The third in our seasons verdict on Southampton Football Club's great promotion season of 2011/12 continues with a look at the centre of midfield.

The central midfield positions were in many ways an enigma, in some respects perhaps the stablest of the areas in the team, in that it was generally perming two out of three players after Richard Chaplow's sojourn to the flanks, but often although well drilled, it was missing something that meant that you were never quite sure which two from three it would be starting the game.

Morgan Schneiderlin would perhaps be seen as the nearest many would consider to being a first choice in the centre but ironically he had the least appearances out of the three starting 29 and appearing 13 times off the bench, which would perhaps scotch the myth that he was first choice if not injured.

Jack Cork played the most times starting 39 plus 7 as sub meaning that he played a part in every one of Saints 46 matches, the only Saints player to do so, with Dean Hammond making 31 starts plus 12 as sub.

But for a midfield trio who for every intense and purpose were regular and unchallenged by anyone else for their place, there was one thing missing and that was goals, top scorer of the trio was Schneiderlin who notched 2, to add to his single strike in the previous 100 or so games he had played for the club, ironically that goal was a wonder strike against Bristol Rovers in April 2010, a goal that made you wonder why he didnt score many more, certainly the two he scored werent spectacular, the equaliser at Burnley was a stab in from three yards out, whilst the his goal at Nottingham Forest although from distance wasnt a great shot and one the keeper should have saved, Jack Cork failed to get on the scoresheet at all. Hammond's solitary goal was good, but coming on the opening day of the season against Leeds, you have to wonder why he didnt score again.

So three goals from a trio who between then started 99 matches plus 32 as sub is a poor return whatever way you look at it, of course it could be argued that the style Saints play means that the central midfield were more about winning the ball and creating, their job to get the ball wide etc and certainly the men who played wide got goals, but it still comes back to the fact that between then they only scraped together three goals and that has to be a weakness that needs to be addressed.

In many respects all three of them were too similar, they all liked to sit in the midfield rather than attack, when Richard Chaplow played in the centre it gave the right balance as Chaplow was a genuine box to box player who liked to get forward and his goals to games ratio proved that, it could have been that Chaplow would have played more often in the centre if a combination of injury and the need to play him out wide hadnt intervened.

So although it didnt let us down, there was something about our central midfield that didnt quite gel and as i said it was perhaps because they were all too similar, indeed our worst run came when with Chaplow injured and Guly needed up front, Adkins used all three of the trio, pushing one wide right, it rarely worked as results when we did it proved.

All in all we were solid in the centre of midfield but not spectacular and the lack of goals is an area that clearly needs to be addressed.

Photo: Action Images

JimmySteal added 10:36 - May 15 Blimey Nick! I'm starting to get the impression that you're surprised we went up. You do know that we'll probably have to go with the majority of these players next season don't you? This forensic dissection of each individual department and the subsequent decision that it's not good enough is hardly helpful is it? Time to cheer up surely!
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SaintNick added 11:01 - May 15 the whole point of these verdicts is to disect the season and look at how players have performed and then consider what areas we need strengthening in etc, have i said anything negative in this piece or are our midfielders prolific scorers who have just been unlucky
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Fordy added 11:36 - May 15 I think it is fair to say that Morgan was first choice by the end of the season and we really missed him when he was out. He knows how to read a game better than Hammond and doesn't ball watch and get pulled out of position. It's no coincidence that we conceded vital goals from outside the box when Morgan was out. As for the others, much as I like Hammond I think this might be a step too far for him. Cork is an enigma. Very tidy on the ball but very little end product. I would love to see a few more assists and even one goal! It's not as though he didn't get in the box and have chances, they just all ended up in row Z. Adkins did experiment a little with Lallana in the middle and I think he knows that we need more going forward in the middle, particularly chasing games. It will be interesting to see whether he buys someone in the middle or someone on the left and tries again to move Lallana inside.

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Struggers added 11:37 - May 15 Does it really matter where the goals come from. We had plenty of goals from the other midfielders and after all we were top scorers in the league.
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Whatsforpud added 11:43 - May 15 Although Chaplow has done well out right in some matches, I see him as an attacking central midfielder. I think you need one prone to attacking, and the other to be protecting the defence. Usually a team that has scored as many goals as us, would have had significant contributions from midfield. You might have expected at least 10 between them. We have to improve on that.

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JimmySteal added 11:45 - May 15 With 85 league goals scored and a goal difference of 39 I think that we've got a great balance between attack and defence, with the centre midfield players giving good cover to the back while providing enough going forward to support wingers and forwards. Don't think they (collectively) could have done a better job this season.
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slynch added 11:49 - May 15 You're right this time St Nick. The MF is full of average, similar players, but grafters non the less that stood up to the challenge. Fonte's giant run in the last match is what the MF should be doing and don't. Get the ball and take it up front - steam roller throughout the gaps in the opposing MF. Lallana - Fox - Fonte - Gully now that would be an interesting MF experiment?

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saintandy11 added 11:57 - May 15 what a waste of an article. in the system we play our central midfielders are there to break up the oppositions attacks and get the ball out to the wings for our wide midfielders or over lapping backs to play the ball into our strikers. you concentrated on the lack of goals and not on the amount of tackles they put in and the assists. what next, i suppose you will be criticizing Lambert and Sharp for the lack of goal line clearances they made over the season. if you are going to look at the players by the position they play you have to look at them in relation to the system we play.

