Benj

Mane seem to go down quite easily.....

Penalty!

What was Gulys involvement in the first????

Ramirez was limping quite badly.

It is possible to turn off the transponder. Trouble is there's not many places you could take a 777 without somebody noticing, it's a big plane.

Saw Barker in Sainsbury's earlier this evening, had reduced bagels and doughnuts in his basket. Clearly getting in the Pompey mindset already.

Like last season with Jack Cork, you seem to have been handed instructions to play a few steps ahead of Victor Wanyama in midfield. It all started with Pochettinos arrival. Before that I was used more as the anchor man just in front of the defence. When he came, he spoke to me straight ahead « I saw a couple of videos from you and I think youve the techical and physical abilities to do more attacking ». Then he asked me to play a step ahead, to get into space and burst forward. Im expected to do the constant link between defence and attack whilst maintaining the same intensity in terms of pressing. Even if I can’t do that all 90 mn (laughs) Your pairing with Victor Wanyama is improving but it will still require a bit of time before you’ll get to the same marks than when you played with Cork… Absolutely. We know each other for years (with Cork) so we had a perfect understanding of one another on the pitch. Last season we knew exactly how the other did play. With Wanyama I had to start over. We’re not there yet, that’s for sure. He struggled a bit to cope with the way he’s pressed. He wasnt used to that in his former league and it was a tad difficult for him athletically. But you’re right, it’s way better now. It can only improve because as we see at training he’s a very good player, technically in instance. It’s more about physicality and positioning but that will come. You spole about pressing earlier, do Pochettino asks to isolate the player in possession or does he prefer playing 1v1 all across the field, kind of « matching » a lot of Championship use to do ? First of all, we have to close the central zones. He keeps saying it’s the heart of play and there’s always more options from the central zones: switches of play etc… He emphasises on blocking passing lanes. Anyway when I do press, I try to leave the worst passing option possible to the opponent. Pochettino asks us not to give the opponent the choice. But it requires a massive amount of work from a collective point of view. It’s not surprising after six or seven months working on it that we’re now able to harass and fully inbalance some of the teams we face. We couldnt do that from the start as it’s a massive work put in at training. He wants us to recover the ball as high as possible, so for that it’s usually up to a forward to trigger the pressing ; so then we’ve to follow. Personnally, I sometimes have to leave my zone to help on one side if a winger who was out of position because he was in a forward zone and couldnt fall back in time. Im the closest to the ball to intervene so then even if I’m tired, I’m kicking my ass. So then, the winger has to fill my zone and then we switch positions. This is the basic philosophy. We have precise drills and patterns depending of the situation. On goalkicks, if they attack from the right side etc. Pochettino is all about detail, really. I recall that he showed us from the start that a meter or half a meter could block two passing lanes in midfield. We just had to move a step ahead or orientating our body a given way to face the opponent in order to put him into trouble So then Lambert runs a bit more than before… Even him runs more, says it all (laughs). It’s not his thing but he’s adapting to what the coachs demands. It’s often him or Osvaldo who triggers the first wave of pressure. If one of the two starts, it triggers the whole process. Pressing is first and foremost a collective thing. If I’m coming out, the winger will react that way, so will my team mate in midfield and so on. How is all that implemented on daily basis at training ? You’re ought to know we play a 11v11 game every wednesday. It’s often against the reserves, or the academy ; youths basically but intensity is maximal. The staff implements several patterns of play depending of the situations. And as we changed the system – because Pochettino likes to play with a 10 and a lone striker – because Osvaldo and Lambert are both out and out forwards, it requires adaptation We work on patterns to get the ball out from the back on goalkicks: the last two games, both CM had to get to both angles of the penalty box while the two CB had to spread to both sides of the box. Full backs have to get close to the byline and the midway line. The purpose is to get the ball out from the back on ground and not hoofing the ball on Lambert. If the pass toward Wanyama isn’t possible, we have the two center backs. If opponents close us down, so then both full backs are unmarked in a free zone. The aim is to find them as soon as possible in order to write off the most opposing players as we can. If ever we don’t have a short option, that means that the opponent has closed us down as a team ans so then we’ve to play long on Lambert because