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Never lost at St Mary's however who expects us to go there and get anything from the game?
What I really struggle with is we were poor last season despite having the biggest budget by a country mile, yet we went up and all the talk was how we are a band of brother, great spirit etc.
We all know we needed to add some quality but same as last time we went up the team that achieved it not really being given a chance as we have made a raft of signings again.
We have spent serious money this summer Vs. the teams around us in the league but now 5 games in we are talking about fitness, getting to know each other, not sure what the best side.
Surely we would benefit from having Ned along side Caulker, he was superb last season and we said he needed a quality partner we added the partner but dropped Ned. Yun was great in his appearances last season and changed the semi final Vs. Wigan but once again not being given any sort of chance and we have reverted to Hill at LB or Armand who can't defend for toffee.
We all knew we needed to add attacking options, Arry screwed us here. Remy won't leave a week before the window shuts.......Well you are dafter than you look, we all knew that was likely to happen and we got left with Vargas, Charlie and Bobby hardly an inspiring attack force.
For me it's time for Arry and the chuckle brothers to go, we look like a team once again with no real plan or shape. Tony won't act though and is either blind to what's going on or it is too costly to replace. Surely he must look at Leicester and wonder how a side who have spent considerably less than we have are performing better. They have a higher points return and had the harder fixtures - Arsenal, Chelsea, United, Everton and Stoke away
We might get something down there. They've had a good run but are probably heading for a fall sometime soon. However, we needed a settled side to start developing some understanding and we haven't been able to do that so far due to injuries and fitness issues. We seem to have too many players carrying injuries at the moment. Maybe we'll go back to three at the back down there and let Isla do what he prefers to do. We might not have enough midfielders to fill the positions anyway.
Austin doesn't look fit to me. Would be tempted to put him on the bench and start with Bobby. Something like this:
Green Chief Caulker Rio Isla Traore Hoilett Fer Kranjcar Vargas Zamora
I agree but would play Rio in the middle so have pace either side. Would also bring in Henry for Junior. Henry did well when he came on and would allow Fer and Niko to play their natural games
I agree but would play Rio in the middle so have pace either side. Would also bring in Henry for Junior. Henry did well when he came on and would allow Fer and Niko to play their natural games
Henry did do well. I'm not too sure about Fer but I feel that we have to get behind him and give him more chances, especially with so many injuries around. If you put Henry wide then we'd be lacking pace. If we leave out Hoilett for Henry then really Fer and Henry have to go in the middle with Vargas right and Bobby on his own, which might be more negative but could work.
Fer looks very good on the ball and in the final 3rd, what he lacks is tracking back. I would play Henry in the middle of the 3 with Fer on the right and Niko on the left but a very compact 3. Henry will allow the other 2 to get forward. Vargas up top with Bobby but he is the worker of the two closing down their back line to prevent them playing out.
Fer looks very good on the ball and in the final 3rd, what he lacks is tracking back. I would play Henry in the middle of the 3 with Fer on the right and Niko on the left but a very compact 3. Henry will allow the other 2 to get forward. Vargas up top with Bobby but he is the worker of the two closing down their back line to prevent them playing out.
Was impressed by Vargas - first time I've seen him. He really works his socks off. He looks too good for us at the moment to be honest, but he could be the difference. We just need to make more use of him and get some general cohesion. Fer I just don't get. There's a player there somewhere. For a big guy he's just too easy to knock off the ball. It comes up above him, it should be his ball, and he kind of floats around and the ball ends up with the other side. He looks a bit lost at times at the moment. But we have to persevere with him, try to build him up a bit in terms of confidence.
given the performances witnessed yesterday...do we have a go at southampton, i.e compete, or do we hold back and play it "like a testimonal" as we did spurs and man utd??.and save our tired old legs for another stunning cohesive home performance.
im not sure what vector of the top 6/top 8/top 12/top 16 southampton reside in .
perhaps in training this week jordon and' bondy'are working on lattice distortions in crystal lattice to resolve which vector the saints are in.
it could very well be that dr Hoddle has been brought in to verify the mean, mode and median of the rest or the premier, thus tipping harold the wink as to whether we have a go or not.
if they can let me know by say , thursday, i can decide whether or not to go , or recycle my droppings.
wild rumor has it , the saints players shit out of the same holes as our plucky young blyth spartens and are not ,in any way ,related to the might maygars of 1954.
[Post edited 22 Sep 2014 9:10]
"...The monkey is never dead, Dealer. The monkey never dies. When you kick him off, he just hides in a corner, waiting his turn."
We might get something down there. They've had a good run but are probably heading for a fall sometime soon. However, we needed a settled side to start developing some understanding and we haven't been able to do that so far due to injuries and fitness issues. We seem to have too many players carrying injuries at the moment. Maybe we'll go back to three at the back down there and let Isla do what he prefers to do. We might not have enough midfielders to fill the positions anyway.
Austin doesn't look fit to me. Would be tempted to put him on the bench and start with Bobby. Something like this:
Green Chief Caulker Rio Isla Traore Hoilett Fer Kranjcar Vargas Zamora
That side has got relegation written all over it.... :(
if we ever start a premier league game with grey friars booby in it in the year 2014, i think we can safely say we havent got a fkn clue what we are doing.
playing our non playing joker/tallisman is an embarrasment.
