Mauricio Pellegrino has claimed that Wesley Hoedt has been left out not for disciplinary reasons nut tactical, but can we believe that ?

Mauricio Pellegrino has spoken about the ommision of Wesley Hoedt from his starting line up in the last two games.

He said:

“Just tactical reasons because I feel now I have a lot of players can do it well but I can’t control a social media story. "

“I made my decision thinking about the team and to try to find the best way for every single game.”

But you have to question whether Pellegrino is actually telling the truth or covering up the real reasons behind Hoedt's absence.

He talks about social media stories, but they have appeared because they are plausible, certainly most were baffled when Hoedt was named as substitute against Arsenal and when he did not even make the bench for the Leicester game that got tongues wagging.

That perhaps suggests that this was not tactical but there is an issue, Hoedt has been one of our better performers when he has been played, you do not just go from having him as arguably a man of the match performer in your team to not even making the bench in the space of a week.

That was not in any way shape of form tactical and for Pellegrino to even suggest it was is somewhat insulting to the supporters intelligence.

Maya Yoshida is popular amongst Saints supporters for his attitude and 100% commitment, but few would claim he is a better player than Hoedt, he has his strengths but to be blunt and nothing against Yoshida, we paid a big fee for Wesley Hoedt for a good reason, the fact that he was suddenly dropped from the team was not tactical.

You make tactical changes up front or in midfield, usually at the back you try to get a solid stable and consistent back four or three, changes are made usually on the base of form only.

Of course Pellegrino has to say something, people are asking him why Hoedt is missing, especially in the media, but it is short sighted of him to try and cover it upby suggesting it is tactical, after all that is virtually an ommision he got his tactics totally wrong.

The manager would have been better to have fielded the questions with a straight bat and said very little, of course that would have left the tongues wagging, but that is better than trying to convince the supporters that Hoedt's absence is part of some masterplan, especially as that masterplan seems to have gone totally wrong.

It will be interesting to see how this now pans out, part of the managers problem is clearly that he has issues with his two biggest signings Hoedt and Lemina, add to that Boufal and Gabbiadini are clearly not happy with the roles they have been playing this season and Pellegrino is at odds with almost half of what should be his outfield starting XI given the transfer fees paid.

The big question is how Pellegrino turns this around, he has a a divided dressing room, but how divided is it ? is it the manager out on a limb at odds with all his squad, or is it just Hoedt or Lemina who are the problem ?

Solving the problem is a little tricky, if it is just two players then it can be turned around by Pellegrino, but the performance against Leicester City suggests that it is not, that was not a squad uniting together behind their manager, it was one that appeared leaderless and bemused.

Adrenalin carried us through during most of the Arsenal game, but it was drained out of us by the way the team was allowed to run itself into the ground with no real change till it was too late, against Leicester the life, confidence and belief was gone fro the team.

Social media is a dangerous thing in football, however what professional players want from their managers is honesty and consistency, Puel had the former but lacked consistency in his team selections that caused issues that cost him his job, will Pellegrino go the same way ?

We do not have a big enough squad to handle too many changes, especially at the back where we have four defenders who are truly International class and then several who are good back ups including Yoshida and Stephens, there is not enough competition at the back to warrant changes tactically, the quality is not there to truly challenge Soares, Hoedt, VVD & Bertrand for their places either in terms of performance or tactically.

If Pellgrino had explained just why it was necessary then perhaps we would have believed him, but the proof of the pudding was in the eating and we all know what happened.

A big end of year programme now looms for the manager, by the end of it he will either have showed his strength or will be heading for the exit, all we fans ask is that he is straight with us, of course he cannot reveal every little issue behind the scenes, but he needs to be honest and not try to tell us something that it is plain to see is not the real reasons.

If Pellegrino cannot be straight in his press conferences then how can he be so in his dressing room.

I truly hope that he turns out to be the greatest manager this football club has ever had, I wish that for all our managers as I do for all our players, but I also try to tell it how it is, that is why some thing I hate Yoshida, I don't and I don't hate Pellegrino either, I want him to succeed.

Photo: Action Images

the_saint added 11:26 - Dec 16 Most of us thought puel was out of his depth tactically and his rotation and subs were baffling so he got sacked a new man comes in and is a carbon copy of puel now the question is how two back to back managers be the same? The answer is they are not somebody at the club is having to much of a say on how they want the team to play. Deadly silence from the board. Koeman went as he wouldn’t toe the line and no manager can say anything as they would of signed a disclaimer in their contract as would have the players no doubt. So to sumerise it all up it’s a complete mess and the only people that can sort it is our Chinese owners

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landerwal added 11:43 - Dec 16 It might be that a transfer for VVD is already done and dusted and Yoshida and Stephens are getting match fit prior to the Dutchman leaving in January
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IWOZTHERE added 11:57 - Dec 16 We thought we were 'on the mend', but after Leicester I feel as helpless as the players and manager looked that evening. Even before that, there were some strange selection and substitution decisions being made, but crticisms were low key because we APPEARED to be improving. I reserved judgement on that, because our 'improvement' was against fairly 'open' sides, I wanted to see how we played against the likes of say Palace and Huddersfield? I thought Leicester would be one of those, but they were a class act and just steamrollered us. We'll learn a lot about the players' mindset and character today, but back on subject...We appear to have a number of disillusioned players on the books. Is MP rotating to try to keep everyone happy ? If so he's wrong, he's making everyone unhappy...Or does he put the names in a hat? It's no surprise they sometimes play like strangers.

