Saint_clark

With Van Dijk coming on late V Palace it's looking possible that we are going to be switching to three at the back - OK it didn't work V Wolves, but I have a feeling it's the formation our players are best suited to, and here are some of the reasons. We have four centrebacks who are all capable of being starters for a top half team. Bertrand and Cedric would be freed up to push further forward more often, which would benefit our attacking play because... Our current first choice wingers/wide players - Redmond and Tadic - haven't been in great form for us so far. It means being able to play two strikers at a time, which is what Gabbiadini needs. He doesn't suit playing on his own as he doesn't win headers, hold the ball up or run the channels very well. He is a fantastic finisher though and so if we can get him involved, we should - alongside Long (great in the air, runs the channels well) or Austin (good in the air, holds the ball up very well). It gives Lemina and Romeu more license to run forward knowing there is ample cover behind them, adding another dimension to our attack. Thoughts? I know people might be put off after the Wolves game, but I also remember it working very well for us under Koeman for a bit.

All started from us passing back when we were breaking away, leaving 4 players beyond the ball.

I think i'd like to see Redmond and Tadic on their stronger sides. ......and after that I want Redmond subbed, he has been awful all season.

He put it in the one place it wouldn't be saved or blocked you nutter! If he'd put it in the centre the defender was going that way, hence being unable to stretch back to where he actually placed it.

We're getting into situations where a better team would have won the ball off us, but we're getting lucky and it's just rebounding back/through to us...need to cut that out and improve some of our passing.

Hope you're joking...was a great finish.

Long playing brilliantly up front, won the ball so well there.

Get the **** in!!! Looking so much better with Gabbiadini out...sorry!

Good decision by Pelligrino, like this team. Long is much better than Gabbiadini in the air, will hold it up better and run the channels better. Our style sadly just doesn't suit Gabbiadini and so when playing one up top it should always be Long or Austin.

https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/59b5b7248dd5dd25d4d2271b With Tadic/Boufal further forward...this would aid us defensively, get our fullbacks further forward to aid with lack of pace in attack and solve our problem of Gabbiadini being isolated with Austin there to hold the ball up, link up with him and score a fair few himself.

We've also taken to cranking the music right up just before kick off, I assume to drown out the away fans as our home support no longer does the job.

It's a shame we'll never know what Puel could have done with a second season. I said at the end of last year that I would have given him till January this season to see how his team and style developed, but that I would understand if the board sacked him...I still understand why but I can't help wondering if we made the wrong decision.

Was far from the worst player today, actually took on and got past his man a few times. Redmond a much worse offender constantly turning backwards (even when beyond the fullback ffs???).

As I said on the Huddersfield post match thread...no surprise that we looked instantly more of a threat with long up front for me.

Except she started the season Koeman took over so, no.

Maybe we can sing a rendition of Amazing Grace to show our support for the enslaved.

Whilst he phrased it pretty poorly, the abundance of these kinds of tributes in football now completely devalue them, especially with the Remembrance Sunday/Armistice day tributes which are sometimes done as much as 2 weeks before/after the event...just because every team "needs" to show they are doing it at one home game at least.

While I agree he never got much of a chance here, he's flat out lieing to say that Middlesbrough didn't give him a chance. He was first choice for god knows how long.

Yeah he's looked miserable since day one for us, except on the odd occasion where he's scored ( or someone else has scored a big goal).

Trouble is Davis won't be dropped and nothing we've seen in the past suggests that Redmond, Boufal and Tadic together works. None of those 3 get into goalscoring positions enough.

I think he just needs more than one option to go to. Gabbiadini makes good forward runs, but when he is the ONLY forward player doing so it's easy to defend against no matter how good the pass is. Which is why we either need to play Austin up top instead to hold the ball up and bring others into play, or play him or Long alongside Gabbiadini.

People talking about Spurs and Leicester. Leicester was a complete one off, a fluke of a season where all the top clubs and even middle clubs (see:us) failed to form any sort of consistency. Everything clicked for them including no injuries or loss of form to any of their key players. Spurs have worked at this for a long, long time - back in 08/09ish times, they were exactly where we are now. Midtable but regularly top half, getting to the latter stages of the cups (winning a league cup at one point under Ramos), and just about turning the corner in regards to selling players. Fast forward 7-8 years and they are challenging for the title. If you're going to cite Spurs as an example of breaking the glass ceiling, you need to wait until 2023 at least to see how we compare to them.

I won't boo, but I also can't bring myself to chant his name. I think I could only do that if he made a public statement apologising and committing to staying at Saints beyond this season. Also another point that seems to have been overlooked - when games against Liverpool come around, if he is back in the team can we trust him to put in a professional, 100% committed performance?

If you can drag your eyes up the picture a bit, she does however look like she might have been born a man.

Why? Tadic had a hand in the same amount of goals but in two less games.