benjii

Well, they won't.

Indeed. But apparently he's ruined Ron's style (get it forward and hope Mane does something).

What was our style under Koeman?

It depends. He wants to play a technical and fairly fluid style of play. He has one striker who suits that and is lacking in midfield options that suit that. If we recruit the right players to suit the style I would be perfectly happy. If we expect him to make do with Long, Austin, JWP, Clasie and Davis then we might as well get a pragmatist like Pulis, Fat Sam etc. and get it in the mixer. I'm not too keen on that approach myself.

The manager is responsible for setting the team up. For patterns of play, defensive shape, dealing with set pieces, match strategy etc. I find it hard to blame Puel for Long or Redmond's lack of composure, Jay Rod's fitness or Forster's dodgy form; nor Virgil's injury, Austin's injury, Fonte's sale etc... Generally, we concede few shots against and have more opportunities than the opponent to win the match. I think that's been the case in most games this season apart from against some of the top opposition. That means the manager has done fairly well IMO. On Saturday, West Ham created one decent chance all match (the first goal). Apart from that they offered nothing but scored two more through individual errors and players making mistakes. Not Puel's fault.

I'm sure this is the case. I reckon he was recruited on the understanding that he would try to implement a certain style and would stick to his guns. Unfortunately, his striking options were utterly unsuited to that style (Long's touch isn't good enough, Austin isn't mobile enough, Jay Rod isn't fit enough) and his midfield options are not dynamic enough. Add to that the disappearance of Fonte, Virgil's injury, Forster being pretty crap and our reserve keeper being injured and he's been dealt a pretty ****ty hand IMO. I think Boufal and Gabbiadini will work out well in the long-term and if we fix the CB issue and our injuries then we're really just a quality CM signing away from having a potentially very good team under Puel. I think a 4231 would suit us better but if the club have consciously decided not to do that and Puel was recruited on that basis then I don't think it's fair to blame him.

You might say that the TOSS with the other midfield options is a bit defensive but if we pair it with a big man / little man combo upfront then you don't need to play through midfield. I would form a Central Unit of Normal Traditional Strikers to play in front of the TOSS. Gallagher and Gabbiadini / Long would do the trick. Get it forward to Gallagher and feed off the knock-downs.

I'd like to see a midfield of Gardos holding, with Stephens and McQueen in front and Cuco playing an innovative role at the tip of the diamond, charging things down, getting stuck in and having the odd shot. He could also retreat to help win headers from goal kicks. This role - The Offensive Super Sweeper or TOSS - is underused in my opinion.

Hojbjerg played well second half v Bournemouth in the Romeu role as well. There's clearly a good player in there. I think he has struggled with the weight of expectation at times this season and has almost been trying too hard at times. I think he could work as part of a deep two in the long-run.... although we may never play that system again!

Work permit?!

Until he's driven ****ed from one side of London Road to the other to get a kebab he has a long way to go in terms of SFC drunk antics.

That's true. I discount it due to the offside but in fairness it was a good pass!

Agree.

Agree. On the whole he was sloppy and sluggish and it was right to take him off. But he still did what none of our midfielders managed all match and played a genuinely incisive forward pass.

If he's got a latent injury he won't recover from we shouldn't sign him at all. If he hasn't we should take advantage of the opportunity to get a class player for minimal outlay and sign him up to a proper contract.

What's with all the short contracts? On paper he is a class signing. If we think he can do the job he should be getting a 3 and a half-year contract, if possible, to take him up to the same age Fonte is.

In terms of pedigree, if this was a precursor to Fonte leaving I think everyone would be pretty pleased. It's just that the timing makes it all seem a little desperate! Also, Essien is a good shout if he's still got the legs. He's exactly the sort of midfielder we need.

I'd hate to see Adkins there.

Thanks for the update. Good to have these sorts of insights on here.

It's not a guess. It's what people think would be good.

Here's a team I would like to see: ----------------competent GK------------------- Cedric-----Yoshida----Virgil------Bertrand ---------------Romeu---Heyoybyeer------------ Redmond----------Boufal---------------Tadic --------------------Barry Manolo---------------- That team should do well. I think Puel's been unlucky but the insistence on sticking with our midfield three isn't working. Too easy to play against and too limited going forwards. We would get overrun at times with the line up above but we'd also have some games where we smash people.

Yes, seems obvious. A decent athletic, physical DM to go with Romeu, sort the CB situation out and we have a very decent team.

He's wasted out on the wing IMO. We need to get him central and nearer Gabbi. Hope it's a minor knock.

I feel sorry for you but there's always going to be someone with a hard luck story. The fact is that demand outstrips supply. You'd be better off being annoyed with football authorities only allocating 2/3 of capacity to the clubs than being annoyed with Saints.