Dangermouth

It can be a very good system although I think Puel uses it in a slightly unorthodox manner. We do not have good enough players, especially when it comes to the physical demands. Hojbjerg, possibly yes, Davis/Clasie/JWP possibly not. As an aside, this graph is interesting. Nicked it off an Arsenal forum. Based on this I expect us to dominate world football.

This is mostly your 'opinion' based on your 'feelings', which I personally don't give a schitt about. Then you decide that you want a 'risks' (sic) manager because even though it might go tits-up it will make you 'feel' excited. Maybe we should put you in charge of the budget for the NHS and Armed Forces while we're at it so you can show how effective such decision-making is? If you have some facts and can draw logical, intelligent conclusions from them I'm sure we would all be interested in considering what you have to say. Otherwise, as a rather 'new' poster; are you a skate on a wind-up?

West Ham. Will do ok when they get Payet back. When he is injured, marked out of a game (less so because defensively the league is weaker than it is offensively), or doesn't get into it they'll struggle. Decent enough though. WBA - Poor to no attacking threat. One of their better young players (Leko) injured. Expect a lot of 1-0s more against than for. Will struggle greatly when go behind, will get brushed aside by the big clubs. Might go down. Watford. Much like last season. A good purple patch followed by a lot of dross. Better football though. Enough to stay up. Tottenham. Will do less well. Next season I can see Poch do his implosion and then or the season after they'll go. Difficult to beat, not so good going forward. Still one of the better teams though. Swansea. Will play nice football. Will have a decent patch when they bed in. Mid table with its ups and downs. Sunderland. Probably more like they were under BFS at the end of the season but worse going forward. Might improve when M'Vila joins in Jan. Lower end of the table because they'll lose against the bigger teams but win enough against the poorer teams. Might go down. Stoke. Same as last year. They've spent a lot of money incohesively. Will fail to deliver against the better teams overall. Capable of the odd thrashing of e.g. Liverpool. Us. Hard to say. I've looked at Nice's record last year. Not particularly goal-laden and a few results I think their fans might have expected to have gone the other way. It depends how long (and if) all our team get used to the formation and then how other teams decide to ignore it and bypass our lightweight midfield/lack of overall defensive capability. I think a lot of teams won't bother pressing us so they'll get a nice rest and we'll be impotent up front. Tactics will have to be adapted during games or we will struggle mightily. We might look pleasing on the eye but, again, that doesn't deliver results. I think we will have very few, if any, clean sheets this year. As for what people deem a 'good cup run', well Liverpool had 2 very good ones last year; won **** all. So unless you win it, it's ****: it means more games, chances of suspension/injury/tiredness, promises a lot and delivers little. Middlesbrough. Will probably survive. I think the year after they'll have close to another team. Again, will feature in a lot of low-scoring games. I think that will happen a lot this year: the poorer teams will set out to defend more and it will only be the teams with the better attacks that will score more and easily in games but at the same time once they're say 2 or 3 up most will sit back because they know the other teams won't be able to hurt them. Mancs. Will have journos cumming in their pants about them all season long. Won't win the league. **** off Mourinho. Plastic Mancs. Regrettably Guardiola has the right idea: attack, attack and attack some more. And they're loaded with firepower. If only FFP actually did what it was meant to .... Liverpool. If they get in front of games they'll do well. They'll do well enough anyway. Sakho might prove a bit of a fly in the ointment of their team spirit and they are still vulnerable to a collapse. Possibly enough to make top 4 though. Could be dark horses. But their scouse and scousers aren't horses; they're scousers. Leicester. Will do well. Unless referees actually pull up their defence. In which case they won't be able to put out a team. We can but hope. Hull. Team spirit will take them far. Things that will **** them up are the takeover going through, Phelan being made manager, injuries, a couple of losses that make them doubt themselves. Might just scrape through if they play it clever; a lot of poor teams around. The Grand Old Deluded up their own arses no marks from Scouseland. An ageing, overrated bunch of no-marks in that team. And Cleverly. Will do ok solely because Koeman will have them 'playing out of organisation' but otherwise close to relegation. If Koeman does do well enough it might lead to complacancy in which case they'll go down. If the board don't back him properly next year he'll walk. The dugouts will still be there, however, so not all will be lost. Crystal Palace. A Pardew team. Might have enough of a purple patch to stay up. Otherwise will be **** to watch and have crap results/scrape a few lucky draws. Chelski. Not as good as most people think. Nice to see Conte expanding his vocabulary; he might be a coach to watch. Enough to beat most big teams, not enough to win the league. Maybe a cup though. Burnley. Might surprise everyone. Think they'll do better this time: harder to beat. They've improved their squad overall compared to last time. Not unlike Hull but with more steel. Arsenal. Same as, same old. Wenger's not actually that good at delivering results. Bournemuff. Same as last year. Jack will go out on the **** a lot and end up with a mysterious injury of sorts to be rued by all who know nothing about football as the tragedy of a young man's hard upbringing. I expect to see the top teams clear, a few fighting out mid-table but probably 9 or ten who are near the bottom. That part of the league will be close and the gap between the top and bottom will be large. So final league table reads: 20 WBA 19 Palace 18 Burnley 17 Hull 16 Sunderland 15 Saints 14 Watford 13 Bournemouth 12 Middlesbrough 11 Swansea 10 Everton 9 Stoke 8 West Ham 7 Leicester 6 Arsenal 5 Tottenham 4 Prawns and Sarnies Mancs 3 Liverpool 2 Chelsea 1 Pep Guardiola's latest project

