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Comment | Southampton V Charlton Athletic The Verdict
at 11:50:39
Fair points Bowercow, there is nobody else to play the 10 role really. I’m asking Azaz to step up and show he can be a match winner. Re the subs, it was the substitution of Charles I questioned really. He was controlling the midfield and I totally get getting players but to fitness but surely he can play more than 60 minutes? It does seem as though some of our substitutions our pre-determined as opposed to reacting to the game situation. Anyway time to move on. We needed 7 points this week as a minimum and Tuesday looked the toughest of the 3 fixtures. Now we need to put in a big performance. |
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Comment | Southampton V Charlton Athletic The Verdict
at 11:21:27
A good summary. The game definitely changed with the substations- is Shea Charles not yet able to play a full match? I appreciate the need to keep players fit for a run of 3 games but surely you have to focus on winning the game on hand. Agree with the comment above about Azaz, increasingly a fair weather player in my mind who needs to step up in tighter more attritional games. Fellows is looking short on confidence and needs more variety in his play. He can’t seem to come inside and get a shot away on his left foot, looks too lightweight to do so at the moment. As for the keeper, I was all for replacing Bazunu but in fairness to Nick, Peretz is letting in goals Bazunu would be getting slaughtered for. The Charlton goal was not going to the corner and whilst he probably saw it late, he should’ve kept it out. I like his personality and energy which is refreshing but ultimately he is letting the same sorts of goals. |
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Comment | Southampton At Leicester City The Verdict
at 12:24:41
Incredible, having been at both of the matches we lost 3-0 leads this was one to savour. Regarding the goalkeeper Nick, I’m bound to come to his defence after the previous debate perhaps, but if you look at goal 1 it took a deflection I didn’t notice at the time and it would’ve been a really great save to keep out. Goal 3 I agree Bazunu would’ve been slaughtered for. In the ‘not an obvious error but should’ve saved’ category-which Baz excelled at ;-) |
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Comment | Southampton V Coventry City The Verdict
at 16:19:13
Exactly this Avior, because we commit so many players forward when in possession, we have no defensive shape when the ball is turned over. We are especially vulnerable on the flanks and we get with away it time and time due to the level of opposition we face in this league. We rely on either the wide forwards or the central midfielders to attempt to cover these spaces but it demands a lot. Totally ageee about overplaying in the final third- KWP showed last night why having a crack
from distance has its merits too! |
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Comment | Southampton V Coventry City The Verdict
at 15:22:33
I’ve not posted on here before but the extent to which Nick insists on pointing the blame at Stephens compelled me to point out that the the goal conceded had nothing to do with poor organisation due to a lack of leadership in the middle. Adam Armstrong momentarily switched off and let his man go, simple as that. Armstrong’s reaction immediately tells you he knew he was at fault. The set up is fine, Bree tucked across to cover the centre backs thanks to Armstrong tracking his man, he just let him go, it happens.
