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Comment | Silva Rumours Mount
at 15:04:26
If we're not going to sack the manager, we'd better get a couple of new players instead! |
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Comment | Saints Want Walcott To Return As Part Of Van Dijk Deal !
at 16:37:38
I agree with most comments, that this won't happen. And maybe our fans don't want him, but he is exactly the kind of player we still need. And to say he can't score goals is just silly. He got 19 in 37 games fro Arsenal last year....think about it...that's 2 goals more than Tadic, Redmond, Boufal, Ward-Prowse and Davis all COMBINED. He's scored at a rate of about 1 in 4 games over his career with Arsenal. Our blokes think they've earned their mega-salaries if they make one shot attempt every 4 games! |
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Comment | Saints V West Ham United The Verdict
at 20:31:27
Great to score and to win of course, and altogether not a bad performance. I'm one who is maybe less worried about the CBs and more about two other areas. I think the CB situation is evolving and, whilst not perfect right now, it's not going to be our biggest weak link.
First, I agree with the many comments about Forster. As an ex-goalie myself, I've never seen a more puzzling keeper. Have things changed in football such that it's now a good thing for a goalie to be rooted to the line rather than dominating the 6-yard box? There's nothing that puts pressure on CBs more than a goalie who won't take charge, and FF doesn't even seem to think about doing that. Plus, playing the way he does puts a premium on a) his shot handling and b) his reflexes. As we saw yesterday he drops (or parries) shots, and b) can make reflex saves but is slow to recover from them. I don't think we can challenge for Europe with this goalie.
Second, if we're playing three up front (from amongst Gabbiadini, Tadic, Redmond, Austin Boufal, Long--all of whom have pretty modest goalscoring records) the fourth man high will always pick up a lot of shooting chances. The two players we use in that position (Ward-Prowse or Davis) are both simply hopeless when it comes to hitting the target. Unless one of those two suddenly works out where the goal is, we desperately need at least one new midfielder who can occasionally score a goal.
I feel as if it's going to be a more fun season than last because the tactics have so far been a bit more open. But there's definitely some problem areas, so I doubt we're going to do much better than last year's league position with the current squad.
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Comment | Saints At Liverpool The Verdict !
at 20:45:46
Happy as I am, and impressed as I am by that performance by the players, I think some of the commentary about Puel is a bit over-exuberant and definitely premature. I still maintain he's basically a gambler....in most games he starts out looking for 0-0 and gambles that he'll win his share by the odd goal. Last night he set the stall for another 0-0 and he rode his luck. Most intelligent gamblers have the occasional big win, but most tend to lose more than they win.
That said, the 0-0 strategy was a feasible choice for this game, where 0-0 meant winning. The players were committed and determined and that was the difference between the dross we've been watching lately and this game. Kudos to the players; still holding back judgment on Puel
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Comment | Saints V Leicester City The Verdict
at 16:41:59
Great result, and it shows that the players can actually attack and score when Puel takes off the shackles. The dreary negative stuff we've been seeing (where Puel sets out for 0-0 and gambles we can win as many 1-0 as 0-1) is all down to tactics rather than team choice (the midfielders apart from Romeu are supposed to interchangeable). When you see 3 midfielders playing holding roles, that's pure Puel. When he lets them out of jail like the Everton game, Bournemouth, as well as yesterday and the last couple of games, they start to look as if they cn play football. Let's hope Puel is as encouraged by the success as much as the fans are!
Meanwhile, though, even if he decides to play more positively, he STILL needs to be able to have more confidence in his front three to put the ball in the net. Tadic and Rodriguez are not top-class this season but I can see why you'd persevere with them. But we've had 30 games of Redmond and he isn't getting any better.