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larry12 added 12:09 - Dec 16 Hoedt is a slow t*sser and would have got murdered by that shiiitehouse Vardy. QED thickos! Also can someone tell the Saint the difference between to and too please?
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the_saint added 13:19 - Dec 16 I know the difference Larry one has one o the other two 👍
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kenis added 13:19 - Dec 16 I think the tactical/football reasons could have been any, all or a combination of the following list and don’t agree with the “it must be something else” thinking 1) in training Yoshida might have shown a bit more commitment, form and/or fitness than Hoedt. Wages and transfer fees should be irrelevant to the manager when selecting the best team, it’s not a computer game 2) Yoshida has more Prem experience, and Hoedt didn’t have a good game against Bournemouth and perhaps his play has been too predictable for opposition tacticians. Can’t tell but may be he’s more vocal than Hoedt - he seems to get the armband when Davis not playing. 3) Hoedt may not be able to be fully fit for run of games so MP is thinking which ones does he want him fit for over Xmas and isn’t just looking game by game when thinking about the squad 4) if VVD is going in Jan MP may have wanted to give Yosh game time on the right of centre alongside the “best” centre half in the club 5) if MP thinks VVD best position is on left of centre (more on possibly why below) then he’s left with a choice of VVD or Hoedt, so not totally surprising that VVD might play 6) tactically against arsenal it was 100% clear to me why Stephens played and not Hoedt. MP2 set the team up to switch between 4 and 5 at the back depending whether we had the ball or not with Stephens asked to tuck into a three and WP drop into the right wing back position and then push on and Stephens go wide as needed. Stephens had a great game and WP and Stephens looked like they followed the managers plan and instructions, so after doing well kept his place (I think a tired Tadic - who should have been subbed for Davis earlier - was at fault for not pressing to prevent the cross). If Soares had been fit or of MP2 thought Pied was as good he may not have played that way. 7) with Soares and Pied (who as a converted winger isn’t as good defensively) aren’t playing or not fully fit then if VVD plays on the right next to Stephens/Ward-Prowse then there is a lack of pace down that side. Against Leicester with Vardy and Mahrez that would be a major weakness so Yoshida might get the nod on the right side and you are back to whose better on the left Hoedt or VVD. 8) Even with Soares fit MP2 might have wanted what he felt was his fastest back three around VVD, so Hoedt misses out. So lots of reasons why tactically/football reasons why Hoedt might have missed out! Leicester was a blip, whether it’s down to the players complacency after the good games they had played or rotation or the manager not motivating them right or getting his prep right, it was one game after three/four “good” games so let’s not jump on every comment or one result. Puel’s return shows maybe we should have given him another season and reminds us that MP1 was unusual, it normally takes managers time to adapt and let’s give him time. Every manager coming into the Prem is going to be dealing with the most expensive squad they’ve ever managed and have the highest paid players they’ve worked with, let’s give him time and stop chopping and changing. We aren’t getting beat week in week out by cricket scores and look good when we connect the dots, Lemina, Hoedt look like great signings, Hoijbjerg and Boufal look better in their second seasons and Austin is scoring and fit and Gabbi has shown is quality Andrew is just out of form. The future is bright, or it could be, let’s back the team through this tough run and intimidate the Huddersfield players and fans by lifting the roof at SMS! COYS

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IWOZTHERE added 14:10 - Dec 16 If larry aged 12 was that clever he would have noticed that there were 4 or 5 grammatical errors in the saint's post. The meaning was still obvious though, so what's the problem?
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the_saint added 15:59 - Dec 16 If Larry is 12 his parents should be having a word about his vocabulary
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A_Saint_in_Stoke added 16:13 - Dec 16 OK, We are now at halftime and 1-0 against Chelsea ..... personally I could not see the idea behind SO MANY CHANGES AGAIN - sorry but it makes no sense whatsoever! yes I know we can't play the same team in every match - but does it not show he doesn't know his best starting formation? Let us see what MP does in the second half? when/if he makes substitutions - at what time - and if they're effective.

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IanRC added 17:01 - Dec 16 and for the second game running Yoshida gifts the opposition a goal, lost the player he was marking for Leicester's 4th and concedes a needless free kick from which they win the game today. Looks like both regular full backs picked up injuries so we are well and truly in trouble.
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SonicBoom added 19:02 - Dec 16 Nick you ask how the manager can be honest with the players if he can't be honest in interviews? Seriously? I like your opinions but that is frankly naive. Is any manager honest in interviews? They say what they want us to know. Ferguson was the best and he was famous for saying nothing in the press and yet controlling the players in private. But at least you knew that was the case. MP says things that simply don't make sense. I hope to god that he says something different in private.

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AirFlorida added 23:48 - Dec 16 Sod all the semantic chat.. 18 games, four wins and against which teams?!! Rudderless management, scared management, waiting for the enevitable management. MESSAGE TO THE BOARD: you've left it too late. Palace, Everton and Westham (all were bottom 3 teams we managed to beat) were in trouble and they responded. What are we waiting for... a win against Huddersfield to tell us everything is great? WAKE UP ! We are in free fall.

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saintfrance added 14:17 - Dec 18 IanRC, don't take it out on Yoshi, VVD was culpable for at least two Leicester goals, glad to see him on the bench and won't be sorry when he goes. MP needs to make any subs much earlier they are always too late to be effective and I agree his team selections are strange, we have a good poacher in Gabbi but let him run around getting good positions and not give him service, then sub him for Charlie and suddenly there's service, very strange and won't be surprised if he hands in transfer request.

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