WALK DMC

A really good well balanced post. The only thing that I'd add, is that virtually every match we go to where we are hanging on to a slender lead or point, my son turns to me and says "Do we really have to continue to play 2 up front ?". I understand the concept of defending from the front, but sometimes it would be better to shore up the midfield; I cannot understand the obsession with 2 up front when other parts of the team need support - JWP, Diallo and Romeu in unison for the loss of a forward makes sooooooooo much sense to me, I just cannot believe we don't try it. Not every game but where we are clearly losing control, why not try such a simple change ?

I'm with you, I don't think that we should completely write off our chances. Salisu will be a big loss, but either Stephens or Bednarek could cover for a single game. Romeu has a decent replacement in Diallo. Goalkeeper is obviously the big issue. You get the feeling that Lewis is just not rated and will be released as soon as his contract is up; Big Willy has the experience and stature to perform well. Arsenal are a good team, filled with lots of young talent, but they are far from the finished product. They haven't been blowing teams away, in fact I believe that they've lost 2 of their last 3 games. We can definitely get a point, although I feel that it will need to be a match where the gods are on our side and marginal decisions, flukey goals and bad misses all benefit our side for 90+ minutes.

Judging by the responses on here I am in a minority, but I'm still not convinced that Tino should be dropped. I acknowledge that his performances have dipped from early season, KWP is better on the right and Perraud has been solid, but I still think that we miss Tino's height and physicality if he wasn't there. And even when he isn't playing great, he still looks dangerous or creates a half chance. I can't recall Perraud making a single chance when he has played, KWP has had good performances at left back and Tino still has good moments in every game. We've started letting goals in from corners recently (Chelsea (cup), Norwich, Liverpool & Leicester) and I think that we are beginning to miss Vestergaard's "big lump" ability. In what is a generally small team we can't afford to lose some of our more sizable performers. It is another reason why Broja could start in front of Armstrong. Brighton have two centre halfs (Dunk & Duffy) who both have a reputation for being dangerous at set-pieces, I wouldn't weaken the team here just because Tino has had a dip in form. I suspect that the injuries will start to rack up over December with so many games, so the likes of Perraud will get their opportunities and show what they can do.

Agreed , but would be good to have him on the bench just in case Lyanco or Salisu pick up an injury during the game. Otherwise I suspect Romeu will need to drop to centre half.

We said the same during the game last night; the lack of vision/execution in slipping players through has been an issue for a while. I actually feel a little sorry for Armstrong as he does make good runs but is very rarely seen (or seen too late) so his runs are in vain and probably add to his overall frustration. After a new goalie, a creative number 10 would be high on my shopping list.

I agree with the vast majority on here, McCarthy should have done better. However in the rush to condemn him, I haven't seen any comments about the abysmal clearing header from Salisu which didn't clear the penalty area and dropped fairly central to the goal; a half decent clearance at that point would have meant that we wouldn't now be debating McCarthy's inadequacies. Salisu is a good player and I suspect that he won't be with us for long. He is young and still improving. However, like any young player he makes mistakes and isn't the finished article yet. I hope for both Saints sake and his own that he doesn't rush off to join a bigger club too quickly where expectations and attention will be much higher.

I'm a little more optimistic than that; Leicester weren't that great yesterday, the main difference was they took their half chances; hopefully Vardy won't be playing on Wednesday as he will be rested and him and Maddison were the difference. Tieleman is also out. Saints didn't play well in the 2nd half at Norwich but would still have got a point or three if the goalie had done his job. Liverpool was just a bad day at the office where a combination of a superb team on the top of their game, key absences for Saints and our poor tactical formation contributed to a disappointing delay. Write it off and focus on Leicester and Brighton. I'm certainly not putting money on us to win, but Leicester still aren't the top team of last year (particularly if Vardy is missing), so we have a fighting chance of 1 or 3 points if he will play well and our defence is tight. Leicester's defence this season has been their Achilles heel (even when Vest hasn't been playing), so perhaps we can nick one or more. Fingers crossed ....

