Saints travel to Anfield to face surprise table toppers Liverpool, but they can spring a surprise if Mauricio Pochettino gets his tactics right.

In recent games Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino has played an attacking formation, that has been in part due to his attempting to fit in both Rickie Lambert and Osvaldo into the same side, in truth the results have not been successful in that not only have the team not been scoring goals, but the high tempo, high pressing game that worked so well in the early part of Pochettino's reign seems to have been sacrificed in order to keep both players in the side.

Football players are creatures of simple habits, they like to know what the formation is and what they should be doing in that formation, last season and indeed going further back under Nigel Adkins, Saints game plans were simple and at any given time players knew where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing, indeed when under pressure they knew just where to put the ball knowing someone would more than likely be under it.

But this season things have changed since the arrival of Osvaldo and the system has been affected by the age old problem of fitting in a big name signing at the expense of another player, especially when the player who is being replaced is your star striker, that has seen the system changing.

In short the tactics employed in the past two & a half games seem to be one of rotation, at any given time you are never sure who will be up front and who will be dropping deep, Osvaldo and Lambert are two very different types of striker, but ultimately they both will want to go for the same ball rather than complimenting each other, in the past Lamert has worked with a partner up front at Saints, but that partner be it Lee Barnard, Billy Sharp or Tadanari Lee has always been of a different type and therefore complimentary to Rickie in that they want to play off a big striker rather than chase the same balls, now that has changed.

The difficulty is of course that in Osvaldo you have a big name signing who has to be played to justify his price tag whatever the words about different levels and Champions league etc, there are few clubs in the Premier League who can afford to splash out the type of fee we paid for Osvaldo and leave him on the bench for an extended period, this was shown in the ruthless treatment of Jack Cork a player who has gone from being perhaps our most vital player last season or at least one of them, to not even being able to get a place on the bench, Cork is finding that like Sharp last season, when a new player comes in, in direct competition to you, it seems to be the policy to make sure that there can be no chance of supporters calling for the new man to be replaced by the old.

But with Lambert its different, when Saints started to chase a new striker in the summer, Lambert on paper was being replaced at the right time, however by the time Osvaldo arrived Lambert was no longer a player well into his 30's who hadn't scored much of late, but England's centre forward and the hero of the nation, the goalposts had changed and even Pochettino could not just discard the England centre forward, but conversely for more than one reason he needed to play Osvaldo.

Hence we have had this new system that has seen both accommodated, but it has been at the expense of what has been a well worked system, yes perhaps the writing has been on the wall for some time, after all Saints only scored 3 goals in the last 6 games of last season, but this season we just don't be creating the chances as we did last and that has seen us score only twice in 4 games, one a penalty and the other a late header from a dead ball situation from a centre half, use any excuse you like, but the answer is still the same and it isn't good enough.

So now Saints travel to Anfiled and league leaders Liverpool, yet I feel confident that we can get something out of it, even win, however to do so something has to change, indeed if it doesn't then Pochettino is a very brave man to go there with so many attacking players in the formation, in short he now has the excuse to go back to his preferred formation, one that he has used throughout his managerial career, not just at St Mary's.

If he reverts to playing the lone striker role and puts square pegs in square holes in midfield then believe that like last season, playing the likes of Liverpool will suit us better than playing the likes of West Ham.

But the manager now has to show leadership, in truth the lone striker at Anfield should be Osvaldo, he is more mobile up front than Lambert, however we all know Rickie is a big Liverpool fan and OK he is professional and if he were to be dropped he would take it on the chin, but it is not like dropping him at say Aston Villa or the like, this will be a big blow to him and will upset him a lot more, not to mention the damage it might do to his England chances.

But if the manager makes the tough decisions and gets in players in the midfield who can graft and get behind the ball, then we can perhaps sneak a surprise, Swansea showed last night that if you do this you can hurt Liverpool, run at them and they are vunerable, we need to do this, but we also have to be able to defend and that is why including both Rickie and Osvaldo could be a dangerous game to play.

Its time for Mauricio Pochettino to show he is the man to take Saints to the next level by making some tough decisions, if he does so then I think we can prove over the next few weeks that we have the basis of a good squad, but in the Premier League its all about being able to adapt to different situations and to be blunt Satuirday's trip to Anfield is far different and far tougher than our opening four fixtures.

Photo: Action Images

simmo400 added 12:21 - Sep 17 Winning at Liverpool dream on Nick. To do that we would have to buck the trend andscore a goal.
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 12:55 - Sep 17 Nick's right. We can win at Liverpool, just like we beat Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City last season, and could've won at Old Trafford. We're very effective against teams that try to attack us on the deck. We can break up thier play and find space going forward. It will mean playing Steven Davis ahead of VW and MS, and one of our front four will have to be dropped. Osvaldo might be shifted out wide in place of J-Rod or Lallana, he played plenty of games for Roma coming in from the wing. Lambert might be benched, but we all know what a great impact sub he can be! (see Chelsea and Man City away last year, and England v Scotland!!)