it will be 1v1 in the air. But we often change that pattern because opponents adapts after a couple of games. While attacking, there’s also the will to pass the ball on the floor and stretch opposing defences. Hence how crucial is your role as you’re a specialist to switch the play. We must know how to oxygenate play, dictating the rythm, surprise the opponent. Pochettino asks me to switch the play often because he likes that. He wants us to devellop a genuine playing identity. Even falling back as a team is necessary, he gives us license to attack. He wants his full backs to get into attacking positions, put under presure opponent’s wingers. We always have to scan around. If you’re head first in Premier League… That playing intelligence, is it the recipe of your success against the best teams ? I do think so, indeed. But it’s because we’re more at ease with all the teams trying to get the ball out from the back, such as Chelsea, Manchester City or Swansea. We often speak about Arsenal or Swansea for ball retention, but Swansea really is the best there is in England. They’re really impressing. From now on, Bony gives them the running into depth which stretches the lines. Not a surprise if their manager is Laudrup with his experience as a player, his experience in Spain Back to us, with all that work implemented by Pochettino, we’re now able to suffocate those teams. We saw that at Liverpool. Last season, we had a lot of struggles with teams playing route one football such as West Ham. Even this season, we haven’t played so well even if Jääskeläinen saves them. Southampton is currently 4th on the table. The ambitions got to another level. Proof is that a lot of teams now play very defensive against you, as if they were afraid of you Indeed, we often play very organised teams. It’s a good indication I bet that you’ll end the season in the top 6, was I right to do so ? (laughs) Im being very honest. If we end up 10th, it will be a failure for me. I’m playing to win, not to stay in mid-table even if that’s decent, in some way. I think weve enough quality on and off the pitch to do something good. But there’s a crucial point to take into consideration: our propensity to handle pressure/expectations. Imagine that we’re in the top 5 in December or January, it won’t be the same situation as now. Expectations will be much more important, focus [from the opinion] as well. It’s different from (he pauses)... It’s not the same to be an outsider than being a genuine contender. We don’t have that experience ans I don’t know how we will react. Will we panic ? Will we be up to that ? Players such as Lambert or Lovren have a lot of experience. Even guys such as Lallana or I have play hundreds of games. But not to end up in the first places on the table Are you satisfied with your season so far ? Right from the start – no. Against WBA it was OK but I wasnt very good against West Ham even if I come this close to score. I had a tad more difficult period. As I’m a perfectionnist, I’m not satisfied with being « decent ». I know I wasn’t that bad but it wasnt good either. I’m satisfied since the Liverpool game. I just played three good games against Palace and Swansea You were in the storm after your tackle on Mohamed Diamé. You get to the ball first but what you put into that challenge was impressing. Back then I was wondering why there was hurling. I knew I got the ball so I didnt understood. I still apologized straight away. I’m not the kind of guy to injure another player. What was funny though was that we met referees in order to speak about supposed behaviours, rules and tackles. It was the WH game’s referee. Watching the video he said « it’s supposed to be yellow on that one but you got the ball first ». Problem was more the impact in the tackle, I didn’t realize that on the pitch. From a distance, one wouldn’t think you’re that powerful even if you don’t have Rickie Lambert’s frame either But I don’t wan’t Lambert’s frame, I wouldn’t move if so. You don’t even know how massive he is. I gained strength because weve a very good individual program. I had to be more powerful without loosing on mobility/dynamism. By the way, I’d like to say that Southampton’s medical staff is amazing. I haven’t had a muscular injury for two and a half years and it’s nothing to do with luck. I have a good lifestyle but we do a lot of prevention. In instance we work a lot on glueteal muscles before every training session.

Got tickets, first time I've been to an England game in a long, long time. Lambert and now these call-ups has reignited my interest in England.

JWP really is a bit special.

Terrible, terrible defending.

It's a load of utter ********, the Editor text shows that it actually means the players should be Italian. Saints obviously famed for the number of Italians that have played for us since Cortese became chairman.

Stokes would be the obvious choice but also Moran at Fratton or Matty in the last game at The Dell.

Let down by our tendency to play long cross field balls today, especially against two solid centre backs.

Strange sub

What the **** is going on with these ridiculous long balls out of play all the time