I think our midfield was extremely good a few years ago.
But most of our midfield is on the way down. Also speed and power has become increasingly important for footballers in the last 2 years and our midfield has very little of either. So what was a once a gun midfield is now a lesser version of itself - and in an era where the particular weakness this midfield has always possessed (lack of speed) is more easily exposed. Also Dunkley was literally our best midfielder last year, and he was still on his way up. Losing him doesn't help.
To put names to this, I think Macrae, Treloar, and Libba in particular are all on the way down (and were last year too). We've always asked too much of Bont, and I think this year he simply can't meet the demands. So I'm not down on any of those players.
The one who I am down on is Bailey Smith, who has very much gone backwards. His disposal has never been good. But last year it regressed and this year it has regressed again. In my view, he is not by any stretch of the imagination "a superstar". I think right now he is actually quite ordinary.
One more thing - I have thought for 5 years that Bevo's gameplan puts way too much load on the midfielders. They have been expected to win a ridiculous amount of ball and then do most of our defending and most of our attacking. That was never fair - and it was to their credit that they carried that load for so long. But I always thought it would eventually grind them into the dust. And that is one of the things I believe is happening right now.
