Is Jack Ellis The Answer In Midfield?

Carlisle United have an abundance of options in a lot of areas on the pitch right but one place they are lacking real depth is in the centre of pitch. There are a lot of attack minded midfielders such as Callum Whelan, Stephen Wearne, Elliot Embleton and Ethan Robson but as far as someone who can sit and dictate the midfield there is only really Josh Grant who’s recently been brought in from Wealdstone.

In the recent pre-season matches Jack Ellis has been used in the midfield and has impressed. The 21-year-old is a right-back by trade but has shown recently that he can play in midfield.

Today I’m going to look at the plus and negative points of starting Jack Ellis in the midfield for the start of the new season.

Positive Points

Ellis has the passing range to be able to dictate play in the midfield and can play the simple pass as well as threading through balls in to the attacking areas for the forwards.

Ellis being 21 years of age also means he has the legs and the engine to cover a lot of ground and his history of being a full-back means he isn’t shy of getting a foot in and being strong in the tackle.

Negative Points

With Ellis being being largely inexperienced it means he could be exposed if left to hold the midfield his own in certain games. He could be bullied by more experienced and stronger midfielders.

Ellis will most likely need someone to sit with him in big games in particular or the opposition will target him and try to expose the fact that he isn’t a natural midfielder.

My Opinion On Jack Ellis In Midfield

I would personally be looking to bring a defensive midfielder to sure things up in the centre of the pitch. Ellis is a great option to have but I wouldn’t want to hang my hat on Ellis being the answer to protecting our defence from midfield.

Josh Grant can play there but he hasn’t really featured in pre-season so I think Mark Hughes will be looking to add a defensive midfielder to the ranks over the next few days. If the Cumbrians sign someone with valuable experience in the position then Ellis could learn and adapt to being a midfielder over the course of the season and maybe be first choice next season.

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