This was mentioned by someone elsewhere. Basically they're trained in loads of systems so it shouldn't be a problem when they get used to it. Davis, for example however, does seem to struggle more than say VVD but the midfield needs very physical players and he (and especially JWP/Clasie) might not be up to the demands of it. That said, he put in shift under Pochettino, so ... .

Might I suggest you go away and return once you've had a good, hard look at yourself. Assuming the reflection has changed you? This is a not the comment of someone who is rational.

Hope we got it right.

Agree. If Roma wanted him, he'd get a chance to show how good he really is and the type of league might allow him to have a full season unhindered. Guess he'd rather **** about than see if he actually is any good when not surrounded by the likes of Ozil, Cazorla, etc.

That would be the fan who went to Holland for his/her Erasmus. That would ignore the previous posts made by other Dutch Saints fans who have commented on him. Very possibly in this very thread. Must do better.

Agree entirely. Just as I pretty much did about your comments on the aftermath of the Sunderland game. Gotta make the most of these 3 posts.

Even with the ENORMOUS (big enough to make the point?) decline in standards of 'journalism' there is no way that this idiot who is the Arse fan calling himself "The Sippinator" could ever really be considered as anything other than an idiot a-hole behind a keyboard showing how wholly deficient of even basic sense, let alone the beginnings of the vestiges of that which could in millions of aeons turn into what might become 'intelligence', he is. I suggest the OP who is normally not a wum/poor poster looks at his 'sources' better so we are not subjected to click-bait which should never even have been the opportunity to be considered still-born. If you haven't yet read the link; don't bother: you'd be better off reading, enjoying and trusting as Gospel the posts of the regular WUMs on this site.

@ Guan @ AR-10 From reading the articles that were posted on here when Puel signed I gather that he is the type of coach that will develop players and adapt his methods to the tools at his disposal. I'd like to see some evidence of the latter and then the former. Davis looks horribly out of sorts at times because he wants to come central and go forward and has to check back and at least once yesterday ended up standing around looking completely lost. It is extremely disconcerting to see players arguing with each other. And probably rightly so. Why do there seem to be so many players not doing the 'right thing' and why so many last-ditch tackles? Why any at all - see how organised we were under RK (who, I think, underachieved)? We need a Paul Scholes: someone to hit the right pass early; then the likes of Austin aren't offside. And he carries a goal threat; Redmond does not. Clasie could be good with that if he can be covered by at least one very good and very defensive-minded player. I think Bouffal will not play like Hazard as we do not play like Chelsea. If he slows us down even more (and he's not a goal-machine so the goals will still have to come from somewhere) we'll just see lesser teams let us play up until the final third then we'll play in front of them and have a lot of ineffective long-distance shots and the teams with the good midfields and who press will batter us. We look as bad/worse than we did under Poortliviert. I've said before Redmond flatters to deceive: ultimately where is the end-product? Where is the part where we have the opposition panicking and being turned and out of position because we've caught them out? Puel needs to do his press appearances with a decent translator; at least then we'll know what he actually thinks/can say. Currently he's approaching Adkins-esque levels of gibberish at times; "interesting possibilities", meaning what? "choices/options"? And I actually quite like him but I don't like seeing us as possibly the worst team I've seen in this league this year. And for those who still don't get it: the French speak with a very level tone and little intonation unlike e.g. the Italians who have a very rhythmic speech. It's what he does, deal with it and stop expecting him to be a media-trained 'darling' and that how he looks/sounds means he's any good. That's just bs: substance is worth far more than your narrow perception of 'style'. JRod should just be played until he cracks it or he cracks. I think he'll do the former. If Fonte stays this ****, get rid. On the youth front. Teach Targett to use his other foot. Teach him to pick a forward pass quickly and then move for the return. This is on the assumption that he'll never be a dribber of any sort as he hasn't demonstrated it yet. Teach him to kick a ball straight. And tackle. One ok free kick and a couple of ok-ish looking balls swung in does not make him a player. Luke Shaw replacement? Did someone put that is his file as an April Fools' joke and no-one has yet picked it up? I think players don't pass to him because they know he'll do little/nothing with it. I bet Bertie gets far more of the ball. And for those who are looking forward to going to Europe. How well do you think we'll do in the group stages playing as we are? Nil points, nil goals, 6 penalties against? In terms of looking at Puel's credentials we'll have to see what has happened by the end of October. As an aside I looked at France's most succesful managerial export to this country. Apart from when he inherited George Graham's defence he hasn't done a huge amount and he has far better players/finances/a name at his disposal than we have. So I'd like to see Puel eat, breathe, sleep and **** Southampton FC during his tenure here and become proficient in English by the end of the season.

