Josh Ravenscroft talks about why we can be confident in the Alex midfield at this level.
James Jones, Danny Hollands, Billy Bingham, Callum Ainley, George Cooper, Oliver Finney, Ryan Wintle, Liam Smith, Charlie Kirk and of course loanee Alex Kiwomya. The Engine Room. The Middle of the park. The Midfield – call it what you will there is no doubting the fact it is a vital part of any team and any game and for a league 2 side ours is a very respectable one.
At Ewood Park last Tuesday, the midfield quartet of Cooper, Hollands, Bingham and Kiwomya, seemed to play as well as if not better than the midfield outlet the Championship side of Blackburn Rovers had to offer. New signing Danny Hollands appeared to slot into the side perfectly, on what was his first full game in a Crewe Alexandra shirt. If we are to have a successful season, I believe it is vital to have a midfield selection available that are playing both consistently and well, like they did in the EFL round two match against Championship opposition. During the cup tie we often looked to go forward and had some spells in which we would knock the ball around with first touch passing, causing the chant ‘It’s just like watching Brazil’ who are famed for ‘that’ style of football. ‘Brazil’ may have been exaggerating the team a bit too much, but we certainly played in a manner which you would happily pay to watch – which has been a rarity over the previous couple of seasons.
With Crewe since the Murphy Westwood Powell days, we have been searching for the ever illusive midfielder that will tackle and look to find that pass which will launch a dangerous attack – I believe we have found that man now, he is called Danny Hollands. Even though one swallow does not make a summer. Hollands’ debut for The Alex had many positive signs, for the player personally and, for the future of the engine room at Crewe Alexandra. There were times in the match where myself and many other fans, who were housed in the Bryan Douglas Darwen End, thought Danny looked positive – playing the ball forward and working hard to regain possession from the Blackburn Rovers midfielders.
On the way back from Blackburn I was thinking about the midfield, and who should be the partnership in the centre. I concluded Hollands should definitely be involved there but was unsure between James Jones, Billy Bingham and Callum Ainley. All have reasons for and all have reasons against, take Jonah for example, he’s young and got bags of ability (if developed right) and can shoot but is too often inclined to pass to his side or backwards. Billy Bingham is the player I would choose to partner with Hollands in the centre midfield role, he is the most experienced of the three and came to Crewe as a player who shone for his previous club Dagenham and Redbridge, as one of their most capable and efficient players. He also has a lethal long shot in his repertoire, as demonstrated by the opening goal of the cup fixture. At the tender age of 18 Callum (Ainley) is the youngest of the three I highlighted as potential partners for Hollands. Wearing the number twenty-five (25) shirt is no coincidence, remember the last person to sport that shirt, Nicholas Edward ‘Nick’ Powell – arguably one of Crewe Alexandra’s brightest talents to come through the academy. The club clearly believe Callum has potential to follow in Powell’s footsteps, and I do to, however I personally believe he just falls short of Billy (Bingham) in a quest to break into the first team, week in week out.