Latics Midfielding Crisis

We always said we had too many midfielders, now with two down we are starting to look a little short on quality midfielders.

Ahead of the game this weekend, we had four fit midfielders. Three of whom are harden Premier League veterans who are coming into their prime, while we had one young lad looking to get in on the action (the verdict on him is still to be decided). Yet with James McArthur now likely to remain out for this weekends game, and Ben Watson missing till after Christmas we have two senior midfielders with on young man who will need to make an impact.

First to the injuries, and James McArthur is again a 50-50 chance of playing this coming weekend. But if he was 50-50 to face Liverpool then surely it must be closer to 60-40 to face Reading now? Or am I just over complicating things? The short story is that we miss McArthur and the longer we are without him, the more it will hurt out points tally.

The same could be said for Ben Watson who had two fantastic games one against Tottenham, the having a good half an hour against Liverpool. There is good news though, Ben will not have to have surgery which could have seen him miss the rest of the season, he is likely to be in training come the end of December early January. When he will be match fit all depends on how he recovers.

So who are we left with? James McCarthy who alongside his former Hamilton team mate has had a really great start to the season. Even in his absence he has continued the trend, as James himself starts to re-emerge as the player we all thought he could develop into.

McCarthy will be partnered by David Jones who since signing last season has been one of our most versatile players. You need a man like him who can play anywhere you need him on the pitch, although he doesn't quite have the nack for it that Paul Scharner did. Jones a former Manchester United player will slot in well, as he has done; however it is the cover on the bench that could be the problem.

It is the unknown Frazer Fyvie who will be the gamble for the club. Roberto Martinez likes to give his young players plenty of time to bed in before giving them real Premier League experience. When Fyvie played for Latics against Bradford in the league cup, I wasn't overly impressed. He seemed to want to do too much and almost cut himself out of the game. Yet the chance to play in the Premier League and the pressure of it maybe what he need to kick start his Latics career.

So our situation in the middle could be a worry if we end up with anyone else out, but hopefully our new Scottish star car rise to the opportunity.