Be'er Sheva vs Saints

I watched a decent chunk of Hapoel v Inter and was not tremendously impressed with them, even if it was an incredible result; terrible defending for one goal and a very well-taken free kick for the other... they created chances but seemed disorganized at the back and were lucky to keep a clean sheet.

 

I tend to agree with the "Puel is keenly attuned to the players' energy levels" and I suspect we'll not be looking to beat them down the flanks. Personally I wouldn't mind Puel looking to slow the game and taking our chances from dead balls and corners won by Shane.

 

 

We have exactly two players "used" to long-distance fixtures and I'm pretty sure we'll see both.

purely with Leicester in mind, my preference would be:

 

Forster

Martina Yoshida VanDijk Bertrand

Romeu Reed

JWP Hesketh Davis

Long

 

bench: McCarthy Stephens Targett Hojberg Clasie Redmond Austin. Targett in at 60 unless we trail by a goal.

 

 

I seriously doubt Clasie sits though. I have worries about his composure and the whole "intimidating away ground" angle. I would rather see him play at Leicester in place of Oriol.

 

If we stick to the 4-4-2 i am hoping it will be with Long + Olomola behind Hesketh. Would be delighted to see Shane run himself into the ground here if it meant Austin and Redmond were fresh for Leicester.

Don't know where to start GGL.

1) So you weren't very impressed with them against Inter. Well I think it was very impressive for little ol' Beer Sheeva to go to the San Siro and beat Inter by 2 goals and keep a clean sheet despite, according to you, being shaky in defence. So what, did Inter underestimate them or something ? Meaning they didn't expect them to be so good. In which case why on earth are you advocating changing our game and taking a more passive, slower approach. It makes no sense.

2) From our squad with around 18 current internationals only 2 are used to long distance games ? See any flaws in that argument ?

3) It's nice of you to worry about Clasies composure, when faced with an intimidating crowd so far away from home, but fear ye not. Jorde Clasie played for a quite successful Feyenoord for 3 years and was their captain under Koeman. He's probably played more UEFA competition football than anyone in our squad. I think he'll be fine.

As for the rest of it ............................ well I think I've made my point

Incidentally, their striker Ben Sahar is a Skate. So quite looking forward to "YSB"ing him and confusing numerous Israelis.

I watched a decent chunk of Hapoel v Inter and was not tremendously impressed with them, even if it was an incredible result; terrible defending for one goal and a very well-taken free kick for the other... they created chances but seemed disorganized at the back and were lucky to keep a clean sheet.

 

I tend to agree with the "Puel is keenly attuned to the players' energy levels" and I suspect we'll not be looking to beat them down the flanks. Personally I wouldn't mind Puel looking to slow the game and taking our chances from dead balls and corners won by Shane.

 

 

We have exactly two players "used" to long-distance fixtures and I'm pretty sure we'll see both.

purely with Leicester in mind, my preference would be:

 

Forster

Martina Yoshida VanDijk Bertrand

Romeu Reed

JWP Hesketh Davis

Long

 

bench: McCarthy Stephens Targett Hojberg Clasie Redmond Austin. Targett in at 60 unless we trail by a goal.

 

 

I seriously doubt Clasie sits though. I have worries about his composure and the whole "intimidating away ground" angle. I would rather see him play at Leicester in place of Oriol.

 

If we stick to the 4-4-2 i am hoping it will be with Long + Olomola behind Hesketh. Would be delighted to see Shane run himself into the ground here if it meant Austin and Redmond were fresh for Leicester.

They were playing 343 away from home in the Europa league at Inter. ..not parking the bus and kept a clean sheet with a big counter threat. Of course you have to ride your luck a little bit there to win, it was still an impressive win.

Home advantage tends to be enormous in Europe, particularly for sides further afield. They won by 2 goals away at Inter, with a clean sheet in Europa and you aren't impressed? Haha. As mentioned they've never lost a competitive home game ever at this ground and won all three home games in Europe this year.

As for your team. Think you'll find we'll be playing 4-3-2-1/4-3-3 like the last few games. We certainly won't be "sticking two the 4-4-2", we don't play 4-4-2. Nor do I expect to see 4-2-3-1.

