benjii

My team: ------------------------------------------FF----------------------------------------- Clyne-----------------Font--------------------Yoshi-------------------------Targett --------------------------------------Toby------------------------------------------ ---------------JWP--------------------------------Davis (Reed)-------------------- ----------------------------------Tadic (nipper)--------------------------- -----------------------------Long---------------Pelle------------------------------- Haven't bothered doing a bench becuase I don't know if Tadic, Davis, Hesketh etc are fit. Whilst it would be nice to go back to the Toby/Fonte partnership, we just can't afford to leave Toby out of midfield with Cork, Morgan and Vic absent. I don't think Yoshi has let anyone down this season. I pick Targett over Bertrand because Bertrand can't play on the 28th v Chelsea and I would like Targett to get some more game time before he is thrown into the two Chelsea matches. I have also noticed Bertrand being a bit slower to close down lately. Maybe a bit of a rest would do him good. Based on what I've seen of Targett, he should do ok. I actually think Mane was our best attacking player against Sheff U. His movement caused them some problems, he played some intelligent passes and he nearly scored. I think that's more than you can say for anyone else. Nevertheless, our forward set up isn't working at the moment, and Mane is a liability defensively. Because we're looking a bit blunt I would get Long in a more traditional role nearer Pelle. Should suit him better and mixes it up a bit. Playing a midfield diamond would also, hopefully, allow us to get Tadic on the ball in more dangerous areas. I would like to see some different faces on the bench. I think McQueen, Rowe, Sims, Seager are at least as good as Isgrove and Mayuka so let's give them a chance. If Tadic is unavailable I'd be tempted to throw a surprise in at the top of the diamond. Sadly, I don't think Isgrove will ever be a Premier League player. I don't think Mayuka is as bad as people like to make out but he's not a winger and he's not good enough to play on his own up front so I think when we play our typical system he is never going to get a chance to develop. I'm assuming Hesketh is injured?

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Unida - Black Woman I love this track. Solo starts just after 3:00 (but you should listen to the whole thing - the bass is insane too). [video=youtube_share;Qy1UmMkfPsA]

My thoughts exactly!

Great news if Toby is back. Stick him in midfield, with Davis back in usual position and Mane or Long on the bench. Toby's gonna score a screamer soon.

The toilet roll game. You need an outside area for this really. Each participant stands facing the rest of the group with a full pint. Ideally on a table but that's not imperative. Each participant then drops their trousers and pants to their ankles. A scrunched up length of toilet paper is inserted into each anus. It should be the same length for everyone and should go as far down as possible without touching anyone's pants. The referee then lights the bottom of the toilet paper. The participants are able to remove the burning length of paper from their rear entrance but only once they've downed their pint. The beauty of this game lies in its unpredictability. Sometimes the bog roll goes off like a firework. The smell of burnt arse hair is always funny. There is a small but significant danger of burning to a degree that is medically noteworthy.

Well if they did then hopefully they would have the intelligence to point out that was Bertrand's fault for not paying attention.

A haircut and a shave should be his immediate priority.

What an idiotic comment.

Gardos was superb in the cup game at Arsenal.

Neil Allen writes like a slightly dim, supercillious 15 year old who is trying to show off to younger children. Absolutely awful.

---------------------Forster-------------------- --------Fonte-------Gardos-----Yoshida----- Clyne---------------Big Vic-------------Bertrand --------------Davis--------Tadic---------------- -----------------Pelle ----Long/Mane----------- Otherwise, it would be: -------------------Forster-------------------- Clyne-------Fonte---Yosh/Gardos-----Bertrand -------------Wanyama--------Davis---------- ----------------------Reed--------------------- Mane/Long----------Pelle---------------Tadic I think that first set up looks much more solid. Without Cork or Morgan to get stuck in, I like the idea of Big Vic staying deep in front of a back three. Would mean that Davis wouldn't have to curtail his high-energy game too much and might allow us to get Tadic on the ball in more meaningful positions behind the front two. I think Pelle might appreciate having Long or Mane a bit nearer to him and our attack has looked a bit blunt recently so the 3-5-2 has the added advantage of freshening that up a bit. I think it would also make us less reliant on him and a front two or Long / Mane could also be effective if he had to come off. Long up front on his own wouldn't work that well IMO. The worry with 3-5-2 is that you end up with a skilful forward who plays the channels isolating a centre back in a one-on-one dribble more often. If van Persie or Rooney is dribbling towards the corner of the box I think we would rather have Bertrand or Clyne fronting them up than Fonte or Yoshi. Anyway, we know Koeman has apparently been willing to flex things at other teams so I wonder if it's something he is thinking about.

