austsaint

Clasie has certainly been a disappointment given his status and reputation when Koeman signed him. Just the same your description in the first part of your post could equally apply to Ward-Prowse ie nothing much in defence or attack, slow across the ground, woeful in the air etc. There have been games where Clasie has got stuck in defensively and produced attacking passes but as you say overall he hasn't lived up to expectation. One of the things that does my head in with JWP is the recent pattern of squaring a nothing pass and then sprinting into the box as if he's Austin or Pelle??? Hojbjerg on the other hand has shown that he can be the box-to-box midfielder we need, with the capacity to make driving runs with the ball and contribute defensively - it's just that he's gone backwards in the last month or so with the Bournmouth game an example....shocking first half but a much better second stanza. What we are left with though is a midfield relying too much on Romeu and the ageing legs of Davis. The midfield deficiencies plus the threadbare striker ranks well explain this season's mediocrity, irrespective of Puel's role.

Agree about the limitations of last nights midfield, but I think you've missed the main culprit having criticised Reed and Clasie.

Good call; though there are players other than Yoshida starting regularly who need to be improved upon as well. If the Fonte move to WH for 9 million is true then it's probably the right call by the Club. Similar to Lambert situation in a way; long standing Club stalwart, in decline, evokes calls of "no loyalty" from Club and/or player but in truth, the players who stay are either happy with their contract or not attracting interest elsewhere.

The players aren't free of blame for poor performances. There does seem to be too many players in our squad who are free of quality! That's the saving grace for Puel; until he gets the chance to put more quality on the park, it's unfair to write him off.

Anxious last 30 seconds.

Gotta laugh.

Sims and McQueen having bright games by the sound of it.

Really? Post 97 sums it up nicely for me - this season, Prowsey is getting plenty of game time and his performances, which honestly are mostly quite pedestrian, don't really matter because his rotation will come up again regularly. He was carried by the Wanyamas, Manes etc but when the talent pool around him thins out his limitations are laid bare. I still cannot see how Puel can afford to play him - he can't play a holding midfield role and he hasn't got the skills to play an attacking mid-field position - Sims would have been such a better option in the position JWP occupied against Burnley.

I've been critical of him, but he was among the best on the park last night.

There'd be few complaints about our style of play if we played a half like that regularly. Without Mane they lack an attacking edge. Crowd atmosphere sound great.

Lack of quality in mid-field and up front is killing Saints - and that's not down to Puel. Give him a chance to build his own team; if no improvement after that, then he has to go.

Sums it up for me too. Those wins at Stamford Bridge, St Marys v Pool and Arsenal and the results v Man U last season now seem out of reach.

Except that Redmond has become a regular starter with a pivotal attacking role and a striker tag flung round his neck - Juanmi rarely saw the light of day.

Thank you FTF - first Saints game this season I haven't seen (TV). I've been very impressed by Sims but I appreciate your assessment of yesterdays performance. I think he has the goods to make a name for himself just the same; Reed too.

Thanks Dronski.....You are probably in the land of nod now, but if you get the chance tomorrow how about a run down of Sim's game too.

My hopeful take on this is that without Mane sparking them they are not as dangerous an outfit.

Can anyone who saw the game tell me how Reed (Harry) played?

Trouble is the "all" of players like Martina, Long, Rodriguez, JWP, Redmond isn't very good and lacks quality.

Yoshida has been at least as good as Fonte this season. Sad to see Fonte end his time at SFC like this and while I don't believe every aspect of Reed's spin, Jose has taken some gloss off his Saints legacy in recent times.

I'd like both Romeu and Vic in our side with a better version of Davo doing the shuttling and someone like Boufal playing 10.

You have got to laugh (or cry) at the posters saying we wouldn't miss Vic. He is battering Chelsea tonight.

This - Redmond had two straightforward headers (against EFC) which a clinical striker would have converted or at least tested the keeper with. Also needed is a genuine box-to-box attacking midfielder.

Hojbjerg is capable of an attacking midfield role - he just seems to be down on confidence, but we've seen him do it. Romeu is also more than capable of making attacking, driving runs into attack but obviously is needed in a DM set up. i'd rather see Sims taking on an attacking mid role rather than when JWP is given the job. As things stand, as you say, it's really only Davis making the runs and picking out passes but one thing I've noticed about Davo these days is he doesn't run out the full game as well as previously. We are sadly understrength in the creative, attacking midfield department.

Completely agree, the three who left are the difference in our performance this season; not withstanding extra games and a new Manager.

At the heart of that win were Mane and Wanyama - who also starred in the October win against Chelsea and the come from behind win v Liverpool. The squad is weaker now.