Saints 1 Spurs 4 Reaction

To be fair to Chelsea and Liverpool it just looks better coaching. Neither have spent outrageously higher. And Utd can't continuously spend £120m to £150m each window and not improve.

Chelsea spent over 130million last summer.When we can do that perhaps we'll have "better coaching" as well.

Top 6 are also buying players they don't really need again, keeps them off the market and boosts prices to levels they only can afford.

If we'd had Wanyama, we'd have got a draw tonight. If we'd had Mane, we might even have won. Against the top teams with skilful attacking midfielders, we need a defensive midfielder who can get stuck into them, break up their play and stop them at the halfway line like Wanyama used to do. Instead we gave their midfield the freedom of the pitch, to do as they pleased. I though Puel might see that and try to put it right in the second half but I guess he just doesn't have a single midfield player left in the squad who can do that job. Up front against the top Premier League defenses, you need a striker with lightning pace and skill like Mane or great physical presence like Pelle. We haven't got those either. Our dealings in the transfer market since our head of recruitment Paul Mitchell left have really weakened the squad. We should try to get him back when he finishes his Spurs contract.

spot. on.

I think the team is shorn of confidence. I also think a hammering as been on the cards for a while but it only happened because of the red. I remember thinking at the time that Vertingen got away with one and that it could come back to bite us. Had he seen red then I'm sure we would've won the game. Up until the equaliser we were very competitive but the confidence drained out of them after that. I don't think there was anything they could've done for the equaliser, it was a horrible deflection but a superb header. Likewise the third goal was lucky in the sense the deflection off of Romeu took the ball into Son's path.

The bigger worry is the persistent toothlessness of the team. We could've played until midnight and not scored a second, even with 11 men.

I agree wholeheartedly with the recruitment. Redmond is raw and his tendency to either cut back or stop when he gets into promising positions is infuriating. That said he rarely has any support inside the box. We rarely get more than one player up in support. Caution first, thoughts about scoring second.

I get that Puel was trying to play a possession game to keep players fresh for the Europa but now we are out of that it is horribly apparent that we are nowhere near incisive enough to break down decent premier league defences. We miss Pelle

hugely: a proper target man who others could play off. And the top sides mostly have a better work rate, defending from the front. Why had that gone out of game? Fitness? Tactics? Whatever it is it's not working and we have been a dull watch this year.

We desperately need another striker. Jay Rod's goals against Bournemouth we're heartwarming but clearly he would struggle to hit a dozen goals a season now even if he were playing every week. If we were to disrupt the back four by letting VvD and or Fonte go in January I think we would struggle to get 40 points.

Bottom line is top 6 are improved immensely this season, other mid table sides have improved with a few exceptions and we have gone backwards by losing Wanyama, Mane and Pelle especially. You can't keep

on breaking up the side every summer and expect to get away with it. So frustrating.

Rant over.

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I still think JayRod will score goals but he must be given the ammunition. Yesterday we created very little from open play so he had few opportunities to shine. We didn't hit balls into the channels for him like we did against Bournemouth and we made it easy for Tottenham to defend against us. I agree we need a unit in midfield who can break up play allowing Romeu to sit and patrol in front of the back four. Our midfielders are all lightweight so that's something that needs to be addressed in the Jan window if possible. Spurs are a good side but after we scored we seemed content to allow them to come on to us as we retreated further and further towards our own goal - poor tactics by Puel and indicative of his constantly negative stance. I think he could have made some tactical switches at half time to try to wrestle back the initiative but they scored early and that was it. I did notice neither of our centre backs were picking up Kane on corners in the first half which concerned me and was not surprised to see him get free and score with a header from a corner.

I hate losing to Spurs there is a spawnyness about them always has been.

Having slept on it, a few personal observations of the game. We were good for the first 15 and if Redmond had sent his shot a foot further to the right to make it 2-0 the evening might have been different, from that moment it seemed a combination of us just switching off and Spurs going "blimey that was close we need to pull our socks up". We seemed to suddenly be in last 5 minutes of the game defending a lucky 1-0 lead, playing so deep, and in doing so when we did get a crumb of relief and get the ball away it was coming straight back, ball comes over Fraser Forster the tallest man on the pitch just seemingly stands and watches it fall onto Ali's head who just plops it in the net when he should be getting across plucking the ball out of the air and wiping Ali out in the process. From then to half time I thought both sides looked like teams that had had the last 10 & 11 days off.