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Comment | Should Saints Play Jose Fonte Against Norwich City
at 04:21:42
I say play him if he's needed. Cup-tying him probably won;t matter, coz honestly who is a real potential buyer at the kind of terms he would want? I don't believe Saints will find a buyer willing to give him what he wants. |
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Comment | Saints At Bournemouth The Preview
at 08:37:14
I can eat humble pie when necessary, but it's actually not all that necessary this time. I think it's true what I said about starting out with the aim of getting 0-0. That's been true every game this season and was true against B'mouth. Then serendipity comes in with a piece of individual brilliance from Bertrand..a goal completely unrelated to the way we set up and played. So, I think that at half-time you all out there surely must have been agreeing with me, no? Dismal, negative football with three defensive midfielders and no link from the back 7 to front 3. Sideways passing and 2nd gear movement. As per normal. The change at half time was a positive one, but it also shows the correctness of the other half of what I was saying, I think. It wasn't that Davis is such a great attacking player (have we ever thought of him as that?), but he had his instructions for the 2nd half. For some reason Puel decided it was ok to try to go forward and win the game. We've seen it now against Arsenal and Everton and now for a half against B'mouth. In some ways that's the most infuriating part about Puel's management...the players are capable of great attacking football, but 90% of the time he sets them up so that they are not allowed to. I can't explain why he pushed forward today. But I'll say one thing. If anyone (like dirk doone) thinks out goal problems are over, i bet you'll be nodding off in the next game just like in most of our attempts to scale the heights of the 0-0 draw.
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Comment | Saints At Bournemouth The Preview
at 12:16:11
The party line on this site is getting too absurd...it's Pravda in the height of Soviet communism. The fact is, it doesn't even matter that we don't have a single player who knows how to regularly put a round ball in a rectangular net. The fact is, the manager's tactics don't rely upon that feat and really don't even include it in calculations!! The manager plays for a 0-0 game every week, and he then gambles that some weeks we will get a break and score a winning goal. He's basically gambling correctly...a disciplined functioning team will draw most of its games and luck will decide whether it wins or loses the rest. So the record is pretty much what a gambler would expect...5 wins, 5 losses, 6 draws. Great for position high in the table. But total nightmare for football. I've been watching the Saints thru thick and thin for nearly 5 decades. I've never seen such calculating negativity. People on this site talk about personnel selection, but it really doesn't matter; what is operative is the negative calculation of the manager. Every now and then he loosens his grip, like against Everton...then you saw Hojberg and JWP look like Hazard, and McQueen was playing llke Cruyff, and VVD was marauding up front. It's not the players; they do whatt hey're told.. It's the coach. He doesn't let them play attacking football except on special occasions. The default mode is play for the 0-0 draw and see if you get lucky. That's what he'll set up for today with Bournemouth, basically gambling that our neighbours' attacking genes will lead to that one mistake that will allow some stupid lucky Saints goal. If Saints win it'll be 1-0, or by one goal, and a 33% chance of thatl. A draw is 33% likely. Bournemouth win by one or many more goals, 33%. Puel doesn't care which of those results happens because the odds are reset the next week. and over the course of the season we'll get 30 wins and 30 percent draws, and do quite well in the table...though we'll never win anything. But who wants to watch that shit anyway? Saints have become the most negatve and boring and tactically cynical team in the Premier. Every game, doesn't matter the opponent, the defafult desire is 0-0. It's a travesty, and the sooner that people like Nick start seeing what's really going on and objecting, the sooner fan power might mean something.
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Comment | Saints Fans Want To See Full Side Out In Prague
at 16:45:50
I certainly don't disagree. However as far as I can see the team we put out on Sunday was pretty much our best 11. And they proceeded to play according to Puel''s tactics and gave us arguably the most negative game of football we've seen from a Saints side at home in decades. At this point it's not so much a bout squad rotation, but we should be thinking more about Puel's general tactics which by and large have made all of our games less interesting Or attractive than we're used to, and in some cases they been downright dismal and negative |
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Comment | Saints At Manchester City The Verdict
at 01:59:15
I don't know what to make of my sense these last 2 games that Boufal is pretty much the same player as Tadic.
Apart from that strange ness, great point at city! Romeu def yes, back four def yes. Clasie my only scapegoat today, giving the ball away and making bad decisions all day.
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Comment | Saints At Leicester City The Verdict
at 06:43:06
@davepid you and the others must have necked a few to not be bored!
But seriously, almost no comments about Redmond, our new Henry "striker" ??? Plays every single minute of 7 premiership games, has one goal and no assists, and honestly, never really looks like scoring.
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Comment | Saints At Leicester City The Verdict
at 19:16:04
My first live match for a while! Taking our chances in front of goal is obviously the biggest problem. If Redmond is going to be considered a striker, should he not make a strike from time to time? He seems to be the only non-defender who has an automatic place but he is basically toothless. That's my only real complaint, though I admit I fear that "the system" is making our lads more boring to watch than they've been for a while.
