tajjuk

I find this doubtful and anyway they will get on with it or get dropped. Be interesting to see if there is an improvement after a full week of training.

Cedric and Bertrand, can't see past them, both need a bit of a kick up the behind to find nearer their top level. At their best they are top 6 full backs, but they have both this season been a long way short. As for centre-backs I have no idea. What we are getting from Hoedt and Vestergaard IMO cannot be the level of these players, these are both guys who have played regularly for good clubs and have been well rated by independent observers, they are both internationals, Vestergaard was playing Champions League two seasons ago. There was something there that made us pay like £18 million for these players, it needs to be found. IMO Stephens and Yoshida are not good enough, but I think crucially what we need to find is a partnership, even those two under Puel looked solid enough (certainly not relegation level defence). The other issue with those two is the completely lack aerial presence, that is an issue defensively but it also means we lack attacking threat for set pieces the other end. Considering Vestergaard made horrendous errors v Cardiff and Yoshida made them v Spurs, I'd expect Ralph to drop them, which means it'll be Hoedt, Stephens or Bednerak for Arsenal. I wonder if his selections were horses for courses, going for more aerial focused centre-backs vs a more direct Cardiff team, and whether he'll want more faster/ball playing centre-backs for Arsenal so we might see Hoedt + Stephens or Stephens + Yoshida I reckon.

Ings, Bertrand and Cedric were maybes I believe for Saturday so should be a greater chance of seeing them this week. Full week to train as well get some ideas across, next to contenders for terrible centre back of the week to try out. I am presuming Stephens might get a shout with Bednerak. Then we'll be back to Hoedt who hasn't done any howlers in front of the new manager yet.

Individual defensive errors are costing us massively, but we are also not taking chances. We are something like 8th for 'big chances missed', 4th for hitting the woodwork, and 2nd or 3rd in the league for total shots. Plus I think we have been unlucky with decisions going against us as well. So aside the horrible defensive errors, we have not actually played that badly, the team are creating chances, they are just not putting them away.

Plenty of slow defenders have done well in this league. Metersacker turned like a battleship and had the acceleration of an OAP but he was still a good defender. The Bundesliga is not a slow paced league either and Vestergaard did very well there, he was playing in the Champions League two years ago and performing well. It's about positioning and decision making, he is just being rash because there is no team shape or discipline to our defending and he is in and out of the team trying to make an impression. The goal we conceded against Utd on Saturday was a great example, he was rash, he came charging out to get the ball and then is not quick enough to recover, but he doesn't have to be quick enough to recover if he just stays in position and forces the attacker to do something. None of our defenders are playing with any confidence or playing together, the team is defending as individuals, that is what Ralph needs to sort out, I fully expect once the team is defending as one and our defence starts playing together, we'll see a lot more from our centre backs and a lot less individual errors.

Went through that one further up, claiming he created that goal is just wrong, he cut inside, went past one player, got lucky the ball bounced back to him after a tackle and then did a 4 yard pass to Obafemi, who had his back to goal and 4 Utd defender behind him, Obafemi then created the goal. This - Is not creating a goal scoring opportunity IMO.

They both seem to be basing it on him not knowing how Cardiff will play, but we were told that Cardiff was one of the team's he watched last week. I wouldn't be surprised if he also has watched their Tuesday game as well. Plus I'd still fancy our chances of beating them with Hughes, they really are not very good, I know neither are we but I think we have more quality and our luck has to change at some point.

Even if we do go down, we won't sack him I don't think, so unless he leaves, I'd be quite confident with more time, a full pre-season, getting some players in of his own mould, we'd bounce straight back up again.

Disagree, I don't think he has improved at all, possibly gone backwards, he looks no better than the player who was in and out of a struggling Norwich team. He had moments of good play, and that is all he has now, occasional moments of good play but generally fails to do very much at all. Both JWP and Redmond about 2 years ago got England caps, everyone expected them to kick on from there, they haven't, if anything they have gone backwards and they are both now nearly in their mid 20s where they should be approaching their potential. They aren't, they are decidedly average PL players IMO. Yeh he dribbles a lot, we have seen that, but unlike many names in that list he does very little with the ball afterwards, his ability to pick out a pass, deliver a cross, finish a chance, etc. etc. is poor, he lacks football brain, vision and the decision making. Which can't be excused with youth anymore, he is not the rash teenage winger who will get better with time, he's 24, he has over 250 games under his belt, and he is fast becoming another Nathan Dyer/Routledge style player.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/17281021.southampton-manager-ralph-hasenhuttl-has-spoken-to-the-media/?ref=mac

Agree we need his pace, but this is a bit like Sterling at the World Cup, most people recognised his work rate and his runs, but he was still not contributing goals and assists, and when he got into good positions he did not produce a final ball or finish, you can't have an attacker that just doesn't score or create very much, it becomes rather pointless if he creates space or gets into good positions but then does very little with it. It becomes especially more problematic when your other forwards are hardly prolific either. Sterling had Kane, Ali and Lingaard to pick up the slack, plus England were very threatening from set pieces. I mean to be honest we don't really have anyone else, JWP IMO is not an option there which is why I find this debate a little odd, they are completely different players, and IMO both can have a role to play, both need to contribute more and both need to kick on in their careers. I just find it odd people are so harsh on JWP and give Redmond such a free pass when he has not produced anything really for 18 months. I also consistently see the argument that Redmond must be good because he keeps getting picked, but then so does Hoedt and he is hated on here by often similar people. We'll just have to see how the new manager uses them or if they use them, and also whether he can get more out of these two young players who have not fulfilled their potential.

