WALK DMC

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 I remember my reaction before the Everton game when I heard that KWP had been replaced by a complete novice in Tino.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.

I agree, however ............................ Salisu will be off to the African Nations cup, Jack Stephen's is due back "in the New Year". It really does mean that we are down to Bednarek and Lyanco for late December and January. An injury to one of them and we really will be scraping the barrel just like earlier this year. Sure Romeu could step in but you lose his influence in midfield and he has less pace than Bernarek (and obviously Salisu) so it would not be ideal. This is basic business continuity planning, where you need to plan for the worst case scenarios - most continuity plans are never used in anger, but I think that Saints need to plan for a mini personnel crisis if Salisu and Stephens are both unavailable for 4-5 games... But should Valery be part of that planning ? Maybe Simeu would be a better fit but none of the options appeal - just hope Jack is back sooner than expected or Ghana are knocked out early. Based on the above, actually testing 1-2 of these options against Chelsea makes some sense. It doesn't look like Simeu though as I think he played for the B team yesterday.

Redmond actually played well against Chelsea in our previous game, so there is a little form building. I'd keep him in for now. While Broja made an impact in the air and with his physicality yesterday, he also has a nice turn of pace, which could be another asset to utilise against Burnley.

I don't think that it is just that Tino is better in the air, but also the fact that he brings physicality to the team which is sorely missing. We seem to be more exposed at corners and set-pieces this year without Vest, Bertrand and even Ings who used to defend at the front post at corners. Perraud and Armstrong just cannot provide the same level of defence due to their size. So I understand why Ralph is keen to have at least one full back with the height and size to protect us more. I agree with most on here that KWP's crossing against Wolves on his left was limited even though he did well to get into good positions; however at Chelsea he did demonstrate that he can cross with his left peg and did create a decent chance for Walcott in the first half. I'm not against persisting with him at left back - as like you I think he is one of our better players. Putting Tino at Right midfield could work although still happy for a young 18 year old to have some stability in his most regular position before shifting him around further at least in the immediate short term.

I take you point about Diallo and Romeu being defensive minded, but they do contrast each other's styles reasonably well with Diallo making up for the lack of pace of Romeu. I think that we've only started these two twice; home to Villa (JWP played RB) and away at Sheff U last month. They were ok against Villa less so v Sheff U. I think that it worth pursuing while JWP is out and see whether they can build a good partnership. I much prefer Stu as one of the attacking midfielders rather than defensive. I also think that we need to manage him carefully after such a long lay-off and wouldn't be too concerned if he came on as a substitute in the 2nd half, rather than start.

When you consider that Andorra has a population of around 85,000, of which roughly half are women and by (even rougher) estimating that only about 5% of the remaining 42,000 are aged between 18-21, it would imply that Andorra had to choose from an eligible population of around 2,000. This assumes that these 2,000 actually play regular footy. To only lose 1-0 to an England team with some regular premiership players is a great achievement by that tiny country or .......... pretty abysmal by England and their highly paid coaches.

I am really puzzled by this. You say that "we more than held our own in the 2nd" and until the sending off had hopes we could sneak it. Couldn't agree more. It was particularly impressive against the European champions with £150m worth in talent just in the 2 players up front. And then you have a go at Ralph for picking the team ? Are you suggesting he shouldn't have picked JWP as he might get sent off ? Or did you just want to take the opportunity to have a go at Ralph for no other reason than to have a go at Ralph ?

An interesting point. Putting Tella and/or Theo up front would certainly add pace and would act as a surprise to Chelsea (although their team is strong enough to adapt 🙂 ). I like Armstrong and thought that he made some good runs on Sunday but wasn't spotted by our wingers or midfielders. I'd personally keep him in, but maybe partner him with someone like Tella. The issue is that Tella doesn't hold the ball up as well as Adams, so you add pace but lose possession and Che's clever through balls which I think Armstrong may yet thrive on. Still think that we have a chance of a point as long as we have a team close to the Man City game, so any changes from that should be minimal.

We managed to get a very deserved point from Man City playing KWP at left back and with the usual 4-2-2-2, so I would be surprised to see Ralph make significant changes to that. Our overall performance against Wolves wasn't bad, we were just toothless up front and a poor mistake led to a goal on the break. It will be a different game on Saturday and closer to Man City than Wolves, so I'd keep KWP rather than Perraud as he is a good defender and better at keeping possession. I'm a fan of playing Tino further forward, butt he is still only 18 and finding his way in the Premiership; give him a few more games at RB before playing him as Right mid. I don't think Chelsea away is a good game to experiment, I'd hate to destroy confidence in a different position if we get wacked which could well happen if we concede early. There will be plenty of opportunities as the season progresses.

Tempting fate message of the day: Saints haven't conceded a first half goal in the Premiership this season. Wolves haven's scored a first half goal in the Premiership this season.

I'm a KWP fan, but he isn't the biggest player physically, so putting him against Traore would worry me. That's what I like about Tino, he has the size and physicality to supplement his other skills. Perraud is a little more sturdy than KWP, but he is still small, so neither are particularly ideal again the speed and strength of Traore. Not sure that there is a simple solution; Traore is a unique footballer - but he does have off days .....