benjii

Interesting, from June.... https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/18/arsenal-chelsea-sofiane-boufal-lille-barcelona-atletico-madrid

I think this is the greatest post in the history of Saintsweb.

"Stonewall" always gets my goat. I have never heard it used in any other context and I don't think it ever meant "certain" until these cretins started repeating each other's nonsense.

I got a redirect and a malware warning accessing on Android yesterday.

I think there's a lot of romanticising last year's team. In my view, last year we were worse than in the previous two years yet because the general quality of the league was awful last year we still managed to finish higher anyway. The performances against Newcastle, Everton and Watford at the start of last season were no better than the performances at the start of this season. The performances against Bournemouth away, Norwich away, Midgetland away, Everton at home, Villa at home etc.. were far worse than either of our two performances this season. As for Sat, I think Austin deserves a start. I would bring him in for Long. We had a dreadful run in the middle of last season.

Stanciu looks like a good fit for Tadic or Redmond's role. Floats from side to side, can carry the ball, likes a short pass around the box. Given JWP doesn't merit a start itbwpukd also be good to have another dead ball option. Quite why we never let VVD have a go from free-kicks I don't know.

They are the two we need to upgrade in their current positions.Far too sloppy on the ball.We need a big black powerhouse in midfield and someone without poor composure and the touch of a rapist upfront.I've been quite impressed with Puel - he's clearly instilled a nice style and some confidence in our players but he's got a couple of duffers in certain positions.

Dalian Wanda.

He's got two years in his current contract so he has no opportunity to earn more elsewhere unless we agree to transfer his registration. He has no leverage at all and if it's just about money rather than winning things then he sounds like a bit of a ****, to be honest.

Edit - should say "if we play Long and Redmond" in the last paragraph above, not "Long and Austin".

It will actually be really interesting to see how we go about it. Obviously Koeman would have packed the midfield and not committed many bodies forwards - and, in fairness, that has worked there the last couple of years. Will Puel set us up more defensively than "normal" (which would presumably mean either a change in formation or, if we stick with it, we can only really make it tighter by playing Davis at the tip of the diamond so we have 4 genuine midfielders with one of Tadic or Redmond being sacrificed) or will we go and try to dominate possession? Part of me thinks - "what the hell, let's just go for it". If we are trying to shift to a new playing style and philosophy then we might as well go for it. How will Man U set up in midfield anyway? Pogba and Fellaini with Rooney or Mata in front? Zlatan wandering around when they haven't got the ball and Lingard and Martial on the flanks. That's not exactly a tight ship (as long as the ref doesn't let Fellaini get away with fouling us every time we come forwards) and I think if we play confidently and don't have too many people off-form we might benefit from Mourinho having to squeeze a lot of expensive attacking talent into the team. I'd be tempted to play Austin and Redmond as the forwards and leave Long for an impact role. If we play Long and Austin I think the likes of Davis, Romeu and the full-backs will be too tempted by the ball in-behind and we'll concede too much possession. The ball tends to bounce off Long (although judicious use of falling-over can make it stick via free-kicks). Although the system doesn't really suit Austin I think he deserves a start and the chance to show he can make a contribution.

Fellow global citizens, I am minded to travel to Dubai for an holiday in October. I would be travelling and sharing a room, however, with a woman and her child. They have different surnames and I have a different surname to both of them. So, in total, three different surnames. Now, I know that in theory unmarried couple should not share a room in Dubai (criminal!) but no one actually cares. I am wondering if the further addition of a sprog with a different surname to either of us will cause any difficulties. Because you are such a well-travelled bunch I wondered if any of you would know? With thanks and kind regards.

I'm completely non-plussed about the league this season and have been made to feel even more so by the enjoyment I've got from watching honest (apart from the drug cheats), hard working athletes at the Olympics. However, I am excited by the cups this year - particularly Europe - and I hope we give it everything. Can see the ST renewal being 50/50 for next year though. There comes a point where investing £600 in a team which you know will be broken up every season starts to feel a little hollow.

You're entitled to the general opinion that our player sale/recruitment strategy could be better. That's fair enough. But the question in bold... come on, engage your brain. Either more or less chance than we had when we couldn't beat Villa - one or the worst Premier League teams ever - at home last season and went something like 1 win in 10 games. Either more or less chance than when we put in an absolutely pathetic display to plucky little Bournemouth away last year and never looked like doing anything all match. More or less chance than when we got knocked out of the League Cup by a League One side. etc... Clearly we could do with another attacking signing but citing the opening match of the season as some sort of precursor of doom is, one would have thought, obviously a stupid thing to do.

The reason we didn't win was because people were rusty and unfocused in the first half and we kept making sloppy individual mistakes. It's pure speculation to say that wouldn't have happened if we played 433 or 4321. It doesn't matter what the system is if people can't pass the ball accurately 10 or 15 yards. I remember us playing 433 against Everton in our first home game last season and we were rubbish. In the second half people had got up to speed, plus Hojbjerg was a massive upgrade on JWP, and we looked pretty dangerous.

He and Redmond are complete bargains.

No need for a meltdown. We were far superior and played some nice stuff. We were rusty for the first half but that happens on the opening weekend. Watford are shiiiite so it is 2 points dropped but a point on the board and broadly a decent performance.

That's a pretty fatuous argument though that can be used to say that nothing should ever be done by government more complicated than making a cup of tea. There are numerous examples of civil servants failing miserably to negotiate and manage basic outsourcing or procurement contracts. Following your logic we should therefore scale government back to only the most basic and trivial tasks because you can find an example of something difficult being messed up. Leaving the EU is obviously going to be horrifically complicated. I don't think anyone thinks otherwise.

Another thing that often doesn't help with our club interviews is the muppet interviewer who starts every question with the answer he wants: "How pleased are you that.....?" "How pleasing was it that.....?" "How much are you looking forward to.....?" "How happy are the players that......?" Sappy questions, like talking to a kid.

Targett and Redmond.

Mertens plays for Napoli. There has been chatter in the press about Gabbiadini, also at Napoli.... maybe someone was onto something but got the wrong end of the stick.

He hasn't given any info. He just said to expect a signing which is patently obvious to anyone.

That's a bit ****ed up. So away tickets will be much cheaper, per match, than my home season ticket. But I can have a free bottle of Pepsi or pint of **** on Saturday, provided I turn up by 14:30. Great, thanks a lot.

Well, Bertrand is definitely out so Targett is a given. Fonte may be fit enough but if he isn't then Yoshida will play. Obviously not ideal but no need to panic.

On Wednesday we looked to attack in numbers and quite quickly. We often looked to release a full-back early then build from there in triangles. Tadic played a lot of forward passes. There was no "tippy-tappy sideways nonsense" although what was also noticeable was that we didn't bother putting aerial crosses in until Austin and Jay Rod were on the pitch. Martina had clearly been told to look for Long or Tadic on the ground, rather than cross it in. We also looked dangerous at set pieces. We won't score many scrappy goals out of nothing playing in this system - it requires good decision making and technique to work - but I haven't seen any evidence to suggest we will be defensive or boring. From what I've seen, Puel looks to be a more offensive coach in possession than Poch and Koeman.