The game changed in my eyes (yes I know a no whatsit Sherlock) when the second goal went in, in reality there was no need to give the corner away but Fraser thought he was still back playing in Scotland against Stirling Albion and dithered waiting for the ball to meander to him, as a result Jose spotted the danger of a Spurs player bursting towards the ball came across and hoofed it behind for the corner from where Kane scores. From then on we became easier to play against for a team like Spurs.

Being at the other end of the ground I didn't have the best view of the goings on which saw Redmond heading to the showers early, but when you saw the skirmish you instantly thought Dean is going to love the theatrics of pointing to the spot here, and sure enough he didn't let me down. I always remember a cup game against v Chelsea he officiated in, Chelsea had run us about and the game was pretty much done, Super Frank bursts forwards with the ball but instead of shooting at goal he deftly plays the ball at the running arm of a closing Saints defender, now if that defender had moved his arm away the ball would have hit the Northam Kinsland corner flag Mike Deans body language was almost "oh goodie I can blow my whistle and point at the spot". Anyway its done.

With 10 men we did carve out some opportunities and 2 gifted free goes at a pretty much empty net, first the "wonderful" Tadic who the numpties sing the name of when he is not on the pitch, gets passed a ball that all he has to do is hit in a goal wards direction, nope he receives the ball and as usual Eff's about and powder puffs the ball, Lloris goes walk about again the ball falls to PEH who also pats it goal-wards...... Ffs 2 of you get paid shed loads just to kick a bloody ball of air and 2 of you fluff it up.

I don't get the swapping of Boufal for Tadic because to my mind they are the same player, beat someone then spin round to go and beat them again........ and try and repeat. They are both gifted players but for goodness sake someone please tell them to keep it simple, last night when the sub was made we just substituted Fabrice Fernandes with er-um Fabrice Fernandes!!

Spurs did what they had to do and did it well, their attitude I thought was summed up by Danny Rose who in added time was still going after the ball like Spurs were 1-0 down.

As always its 2 steps forward 1 step back.

Chelsea spent over 130million last summer.When we can do that perhaps we'll have "better coaching" as well.

Top 6 are also buying players they don't really need again, keeps them off the market and boosts prices to levels they only can afford.

Pretty similar side as last year though. Kante and Alonso cost less than they got for Oscar. And then obviously Luiz who they still made profit on.

Conte is far more the difference.

And obviously nothing new in the big guys having the spending power.

I hate losing to Spurs there is a spawnyness about them always has been.

Having slept on it, a few personal observations of the game. We were good for the first 15 and if Redmond had sent his shot a foot further to the right to make it 2-0 the evening might have been different, from that moment it seemed a combination of us just switching off and Spurs going "blimey that was close we need to pull our socks up". We seemed to suddenly be in last 5 minutes of the game defending a lucky 1-0 lead, playing so deep, and in doing so when we did get a crumb of relief and get the ball away it was coming straight back, ball comes over Fraser Forster the tallest man on the pitch just seemingly stands and watches it fall onto Ali's head who just plops it in the net when he should be getting across plucking the ball out of the air and wiping Ali out in the process. From then to half time I thought both sides looked like teams that had had the last 10 & 11 days off.

The game changed in my eyes (yes I know a no whatsit Sherlock) when the second goal went in, in reality there was no need to give the corner away but Fraser thought he was still back playing in Scotland against Stirling Albion and dithered waiting for the ball to meander to him, as a result Jose spotted the danger of a Spurs player bursting towards the ball came across and hoofed it behind for the corner from where Kane scores. From then on we became easier to play against for a team like Spurs.

 

Being at the other end of the ground I didn't have the best view of the goings on which saw Redmond heading to the showers early, but when you saw the skirmish you instantly thought Dean is going to love the theatrics of pointing to the spot here, and sure enough he didn't let me down. I always remember a cup game against v Chelsea he officiated in, Chelsea had run us about and the game was pretty much done, Super Frank bursts forwards with the ball but instead of shooting at goal he deftly plays the ball at the running arm of a closing Saints defender, now if that defender had moved his arm away the ball would have hit the Northam Kinsland corner flag Mike Deans body language was almost "oh goodie I can blow my whistle and point at the spot". Anyway its done.

With 10 men we did carve out some opportunities and 2 gifted free goes at a pretty much empty net, first the "wonderful" Tadic who the numpties sing the name of when he is not on the pitch, gets passed a ball that all he has to do is hit in a goal wards direction, nope he receives the ball and as usual Eff's about and powder puffs the ball, Lloris goes walk about again the ball falls to PEH who also pats it goal-wards...... Ffs 2 of you get paid shed loads just to kick a bloody ball of air and 2 of you fluff it up.

