Altho I reckon we'll sign competition for Grav in the summer, so he'd better wake up and actually put in the odd tackle or he'll find himself getting splinters on his arse.
14 Feb 2026 10:40:48
Think it was Roy Keane who was describing himself, he said I win the ball n pass it to someone either 10 or 20 yards n I was good at doing that. You'd be surprised at how many footballers can't do that.
14 Feb 2026 11:59:34
Good shout there, Faith. Had we not had rb issues, and with Slot also looking for ways to play Dom at rb even with rbs available, that should be the starting trio in midfield, esp. with Grav sitting a lot more than he is doing now. Macca? The less said, the better.
16 Feb 2026 22:34:18
Florian, I agree, mate. But don't see that Slot agrees. :D I posted here that my prediction at the start of the season was that, over the course of this year, Wirtz would establish himself so that, by the 2026/27 season, Macca would be gone and it would be Wirtz, well established as the CAM and allowing Dom to play in his preferred and much more impactful position of 8.
What I didn't expect was Macca to turn into McDonalds overnight and really disrupt our rhythm and, in turn, Wirtz's transition into the team.