Your complacency is remarkable. Especially so considering they are the home team and not us.

Vague hilarity that someone questioning Clasie's composure recommends the walking yellow card and far less experienced Harrison Reed.

Forster

Martina Yoshida VanDijk Bertrand

Romeu Reed

JWP Hesketh Davis

Long

 

bench: McCarthy Stephens Targett Hojberg Clasie Redmond Austin. Targett in at 60 unless we trail by a goal.

 

 

I seriously doubt Clasie sits though. I have worries about his composure and the whole "intimidating away ground" angle. I would rather see him play at Leicester in place of Oriol.

-----------------Forster------------------

--Martina---Yoshida---VVD-----Targett-

----------------Clasie-----------------

----------JWP----------Hojbjerg------

----------------Davis---------------

-----------Long---Redmond-------

1-0 win, Long with the goal.

They were playing 343 away from home in the Europa league at Inter. ..not parking the bus and kept a clean sheet with a big counter threat. Of course you have to ride your luck a little bit there to win, it was still an impressive win.

 

Home advantage tends to be enormous in Europe, particularly for sides further afield. They won by 2 goals away at Inter, with a clean sheet in Europa and you aren't impressed? Haha. As mentioned they've never lost a competitive home game ever at this ground and won all three home games in Europe this year.

As for your team. Think you'll find we'll be playing 4-3-2-1/4-3-3 like the last few games. We certainly won't be "sticking two the 4-4-2", we don't play 4-4-2. Nor do I expect to see 4-2-3-1.

 

Your complacency is remarkable. Especially so considering they are the home team and not us.

On the flip side they let in 5 playing against Celtic, a team barely pushing championship standard, these days so lets not make them out to be some sort of European super team either.

Don't know where to start GGL.

 

From our squad with around 18 current internationals only 2 are used to long distance games ? See any flaws in that argument ?

 

You know that some distances are far and some are not, right? Yes, a EU-based international has to travel to Moscow or worse maybe every other year, even those are nothing compared to what Yoshida and Martina have to cope with for every single international.

I am in no way part of, or even sympathetic with, the slag-a-player brigade on here. I think Clasie has had fine performances... but when he's done poorly, it has often felt like a confidence / composure issues (reversion to sideways passes in good position, that penalty) or his small stature in 50/50s. i very much want him to get on track but i'm not confident about it happening here.

I would love to play our 'strongest eleven' every match without repercussions but you're just crazy if you think there aren't going to be changes from the West Ham side.

I know we don't want to be underestimating them, but Celtic put 5 past these. Inter left over 100 mil worth of players out due to FFP as well and played some squad players against them. I honestly think we could make history in that stadium and be the first to beat them.

I know we don't want to be underestimating them, but Celtic put 5 past these. Inter left over 100 mil worth of players out due to FFP as well and played some squad players against them. I honestly think we could make history in that stadium and be the first to beat them.

I hope we do but we need a decent experienced side out like we had when we played Sparta so I doubt Reed or Hesketh will be in the starting XI although Clasie JWP Martina Yoshi Targett and Long will be starting probably

Also, i'd love us to go into the game in Italy with as little pressure as possible and maybe see Boufal get a few minutes to express himself.

This will be tougher than expected, a point would be a very good result. I'd keep the same back four, maybe bring in Mccarthy, Hesketh and Long. We should be prioritising this game over the Leicester game. If we lose at Leicester, it won't be a disaster; we aren't going to finish top 7 and we aren't going to get relegated. A result in Israel is crucial to our qualification hopes.

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People are on about resting players? F*ck that, we've worked hard to get here so let's rest players for Leicester instead. I'll be fuming if we put out a weakened side.

IMO puel doesn't believe so much in the "our strongest team" idea, of course we have an idea about who the best players for each position are, but he sees it as, rotate the squad as much as possible and hope whoever gets picked performs well, and then pick the really impressive ones for the really important fixtures. as opposed to a predetermined notion of who's better than who. so whoever is performing best ATM get the nod for the must win games.

as for HBS I'd pick hesketh, cuco, reed, targett, yosh, long, clasie, jwp to start as I think that team could at least get a draw.

the shuttling CMs and full backs cover a sh*t load of ground for us so hoj, Bertrand, Davis, Cedric should rest up, IMO.