There is a strong chance that their best goal-scorer in Vardy will be rested for our game. He played 90 minutes yesterday and with them being 2 up I was surprised he wasn't taken off if he was also going to play on Wednesday. However, his likely replacement Daka has been scoring so maybe it won't be as much benefit as previously. Would be good not to have to face Vardy though - he is still a top striker.

I think it is fair to say that nobody was expecting Tino to make the impact that he has and he has earned his place. Perraud has been sound, but no more, no less. He will get further chances as the games pile on; I think that we have 8 games coming up in 37 days, so injuries will occur and the squad will be used more. While I'd rather KWP was playing on his natural right side, he has put in some good performances on the left and offers different capabilities than Perraud (he is really good at keeping the ball, which will be needed against Liverpool). Can't disagree too much about your views on the keepers ......

This is a good summary; a couple of comments: We were totally dominant when Mo was on and played the match in the final third. I agree that Broja didn't do much, but we really didn't have any sustained pressure and were chasing the game so not a totally fair comparison, plus they are different styles of player so contribute different capabilities. Agree with your comments on JWP, but I did think that he was a little more ambitious with his long passing yesterday, and did a few (not every one !) excellent cross field passes, I hope that he continues to try those, as we've missed that style of pass with the loss of Vestergaard

It isn't a good comparison between FF and Ings. There was a contract offer on the table for Ings and there appeared to be (mistaken) confidence in the club that he would sign. It wasn't until July that it was confirmed that he had rejected the offer, so no possibility to drop Ings.

I wouldn't be surprised if he plays all three centre halfs at Liverpool next week.

JWP playing further forward ?

Do you think that if we got a big enough offer (including sell on % to Chelsea) and with potentially ready made replacements that we could sell sooner ? (i.e. next summer). For example, Man U need an attacking right back/RWB.

You're right that we need to carefully consider promoting young players into the first team, but ............. I remember my reaction before the Everton game when I heard that KWP had been replaced by a complete novice in Tino. I thought Ralph had lost his marbles or that Chelsea had inserted a strange clause in the contract. Three months later and Tino is one of our best players and has deservedly kept his place. If they're good enough, then play them. The biggest challenge has is that full back is probably the area of our team with the most depth so less likely to be opportunities in the very near future. I also feel sorry for poor old Perraud who hasn't had bad performances, but KWP is deservedly keeping him out at the moment. The interesting decision will be when Ralph has to decide between Perraud & Small; we'll know how well thought of Small is then. Great dilemmas to have though ....

Against Saints, Buendia was anonymous in the first half, but was excellent in Villa's 20 minute hot spell after half time on Friday and was at the root of their onslaught. Many have said that Ralph's formation was the major factor in us defending the lead, but Buendia going off with cramp could also be considered a turning point. I know Villa fans thought the same. Clearly, a 15 minute spell isn't good enough for a £33m player and he needs to deliver more regularly, but he is still in the settling in stage so I wouldn't be too quick to write him off. He may yet come good.

Lyanco was outstanding at Chelsea but even then I thought as the game wore on he did start to dive in more - almost as though he was believing his own hype. Last night he helped to provide an extra physicality in the centre of defence which had been missing, but did make a few mistakes when he dived in. Very interesting footballer though with loads of potential ; physicality, some pace, ball playing skills and a wonderful spirit. It's that spirit that we somehow need to bottle so that it is used as a positive but balanced out when the situation needs calm. The great thing is that he has many of ingredients needed to be a great footballer, and he is still very young for a centre half. He can be coached and will mature. I suspect that it will be a roller coaster ride with him; fans will love that spirit, but he will always be liable to giving away a soft goal through diving in or being too extravagant. However, Saints don't have too many players like that and in the longer term he may prove to be an inspired buy.