As for the statement ‘the key with possession football is to know when to put your foot through it’, this is bizarre. The key principle for all possession based teams is to be braver by passing the ball under pressure and in tight areas when the instinct is to put your foot through it. That’s not to say that I don’t advocate clearing your lines when needed but it’s not something a good possession based team is coached to do. |
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Comment | Saints V Newcastle United Dan's Preview
at 21:37:12
Not sure about that line up as a 4-3-3 Nick, you have 2 midfielders and 4 forwards. You could play that side as a 4-2-3-1 with Mane as the no 10, Long and Rodriguez either side of Mane and Pelle up top. Don't see Rodriguez starting, it'll most probably the side you've named with Davis and Clasie instead of Rodriguez and JWP. |
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Comment | Time To Back Boruc
at 12:34:31
Totally agree, he is a top keeper but does have these rushes of blood to the head in his locker but that fine line between confidence/arrogance is what makes him so commanding and imposing most of the time. Very imprtant for Saints fans not to resort to their usual ironic cheering that so many players have endured follwing errors over the years and recognise the part he has played in our defensive record. One of the 'expert' journalists' on Sunday Supplement said Saints' priority to stay in the top 6 was to buy a new keeper, clearly this writer had not seen much of us this season and preferred to highlight yesterday's error and the goal conceded at Stoke. |
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Comment | Saints V Sunderland The Verdict
at 03:48:50
No problem SaintDownUnder, have just returned from Barnsley (not Burnley as in your post!) and seen a comfortable win, good to see some of the youngsters involved, keep an eye out for Harrison Reed who came on with 10 minutes to play and looked a natural in the centre of midfield even in that short spell. Llyod Isgrove also did well and played a good three quarters of the game. Regarding Spider, I think we all concluded that he was injured on Saturday and his withdrwal was enforced, although I'm sure he wouldn't have featured tonight in any case as most of our key performers were left out and Spider is certainly in that category (Lambert, Fovren, Wanyuma, Lallana. Lambert. Boruc, Shaw, Chambers all sat out tonight). Yes great time to be a POM down under, let's just hope our cricket boys keep it up in November! |
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Comment | Saints V Sunderland The Verdict
at 11:28:35
Saint Down Under, when Schneiderlin came off Ward Prowse moved into the central midfield with Wanyuma and Osvaldo played in behind Lambert with the two rotating position although in this 4-2-3-1 the '3' and the central striker rotate positions throughout. We played higher up the field in the second half too although continued to create many clear cut chances. Ward Prowse has stated the season really well and the fact that he has been taking set pieces (and has obviously been coached in them over the Summer) suggests he is going to be a part of the team throughout the season. He played on the right of the 3 at WBA and for the first half on Saturday, the only question I have with that is whether at home he has enough flair to play in that position to break down sides who defend in numbers but away from home looks ideally suited to that position where he is excellent in defending that side of the pitch ahead of the full back . He looked at home in the central midfield area too. By the way hope you are making the most of the 3-0 Ashes win down there! Someone asked about Chambers, looks very promising and composed given his inexperience, however I would favour Clyne when fully fit who (at the moment at least) gives us a greater attacking threat from that position which is vital in providing the width in this system. |
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Comment | Saints V Sunderland The Verdict
at 12:20:21
After only 45 minutes I don't think we can draw too many conclusions as to whether Osvaldo and Lambert can play together but I disagree on the comments about player positions and thought there were some encouraging signs. It is important to stress though that players don't 'hold' positions as much as in days gone by and are expected (and do) to interchange in the attacking phases and the understanding between the current players and Osvaldo will take time to develop. Lambert is a classic example of this and I saw no difference in his positional movement in the second half, he regularly drops deep and into wide areas and that's the beauty of his game because it does so much in terms of pulling markers around. There is little point in him spending the whole game in a CF position as he doesn't have the pace to hurt the defence that way. Look at the average positions against West Brom, Lambert was marginally the furthest player forward in the match ahead of J Rod who was the closest player to him even though he is considered as a 'wide player' by many (our full backs are our designated wide players in attack augemented by others moving into these areas, usually but not always from the 3 attacking players behind Lambert). The way we are set up is for Lambert to be the notional CF but the three attacking players behind him rotate regulalrly with all looking to get beyond him when he drops into deeper or wider areas making marking and picking up more difficult. The problem comes that when a side such as Sunderland sit behind the ball, it becomes difficult to break down and moves have to be executed qucikly and accurately which did not happen enough yesterday with too much controlled but harmless possession but MP seems intent that we will keep passing and moving until we do break through. As for more shots from long range I can think of one of note when he found space and was perfectly entitled to have a go and the keeper saved it. Overall I thought the game was a little frustrating but we have to accept that against a side like Sunderland we are going to have a lot of possessionn and keep playing the same way even if it seems to go nowhere at times. I'd like to have seen us revert to a 4-4-2 in the second half, play with some width and get down the flanks but that's not MP's way. |
