The way I see it, we should always line up with three CMs: a holding midfielder (with the ability to make things tick), an enforcer/terrier and an attacking/box-to-box player.
The personnel at disposition is:
Holding player: Lucas, Shelvey
Enforcer/terrier: Spearing, Poulsen
AM/box-to-box: Gerrard, Meireles, Henderson
Upgrades are clearly needed in the two deeper positions so it's a bit perplexing why we've gone after Henderson. I can see Kenny thinking of Adam as a potential upgrade on Lucas, and while he may be a better passer, Lucas (for all that I've criticised him) probably has a better work rate and more steel than Adam. If we're looking for an upgrade on Lucas, I'd really want someone a bit more complete. I'd love Xabi back of course but I think we should look at someone like Defour. Alternatively, I'd rather groom Shelvey. Adam doesn't represent enough of a high quality enforcement for me.
As for the enforcer/terrier position, I reckon Spearing is good enough to play for us on a fairly regular basis. But we really should be looking at someone like M’vila. And if he’s too expensive, we need to look at the availability of maybe Diarra or Scott Parker. Either way, I’m not very comfortable with Spearing as the only first choice DM at the club. Should we not get an enforcement at this position, I have the horrible feeling we’re going to see unbalanced midfield line-ups throughout the course of the season, which in my book, is a sure shot recipe for disaster.