I agree and I thought that A Armstrong's performance was really good against Watford, but disappointed by his two efforts in the 1st half which weren't even close. However, I agree with Teddeer in that Broja has demonstrated that currently he is the most clinical forward we have and based on that I would find a way of playing him. I recognise the "ketchup" argument about Che, but I'd prefer to see Broja and Armstrong have a go together; my only worry is that they have both displayed a selfish streak at times so it might not be a partnership made in heaven .... Either way, it is a good problem to have and I'd be surprised if we don't see all three get a run out tomorrow although maybe 1 (or even 2) as substitutes.

As an "older person" I can confirm that I find value in both my experience of different historical styles and statistical analysis. I think the bigger issue is that sometimes TWar comes across as rather patronising when explaining these points. Adding to this he seems to change his mind with the wind ("I am slowly changing my mind about Lyanco" - after one decent game !) and being hopelessly wrong on certain points like Broja being a poacher based on his goal against Leeds and the statistical analysis of 2 games. My perception of TWAR (which is probably unfair and is only based on his messages) is that of the guy in the front row at school who always puts his hand up first to answer teacher's questions. Sure the rest of us in the back row all have a grudging respect for him, but it doesn't stop us smearing mud in his face at the first break......

The difference between the two goalies isn't enormous and McCarthy has been ok for the last few games. Sometimes Managers need to take the longer term view and recognise that loyalty, morale and team spirit also need to be considered. McCarthy is likely to be with Saints for the next 3-4 years, Forster will be off in the summer. I wouldn't say never; for example if McCarthy has a bad spell then Forster could still get the nod, but for the moment I accept the situation.

The contractual situation with the goalies (Forster not extending) means that choosing the goalie isn't just down to who is better. Both have good and bad points and I'd agree with you that I would prefer Forster in a straight choice, but I do understand why McCarthy is likely to be in the team instead. The goalkeeper position needs an upgrade and that will happen in January or in the summer when Forster leaves. Redmond has played well in his last three premier games, Tella has been thrown into difficult games (Chelsea away x2) and hasn't really grasped the chance to stay in the team so I'd still stick with Redmond.

I totally agree, one excellent performance doesn't mean he has to be rushed in; however, Ralph had demonstrated greater flexibility in his formations and personnel this year during games (Burnley not withstanding !), so if we get into a position to defend a lead or just need a shakeup, I'd like Lynco to come in as part of a three at the back. These are good options to have.

The difficulty with these situations is that being the best penalty taker in training doesn't mean that you're the best when you are under immense pressure of a shoot-out. Steve Davis would never have missed the easy pot at the end of the 1985 snooker final or Bernard Langer missing a short putt in 1991 Ryder cup while doing their routine practising. Choosing somebody who is both technically strong and can take the pressure is difficult. I'm also not convinced that because someone is young that they are less likely to be able to take the pressure; impetuous youth can sometimes give unnatural confidence. So I'm not against asking who is up for it, as long as they have the basic technical abilities. Regardless, looking at Smallbone's body language as he stepped up for the penalty didn't give me the confidence that he was going to stick it in the back of the net. And the rest is history .......

I think that it was because it was in a back three which made it more effective. It allowed KWP to gallop ahead without a care in the world and if they broke down our right when he was up field, Valery would step across and act as a pseudo right back. He had an "ok" game, but I still didn't see anything that led me to believe that he is a Premier league player of the future (never mind today).

1) My source was that bible of football the Daily Mirror https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/africa-cup-nations-players-leaving-25271688 but you're right that he hasn't been playing - although he did say this year that he was now making himself available https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Southampton-defender-Mohammed-Salisu-confirms-decision-to-play-for-Ghana-1210204. As a Premier league starter I would assume that there is a good chance he could get called up. 2) I read elsewhere last week that it could be new year - sorry don't have the source. Long term injuries are notoriously difficult to predict, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see a longer lay off than originally predicted. My main point remains; there is a reasonable chance that one or both won't be available, so we need to have contingency plans in place.