And Wtf is it with people saying we should rest players in the Leicester game and not the HBS game? wtf, Top six in the pl is not set in stone and even if it was we are perfectly capable of finishing 7th with the quality we have. who the feck has a better chance apart from Leicester maybe, to crack the top six this season? please don't say Everton and their skeleton squad!

No one is really being rested, Puel is using the squad

You know that some distances are far and some are not, right? Yes, a EU-based international has to travel to Moscow or worse maybe every other year, even those are nothing compared to what Yoshida and Martina have to cope with for every single international.

 

I am in no way part of, or even sympathetic with, the slag-a-player brigade on here. I think Clasie has had fine performances... but when he's done poorly, it has often felt like a confidence / composure issues (reversion to sideways passes in good position, that penalty) or his small stature in 50/50s. i very much want him to get on track but i'm not confident about it happening here.

 

I would love to play our 'strongest eleven' every match without repercussions but you're just crazy if you think there aren't going to be changes from the West Ham side.

No need to worry Glen, I'm pretty certain that when Clasie has a poor game, it has nothing to do with any lack of composure or confidence on your part. He's more likely just having an off day.

I've been looking for where I said, (or even implied), there wouldn't be changes from sundays game but can't seem to find it .... hope that clears up any doubts you have about my sanity

No one is really being rested, Puel is using the squad

I wish I had 'trousers' gif. image of the hammer hitting the nail on it's head.

Unfortunately I don't but if I did, I would use it now

Lots of people talking here about weakened teams, best players etc. but one thing I've noticed, is the gap in quality between our 'best' and 'back up' players seems much narrower this season. Every player to a man has put in an excellent shift when asked and none of them have looked out of their depth or lost in the occasion.

Take Yoshida, Clasie and Martina as an example .... are they 'weak' alternatives to Fonte, Davis and Cedric ? Personally, I think not.

Lots of talk about Beer Sheva beating Inter, but let's not forget that the Inter side that are eligible for Europa are not their first team due to the Financial Fair Play embargo on them.

http://www.eurosport.com/football/serie-a/2016-2017/ffp-forces-inter-to-effectively-split-into-two-teams_sto5822073/story.shtml

This groups ours

Lots of people talking here about weakened teams, best players etc. but one thing I've noticed, is the gap in quality between our 'best' and 'back up' players seems much narrower this season. Every player to a man has put in an excellent shift when asked and none of them have looked out of their depth or lost in the occasion.

 

Take Yoshida, Clasie and Martina as an example .... are they 'weak' alternatives to Fonte, Davis and Cedric ? Personally, I think not.

Really good point you make - and Puel has to get some credit for that; his genuine integration of Reed, Hesketh, Stephens and rotation of senior players has had a motivating influence on several players confidence levels.

I wish I had 'trousers' gif. image of the hammer hitting the nail on it's head.

 

Unfortunately I don't but if I did, I would use it now

West Ham chasing a win ?

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Anyone know when the players fly out? Would assume it'll be today at some point.

Lots of people talking here about weakened teams, best players etc. but one thing I've noticed, is the gap in quality between our 'best' and 'back up' players seems much narrower this season. Every player to a man has put in an excellent shift when asked and none of them have looked out of their depth or lost in the occasion.

 

Take Yoshida, Clasie and Martina as an example .... are they 'weak' alternatives to Fonte, Davis and Cedric ? Personally, I think not.

Yoshida is.

Yoshida is.

Fonte has looked just as suspect recently, with the penalties against Sunderland and Arsenal, plus losing Zlatan for United's opener. If Yoshi or Hooiveld had made those errors, they would get slated on here.

I think they are pretty closely matched personally. Both composed, intelligent, decent in the air and read the game well. Yoshi has the odd moment with misjudged back passes (which is partly down to his limited game time) whilst Fonte is always a penalty waiting to happen with his constant shirt pulling.

