verlaine1979

He actually got an equal amount of criticism last week when we won. It isn't scapegoating, it's just pointing out a forward player who hasn't scored in over a year, rarely assists, and specialises only in looking 'tidy', which basically equates to playing tedious wall passes at every opportunity and refusing the responsibility to actually create anything.

Davis is only singled out because so many people have spent the best part of a year idolising him as an unsung hero. There are plenty of players I don't really rate that highly in the squad, but only one where the balance of praise/criticism is so ludicrously skewed. He is a decent squad player, a midfield journeyman who has only ever excelled in Scottish football, and who now hasn't scored a league goal for more than a year. Personally, I think his play has been sloppy since the turn of the year, but what seems inarguable is that most people recognise that his performances in the last two games have been awful. So when I see posts like yours, I have to wonder - are there any other players in the team whose wayward passing you'd excuse through static strikers and wingers loitering 3000 miles away? When Wanyama was struggling last season, were you on here explaining he was only failing to hit players ten yards away because of a lack of movement?

Nope. Schneiderlin put it in from Fonte's header.

Longer than that. He's been giving the ball away through indecision and sloppy play since the Man City game.

None of the above, I just think he's cack. No goals in forty plus games and only two assists all season. Oh, and telling lies about him? What are you, his mother?

I never saw Ramirez put in a performance even half as abject as the one Steven Davis put in today. The idea that there are some people who watched that game and thought he came out of it with credit absolutely boggles the mind. A nothing player 99% of the time, who always prefers to pass the creative buck on to others. No goals in more than a year of league appearances. Dire.

Steven Davis once again proving my point that he just isn't good enough to be a first choice attacking midfielder.

Defensive midfielders rarely seem to go for more than the low twenties. Maybe there's a commercial consideration - fewer goals scored = fewer shirts sold.

I hate to break it to you, but he's played in 7 of our last 9 games, during which we've generally been woeful in attack. If you think Steven Davis is the answer to our problems in attack, you're asking the wrong question (though I'll admit, 2nd half against Burnley he had his best 45 minutes since the 2nd half against Everyone at home).

We've been lacking in ideas and confidence up front for a couple of months now. Transition into attack is so slow unless we're hoofing it at Pelle, and there's no confidence in our decision-making. The player on the ball seems to want time to assess every option before making a pass, which is tolerable when trying not to surrender cheap possession in the middle of the pitch, but counter-productive in attack. Pelle isn't playing well, and if he weren't on the pitch we'd probably play with a bit more discipline and play fewer long balls, but he isn't the real problem. We seem to be creating only one or two genuine scoring chances per game, which even the very best strikers are only going to convert at a rate of about 1 in 3. So unless we'd gone out in January and acquired an exceptional striker who both created and finished his own chances, we'd still be in exactly the same place, toiling away in possession but creating only scraps.

He played a couple of times in the World Cup last year, and from what I remember was pretty poor.

Credit where it's due - beautiful scooped pass from Davis.

He couldn't get into the first XI of the Spanish champions & CL finalists? Definite proof that Fonte is as good, if not better...

Dragging us back with no league goals for over a year and only two assists this season? Come off it. Tidy player, but absolutely not the answer to our lack of goals.

As an allegedly attacking player, I've certainly noticed that he hasn't scored now in 40 league appearances, and he only has two assists this season. For all the reasons you mention, work rate, tidiness on the ball (though he's definitely much sloppier in possession this season than he ever has been) etc, Davis is the player we should be bringing on with twenty minutes to go to close the game out, not the player we should be starting with when we want to dominate in attack at home.

Djuricic in for Davis - we should be more progressive against Burnley and Djuricic looks far more of a goal threat (and far more likely to provide a telling pass). Davis put in a reasonable shift defensively against Chelsea, but in an attacking sense he contributed absolutely nothing and surrendered possession several times through indecision.

None of the few comments attributed to him make staying seem all that likely. He'll be in demand, having played for top clubs in Ajax, Atletico & now a full season in the PL, so he'd have to have an almost irrational love for Southampton to make him pick us above the multiple offers that are bound to come his way.

As others have said, since we started the season with a playing staff that was notionally worth about £30m less than the previous season, I doubt the board were expecting anything much this year beyond consolidation.

I'm surprised that JWP doesn't yet seem able to apply what is clearly very good technique with a dead ball into striking it in open play, but it's probably just a question of composure, which should improve with time. However, to criticise his lack of goals when the player most of his critics would replace him with hasn't scored in 38 league appearances and counting, seems a tad unfair, especially when JWP's assist record is vastly superior this season. That said, I'd rather see Djuricic at #10 than either SD or JWP right now.

[quote=adriansfc;2147681 As for midfield, I'd rather it was Davis or JWP in front of Wanyama and Morgan, not Djuricic. I don't see how he's earned the place and these signings maybe disrupted things a bit. At the moment, none of the options for #10 have 'earned it'. Davis now has 3 assists and no goals in his last 38 league appearances (that's a whole season for those who are counting). JWP has more assists, but also hasn't scored any goals. Last night Djuricic looked capable of beating his opponent with both pace and skill, which the other two seem largely incapable of, and he played a good number of attacking passes (not all of which came off of course, but for those who'd prefer attacking players not take risks with possession, I refer you back to Paul Scholes' recent comments, and our scoring record since January).

On current form (Djury still being out on Djuricic) we probably don't have a better balanced attacking line-up than that.

Absolutely this. We are a solid possession side, but whether through lack of skill or lack of confidence, we don't have players capable of creating overloads by taking on and beating their marker. The only alternative to that is that your off the ball movement and passing are so quick that you're able to bypass the opposition, but despite being better earlier in the season, we've never been brilliantly quick at moving the ball around (nor were we last season). With Elia, Mane, Tadic, Long & Djuricic, we have the players in our squad to attempt a more mobile front three, but despite this, the last couple of weeks seem to have proven that Koeman feels Pelle (or presumably a Pelle style target man) is absolutely essential to the way we play.

Looking like a team short on confidence and ideas. Play really slows down once we reach the edge of the box (which is quite a feat considering we're not exactly zipping it around elsewhere either), with everyone seeming to want time to assess every possible option. Bring on Djuricic for Tadic at half-time - whatever other qualities he might have, at least his attacking confidence shouldn't be shot just yet...

Hmm, a more or less fully fit midfield for the first time since December, and look who's been dropped...

I suspect the fact that he went out in January to acquire a creative #10 probably means he already knows.