verlaine1979

I wonder how many of those were regulation blocks from the CB, FB or DM? I see us snatch at a lot of shots around the edge of the box, but we're definitely not creating and wasting 15 clear-cut chances per game. In fact, isn't this the kind of stat you'd expect to see when you're struggling to create lots of out-and-out chances? A high number of shots, most of which don't trouble the keeper because they're from too far out or are too easily blocked.

Where did I dispute that Fonte occasionally opened his mouth or waved his hands while on the pitch? All I said is that to make him the primary defensive organiser behind Portugal's victory is moronic bearing in mind who he was playing alongside (especially in the final - Pepe pretty much dragged that team to victory by himself after Ronaldo went off). However, bearing in mind that Steven Davis is now being acclaimed as one of Saints' finest players in forty years of football, this lack of perspective over Fonte is pretty minor.

Not at all, it's just the question of whether he played well or not has no bearing on the question of whether he took over from Pepe in being the leader of the Portugal back four.

We aren't talking about whether he did a good job or not.

Of course, of course - the CB who wasn't even a guaranteed starter until halfway through the tournament took over responsibility for organising the back line from the CB who starts every single game when fit...

Fonte organising the Portugal back line? You must be mistaking him for Pepe, who is the unquestioned senior member of the Portugal back four.

Wonder how many pundits would pick Fonte above Stones now? The latter's stock has certainly risen since his move to Man City. Both are prone to the occasional lapse in concentration, so I'd probably take Stones now based on his speed. He's also a better passer of the ball than JF, which would probably help consolidate our new building-from-the-back tactics. Would also take Rashford over Redmond and Long as a better finisher than either.

Dude, just scroll up thread. In case you can't be bothered... "One of the best signings the past 40 years", "as important a player as Morgan was for SFC", "8 of 10 performance most games", "if he could score 10+ a season he'd be up there with Gerrard and Lampard". This kind of nonsense gets spouted constantly, and every week at least a handful of people claim that he's had a great game, even if he's been abject. In all the years I've wasted on this site, I can't remember another player so immune to criticism.

Why so uptight? All I ever say about him is that he's an average, 6 out of 10 player who has been elevated by members of this forum into something special for reasons that probably don't bear very close scrutiny. By and large, every other player in our squad is viewed with a reasonable degree of perspective. Opinions differ, but usually within a margin of difference that bears scrutiny. Davis is really the only player where that isn't the case, hence the fact that I keep banging on about it. For the last four years I've seen a player who tries hard, does simple things as well as you'd expect simple things to be done, and maybe two or three times a season he'll come up with a goal or a game-changing pass. However, on here, he's gone from being the most underrated player in the league, to one of our best players of the last forty years. Quite an elevation for someone who rarely scores, rarely assists and who can't seem to run more than about five yards without instinctively wanting to turn back and offload to a defender. I have a few theories as to why that is, but if you're this angry simply at the fact that I disagree with you about his qualities, I can't imagine how incandescent with rage you'd be if you knew *why* I suspect you think that way...

Listen, if this forum didn't produce an ocean of jizz every time Davis completes a five yard no pressure pass back into defence, I'd be happy to let the matter rest. As it is, someone has to speak out against the madness.

I've always said he's a consistent 6/10 performer who does lots of things reasonably well and nothing very well - however, he's probably the squad member most easily identified with by the average fan, so I can almost understand why he's put on a pedestal as allegedly one of our best players in four decades, despite the utter mediocrity of his record.

I'm sure the performance he put in against a team of amateurs ranked 201st in world football was worthy of all this rhapsodizing, but sadly I didn't see the game.

He really has to do very little to score high marks on this forum. Hojbjerg and Romeu both much more influential in open play, while Davis's set pieces have been poor so far.

Found it easy to move the ball through midfield for the first 15, but Leicester shut that door and we didn't regain the same fluency during the half. Once Slimani and Vardy started pressing, we've found it difficult to play out from the back, and when it does make it into midfield, only Romeu is passing with any urgency (Davis once again guilty of almost always picking the 100% reliable back pass even when there's a 75% forward pass on for him).

Taking the opposition into account, possibly the most coherent 15 mins we've played so far this season?

Long can't have had many games worse than that in his career.

Our passing is so slack tonight. So many balls that aren't even meant to be sideways, but end up that way because they've been underhit without any sort of authority. At times its like we're pressing against ourselves.

Always good to stuff West Ham. Second half we played some nice stuff after a turgid first 45, but our decision making and movement on the break is still rubbish. Hopefully this is the extra 10% Boufal will bring to the team.

The predicate of your question was false. You can press successfully for a whole season. Klopp's Dortmund are the most recent proof. League wins and European finals, always playing the same way.

Tell that to Klopp's Dortmund team of a few years ago.

We do???

RK definitely announced that JWP would be first choice when he was on the pitch, though not much point in having a first choice from the spot who doesn't start. Austin took them for QPR, and he definitely strikes the ball better than Tadic, so even if he wasn't supposed to take it, Austin probably did us a favour by insisting it was his.

Still don't like the diamond - in the first half, there were quite clear passing lanes through the midfield which better teams would have made more of. Still, good finishes from Austin, nice play from Martina with the assists and a couple of other passes, and another goal for JRod. Oh, and Yoshida very frustrating with his distribution - so slow to make a decision he almost always ends up turning and making Forster play long.

I would. Even if you ignore Yoshida's two mistakes, he's so slow to make his mind up with distribution. Almost always ends up running out of time and popping it on to the full back, or turning around and making Forster go long. Not a good option for a team trying to build from the back.

Why not just look at your food and your companions rather than anyone else? If you've managed to spend anything like £200 a head in Southampton, then I'd look even closer, as the waiter will probably also soon be trying to sell you a very fine suit of invisible clothes...