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Fordy added 13:19 - Sep 17 Just out of interest Nick, assuming everyone was fit, who would your 11 be for Saturday?
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saintwizzler added 13:22 - Sep 17 Hopefully Jrod & AL's first touch will have improved from Sunday.
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slynch added 13:29 - Sep 17 Saints can beat Liverpool at Anfield or any other field for that matter. There is no difference between playing away or at home; the ball is the same shape and the grass is the same colour. The only reason teams lose away is because they try to not lose instead of trying to win and become the architect of their own downfall. MP should stick to the same tactics and attack. Keep the ball in their half and when possession is lost, go an get it back.

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Rednose added 13:49 - Sep 17 I agree and would go so far to say I feel we have a better chance against the better or bigger teams, as they will be more focused on playing their game rather than snuffing out our style of play. In regards to the Ricky/Dani debate I feel we are all being dragged in a little by the sports reporters. You can see Dani is a class act on the pitch his movement and touch is all there to see. Once he’s had a bit more time working alongside, behind and infornt of Ricky there will be a click. Two and a half games, not much ‘team’ training time due to international duties is simply not enough time, at this level, to strike up a dream partnership. Having said that with the quality they both have I feel they will be making the headlines very shortly. MP knows what he’s doing and I’m sure will get the best from both Ricky and Dani very soon playing in the same team. My concern at the mo is Wanyama. Since the first game of the season he’s looked a bit sluggish. Still a good player, but a little less sparky, just hope he’s settling ok now that the hype has gone? I think an away match at Anfield with our supporters in full voice behind him could be just what’s needed. 1 -2 Saints win COYR’s.

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owenthesaints added 14:00 - Sep 17 Nick, I agree that it has to be changed but not necessarily by dropping one of the front men. I'm not sure RL and Ossie are the same type of player. Ricky could sit well in the hole behind a front man, a job that Adam has consistently failed to do. I would never doubt AL's skills and commitment to Saints but 3 goals last season from 25 appearances in this role is hardly electric! I firmly belief that having the Captain's armband has also affected his game and a stat that was banded about at the weekend was that he has yet to play a full 90 minutes under Poch. Hardly the manager having faith and full commitment to his captain? Put Adam on the bench, play Jack Cork in the same role as last season when he got forward whenever possible, play Ricky in the hole and push VW up the field a bit more. One other point, we lack width and the ability to get to the goal line and pull back a cross, yet we let JP go to Palace without having a replacement for this option?

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SaintNick added 15:43 - Sep 17 Fordy Boruc Clyne Fonte Lovren Shaw Lallana Wanyama Schneiderlin Rodriguez Davis Osvaldo Bench= Davis, Lambert, JWP, Cork, Chambers, Yoshida, Ramirez
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smiffdub added 16:41 - Sep 17 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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jannersaint added 01:02 - Sep 18 The biggest worry I have tactically is the lack of urgency to change what isn't working. I was watching the West Ham game (albeit on TV) with 5 other saints fans and we all thought Lambert for Gaston on 60 minutes. There was a big gap in that attacking CM area that he would have done well in. Lallana was reasonably productive and looks fit, he should never have been brought off. It will take balls to drop Lambert but there has to be a phasing out of Lambert and a phasing in of Dani at some stage. Lambert still has a big part to play but Dani is the future and a more complete player. I'd be interested to know what any of you think about the thoughts we had re Gaston for Lambert to change the game.

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BlackRod added 07:34 - Sep 18 I'd be interested to know whether people think we have got value for the money we have splashed out on Osvaldo, Wanyama and Ramires when there is at least one other player who is equally good in all those positions. Jay Rodrigues was supposed to be the successor to SRL when the time comes, Cork may be a better all rounder than Wanyama and Ramires only seems to be useful as an impact player (albeit that he doesn't usually have much impact). It would be incredibly unfair to leave Rickie on the bench at his beloved Anfield, especially with more crucial England games coming up.

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kuningan added 10:30 - Sep 18 Value for money for Osvaldo, Wanyama and Ramirez? Have to be fair, it's too early to say for the first two, but Ramirez - class player etc. etc. - has delivered next to nothing. OK, maybe he's 'one for the future' but surely the whole point of club record transfer fees is to get players who are more or less guaranteed to fit into the team and make a difference. I'm not convinced by any of the three, but I truly hope I'm wrong. OTOH, if we'd borrowed Lukaku for the season ...

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Jesus_02 added 11:35 - Sep 18 Narrow to allow FBs to get forward -----------Boruc------------- Clyne Fonte Lovren Shaw ---------Wanyama----------- ----Cork------- Lallana ----- ------- Schneiderlin -------- ----Jay Rod----Osvaldo --- <<<Jay Rod is not a winger>>> Lambert of the bench to score the winner ;)
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