[Post edited 22 Sep 2014 8:51]
"...The monkey is never dead, Dealer. The monkey never dies. When you kick him off, he just hides in a corner, waiting his turn."
We have the playing staff now to be achieving far better performances than we're managing at the moment. It can only be the fault of the management and coaching staff that our players don't believe they can get anything from 'bigger teams' and are too unorganised to get the result we should get from those around us.
I'm not sure how much 'organising' you can do with players who aren't fit enough to train. Surely you just have to try to set yourself up to make it as difficult as possible for teams to beat you, and buy some time?
I'm not saying that we've been doing that, but some time we'll have a reasonably fit squad and it's a case of still being in contention when that happens. Looking at the team on Saturday, at the moment they would struggle to do anything in particular against anyone in particular, and they did well to get a draw in those circumstances. Injuries, tactics, cohesion - it's all up in the air, but I can see quite a few reasons to remain optimistic.
On Leicester what they have done is built a team over time and spent a fair bit on it as well. By doing that they had the best team last season and were able to add to it in the summer, they should do well this year.
We went the opposite way, similar to how Stoke got promoted in using the loan system to have one team for the task in hand in the championship and then build another for this season. Both ways have risks but no reason why both ways shouldn't work.
On Leicester what they have done is built a team over time and spent a fair bit on it as well. By doing that they had the best team last season and were able to add to it in the summer, they should do well this year.
We went the opposite way, similar to how Stoke got promoted in using the loan system to have one team for the task in hand in the championship and then build another for this season. Both ways have risks but no reason why both ways shouldn't work.
Leicester were a lot better than us last season, and they've improved their side as you say. They look a proper unit, which good promoted sides always tend to do, whichever division they are in. Wolves are going well too. We were never good enough to stay up with what we had left, so we had no option.
I remember the last time we played Saints away thinking we had no chance and we still got the result. That was under the shadow of the Mirror? story about all the players bad behaviour on a mid season "teambuilding" break.
Yeah I was at that game, it was a good day out. Was sitting waiting on the bus back to the car park and Derry walked past and he got a song. Don't think that he was playing due to that booze up story?
We have the players to get something out of this, though injuries are a concern. Away from home, I think we might struggle to get possession and support up to Austin on a regular basis, so playing the more mobile Vargas to chase down long-range 'out' balls might be more profitable than playing to a big man in Austin.
At the back, we're going to get slaughtered if we continue with a flat back four and Ned is never going to be picked ahead of the two summer signings, a common occurrence in football as managers struggle to admit that their transfer mistakes, so we have to revert to three at the back with Ferdinand in the centre but start working on it this morning. This also gets the best out of Traore and Isla.
Big week for Hoddle, but a result is certainly possible.
"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Cork are going to absolutely decimate our midfield. Hopefulyl Sandro is back and fit enough, otherwise I think starting Henry is a must, we need a proper holding player, especially as every one of our other midfield options are more natural number 10s than deep lying ball winners or defensive minded.
With the players they lost I thought Southampton may struggle., Not relegation fodder but lower, lower mid table. They've done bloody well and if we go there thinking it'll be easy, we'll get battered.
Just friggin' well have a go. You never know......
Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Cork are going to absolutely decimate our midfield. Hopefulyl Sandro is back and fit enough, otherwise I think starting Henry is a must, we need a proper holding player, especially as every one of our other midfield options are more natural number 10s than deep lying ball winners or defensive minded.
Agree Henry has to start to try to give the shaky back four some kind of protection.
Not Sandro though, we need to learn not to rush players back from injury and not to play them when half fit! Give Sandro a couple of games in the reserves and then ease him in gently with a few sub appearances.
I think Soton will be all over us, so we need Vargas and Hoillet in the team to give us some pace on the counter. They also need to play high to support Charlie.
Agree Henry has to start to try to give the shaky back four some kind of protection.
Not Sandro though, we need to learn not to rush players back from injury and not to play them when half fit! Give Sandro a couple of games in the reserves and then ease him in gently with a few sub appearances.
I think Soton will be all over us, so we need Vargas and Hoillet in the team to give us some pace on the counter. They also need to play high to support Charlie.
If we are definitely without Sandro and Barton, it becomes a lot easier to decide what to do - go for it and try to outscore them. We can't pick a central midifeld with Kranjcar, Fer etc with only Henry as any kind of ball winner and hope to sit back and contain them, we need to try and stifle their attack by playing higher up the pitch and pressing, being direct when we win back possession. It would also help to try and pin back their FB's where possible, they are dangerous from wide areas with Pelle up top, he's like a more mobile and clinical version of Peter Crouch....
I can't see us doing anything but getting beaten on Saturday, but I will be happy if we at least go down fighting and not decide to actually start commiting to attacks when we're already 2-3 down.
Saints have a Capital One Cup match at Arsenal tomorrow. They put out a strong side at Millwall so you can expect them to do so again tomorrow. Hopefully extra time and a few knocks, which wouldn't harm our chances.
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