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Comment | J Rod In Line For England Call Up
at 10:04:21
I guess though Nick MP hopes to have the defenders with the required mobility for the system in place. I like it when we play the 4-4-1-1 which we seem to for phases of games when Jay goes up top and plays around Ricky. We did this at Villa under NA and it worked well. Overall though we are seeing a less rigid formation than that which is very exciting but as you point out Nick makes us vulnerable at times |
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Comment | J Rod In Line For England Call Up
at 10:04:18
I guess though Nick MP hopes to have the defenders with the required mobility for the system in place. I like it when we play the 4-4-1-1 which we seem to for phases of games when Jay goes up top and plays around Ricky. We did this at Villa under NA and it worked well. Overall though we are seeing a less rigid formation than that which is very exciting but as you point out Nick makes us vulnerable at times |
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Comment | J Rod In Line For England Call Up
at 10:04:14
I guess though Nick MP hopes to have the defenders with the required mobility for the system in place. I like it when we play the 4-4-1-1 which we seem to for phases of games when Jay goes up top and plays around Ricky. We did this at Villa under NA and it worked well. Overall though we are seeing a less rigid formation than that which is very exciting but as you point out Nick makes us vulnerable at times |
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Comment | J Rod In Line For England Call Up
at 09:46:13
I'd agree that in a defensive 4-5-1 it makes more sense to play Jay Rod as the sole striker, however since MP we've played a variation of 4-2-3-1 which is very fluid and allows a lot of interchange of position in the front 4. The wider players of the 3 are given more freedom than in a 4-5-1 with the 2 holding mids needing to be alert to cover wide areas defensively at times. This suits Jay who benefits from Lambert dropping into wide and deep areas to create space and link up with players getting beyond him. There is no point Ricky staying high as he has no pace but he is an intelligent player whose movement off the ball often goes unnoticed in the build up to goals. I'm not sure Jay would play the lone role in the same way as he would always be looking to stay high and run in behind. I would guess too that when up front in the past at Burnley he has played the role with a partner in a 4-4-2 which is very different to the lone role. I may be wrong but my instinct is that MP sees his current position as his long term one in this system which Ricky is integral to. I do think both deserve to be talked about for call ups and yes whilst mobility is important at international level, so is football intelligence which Ricky possesses in abundance in the way Sheringham did. |
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Comment | Kelvin Davis Linked With Return To Ipswich Town
at 17:58:52
To say he was garbage for 2 years is getting as carried away as making out he was a great keeper, which he most defintely was not and the premier league proved a step too far for him both here and Sunderland. He will go down as a keeper that divided opinion amongst the fans and I wouldn't agree that he was a definite fans' favourite as scummer said - I heard him get abuse on occasions which, whatever your opinion on him as a keeper, I always felt was unwarranted given his character. He would still do a good job at championship level and it would be understandable if he wanted to continue playing regularly as possible at this stage of his career. |
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Comment | Safe Standing Back In The News
at 20:20:31
No it could not happen in all seater stadiums but then again it would never have happened without fences and they will never come back. If the Germans can make it work safely that's good enough for me. |
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Comment | Welcome To The Holy Goalie
at 15:07:53
If he can get back to the form of his Celtic days we'll have a hell of a keeper on our hands. Kelvin was never going to be up to the standard of the PL, I've always backed him in the past against you Nick saying he (like Hooiveld) was adequate at a lower level, but think sentiment got the better of the club with him. Gazzaniga did fine yesterday but we'd have to see how he fares in a game such as next week before declaring him the answer. Therefore I think this is a good signing but it should've been done over the Summer. |
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Comment | The Full Backs Need Protecting
at 12:58:22
I agree that the full backs get little protection but Fox is poor positionally and can't cope with being run at. Yes he is getting exposed but he has no idea how to deal with the situation when it arises. which it inevitably will at times. Bridge used to get protection from Marsden but that didn't mean he was never exposed but he could deal with 1 v 1 situations. Yes Clyne struggled too but generally when run at he is far more convincing. Fox got away with it at times last year but the signs were there that he'd struggle at this level, just like the rest of the back 5 we had last season. Adequate for championship, now being exposed and really all needed replacing. The fact that AOC played on the right when he generally plays on the left for Arsenal tells you all you need to know about where Arsenal identified us to be weak. |
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