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SaintNick added 12:03 - May 15 Struggers your right in many respects it doesnt matter where the goals from, and i did point towards that in the way we play, however no matter how we play the ball is going to drop to the midfielders at some stage and 3 goals in total from 3 of them isnt good enough Jimmysteal makes a valid point, but again we seemed to have games where we scored a lot and others where we couldnt score for love nor money, the balance of goals wasnt quite right and on occasion when the attack was snubbed out you look for the midfield to weigh in and snatch a victory or even a draw and we just didnt do that, Schneiderlin's goal at Burnley aside

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Fordy added 12:10 - May 15 I think it does matter where the goals come from. We won't score so many from corners in the Prem as these will be defended better. We're not going to score so many from that rather predictable diagnal long ball to Lambert at the far post either. It was obvious how much we relied on Lambert and Lallana by how our form suffered when they were out. It would be great if we had a central midfielder who can contribute a little in the way of goals. I don't really understand why people use the argument about it being the way we play. It's not, Cork had loads of chances, he got forward quite a bit. He just can't finish. Even for all those that are big Cork fans they must see that it would be good if we could throw on someone who can finish if we are behind in a game.

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SaintNick added 12:15 - May 15 saintandy, if you would care to write an article and put me right im quite happy to publish it and that goes for anyone. Again i go back to my points I acknowledged the role of the central midfield in the overall team plan but my main point still stands it lacked a bit of balance and none of the three in the centre really were cast iron certainties for the team for most of the season, even at the end Adkins seemed unsure of cork or Hammond and who to pick. I havent the stats for tackles made, but for assists Hammond had 1 with Cork and morgan on 3 apiece, again you could say that it wasnt there job to deliver the final ball, but that total is still very small for the number of goals scored overall bear in mind also at the end of the season we seemed to have a problem with teams running through the centre and scoring and also volleying goals from the edge of the box unmarked as in Pompey and Boro We were promoted and thats all that matters but any manager worth his salt will be looking at improvement and to be blunt i dont think that those three will be good enough as a unit in the premier

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OldRed added 12:15 - May 15 A lot of defences will eventually crack under sustained pressure. Defensive duties are not just down to the back four. Lapses in concentration will happen in these circumstanes and it's down to fitness, mentality and coaching.
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saintandy11 added 12:32 - May 15 'bear in mind also at the end of the season we seemed to have a problem with teams running through the centre and scoring and also volleying goals from the edge of the box unmarked as in Pompey and Boro' Now that is a point i will stand by you on. i lost count of the times i shouted for our midfielders to "tackle him, don't just run along holding his flipping hand". not my exact words but i'm sure you get the jist. one of my worries for next season is the amount of chances our midfield will allow the opposition by backing off and giving them space. can you imagine the damage the likes of modric and silva will do to us! the one player who seems prepared to put a tackle in is Hammond and his lack of pace will really be exploited in the prem.

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JimmySteal added 12:40 - May 15 Although I've said that we'll go with most of our players next year I do however think that maybe Hammmond won't make it. But remember you don't neccessarily need pace at the top level, anybody remember Ball, Case, McCalliog, Marsden, say it gently Le Tiss.
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SaintNick added 12:53 - May 15 I take your point aboutb those legends, but I would point out that premier football has changed a lot since those days, it is all about pace now, espcecially if you are playing in a side in the bottom half of the table, if your man utd and dominating most games you can afford a Paul Scholes in the centre, if your Bolton or Qpr you cant If Le tiss was coming through now he would b dumped at U18 level for not being fast enough, which is a sad true fact

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JimmySteal added 12:56 - May 15 Think he'd be dumped for being a fat b***ard
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ExiledSupporter added 13:05 - May 15 My take on this is that we need an attacking (and creative) midfielder who can score (in previous posts I have suggested Lallana should play in the hole and pass into the channels, sometimes making well timed runs beyond the forwards) and a predominantly defensive midfielder to play in front of the defence, both to break up opposition attacks and initiate our own moves from the back. Not convinced about Schneiderlin's tackling, but he still seems the most likely candidate for this role. Hammond lacks sufficient pace for the Prem, so that leaves Chaplow and Cork for right and left midfield and when fit they each seem to have good enough engines to cover the ground between the boxes. Still would like another midfielder able to take some more control of the game, but good ones come very expensive and probably beyond our means. Would favour playing a diamond midfield but fear that would expose our full backs given their defensive shortcomings discussed in previous article/responses from all correspondents. This is just as tough an issue as the others previously covered. We do need quite an influx of quality. On the other hand if Dyer can make the grade as a regular with Swansea some of our existing squad can't be such bad prospects for next year!

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bearsintheair added 13:43 - May 15 cant have 3 right backs in midfield
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bstokesaint added 13:06 - May 16 We're not going to get as ruthlessly smashed as some people think. There's a reason why Dyer and even Puncheon have succeeded in the Premier League and that's because there are a lot of average teams outside the top 6. Okay, we will need to address the pace issue because even the poorer teams have that. I suspect Hammond will struggle at a level above. I'm also not sure about Chaplow. I felt he was excellent in the first half of the season, but virtually non-existent in the last few games he played for us. Maybe because he was called into the wider position and he couldn't do the box-to-box running which he’s so good at. Cork and Schneiderlin are young and will only get better, which is great news for us. Both have shown some real class. If I were Adkins I would definitely get my best signing in the middle of the park. Someone with Scholes' characteristics would be brilliant.

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