Actually your comment shows how opinions are so subjective and don't paint a clear picture at all, whereas stats do paint a better picture IMO. Took out 3/4 players? Not really, he showed some good feet to go inside one but then got a bit of luck as Fellaini actually got a foot on the ball but it bounced straight back into Redmond's path. Then he basically kept going sideways Look at the positions when Redmond pokes the ball through to Obafemi - Obafemi is facing away from goal with two players on his back, Cedric has run offside and is covered by Young, Matic is basically covering the left back position. What exactly has Redmond's run created there? Not much, Man Utd have 4 players goal side against our 2 and he's given the ball to our player with his back to the goal and 2 Utd players on his back very close to him. What actually creates the goal is - 1. Obafemi's first touch that wrong foots the two guys on his back, 2. His good feet that takes him away from Fellaini, 3. Then his good though ball 4. Matic being sucked in, when he was in a perfectly good position to pick up Armstrong 5. Armstrong's run. 6. Poor defending from Man Utd, there are actually a catalogue of errors there, both centre backs get suck to Obafemi, Herrera doesn't get back goal side and dives in earlier on, Pogba is jogging back, the left wing back is completely missing from the picture and Matic also gets sucked in paying no attention to Armstrong. Not a huge amount to do with Redmond at all. His main contribution was probably drawing I think either Herrara or the left back into a lunge that left him out of position, but even then Matic was covering and Utd had 4 players in good positions to stop the goal. Where is the space he created? He dragged a couple of players with him but even then Fellaini managed to get back in to try and make another tackle on Obafemi, when Obafemi plays the ball through he has about 6 Utd players in very close proximity, it's his quick control, turn and pass that creates the goal. Obafemi is the one with the assist. Pretty much what Redmond did was what he always does, cuts inside, runs out of ideas and plays a fairly simply pass to one of his teammates. Even if he is playing better, making some good runs etc. he very clearly needs to do a lot lot more.

That is factually incorrect, you are not an effective attacking player if you don't score, assist or create chances. People can waffle on about how Redmond looks all they like, the cold hard facts are that he has played almost every game this season and he ZERO goals and assists. Whatever people think about JWP is pretty much irrelevant, they are conning themselves about Redmond. Cedric has a goal and 2 assists this year, our under performing right back has been a far more effective attacking player than Redmond. Obefami has just 91 minutes of game time has least managed an assist FFS. Basically the stats show how flawed people's opinions are.

Long has an ankle injury, which he got on the 9th November and was predicted to be out for around 6 weeks so I'd presume he is still a few weeks away from being fit. Gallagher just seems to have vanished, no mention of him being injured.

To be honest I think both players might be involved under Ralph, I don't think they are competing for the same position. Redmond is pretty much are only attacking player with pace that can also do stuff with the ball, he just needs to find more product in the final third. But I think JWP would have impressed after last nights game and IIRC from what I read Ralph values good set pieces as he thinks they can make a difference in close games, he commented about how many set piece goals there were in World Cup. JWP + Vestergaard should be a source of goals for us IMO. He will have also impressed with his work rate and stamina. Whoscored had JWP and Davis as basically our best two players.

I presume Lemina is back for this. We'll just have to see what we can do. This squad has 3 huge games coming up before the window, Cardiff away, Huddersfield away and West Ham at home to show what they can do for this new manager before potential replacements can come in. (I am presuming we'll lose to Arsenal and Man City and anything there would be a bonus). We have to pick up two wins IMO at least, if not looking at getting 3 as we have Chelsea in the new year before going away to Leicester so there are not many winnable games there if we mess up against these 3. Everyone on a clean slate, everything working their nuts of in the game and in training, whoever emerges will have earned their spots. I think we might see a few surprises in there. Physioroom is predicted Bertrand and Ings should be available for Saturday, have no idea how accurate they are but both were maybes for Wednesday

No because IMO teams that go down struggle to score goals and create chances, we create chances and to be honest over recent weeks have been very unlucky, if the Ralph can get the team shape working to better protect use defensively and take pressure off the centre-backs I think we will stop conceding as many silly goals. Whilst I think we will still create chances. I also can't believe that Ralph took the job if he hadn't have been promised some investment, which I hope means we'll get maybe 2 new faces in Jan, hopefully a pacey attacker, maybe another centre-back, with Ralph's input for his style of play. Basically under Puel, who is a much better manager than MP or Hughes, we looked solid at the back with a back four of Bertrand, Stephens, Yoshida, Cedric, often with Forster behind them, and Romeu protecting them and we still created chances that season, IIRC we were the best outside the top 6 for chances created, shots etc. that season. All those players are at the club, we have I think a better manager now than Puel, two better keepers than Forster was then, and potentially if he can get them playing to the potential that saw us bought them better centre-backs as well. All of which gives me hope we can sort the defence out without becoming anemic from an attacking sense (i.e like an Allardyce/Pulis approach) and the results will come.

