CanadaSaint

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our shittiest first halves seem to come against the “weaker” teams. The chess we always try to play in midfield doesn’t work so well against teams who lack our skill but bring all-out effort. I’m not sure it’ll change until our transition speeds up - a lot.

Those weren’t the only choices. We very seldom play early balls through the channels and force defenders to turn. Instead, we play lots and lots of passes to feet, so the next pass is much more likely to be sideways or backwards. Other teams know this, so they just keep pressing each pass recipient and we oblige with yet another nothing pass.

At its worst, and we’re seeing it more and more often, Tonda’s football is like Russball thirty yards farther up the pitch. Mind-numbingly frustrating over-elaboration is definitely IN and early balls into the box or through the channels are OUT. That shit cuts no mustard against the hardworking teams with limited skills that make up most of this division.

It’s actually pretty cool to just keep an eye on JWP as the game rolls along. He’s constantly reading the play and seeing any potential need for cover, and he often makes us tighter without even touching the ball. Manning has been a particular beneficiary. He’s like a kind of “mobile sweeper” and still has the engine to keep doing it for 90+ minutes.

We’re starting to see a lot of interchangeable parts. Having those rotation options ends up being worth a good few points in a division as physically demanding as this one. Our biggest area of vulnerability is the Manning quadrant, with him getting caught upfield too much and Leo not always tracking back quickly enough. It’s awesome to see JWP read that situation and cover for them, because we get to keep their offensive contributions without paying a big defensive price. He may not be an Azaz but JWP does a lot of thankless stuff really well.

Totally! It’s not just that he’s lost his edge offensively, it’s also that he’s a half-assed backtracker. We can handle Manning’s preoccupation with offence OR Leo’s slowness getting back, but not BOTH at the same time. We dodged quite a few bullets against Pomp*y until Tonda put Matsuki on that side.

Buy a programme and write some notes on it - her first game, the weather, the score and scorers, and maybe clip and attach the Echo report. And then put it somewhere safe, where you keep important family stuff. Decades later, when you might even be pushing up the daisies and she might be going to the games with her kids, that program will carry more meaning for her than you can begin to imagine right now. I know that because that’s what my Dad left me. That precious programme is like a magical time machine for me.

Fair comment, but I’m not just talking about today.

I really like Tonda but he has a tendency to play “Russball” thirty yards farther up the pitch. It’s blindingly frustrating to see us spurn opportunities for an early delivery, or balls through the channels, in favour of yet another square or back pass in midfield. That predictability makes it easier for sides with lesser players to stifle us, and puts us in a lot of needless 1-0, 0-0 battles.

Leo could improve his own protection if he cut back on the embellishment. Refs don’t take kindly to being conned, and stop showing cards or even giving free kicks when they’re warranted. Leo’s good enough not to need that stuff.

This is the programme from my first Saints v Pompey game. My Dad added the score and then - in a superbly cheeky moment - sent it to Pompeys President (a national wartime hero) and asked him to autograph it, which he kindly did. Another result like that on Sunday would do nicely.

I think you're right, but there's another angle. We naturally tend to focus on active contributions on the ball, but some of the off the ball stuff is just as important. On Saturday, JWP's game reading and smarts were on show. Several times he read Manning's forays up the left and dropped in to cover for him. That took away one of our key vulnerabilities - Manning's damaging tendency to over-commit and not get back in time. In those moments JWP made us a better team without even touching the ball.

I share the reservations about JWP's crab tendencies but he's smart and versatile, and he can play a role that leaves the more creative elements to others. I'm sure his engine is still pretty good. One thing that would be great to see is JWP and Manning stood over danger area free kicks. One's a lefty and one's a righty, and they're both capable of hitting top corners. It's a nightmare scenario for keepers - where to align the wall, which side to protect. At this level they know each keeper's weaker sides, and that could influence who takes the shot.

Tonda doesn’t have anywhere near enough brownie points to sneak-in his own version of Russball, playing to the squad’s weaknesses and frustrating the shit out of players and fans alike. If that’s what he’s doing, and it sure looks like it, he might as well go now.

I think he's reactive because he has long had a strong tendency to ball-watch. If he's watching he's not reacting, and I'm not even sure that he's "thinking". It blows my mind that a player at this level can be allowed to continually exhibit this killer weakness in a CD - and that he doesn't seem to be sufficiently aware of it to actually do something about it. THB and others have bailed him out on numerous occasions, which is another reason to fear losing THB.