A Lille fan has said he's better than Hazard.

Niemi Golacs VVD Toby Bertrand Morgan/Case Ekelund Bale Le Tiss Lambert Mane

Did WHam nick our song? https://twitter.com/LFC_NEW5/status/768913892529545217

Mane said that when he turned up he realised he had to put on a lot of weight and improve his strength to adapt to the league. Don't see this fella doing that so it might take more time than usual for him to get used to the league (and once he's over the injury - see Clasie).

Let's hope he's more Hojbjerg (Talented, hard-working, intelligent, humble) than Osvaldo (insert any variation of knut you want here).

I'm sure a lot of people on this board like Poppers. How adaptable is he and where is the obligatory Youtube-fest please?

The tea lady offers more than JWP.

Of its own wages isn't the thing that this is about. What it is about is growing the wage bill because as we all know the ability to pay more 'attracts' those committed types (Zlagba) (yes, it's a portmanteau) that we *might* want for the CL/EL games. Anyway, is it not the case that there is extra cash available for JF in addition? Probably taken from the petty cash.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-news-fixtures-shaw-11778461 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPEWMuFrHfs If anything, it was the foot that was caught. You'll need to look at this frame by frame but you can see Clasie is too slow to get to Shaw's knee. The movement is unnatural. I don't blame the referee for giving it, it looks a clear pen especially at the speed it occurs at, but then a lot of them do when they're not as difficult to see as that. Time to simply give free kicks for fouls anywhere on the pitch. On a separate point, I agree with those who have to ask why the 'eye-candy' was on a crap football 'show' other than this is a Murdoch channel and that's what they do (so I'm not really asking, am I?). As for the pioint raised by OldNick above. Humble? This is SaintsWeb.

An illiterate one at that. Going into 'journalism' it seems. "Irrefusable". Really?