 

I don't get the swapping of Boufal for Tadic because to my mind they are the same player, beat someone then spin round to go and beat them again........ and try and repeat. They are both gifted players but for goodness sake someone please tell them to keep it simple, last night when the sub was made we just substituted Fabrice Fernandes with er-um Fabrice Fernandes!!

 

Spurs did what they had to do and did it well, their attitude I thought was summed up by Danny Rose who in added time was still going after the ball like Spurs were 1-0 down.

 

As always its 2 steps forward 1 step back.

I'm not trying to pick on you but this post highlights why, in my opinion, some people just don't get a fair crack.

There was nothing whatsoever Forster could do about the first goal. The deflection on the cross wrong-footed the defence which was positioned ok. It was just one of those things.

The there's an implication that Tadic had some sort of open-goal chance, which he just simply didn't. He had the ball in a promising position but to imply the goal was at his mercy is just plain wrong.

They were better than us on the night but ... the deflection for the first, the sending off - debatable - and the deflection off Romeu to make rubbish ball into a great ball for the third...

They were better than us on the night but ... the deflection for the first, the sending off - debatable - and the deflection off Romeu to make rubbish ball into a great ball for the third...

they had the best of the luck that was going, but even with 11 men I don't think we would have even snatched a point. Their players are better than ours. The days of us turning over the big boys are on the wane more's the pity, as money talks louder and louder.

If we'd had Wanyama, we'd have got a draw tonight. If we'd had Mane, we might even have won. Against the top teams with skilful attacking midfielders, we need a defensive midfielder who can get stuck into them, break up their play and stop them at the halfway line like Wanyama used to do. Instead we gave their midfield the freedom of the pitch, to do as they pleased. I though Puel might see that and try to put it right in the second half but I guess he just doesn't have a single midfield player left in the squad who can do that job. Up front against the top Premier League defenses, you need a striker with lightning pace and skill like Mane or great physical presence like Pelle. We haven't got those either. Our dealings in the transfer market since our head of recruitment Paul Mitchell left have really weakened the squad. We should try to get him back when he finishes his Spurs contract.

We didn't have Wanyama nor Mane last night (nor Schneiderlin, Lallana, Clyne etc) because they wanted to leave us - all to go to a top 6 club, the exception being Pelle.

Bemoaning our losses will change nothing.

You could tell after they equalised we would never score, the midfield sat so deep, we left J-Rod up top isolated, Boufal looks great on the ball but did very little off it, also looked scared of challenging for a header.

Forster looks awful again, kicking was awful and should of dinner better for all the goals imo.

Fonte looks uninterested as well, VVD was the one shouting orders and marshalling the defenders, he looked a proper leader

You could tell after they equalised we would never score, the midfield sat so deep, we left J-Rod up top isolated, Boufal looks great on the ball but did very little off it, also looked scared of challenging for a header.

Forster looks awful again, kicking was awful and should of dinner better for all the goals imo.

 

Fonte looks uninterested as well, VVD was the one shouting orders and marshalling the defenders, he looked a proper leader

Fonte had a better game than VVD imo. VVD was left flat footed for their first goal.

Last night the manager messed up big time. His rotation obsession with three games coming up provided a compromise team against the best team in the series. Spurs are a possession based pressing team with plenty of pace and good attacking players. Last night they made twice the passes yet made the same number of tackles. We made over 300 passes with a poor 69% completion just over 200, Spurs over 600 with over 80% completion yet they made the same number of tackles and there is our problem nowhere near enough ball winners. Puel picked four players that have no idea how to tackle and win the ball, Redmond, Boufale, JWP who had a mare and Davis. that left Spurs able to push up as our team collapsed shapelessly into our defensive third. Instead of those four tearing into the Spurs DMs and defenders they just idly backed off and surrendered the game.

Spurs kept their 4-2-3-1 throughout but we lost our shape after the first fifteen minutes were unable to retain the ball and struggled. The diamond didn't work, now the 4-3-3 isn't working because of the compromise rotation teams. The substitutions looked more like more rotation than a genuine effort to save the game. Rodriguez should have been joined by Long for Boufal, JWP off for Hojbjerg, and IMO give VVD the freedom to attack by bringing on Yoshida alongside Fonte for Davis. It might not have worked but changing like for like changed nothing except fresh legs.

