Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber
Thus says Kemo
That is the process of converting a natural in the hole player to a deeper lying midfield play maker. The transition is harder than most realise. I mean, a player of Scholes' ilk had issues switching between the two roles (i.e 2000 when Veron arrived he was awful when pushed back into Cantona role, then 2004-2006 when Veron left, he had 2 flat years upon his return to midfield.)Problem is, when you're looking at his finishing, shooting or passing in the final third, you can't help but wonder if he can even cut it as a second striker.
I very much agree with the claim that midfielders tend to mature late. You sometimes see a young one doing briiliantly, but for every Fabregas there's a Xavi. Problem is you'd like to see some progress over time and I'm not sure we are. He has the odd good match or a few good ones, then he's back to being terrible. You never know what to expect. Unplayable on his day, impossible to play with on other days.
What is encouraging is his top performances have got far better than before. What he now needs to do is bring his bottom performance to a much higher level, and master the art of defending consistently in midfield without over relying on form.