Saints V Arsenal The Preview
Saturday, 26th Dec 2015 09:10

Not the game that you really want coming up on Boxing Day when you are on the crest of a slump, but hey ho !

Saints would have wished for a slightly easier game to start the festive period fixtures, but one thing that this season has thrown up in the Premier League is that any side can beat any of the others, so from that point of view Saints are far from having no hope in this game.

What it does need though is that the Saints players find that inner strength and spirit that can not only change a game, or a losing run but a season.

This is a time for leaders to appear, to stand strong and pull Saints out of this slump.

Ronald Koeman is clearly tearing his hair out at what is happening, in general our matches are following the same patterns, we dominate large periods of the game, are comfortable in others but concede soft goals through lapses in concentration and individual error.

This has to stop, Koeman has already spoke of needing to look carefully at the performances of some and consider whether some of the more fringe players might do a better job.

Whether this is the game that he does that is a different matter it will take a brave man to drop Victor Wanyama, but the reality is that he has not deserved his place in the last few games, Jordy Clasie put in a good stint against Spurs and Romeu has let no one down when picked, will Koeman go with these two as his holding midfield duo and banish Wanyama to the bench?

Arsenal have seven first teamers out injured, so the game is far from being one sided, indeed a couple of wins in the last five games and we may well have gone into this contest not only with confidence but as favourites.

But that is not the case, but we have to look at what we have done earlier in the season and believe that if we can find our confidence then this squad is more than capable of winning this game, especially with the Gunners so injury ravaged.

Another dilemma for Koeman is who does he play in goal ? Stekelenburg let nobody down when he played, but there was the feeling amongst some supporters that although he was steady, he did not make those saves that distinguish steady keepers from very good ones, there was never that crucial wonder stop that was the difference between a loss or a draw or a draw and a win.

Paulo Gazzaniga looked the part in the two games he has deputised, at Palace he made a trio of saves at a key moment and although ultimately we still lost there was a feeling that he had stopped it being much worse and that because of that we were still in the game up to the 90th minute.

So Koeman has a dilemma, does he return the steady Stekelenburg or does he contnue Gazza's development.

Overall this is going to be a tough game, but there are factors that make it far from a foregone conclusion.

Photo: Action Images

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DPeps added 09:20 - Dec 26 It's unlike me but I'm quite confident about this one. Arsenal will give us chances, it's just a matter of whether we can take them. It would be very 'Arsenal' to look like a strong and consistent side and then lose to a team playing badly! 2-1 to Saints
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SaintNick added 09:42 - Dec 26 Lets hope so
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aceofthebase added 10:46 - Dec 26 'Clasie had a fair game,! VW having a bad game is still ten times better.
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A1079 added 10:54 - Dec 26

I agree soft goals and basic errors are costing us but there is a lot of pressure on the defence and in goal when our biggest and most costly error is our inability to convert our possession into chances and our chances into goals and in the latter area our forwards and midfielders have been letting us down badly, but by and large, they appear to escape criticism from all levels. When the forwards and midfielders are failing to deliver, it means that you are asking the defence and goalkeeper to not make a mistake. They may make one mistake which will cost a goal, yet our forwards can have 10 chances and not score.

Anyway, lets hope today we will break this poor run we are on and put some points back on the table, even if it is a single point. The players will and need to work together and fight for everything, like they really want it, even if it is not pretty, not just today but on Monday and beyond.

SanMarco added 12:06 - Dec 26 Hopefully Victor will do a better job of impressing Wenger than he did with MoPo. I would be happy with 2 draws from these 2 matches but I think this one is a more likely win than the West Ham one.
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harrydunn999 added 16:09 - Dec 26

Shame Harry Reed is so out of form in reserves, fancy him sitting and doing a job on Ozil. Don't think RK will drop Wanyama, he should but don't think he will- he doesn't want to do anything that encourages players leaving once again.

If he doesn't put a shift in though, haul his ass off at half time. I would really like to see an alternative to Davis in the number 10, consistent player and let's no-one down- but he doesn't score enough or directly assist enough in the teams formation.

At the end of the day it will be the same old story of mane needs 10 chances to score. Actually think the players r gonna take the chance to impress and battle to a 2-1 win !!

IWOZTHERE added 16:45 - Dec 26 I think it was on DE site, Someone posted about the recent systems tried.......' System seems to be regarded as the end product rather than the means to an end'. Wish I'd thought of it!
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IWOZTHERE added 16:51 - Dec 26 Agree with harryd999 . Even if VW's agreed to stay till summer, on form I don't think he's worth his place.RK would be better off letting him go now.
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