We've just had ten days off so they can't be tired, the organisation and shape was poor. VVD looked absolutely fed up at the end as did Bertrand. Getting a start like that then trying to defend in depth was daft as it only looked a matter of time before Spurs equalised. We got away with it against Liverpool but it was painful to watch and against the ten men of Stoke we looked pathetic. We have become a toothless shell with nothing players like Redmond and Boufale falling woefully short of causing a threat against better teams. The £27+m we spent on them looks as good as the £25m we spent on Ramirez and Osvaldo. At least Puel won't be able to pick Redmond next up but he still won't play two strikers.

I really don't understand these "rotation" criticisms. Who wasn't on the field last night that is better than any of the players who were.

Forster..Number 1 keeper. Cedric,Fonte,VvD,Bernard..usual back 4.

Davis, Romeu our two best midfielders, maybe JwP is questionable but is Hojberg really any better? Clasie being injured.

Then we have JRod, Redmond and Boufal...who else is there really? Offside and serial fouler Long? Questionable.

Fonte had a better game than VVD imo. VVD was left flat footed for their first goal.

He was wrong-footed by the deflection

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I really don't understand these "rotation" criticisms. Who wasn't on the field last night that is better than any of the players who were.

 

Forster..Number 1 keeper. Cedric,Fonte,VvD,Bernard..usual back 4.

Davis, Romeu our two best midfielders, maybe JwP is questionable but is Hojberg really any better? Clasie being injured.

Then we have JRod, Redmond and Boufal...who else is there really? Offside and serial fouler Long? Questionable.

Its not so much the rotation WC its the formation I have issues with and the reluctance to change during a game or at half time - Bournemouth and Davis being the exception. Spurs flexible 4-2-3-1 5 man midfield battered our 3 with Davis/JWP hardly winning a tackle.

How can a team get used to each other if constantly changing? Rotation has its place but we need more flexibility in formation not rigid 4-3-3

Well we aren't appealing the red card make of that what you will !

Its not so much the rotation WC its the formation I have issues with and the reluctance to change during a game or at half time - Bournemouth and Davis being the exception. Spurs flexible 4-2-3-1 5 man midfield battered our 3 with Davis/JWP hardly winning a tackle.

How can a team get used to each other if constantly changing? Rotation has its place but we need more flexibility in formation not rigid 4-3-3

And I quote:

"Last night the manager messed up big time. His rotation obsession with three games coming up provided a compromise team against" etc

The formation is as maybe but basically we don't have a good enough squad to be any better than we actually are.

Well we aren't appealing the red card make of that what you will !

Perhaps Redmond gave a expletive filled reaction to Mike "hotspur" Dean

And I quote:

 

"Last night the manager messed up big time. His rotation obsession with three games coming up provided a compromise team against" etc

 

The formation is as maybe but basically we don't have a good enough squad to be any better than we actually are.

Do you think we are getting the best out of Boufal out wide? Does Redmond deserve a start over Long...how does Long rediscover any form sat on his arse?

Can we play a midfield trio that 2 can't tackle and one can only take free kicks and corners? Do we have to alienate the striker every game?

Answer to those questions is change the formation to 4-2-3-1 for a few games and IMO Puel will see better performances is he willing to change though?

That is not rotation - last night we changed 3 subs - all played exactly the same position as those that came off.....

Do you think we are getting the best out of Boufal out wide? Does Redmond deserve a start over Long...how does Long rediscover any form sat on his arse?

Can we play a midfield trio that 2 can't tackle and one can only take free kicks and corners? Do we have to alienate the striker every game?

Answer to those questions is change the formation to 4-2-3-1 for a few games and IMO Puel will see better performances is he willing to change though?

That is not rotation - last night we changed 3 subs - all played exactly the same position as those that came off.....

But all that has nothing to do with rotation, it's about systems. Derry is vehement in his criticism of Puel because of rotation obsession which obvioulsy isn't correct.

Well we aren't appealing the red card make of that what you will !

I've seen this a few times and without being 100% certain I'd say that Redmond does pull Delle's arm a bit again when he is inside the box.

Well we aren't appealing the red card make of that what you will !

Why?

Saints Web was so sure it was a terrible decision?

Maybe les is forcing puels hand so he can't pick redmond lol

Its not so much the rotation WC its the formation I have issues with and the reluctance to change during a game or at half time - Bournemouth and Davis being the exception. Spurs flexible 4-2-3-1 5 man midfield battered our 3 with Davis/JWP hardly winning a tackle.