It's not even necessarily "depth" that is the issue IMO. We are deep at CM - it's just unlucky that loads of them are injured at once. We are pretty deep in defence too. Gardos and Yoshida are probably the strongest 3rd / 4th choice centre backs we've ever had. We are thin at centre forward but once Gallagher and Jay Rod are fit we will look much better. The thing that makes it really hard to climb into the very top level of the league and stay there is the lack of one or two really top-level offensive players. In terms of midfield and defence there is very little difference between us and the top sides. Our midfield and defence units would do absolutely fine in the Champions League against the majority of opponents. What the real problem is, IMO, is that it is almost impossible for a club like Saints to have the game changers that the "Big" (ie. rich) clubs can afford. The last few games our attack has looked a little blunt. That happens to all teams at times during a season. The difference is that Chelsea (Hazard, Fabregas, Oscar), City (Aguero, Silva, Toure), Arsenal (Sanchez), Man U (van Persie, Di Maria, Mata) have players who are worth £35million or more who can bring home the points even if the rest of the team is not playing well. We have players who will score a screamer or two throughout the season but we don't have the players who can terrorise a defence on their own. For a club like Saints, signing that sort of player is just not a feasible option and so you need the collective to be on its game that much more to progress - which is hard. Absent another MLT folk-hero type it's hard to see how an attacking unit that can compete with the very top consistently can be formulated. If Arsenal were without Sanchez right now, or City were without Aguero they would be a heck of a lot weaker. Liverpool without Suaraez is the obvious case in point.

League One standard, f'sure.

Most of them have BT now. Varsity, Marshalls, Alex etc should all show it.

If we avoid defeat tonight, I fancy us to beat United, and then Burnley. If that happens we will probably have a little cushion over fifth again. I think first goal will be key tonight. We need to get Pelle into the game more. I've got no problem with us knocking it around to take the sting out of the game strategically but when we attack we need to find him a bit sooner IMO. We also need Tadic, if he plays, to up his game a bit. He seems to have lost some precision since the international break. I presume he is tired so I would consider resting him tonight - in an away game the pace of Long and Mane could be pretty handy.

He hasn't been any worse than Tadic in the last two games. Personally, I would bench Tadic on Weds and start with Pelle, Mane and Long.

Cork must have a late knock to not even be on the bench. Two up front for City - will that make it easier to cut off the supply to Aguero at source? Probably.

The tennis example is flawed. No woman would be a regular in the top 500 in the men's game and actually a decent county/regional level male would give the Williams a decent match. Google Karsten Braasch. He destroyed them ranked 203 and he was probably half-cut. In fact, given the short matches and the poor standard, equal grand slam prize money in tennis is a complete sham. I have my own views on the reasons why women's tennis gets coverage:

I've seen him, in person, score twice against Hamburger. FACT. Not convinced his all round game is that good but he's a tidy finisher. Sort of like Billy Sharp.

Rogers, Lovren, spade face, have some of that you ****s.

Aguero is great but it was three howlers from Munich really.

In fairness, Lee Holmes is probably much better than any of their other midfielders.

Sportsnation HD iPad stream completely seamless at the moment.

Assuming Mane is not fatigued, I would start him. I like Long but Mane gives you more dimensions. I also love having Long to bring off the bench after 65/70 mins - he is a complete nuisance to play against. Of course, if Morgan and Davis are out, there is a case for playing Tadic centrally and having Long and Mane on the pitch.