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Comment | Saints Lining Up Audacious Loan Move For Keeper
at 15:42:03
What is the real story with the Boruc loan? Are we allowed to recall him, or not? Up until reading this, I'd been under the impression that there was no recall clause. |
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Comment | Saints Now Have The Firepower Available Lets Use It !
at 15:36:42
FWIW, I agree with stmichael and have said before...yes, Pelle is playing a different role, but he's just not been doing it well. Last few games he's won almost nothing in the air, failed to complete any kind of pass, his lay-offs have been undirected, etc. I think that's a matter of form rather than lack of ability. Don't want to take too many leaves out of Liverpool's book, but they revived their sterile attack by leaving out the big central strikers and using tiny Sterling as a forward man. It was a bold move and it worked, but RK doesn't seem to have an answer of that sort up his sleeve at the moment. |
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Comment | Pelle Not Scoring But Still In Form
at 17:56:41
I disagree for different reasons than @Zambucco. It's true Pelle seems to be being deployed deeper, but I don't agree he is playing that role well at all. His lay-offs and passing have been woeful for the last few games. Worse, once he's played the ball he becomes immobile and essentially takes himself out of every move. Watch him carefully and you'll see the hesitation and the lack of ideas once he's he's played the ball. It's just common sense to say that we need cover for him but haven't got it; the problem as I see it is what to do instead?
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Comment | Where Have All The Goals Gone ?
at 14:49:43
I think the article diagnoses the problem, but more questions need to be asked to solve it. I've said in my last couple of posts that I think the issues are two. 1) Why does Rodriguez get an automatic start? 2) Is Lallana good enough to be the only 'creative' midfielder?
For the record, my answers are: 1) Can't imagine. Drop him and play another midfielder (Davis, Cork, Ramirez, Ward-Prowse). 2) No, but not sure there's anyone on the bench who's any better; espcecially with Ramirez being essentially a disappointment, this needs to get addressed in the transfer window I think. |
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Comment | Saints Can Win At Anfield If They Get The Tactics Right
at 16:41:20
Anyone asking for Wanyama to push forward is asking for trouble. He's not that player. Seems to me you add Cork to Wanyama you get good defensive cover from W and forward linkage from Cork. I'd keep on playing Osvaldo and Lambert together...class will shine through soon enough I think. For me the real problems are ones that aren't mentioned such a lot here...1) What is Rodriguez doing to earn an automatic start? 2) Is Lallana good enough to be our attacking midfielder, and if he isn't who is? |
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Comment | Saints V West Ham The Verdict
at 17:24:21
Cork, definitely, should be back in. But not as Santos suggests, behind VW and MS. VW is great at what he does but he's a limited player, and he has to stay back as cover for the back 4. Cork and Schneiderlin offer much more going forward, including the one thing missing on Sunday--a link-up to the front 4. And there's the problem, it was almost a 4-2-4 on Sunday and right from the start West Ham shut down the middle 2, stranding the front 4.
If we solve that problem with Cork, then for me (who thinks Osvaldo and Lambert have to play together) Rodriguez has to drop out. It's hard to see what he really contributes in the current formation, and he's probably the least skilled of Sunday's front 4. If he goes and Cork comes in, one other hard question remains for me....Is Llalana really good enough to be our primary attacking midfielder, and if he isn't who have we got? Ramirez, Ward-Prowse, Davis. For better or worse, it has to be one of them. Honestly, none of them inspires confidence that they're up to it, and this surely has to be addressed in the next transfer window? |
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Comment | Dan Seaborne To Go Out On Loan
at 16:57:43
I know he's injured at the moment, but Cork makes a pretty handy CB in my view--at least he was when he was on loan to us. I'm surprised that he hasn't been used there recently. |
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Comment | Loan Move For Kelvin ?
at 14:48:15
I pointed out last week that at this level you cannot stick with a bloke who's let in 14 goals in 4 games. Doesn't matter how much you love him, respect him, owe him, etc. Putting Gazzaniga in was the ONLY thing NA could have done this week. Let's hope Boruc is worth his salt, Gazza becomes reliable back-up and KD plays only in an emergency. Still the big question keeps coming up in my mind: why didn't we get a new keeper in the sumer? |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 0 | | Comment Votes: | 22 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 22 |
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