How can a team get used to each other if constantly changing? Rotation has its place but we need more flexibility in formation not rigid 4-3-3

this

But all that has nothing to do with rotation, it's about systems. Derry is vehement in his criticism of Puel because of rotation obsession which obvioulsy isn't correct.

After ten days off against the best team in the next three games we could have picked the best team available to be better able to battle it out. I mentioned that not only didn't the diamond work the 4-3-3 isn't working and the team completely lost it's shape plus the substitutions changed nothing just like for like with an eye on rotation. Hojbjerg and Romeu holding with Long up front and a middle three including Rodriguez and McQueen would have given us more bite. Right from the start of the season rather than systems to suit the players it's system first and fit the square pegs into the round holes no matter what, after picking Redmond.

After ten days off against the best team in the next three games we could have picked the best team available to be better able to battle it out. I mentioned that not only didn't the diamond work the 4-3-3 isn't working and the team completely lost it's shape plus the substitutions changed nothing just like for like with an eye on rotation. Hojbjerg and Romeu holding with Long up front and a middle three including Rodriguez and McQueen would have given us more bite. Right from the start of the season rather than systems to suit the players it's system first and fit the square pegs into the round holes no matter what, after picking Redmond.

Long is a waste of space who's either offside or committing petty fouls when doesn't need to be. Apart from that the front 3 was the same as against Bournemouth...who was complaining then? Davis is a better player than Reed, Clasie was injured and Romeu took back his usual place as he should. So this comes down to Hojbjerg and JwP doesn't it ?

I really don't understand these "rotation" criticisms. Who wasn't on the field last night that is better than any of the players who were.

 

Forster..Number 1 keeper. Cedric,Fonte,VvD,Bernard..usual back 4.

Davis, Romeu our two best midfielders, maybe JwP is questionable but is Hojberg really any better? Clasie being injured.

Then we have JRod, Redmond and Boufal...who else is there really? Offside and serial fouler Long? Questionable.

Agreed, people moaning about rotation last night are seemingly unable to understand what rotation is all about. Apart from JWP over PEH (which was debatable until JWP put the argument to bed after the first minute) and Redmond over anybody (but Puel will always pick Redmond because he thinks he will be the new Henry, I assume he means the vaccy cleaner), that was our best team. There was no rotation last night. Personally I would have played McQueen, Sims or Long rather than Redmond but that logic is clearly being nullified by some contract term or other as far as I can see.

What I find inexplicable is why we dropped so deep after just 20 minutes and ceded possession which is so adept at keeping the ball. It was the single most significant change in the game which determined the eventual result, Dean's incompetence notwithstanding. Given Spurs eventual dominance, it's easy to forget that we had them rattled for 15 or 20 minutes, yet we took our foot off the gas. A really stark contrast between first and second parts of the first half. The high press was clearly the agreed tactics and it worked. Ok we couldn't have kept that up all match but then to fall back so meekly after 20 minutes? It's not like Spurs did much with all the possession they had towards the end of the first half but it enabled them to take the sting out of the situation. Perhaps we thought we could defend a one goal lead and conserve energy for the remaining two games in the 3 games in 6 days period. That doesn't seem like a plausible reason to me given that players will be rotated. Could have been a change in Spurs tactics or formation that I wouldn't have noticed but seemed like their normal game to me. Otherwise I'm mystified why we dropped off.

Vic looked fitter and more mobile yesterday, and more of a threat going forward.

Vic looked fitter and more mobile yesterday, and more of a threat going forward.

From what I can recall everybody looks fitter and more of a threat going forward in Pochettino sides.

It's the way they are, play till you drop and then play some more style.

Vic looked fitter and more mobile yesterday, and more of a threat going forward.

i actually thought he wasnt a great deal better different than at saints. strong in the tackle and good at covering the back four but junk on the ball. if I could take any of thier players for saints then he would be last pick.

Not an enjoyable game last night bar the first 15 minutes which were excellent. I hope we'd turned a corner after Bournemouth and that Puel had been encouraged by the result and his good substitutions to have abandoned the dire negative style of play he seems to love but back to normal, dull as dishwater service, a performance in Puel's own dour image. Has to be the least charismatic and interesting manager we've had since Burley and well before that Branfoot. He's not disliked in the way those two were but there is a widespread sense of apathy in the wider fanbase on and off of this site about him. I switch over the radio as soon as he is interviewed.

He's being a good boy in terms of showcasing the young players and I agree with those who say Koeman had gone too far down the ready-made route. However, I'd like to see the young players blooded into a Saints side that is proactive and playing in a positive, although flexible where needed, way.

