| News Comment | If Ward Prowse Is Unfit Southampton Can Still Cope ! at 09:48:46
JWP can't be considered as one of the best midfielders in the PL until he learns to make space for himself to receive the ball, turn and move it forward, rather than pass it straight back or sideways. His pass completion rates are good, I'd like to see his passing map. |
| News Comment | Ings And Cedric In Contention For Burnley Game at 16:58:48
I hope Cedric is fit to play. I went to last Saturday's match with high hopes for a good display from Targett, having read the reports of his previous performance. I was disappointed to see that not much has changed. He continually turned back and inside onto his left foot, he's clearly out of position on the right. He doesn't offer enough going forward to be part of a 5 man defence as he lacks pace and doesn't get up and down the line. Even when he plays on the left he checks back as soon as someone from midfield moves across to cover. He does deliver a good ball if he gets into position. |
| News Comment | Saints At Crystal Palace The Verdict at 17:15:07
Let's not get carried away by Forster's 'great saves'. One shot hit his leg and the other his body, he's a big man he has to get in the way sometimes. |
| News Comment | Fonte Set To Move To West Ham United at 13:41:10
The suggestions that this is primarily down to Fonte's agent and the linked suggestion that Fonte thinks he's bigger than the club are no more than speculation. Like SanMarco I think that a more plausible explanation is that Fonte doesn't get on with Puel. We do know that Fonte was unhappy about being excluded from the Europa cup games and West Ham can hardly be considered as a big step up for a player who thinks he is too good for Saints. |
| News Comment | Saints V Liverpool The Preview at 15:45:41
Law101 I'm afraid you're right. I'm not expecting a high intensity high press performance, I just think that's what it will take to win. The tactics you describe may get a draw at home, if we're lucky like last time, but if Liverpool score then that's goodbye...... |
| News Comment | Saints V Liverpool The Preview at 14:43:21
Tonight is a big night and I will be getting behind the Saints. If we are going to beat Liverpool over two legs we will need a much better performance than anything we have seen so far this season. Better performances and bolder tactics from the players and the manager. As Claude Puel says we will need to control the game, but to do that we need to keep possession and move the ball forward with accuracy and speed. When we don't have the ball we need to press them fiercely until we recover it, and all this for 90 minutes. Passing the ball sideways and backwards when you are in possession and dropping 10 men behind the ball when you are not does not count as control even if you have majority possession. |
| News Comment | MacDou-goal ! The Ted MacDougal Story at 12:39:20
The current squad, including Charlie Austin could learn a lot from watching some archive footing of Ted. He wasn't quick over 10 yards or even 5 but he didn't have to be. He managed somehow to get in front of the defender and knew exactly where the goal was. He could shovel the ball in from anywhere inside the box. |
| News Comment | Saints V Chelsea The Verdict at 17:55:26
SaintNick you are wrong to criticise the fans for not turning out to the Sunderland game. 20,000 showed up to watch what was effectively our reserve side. That sounds pretty impressive to me. Mind you it won't be easily replicated given what we had to endure on the night. |
| News Comment | Oriol Romeu Making Wanyama A Distant Memory at 21:33:28
I agree with Dirk_Doons observation that we should not accuse our African players of sulking. Personally my criticism of VW was that he couldn't move the ball forward. Mane was a great asset, someone who can turn a game, but was inconsistent. My issue with Ward Prowse is not that he doesn't give 100%, but that his 100% is not good enough. The same applies to a Clasie. Targett shows flashes of potential but needs to go down the line much more often. I think that is to do with confidence and perhaps a lack of pace. |
| News Comment | Saints V Crystal Palace The Verdict at 13:20:54
I agree wholeheartedly with the comments about Hesketh and Reed. They both played with great promise, Ward constructively and Reed in a more defensive role. Anyone seeing Saints for the first time would have had know way of knowing that Ward Prowse and Clasie were the established midfielders. I don't agree with Nick's comment that Charlie Austin has recovered his touch. He scored from the penalty spot, but missed a hatful of easy chances in open play. He's getting into position but his finishing is a long way wide of the mark at the moment. |
| News Comment | Koeman Departure Has Silver Lining For Dusan Tadic at 15:46:46
I read this twice to see if I'd missed something but it really is empty speculation." Media are reported as saying Tadic wants a longer contract now that Koeman has left". Show us some respect Nick, if we want BS we'll read the Daily Mail. |
| News Comment | Saints V Liverpool The Verdict at 13:54:40
I don't think the Long incident in the first half was a penalty. The MOTD replay from behind Long clearly showed him to change direction an run in front of Lovren, once in the box creating the contact that caused him to fall. The ball continued in its path and was well away to the left. If he had kept his feet and continued to move away from Lovren he could have scored. He does have a tendency to look for the foul in these situations. |
| News Comment | Saints V Chelsea The Verdict at 07:45:46
Two soft goals for all the reasons mentioned above, but we didn't deserve much from this game. We lost control when 3-5-3 became 5-3-2. Targett in particular dropped too deep leaving a tiring Romeu, Classe and Davis completely overwhelmed in midfield by Willian, Hazard, Fabregas and Michel. You can't give that much space to players of that class and expect to come away with the points. |
| News Comment | Saints V West Ham United The Verdict at 09:48:31
I agree with Simmo's views on Wanyama. Even before he was red carded his main contribution was to slow things down and move the ball backwards rather than forwards. We should also be clear about the formation. Once Saints scored we reverted to 5 at the back and this gave West Ham the opportunity to dominate the midfield and take the game to us. We only had Clasie and Wanyama in midfield. At half-time it looked to me as though West ham would go on and win. We were saved ironically by the sending off, which brought Romeu on and brought a bit of passion to players and supporters. People keep talking about Wanyama's sale, but who is going to buy him? |
| News Comment | Saints At Manchester United The Verdict at 08:04:30
Where was Steve Davis? Rested, injured? He's been outstanding the last two games and his presence over Tadic could have given us an even more emphatic win. |
| News Comment | Wanyama Could Yet Sign A New Deal ! at 15:00:06
If Wanyama is close to signing a new deal it will be because his agent has come to realise what some of us have been saying for a while, which is that no top premier league team would pay top dollar for a midfield player with his poor passing skills. |
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