1. Defending. 2. Defending. 3. Finishing. 4. Fitness 5. Concentration for the full 90 mins. Our generally play, certainly from a build up/creating chances aspect has been decent, much better than teams around us IMO who most of the time look dreadful, but our defending is woeful and we are not putting our chances away, as last night showed. BBC has Lloris for MoM last night for his key saves, plus we hit the woodwork multiple times, that is a good sign against a good Spurs team, but at the same time we gifted them easy chances through poor defensive play and that is the worry. I still think our organisation and defending as a team has been poor, largely down to the manager, this has then exposed and put pressure on our centre-backs, who have then made silly and avoidable errors. An example for me is Vestergaard against Utd on Saturday, he goes charging out of position to win a ball he was never going to get and that left us exposed. That is not a failure in ability, this is a player who was a good player in a good league and all the reports about him said he had good positioning and had awareness about his lack of pace but read the game well. So why would a player like that suddenly go charging out of defence? IMO because he's been in and out of the team, is desperate to make an impression and has no real faith in the players around him or in the team's shape/discipline to do the job so he thinks he has to go do it himself. Plus as we have seen we cannot hold onto a lead, it has become such an issue that the players themselves have lost faith in their ability to do it which becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. He has to somehow change that. If we can become more solid, get Ings back on the pitch fit we'll concede less and score more, which should be enough to start picking up more points than those around use. The likes of Burnley, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Cardiff, etc. IMO look far more ordinary as attacking/midfield outlets, but they also look more disciplined, solid, hard working and less leaky at the back. Fulham look like another version of us with similar issues, in that they have good attacking play but concede far too many. If we can become more solid as a team defensively and still keep creating the chances we have then we will get up the table as I can't see those teams around us scoring enough goals.

Well not many people would have predicted they would have been as bad as they were. ------------------------------ Coutinho also played well for pool before leaving for Barca after being denied the move in the summer. Like I said VVD is a c*nt, not every player hankering for a move just gives up, sulks and plays as crap as he did.

Er where are all these giant fullbacks? They generally don't exist, a bigger centre-forward pulling onto a smaller full back happens all over the world in pretty much most forms of football. The centre backs should be helping out with that. Cedric has been one of the most consistent fullbacks in the league and IMO a very good buy, he's just horribly out of form along with most of his colleagues, in a badly managed team lacking on confidence. He's never been superb going forward but he's a decent defender, quick, who works hard and like I said until the last 6-9 months or so has been a good PL player. Most middling PL clubs cannot expect to find the kind of complete full backs top clubs have. And hardly any fullbacks in world football are very big, big players are very rarely quick, and are generally used in central positions, shorter players tend to be quicker and used in wider areas. Reed and scouting team has had many fails, but Cedric is not one of them for £4 million he has been a good buy. I reckon the new manager will start getting the best out of him and Bertrand.

No we were 17th, where we finished I believe.

JWP can run all day, his work rate and stamina are good, plus his passing is good, also believe that Ralph rates the value of good set piece takers as he believes they can make a huge difference in close games and it cost him in his 2nd season at Leipzig as his team was on the smaller side. So I can see him finding a role in the squad for JWP. We also need to remember that the sort of high intensity pressing game he plays is knackering on the players, you need rotation options, especially in midfield/wide players because they have to run around like loons most of the game. So I'd expect all our centre-mids to be here until the end of the season, it's attacking options where we look the least suited to his style, with Austin basically being broken and Gabbi for me not really fitting it, plus Long whilst on paper looks perfect, he is also terrible at football and should be nowhere near the team. Which then leaves us with Ings, Redmond, Moe, Obafemi and Gallagher, 3 of which are currently injured I believe. No way either full back is going either IMO.

Not every player is as unprofessional as VVD, Mahrez was basically leaving Leicester for 2 years but still played his heart for them. As did MS after he got over his little tantrum and was told he'd go the next year.

I didn't realistically think we could get someone of his level to be honest. I'd heard of him before though didn't know much about him except he was manager of Leipzig, who were making waves because they were upsetting the German football elite and were being very successful. I'd presume a manager of a club like that would only be going upwards to bigger clubs. Jardim/Rogers was the best scenario I was hoping for and more realistically expecting QSF

One article I read about him, apparently between jobs he was in the alps with his binoculars spying on other top club's training camps like Dortmund etc, so he could learn new training methods etc., also went to World Cup training camps to watch like the German national tram train etc. seems a bit of a football nut. Very interesting that he watched Cardiff, the team we are due to play and his first game, shows he was probably close to being in place before the weekend I reckon. I think Hughes was basically sacked from the Fulham game and they have been lining this guy up over the last few weeks.