I wanted to make a couple of points on JWP and Redmond, who I think are both getting stick on here, slightly unfairly.

JWP: I thought he did OK last night but Claude messed up badly on the team selection, JWP and Davis were always going to be bullied by the bulk of Victor and Sissoko. He's shown more physically this season and would have been a better selection for WBA.

Redmond: I see him as a victim of poor man-management - those buffoon comments by the manager in August about comparing him to Henry really set him up to fail and he's clearly a confidence manager. He's a winger and when used as such as a squad player which he originally should have been if the club had a better transfer window in the summer should be effective as he has rough edges coached away.

Can't believe some of the comments about Fraser after only a couple of bad games - he's much better keeper than many say on here. He and the back 4 were undone last night by bad selections, Clasie's injury and strange decisions in the transfer window which led us to having several of the same types of midfielder. One hopes Les Reed has learned from this and we get some power and strength in that area, a CB and at least one striker, if not two.

I think the team is shorn of confidence. I also think a hammering as been on the cards for a while but it only happened because of the red. I remember thinking at the time that Vertingen got away with one and that it could come back to bite us. Had he seen red then I'm sure we would've won the game. Up until the equaliser we were very competitive but the confidence drained out of them after that. I don't think there was anything they could've done for the equaliser, it was a horrible deflection but a superb header. Likewise the third goal was lucky in the sense the deflection off of Romeu took the ball into Son's path.

 

The bigger worry is the persistent toothlessness of the team. We could've played until midnight and not scored a second, even with 11 men.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with the recruitment. Redmond is raw and his tendency to either cut back or stop when he gets into promising positions is infuriating. That said he rarely has any support inside the box. We rarely get more than one player up in support. Caution first, thoughts about scoring second.

 

I get that Puel was trying to play a possession game to keep players fresh for the Europa but now we are out of that it is horribly apparent that we are nowhere near incisive enough to break down decent premier league defences. We miss Pelle

hugely: a proper target man who others could play off. And the top sides mostly have a better work rate, defending from the front. Why had that gone out of game? Fitness? Tactics? Whatever it is it's not working and we have been a dull watch this year.

 

We desperately need another striker. Jay Rod's goals against Bournemouth we're heartwarming but clearly he would struggle to hit a dozen goals a season now even if he were playing every week. If we were to disrupt the back four by letting VvD and or Fonte go in January I think we would struggle to get 40 points.

 

Bottom line is top 6 are improved immensely this season, other mid table sides have improved with a few exceptions and we have gone backwards by losing Wanyama, Mane and Pelle especially. You can't keep

on breaking up the side every summer and expect to get away with it. So frustrating.

 

Rant over.

 

 

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I like this rant

I'll aid the lucidity of my argument with the fact that we're eighth and doing fine thanks. Must be those awful journeymen what we're lumbered with.

I also think that we are doing ok considering the volume of fixtures over the past few months, but you can't possibly argue that we are playing confident, attractive football. Its dull and (Boufal and Jrod goals excluded) deeply uninspiring.

I also think that we are doing ok considering the volume of fixtures over the past few months, but you can't possibly argue that we are playing confident, attractive football. Its dull and (Boufal and Jrod goals excluded) deeply uninspiring.

We had a 15 minute spell on Wednesday (and against Everton at home) where we were. The crowd really reacted and it felt like 'the old days'.

Appreciate you can't press for 90 minutes but after that 15 minute spell we sat on the edge of our box and let them control the game. Surely if we can only press / apply pressure for 15 minutes (in 2 games this season), you need to look at the fitness coaching staff?

You can tell from the feel around the stadium (quietest I've known it for a long time at St Mary's) that the football this year, in general, is pretty sh!te.

Did anyone see the article in the Times today where Redmond actually has done okay according to the statisticians from Opta. Top performer was Mane though. How we miss an edge-of-the-seat player like him.

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I like this rant

Another will not make a blind bit of difference to a team who play in their own goalmouth whilst leaving their only striker to wander around with no Saints player within 50 yards of him!

The issue is more with tactics and to some extent a very shaky goalkeeper plus to a lesser extent but still relevant we have VVD who gets caught far to often with the man he is marking getting ahead of him. I would suggest something radical like playing him in defensive midfield.

Tactically we simply have to play further up the pitch all game. We can all see us dropping deeper and deeper after the first few minutes. The question as one or two have said is also are we really fit enough because we look off the pace when we play fitter well organised teams.

I was a Puel fan but he does need to earn his money now, recognise we are generally far too deep....