Am I over-rating our central midfield?

[Malcolm Everett]

I was telling people today that Bolton have an absolutely brilliant central midfield, with NRC, Mark Davies, Holden and Muamba.
NRC has surprised me massively this season, he looks so solid and at 27 years of age is right in his prime. Mark Davies is so talented, he is brilliant on the ball. I know a lot of people say he reminds people of Iniesta, maybe a bit of an exaggeration but he is a top player. Muamba always does a good job IMO, he is a really solid young defensive central midfielder, I think he is a good player for us. And Stuart Holden is a real talent, he is very talented, good on the ball, intelligent footballer.
I think we have a superb central midfield but others think our central midfield is very average. What do you think?

[Ad85]

Coker and Davies where brilliant again tonight. When Holden gets back unfortunately we would have to drop muamba cos you can't leave the other 3 out.

[ShootNaka]

I don't think your over-rating them at all, Cokes conditioning is fantastic and he has really focused on physical improvements thus he looks strong and composed on the ball. I was skeptical of our midfield impetus without Holden yet Mavies has taken over and Muamba as said is a great ball winner and a generally consistent workhorse. All adding up to a great central midfield.

[DaveBWFC]

Reo Coker was brilliant tonight.

[RustyMcHayes]

Nigel was off the scale tonight. The thought of Holden and Chungy with Reo & Mavies has just given me a hard on.

[Manny]

They're good but only in certain formations. 4-5-1 really suits Mark Davies and I think having Muamba and Reo-Coker behind him gives him a lot more confidence to push forward.

I wouldn't get carried away though. Earlier this season our midfield was absolutely terrible and one of the main reasons for us being thumped every week.

Holden and Lee returning will be a massive boost for us. Pity they're still a while off coming back.

[ShootNaka]

They're good but only in certain formations. 4-5-1 really suits Mark Davies and I think having Muamba and Reo-Coker behind him gives him a lot more confidence to push forward.

I wouldn't get carried away though. Earlier this season our midfield was absolutely terrible and one of the main reasons for us being thumped every week.
 
Holden and Lee returning will be a massive boost for us. Pity they're still a while off coming back.

Very true, much of the improvement can be attributed formationally, the extra central man allows mavies much more freedom.

[azreal88]

I think most people see the future of the midfield as Reo-Coker, Holden and Mavies - with Muamba coming in for one of the three when needed.  There is good quality there, but there are two obvious holes:  Goals and range of passing.  Sides who successfully play 4-5-1 (by which I mean sides challenging for Europe) almost invariably have a reliable goal scorer from the middle of the park and someone who can spread play.

Mavies and Holden are good passers of the ball, but they play short passes and look to link up.  Reo-Coker, as he has shown lately, can pass very well too - but keeps things simple.

All three of those lads can also get forward, but none of them is natural goal scorer - and you need lads chipping in PLUS a player who might get you 10 a season, where we have just lads who'll chip in.

So it's a good midfield, and one that would be very hard to break down; but it's arguably not ideal.

[jukeboxromeo]

All three of those lads can also get forward, but none of them is natural goal scorer - and you need lads chipping in PLUS a player who might get you 10 a season, where we have just lads who'll chip in.

So it's a good midfield, and one that would be very hard to break down; but it's arguably not ideal.

Agree with this, we need to hope N'Gog gets a bit more end product from all his running and also get more goals from the wingers + M Davies, though Eagles has done ok so far in terms of goals. However, considering they're all fairly young (Petrov and NRC aside), they're only going to get better.

[bwfc_wilson]

I don't think you are over-rating it at all. The whole reason for our recent upturn in form is all down to the form of our midfield. Muamba and Nije have been solid for a while now and Petrov has been such a great outlet on the wing as well! I was amazed at Nije's fitness last night, he was driving forward making powerful long runs into the 80th minute yesterday. He was brilliant. Mark Davies got stronger as the game went along! Petrov whipped a lot of dangerous balls in in the second half. Eagles wasn't great but he can have games where he is sensational and he always works hard. If Ryo Miyaichi comes in and makes an impact before Holden and Lee we suddenly have a very strong looking midfield!

[whatsgoingon]

In terms of central midfielders who in the prem have a better combo than NRC, Muamba and M Davies at the moment. IMO theyve played United, Liverpool and Arsenal and haven't been bettered, even though we lost at United we didn't lose the midfield battle and in the second half bossed for decent periods.

[H. Pedersen]

The 4-5-1 formation has made a ton of difference.  It allows Davies to focus on getting forward, allows Muamba to focus on defense, and allows NRC to do a bit of both.