Puel: look at the Arsenal forums. They’re fed up with Wenger’s obstinacy. 20 years and he hasn’t changed. Puel is possibly more obdurate. And really, how successful has Wenger been? Success = winning. With the resources at his disposal (Cazorla, Ozil, etc?). I’ve said we could end up as Arsenal-lite and that’s a distinct possibility. I can see this season having been slated as one of ‘consolidation’ but next season he’ll be expected to be back up there. And consolidation does mean top 8. If, as I suspect, he doesn’t cut the mustard or digs his heels in he’ll go, however, and his replacement is already lined up. Although if we don’t get who I think it is in the next 3 years we might not get him at all. Finally, it will be interesting to see how Puel reacts when he finally learns how defensively strong this league is and how matches against e.g. Wrexham away are so ‘physical’ and how much fun it is to play potentially 6 games in 12 days (Dec/Jan time). Redmond. I’ve said I think he’ll flatter to deceive. I’ve watched him a lot playing for the England youth teams. He has developed from the kid with speed and quick feet who will incessantly dribble into an alley or make something happen (ratio of each occurrence being about 10:1) to someone who is a bit more of a team player. I will give credit to Southgate for that and take it that Saints think that if they can approach him in the right way mentally then they can get him to open himself up to being developed. Part of his problem is mental – he won’t try and go through a space like Gascoigne would but try and go round a player which makes him ineffective. And he’s too one-footed. Basically, he’s **** against a good defence where they out-psyche him. Unlike a lot on here I recognise how intelligent as a footballer JRod is. You can see he thinks 2-3 steps ahead of where the game is but you can also see he needs to just play to regain his confidence so he plays instinctively. If a loan is required, so be it. I remember many weren’t impressed after his debut: he will take time to come good. Austin. Wasn’t impressed by his signing. Now I think he’s exactly what any team wants if they can get him in the right areas – I like the way when he’s in on goal he both comes alive but also has this coldness about him that you can tell means he’s not frightened by the goal-scoring opportunity. He almost needs the Tadic role if that’s the furthest forward player but you can’t have too many attack minded players who focus less on defence with our weak midfield. Hojbjerg is the ****. If we as a club improve well enough we can keep him throughout his career, develop him (he can still improve) and bring in more players of his ilk. He’s the polar opposite of JWP: both mentally and physically he’s a footballer. I think the reasons for keeping JWP now are as much strategic as they are playing. And he may still develop, but I don’t think he’s a footballer. Formations? As Pochettino said, it’s where players start from but all systems have to be fluid: it’s how the game is played. You would hope that a footballer could adapt their game and the team’s to suit the circumstances without having to be told e.g. It’s a mud-bath out there, don’t bother with short passing.”, but maybe some are that stupid. So apart from coaching and training and re-training until it’s second nature certain aspects of a game-plan what you should look for is flexibility of approach. And again, that’s the mental side of the game. Saints aren’t that strong in that area. It’s possibly the strongest area of Mourinho who otherwise isn’t much of anything than a ****. The difficulty is what is demanded of a player when they can’t do it e.g. Austin tracking back, Long playing with his back to the game or becoming a 1 in 2 striker. And Long is pretty smart football-wise actually, I just think his musculature may play a part in why he doesn’t quite hit the target as well and as often as we’d like. Basically if we could sign Austin and Redmond’s 20 year old love child we’d have a ton of goals. The player we lost out on (I guess) is Ziyech. Twente set a price and we didn’t recognise that the Dutch negotiate very much from a ‘take it or leave it’ perspective. That’s my guess, anyway. We have a new ITK, as ratified by Guan: AR-10. S/he has told us they’re a company plant, however: Comment 1: The club doesn’t let any information out that it doesn’t want out; Comment 2 (and so on): This is what I know: i.e. they’re a plant. I asked about strategy and the change in it. And the question has been indirectly answered, if not fully. As AR10 said: we want to be CL-ready by 2020. What does that mean? Everyone else said ‘bigger stadium’. No. That will come eventually; it has to for obvious reasons. The key driver is FFP but there is another underlying part of the strategy too: namely that a lot of what SFC do is ‘consciousness management’ or subtle advertising e.g. get a following in Kenya by signing Wanyama, The Southampton Way, etc. A lot is predicated on football success as is all of it, hence Puel being on a knife’s edge, but it’s simply making the name more well-known and for certain things so that people then readily accept that they can buy the shirt etc as commercial revenue is essential as matters stand for the club to be able to compete at CL level. And they’ll want to compete with the big boys eventually, not just look at the group stages. Hence Puel, possibly, with a strong emphasis on doing well in Europe. What we should expect to see for the next 3 years or so is 15 very good players and 10 not so good – the Martinas of this world. This is so the wage budget can be grown as quickly and efficiently as we can do so: hence the long term deals. The club want sufficient success 2-3 years down the line so that players like e.g. VVD, PEH will want to sign extensions. I think it’s clear PEH wants football success far more than loads of dosh. That’s the kind of player we want. You’ll notice the number of ‘youth’ on the bench at the games so far. That’s an indication of how good they are. To an extent, anyway, and it does ratify RK’s assessment. But there’ll be more of an emphasis on that side of it because of the league/CL/EL requirements and we will see players coming through e.g. Gallagher/Stephens. It’s obvious that there is an interesting strategy going on at SFC: much to do with what Cortese put in place ironically I would think particularly as some of it is (relative to the world of football) quite innovative and does not just follow e.g. ‘Soccernomics’ but looks to do something more with it. Man Utd were ****: just more effective than us; they won’t win the league. Shaw dived: his foot hit the back of his calf cleanly and with no deviation indicative of its having been pushed off course in the way that a slight nick would have done i.e. he planted his foot cleanly into the back of his gastrocnemius in a controlled manner which would not have been the case were he to have been hit in a manner that was (to him) uncontrolled. I assume the Saints players didn’t complain because it would simply have meant that the Manchester-based referee (I believe he comes from Wythenshawe) would have booked them.

From what I can see from other forums they think Saints are shot and on their way down. Maybe they all just bought into the Manc ****fest? Either way, so far all I've seen is reinforcement of what I've said previously and I would like to not see that. I note that Puel said that he was very surprised at how Watford play and their long-ball/physical approach and apparently said he didn't understand how teams could play like that. If he does not adapt to the English way of playing (and fuget his stubbornness; he's there to get it right) we are going to remain lightweight against a large number of teams and when we play teams that have a lot of possession or play a high press we are going to get battered if they're on their game. I reckon we'll draw against Sunderland even though we get an extra day's rest.

I disagree; I'm sure he'd jump on the shell in a selfless fashion. That's what would be wanted, isn't it?

I'd like to see: McCarthy Cedric Fonte VVD McQueen Clasie Romeu JWP/PEH for 2nd half Davis Austin Tadic/Radical (which is a better name - do you think he'd change it?)