TT BLOG

Chris Wade- @tufcchris

Chris discusses the midfielder

I love being a football fan. Nobody agrees on anything and that is absolutely fine.

During Paul Wotton’s first season in charge, there were several stand out players who rightfully took the accolades. You had the leadership and dominance of young Sam Dreyer at the back. There was the pedigree, skill and leadership of Matt Jay when he arrived. The ability, flair and finishing of Jordan Young, and the battling, fight and goals of Cody Cooke upfront. They took the end of season awards, but some flew under the radar more.

Dan Hayfield was one of those, and one that created much debate amongst Torquay supporters. Signed on a contract from Bath City, he was one of a number of exciting players that joined last summer. A friend of mine who is a Bath supporter told me that he had been one of the best midfielders in the division in recent years. His pre-season free kick screamer at Tiverton did nothing to dampen the excitement.

He is the sort of central midfield player that I like. Strong, full of running and with a goal in him. He was virtually ever present in Wotton’s midfield all season. An early season belter at Chesham United illustrated what he can do, and a finish arriving in the box against Chippenham at Plainmoor shortly afterwards also showed a different side to his game. He fulfilled lots of different roles within the team, starting further forward in a 3-5-2, before playing a much deeper role in a 4-2-3-1 formation in the second half of the season.

There were some supporters however that felt that he lacked quality of passing and didn’t affect games enough. But that isn’t always the lot of a central midfield player. Yes, there were times where his passing across midfield and in between the lines didn’t have the required quality, and it could slow attacks down. But his role in the team has been more than that. A lot of his defensive work went unnoticed and he regularly broke up play and got us onto the front foot. His role was very important to us.

So, I was pleased to see him extend his contract for a further year beyond this season about to start. One of the key factors in our favour at the start of this season is that we have some continuity and stability that we didn’t have last season. Hayfield is one of those players that knows his role and what is needed of him. The tweaks and adjustments through midfield, along with better quality players in there alongside him should lead to a better output from midfield.