And Wtf is it with people saying we should rest players in the Leicester game and not the HBS game? wtf, Top six in the pl is not set in stone and even if it was we are perfectly capable of finishing 7th with the quality we have. who the feck has a better chance apart from Leicester maybe, to crack the top six this season? please don't say Everton and their skeleton squad!

But surely the point of focusing on the league last season was to qualify for this tournament and actually give it a go if we got there? If we don't then field strong teams in the competition we were trying to get into then why bother?? The prize money? Qualifying next year to do the same again i.e. not field a strong team because we want to focus on qualifying again the year after?

Personally I'd happily accept a lower league place if we had a real go in Europe and made it into the later knockout rounds.

Yoshida is.

Have to disagree. Maya, out of all of them, has surprised me this season. I don't know if it's because we've seen more of him or just he's improved but he has been very good and I no longer worry when I see him on the teamsheet.

We all know about his howler bp's but he seems to be more comfortable on the ball now and lets face it, Fonte's far from immune to mistakes.

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He's also a lot quicker than Jose

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Have to disagree. Maya, out of all of them, has surprised me this season. I don't know if it's because we've seen more of him or just he's improved but he has been very good and I no longer worry when I see him on the teamsheet.

 

We all know about his howler bp's but he seems to be more comfortable on the ball now and lets face it, Fonte's far from immune to mistakes.

 

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Agreed. Maya's looked great so far this season and I'd have no problem at all with him starting ahead of Jose.

Anyone got a guess at how likely Be'er Sheva are to enforce the fire certificate rule for flags? I've got one with no fire cert' & am thinking of taking it anyway

Anyone got a guess at how likely Be'er Sheva are to enforce the fire certificate rule for flags? I've got one with no fire cert' & am thinking of taking it anyway

As long as it doesn't have a swastika on it you'll probably be ok.

Barry's back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih_SBez11Tw

Worried about Clasie being intimidated but suggest starting Reed and Hesketh? bonkers.

obviously he's never watched Ajax v Feyanoord in Amsterdam, its up there with the Istanbul derby for hatred

Lots of people talking here about weakened teams, best players etc. but one thing I've noticed, is the gap in quality between our 'best' and 'back up' players seems much narrower this season. Every player to a man has put in an excellent shift when asked and none of them have looked out of their depth or lost in the occasion.

 

Take Yoshida, Clasie and Martina as an example .... are they 'weak' alternatives to Fonte, Davis and Cedric ? Personally, I think not.

Agreed, in fact I would go as far as to say that a couple of our backup players should be in our strongest squad.

I hope we play a full strength side to give us the best chance of a win and a bit of daylight at the top of the group. If anyone needs a rest I'd rather we did it on Sunday as, in my eyes, league position is less important. You have to grasp the opportunities when they present themselves.

Lots of people talking here about weakened teams, best players etc. but one thing I've noticed, is the gap in quality between our 'best' and 'back up' players seems much narrower this season. Every player to a man has put in an excellent shift when asked and none of them have looked out of their depth or lost in the occasion.

 

Take Yoshida, Clasie and Martina as an example .... are they 'weak' alternatives to Fonte, Davis and Cedric ? Personally, I think not.

This is true.

However, are there players that, if they were left out, would leave us worried? For example, the defence without VvD or Forster would be a slight concern.

Lots of people talking here about weakened teams, best players etc. but one thing I've noticed, is the gap in quality between our 'best' and 'back up' players seems much narrower this season. Every player to a man has put in an excellent shift when asked and none of them have looked out of their depth or lost in the occasion.

 

Take Yoshida, Clasie and Martina as an example .... are they 'weak' alternatives to Fonte, Davis and Cedric ? Personally, I think not.

I'd say Yoshida was clearly a step down, Clasie is a different kind of player but probably slightly weaker overall, and there's not much in Cedric and Cuco. I also don't agree that the gap is smaller this season (and if it is it's because the overall standard is lower and not higher than last season), but I have no problem AT ALL with him rotating the first choice players as he sees fit with the intention of winning as many matches overall as possible.

We've gone from having a first team that's good enough for the top 8 to a squad that's good enough for the top 8 and Europa League knockout stages, that's progress.

