santolijador

Think one of the biggest differences under Juric is off the ball. KWP and Sugawara are pushing high (as opposed to ManU wing-backs) and restricting the space. One of the 3 CBs (often THB) is also very aggressive in pressing, and they are trying to go man for man, which is frustrating United. The two CMs in possession have been great at turning and looking for Sugawara and KWP, whilst KS and Dibling dritfing into space have caused problems. Clearly Juric is tactically astute and I like this return to an aggressive pressing style - at no point have United looked that comfortably playing out, and whilst they have broken the press a couple of times, we look committed in tackles and defence.

Reported as staying at Wolves in any case now.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24855586.southampton-chairman-kraft-steps-solak-takes-control/ Kraft gone, Dragan in charge, DoF likely appointed soon

It's not for real. Alfie House has confirmed that nothing in that link and Kayi Sanda is staying at Saints.

Would we perhaps be interested in taking Zirkzee for 6 months? (Not that I'm at all convinced he would be interested in us by the way) - Surely United would be looking to send him somewhere 'pressure-less' and maybe keep him in England as part of his adaptation to see if he might come good? Juric is probably aware of him from his time in Italy as well? I must also confess to not knowing too much about the guy, but he looks big enough to hold the ball up and act as a focal point? Happy to be corrected here as well.

I've also seen he has form for scrapping with Sporting Directors - Rasmus about to get what's coming...

Happy enough with that. I wonder if things go well, but we get relegated, he might want a shot in the Championship? Intrigued to see if he is in place for Fulham and the team he picks... He will sure things up defensively and he certainly won't be trying to be mates with the players. Welcome Ivan, best of luck.

Does anyone with more knowledge than me know what is Corberán all about? I see he worked under Bielsa - hopefully he would bring a different level of fitness, but is he really that different of a proposal than our previous forays into the Championship for managers?

I thought it might be a reference to Wilcox leaving and letting him down

Michel is the favourite to take over from Pep at City (whenever that might be), he is well out of our league. So is Terzic in all honesty.

what is saintsextra doing on tnt sport with a tweet crediting the echo lol. alfie won't be pleased

So now the Saudi window is shut and we still have a few players I think that we would like to move on here are a selected list of countries whose windows are still open: Turkey (Sept 13) Greece (Sept 11) Belgium (Sept 6) Switzerland (Sept 9) Serbia (Sept 13) (all from Transfermarkt) So this leads me to a couple of questions - assuming we are looking to trim Tall Paul, Kamaldeen (if Ajax falls through), ABK and maybe Edozie on loan, are there clubs in the leagues above that might be able to afford and then convince players to join them? I think Turkey for all 3 is the most likely, but given what we have seen with Trabzonspor so far, I would assume the club are exploring all options. There are some big clubs in Greece who will be playing European football this season.. However, if we get to the end of the window in these countries without any serious offers or options to move players on, would the only thing stopping us sending, say Tall Paul, to Goztepe, be the player themself not wanting to play there? Surely if we are going to be paying their wages anyway, it would make sense no? I know that they have striking options already, but his record speaks for itself. I could see ABK end up at one of the big 3 in Turkey on loan as well. Edozie is an interesting one - surely there is a potential club in Belgium or Switzerland playing European football he could get consistent game time at?

I suspect this will be the last nearly-unchanged/'deserves a chance because of last year' XI that Martin fields. From his comments mid-week it sounds like he will have said to the starters today 'fight for your place' - if he doesn't get anything out of them, changes on 60 minutes and from the start after the international break I should hope.

It was Diamond Edwards

Cuco Martina, Romain Perraud, James Bree. Love to see it

Fernansh looks the business in the middle of the park

To me the tweet reads as Arsenal (not Saints) have agreed personal terms with Joan García which is why they want to include an obligation to buy in any deal for Ramsdale.

Couldn't find a thread on him, but for those who are interested, he had a good game in the Libertadores last night. From what I can make out, despite some negative press when we signed him, he's been pretty solid this season so far Sao Paulo, who are currently 6th in the table.

Matsuki made his debut last night against Alanyspor. From what I can make out, their fans were very impressed with him (and Juan for that matter). Solid start to the season for Goztepe indeed.

Yeah pretty much - it is somewhere between 9th and 11th in the UEFA coefficient rankings putting it close to Czechia, Belgium and Norway. I would say the main benefit is that it provides work permit points for otherwise ineligible players - a la Kuryu Matsuki. Personally I found the answer at the recent forum interesting about the network of coaches having regular meetings to discuss tactics and try to learn from each other. From what I can see Goztepe are playing a similar formation to ours this season (and you would say they are in a relatively similar position fighting to stay up) - they have started quite well using that formation and given the similarities in terms of context, I am fully on the side of 'this is a good thing' camp - testing players out in that context, in a familiar formation, with a coach who is semi-regular contact with Russel Martin. Early days yet of course it must be said, but I'm taking the glass half full side.

Most, if not all of the prem are on it these days. It has been a disruptor in football tech and now has over 700 clubs (including the major clubs in pretty much every important league) and at this point clubs are in the minority to not have some presence on it, if nothing else to browse opportunities. I don't doubt that with the Rasmus connection we were one of its first more active users in the prem, given that when SR came in, it wasn't as popular or well known as it is now. From what I know, it has been quite useful post-brexit to put South American and other international/non-EU players in shop windows. It is also quite big in Brazil, which might explain some of our signings this summer as well.

Romano reporting it too now. Lovely stuff

Happy with the state of the midfield now - 6 players across 3 positions is good depth and we've made a nice couple of additions there now. You have to say, if we can shift a few players for some cash, the recruitment this summer (on paper) looks to be more sensible than in the past under SR. I am hopeful that this trend will continue as opportunities arise deep into the window

https://twitter.com/SaintsExtra/status/1822281386562060474

Getafe are a horrible team. Quite like the fact we've played these and Lazio in pre-season though, I hope this makes us tougher than we were last time in the PL