Fonte has looked just as suspect recently, with the penalties against Sunderland and Arsenal, plus losing Zlatan for United's opener. If Yoshi or Hooiveld had made those errors, they would get slated on here.

 

I think they are pretty closely matched personally. Both composed, intelligent, decent in the air and read the game well. Yoshi has the odd moment with misjudged back passes (which is partly down to his limited game time) whilst Fonte is always a penalty waiting to happen with his constant shirt pulling.

If Yoshida or Hooiveld had had 4 years of improving performances, rarely made errors and been captain for a couple of seasons they'd have a bit more likely to have the leeway. However, Yoshida in particular has previous for one huge balls up pretty much every match (though he didn't manage against Palace) and is still a risk against either Leicester OR Be'er Sheva.

Bags are packed, off to the airport tomorrow and can't wait, even if we stick the U21s out.

As long as it doesn't have a swastika on it you'll probably be ok.

I suspect they'll be a little bit upset by anything with Palestine or in Palestinian colours too. I'm hopeful none of the people going are that much of an idiot though.

Why do you think the atmosphere at a 16,000 seater stadium in Israel will be harder for Targett & Ward-Prowse to cope with than some of the huge games and stadiums they've played at in the Premier League?

 

You never know in Europe (as Inter Milan found out), but we should really be comfortably better than Hapoel Be'er Sheva in all areas of the pitch. The level of league football they play week in, week out is a long way below the quality of the Premier League.

https://vimeo.com/184587218

They never lost a home game.

They beat olympiacos inter and Celtic

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https://vimeo.com/184587218

 

They never lost a home game.

They beat olympiacos inter and Celtic

Don't worry about him Brazzer, he's some kind of emotionless robot, all about statistics and no interest in the randomness of football reality.

Don't worry about him Brazzer, he's some kind of emotionless robot, all about statistics and no interest in the randomness of football reality.

Did you actually read my post? Which part of this are you actually taking issue with and why?

You never know in Europe (as Inter Milan found out), but we should really be comfortably better than Hapoel Be'er Sheva in all areas of the pitch. The level of league football they play week in, week out is a long way below the quality of the Premier League.

Did you actually read my post? Which part of this are you actually taking issue with and why?

As you well know, football doesn't work like that.

I suspect they'll be a little bit upset by anything with Palestine or in Palestinian colours too. I'm hopeful none of the people going are that much of an idiot though.

Celtic fans Did pay about that. Their minibuses got all broken up lucky the police was there .. Anyway any political act will cause arrest or get yourself banned from the game . Political and ball don't mix toghter [emoji113]

Guys I wanna say have a nice flight I hope you all enjoy this trip it's not a desert at all [emoji6] . If you guys up for a beer outside the stadium before the match pm me

This is the title celebration last year

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As you well know, football doesn't work like that.

Work like what? You appear to think I've said something I haven't. Read my post word for word and the three of you have twisted it somewhat.

Celtic fans Did pay about that. Their minibuses got all broken up lucky the police was there .. Anyway any political act will cause arrest or get yourself banned from the game . Political and ball don't mix toghter [emoji113]

 

Guys I wanna say have a nice flight I hope you all enjoy this trip it's not a desert at all [emoji6] . If you guys up for a beer outside the stadium before the match pm me

This is the title celebration last year

 

 

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[ATTACH]2185[/ATTACH]

We have three hours between the bus arriving and kick off so many may well take you up on that!

My bag is packed. Leaving for airport soon. See y'all in Tel Aviv!

My bag is packed. Leaving for airport soon. See y'all in Tel Aviv!

Just done mine but leaving tomorrow. Can't ****ing wait. This one feels like a proper European game.

Brazzer thanks for all the info, sounds like you lot are a decent bunch and I think it's safe to say no one but the computer nerd are taking this for granted!

By the way how come you have a picture of Jim Morrison on that flag?

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Work like what? You appear to think I've said something I haven't. Read my post word for word and the three of you have twisted it somewhat.

I. Am. A. Robot.

Does. Not. Compute.

What. Is. This. Emotion. Of. Which. You. Speak.

Question. Mark.

Also any excuse to get a bit of Newport on Saintsweb.