Itchen_block4

He's a fullback because he's quick and can tackle. Attacking is what fullbacks do these days. If the fullback hugs the touchline, the winger can be supporting or getting into the box. Attacking fullbacks are so dangerous because defenders can't track them without leaving their man free. Why do you think Gibbs caused us so many problems against Arsenal and how do you think Clyne got tthrough unchallenged yesterday? Happens less so here, but across Europe, wingers often get turned into fullbacks if they can tackle and have a reasonable positional sense. In modern possession football, fullbacks get forward because they can.

Great post. This thread is about replacing Adkins and we wouldn't have much to gain by doing it. He's got most of the big stuff right and when he didn't against Wigan, he was quick to acknowledge his mistake. What we need to do is to specifically target our frailties and build confidence in the way we want to play. We have a good setup, a good manager and the makings of a good team too. We've played 4 good sides and without the individual erreors, we could well have some points. As you say, there are positives that we can build on.

This pretty much. Midfielders are actually better at pressing midfielders than defenders are. Had Ramirez been available for the Man U game, he could have come on for one of our shattered midfielders, dealt with Scholes and possibly even put Mayuka through for a third. Even a player as immobile as Scholes, you don't deal with him by trying to man-mark him.

it didn't work against Arsenal because Arsenal were good. Against Wigan, we never got anyone behind and they made Lambert look like a carthorse. Adding anothere defender won't make the defence stronger. All it would do is invite pressure and make the defence worse. The middle 3 can take a number of forms, but however it gets set up, it needs to not just protect the defence, but also assert itself on the game. If the midfield can't turn defence into attack then they just lose the ball and they have to defend again.The 433 needs a chance and a chance to be done properly, because it can work and does work for most of the league and indeed most of the good teams in Europe.

Adkins is a fantastic manager and replacing him adequately would require an intensive process like the one we undertook to get him here in the first place. We really would be ****ed if we had Dean Wikins in charge during the season! Not being a yes man isn't the same as someone like Redknapp who has all his own ideas and would bring about chaos. A manager needs to be able to work with the chairman and DoF to get the best out of the club, not someone who throws his toys out of the pram if he doesn't get his own way. Talk of getting rid of a fantastic manager after losing to the 3 best teams in the country is absolute nonsense and shows up the short termism that some fans see.

Mayuka won't swing the ball in like Puncheon, but he will get beyond and behind, which is important in a game like this one. It's one of the reasons we didn't have much clear cut against Wigan. If Adkins sees fit to put Lambert ont the bench then fair enough. I can certainly undertand why he might do it, although Lambert scores goals and brings alot to the team. This game won't be as relentless as Man U, Man City or Arse and he'll probably be able to last 90 minutes if we want him to. We're a match for Villa and as such I don't think we need to get too bogged down with gameplans. Throw what we've got at them and manage the game as it unfolds.

-----------------Davis Clyne-----Fonte-----Yoshida-----Fox ---------Morgan-----JWP ---------------Ramirez Mayuka-----------------------Lallana ---------------Lambert Gazzaniga, Shaw, Cork, Davis, Puncheon, Rodriguez, Guly This one needs going for from the off. This one might not be Lambert's game, but he's done enough to deserve the start. He'll ned to play right up the pitch and we shouldn't be afraid to take him off if it's not working. That's one of the reasons Wigan went wrong and we can't let that happen here. Get Ramirez betwwen the lines and linking everyone up.

We really would get slaughtered if we did that, far too gung-ho.

Bench probably. He'll be a really positive option to bring on, so I'm excited.

Mo Gimpel!

I wouldn't be surprised if that happened TBH even if Fox was fully fit. Fox didn't have a good game last time out and could have prevented Man U's first if he closed down Valencia who put the cross in. Let Chamberlain do the same and there's a good chance Giroud or Podolski will get there first - they're top strikers, it's what they do. Makes a mockery of the midfield working so hard if the fullback is letting his man go. Fox is a capable player, but he really needs to be taken to one side and given a proper idea of how to do his job. We've got goals in us and with a decent gameplan to keep the intensity up, we've got a good chance so long as the defence don't do anything really stupid.

Dunno about attacking, but we'll certainly be getting in their faces and making it hard for them to settle on the ball.

Fox worries me more than Fonte does. For Man U's first, you see Clyne slip but Fox is standing off Valencia and letting him get the cross in early before the people in the middle are ready to deal with it. That sort of defending can be costly at this level and I don't suppose Adkins was best pleased with that one. Someone like Van Persie can lose his man in a split second and we can give him some credit for that, but big questions need to be asked when someone isn't doing the really simple stuff right. Kelvin's dodgy distribution could have been costly too.

Console yourself with the fact that he's probably not that good anyway. Anyone who is still a free agent after the window closes comes with some sort of catch - age, wages, injuries, attitude, lack of fitness, being crap etc. It's a signing that screams panic.

This happens to all of the players, not just defenders. Defending at the top level is so difficult and it's not just defenders who have to do it. Lambert is probably our best defender as well as our best attacker with his strength and ability on the ball giving us a huge boost in playing ourselves out of holes. It's a difficult situation when we rely so heavily on someone who won't last much more than 70 minutes of a very tough game. Take him off when evryone else is knackered too and were going to concede. Games that you have to chase a lot are longer for the players than games where you are on the front foot. Part of being a manager is anticipating how games are likely to pan out and selecting accordingly. I think hard work can grind out the first half for us, then we can throw Lambert on and go for the win. Hooiveld/Fonte/Yoshida/Any CB against a world class striker really is no contest, so the team needs to work together to cut out the service. Set pieces are the main situation where attackers and defenders have a level playing field.

Why spend £7m on anyone? Why buy someone to back up a player who is very talented, but won't last for every minute of every game? Take Sam Hoskins in the U21s. He played most of pre-season on the wing. When Lee Barnard went to Bournemouth, Hoskins moved into the middle and started banging them in. Hoskins isn't a winger and neither is Rodriguez, but the reason they played on the wing is the same, because they add something to the team that no one else offered and theey have a big part to play over the course of the season. The system is fluid and wingers effectively become strikers. It might not be perfect, but it is how the apprentice (Rodriguez) is going to learn from the master (Lambert) in a match situation. Clumsy as it looks, there is method to the madness. Rodriguez wouldn't gain much warming the bench. You don't spend £7m on a player to neglect him either. Back to the U21, Jake Sinclair is playing wide at the moment despite being more of a striker. Our plan will be for Sinclair to learn what he can from Hoskins until we have a reshuffle and move Sinclair into the middle. We want all of our forwards to learn from each other and for all of them to become better players. It would be great if such a system can work for the first team too.

That supports my argument more than it counters it. Taking Lambert of wasn't tactical, he was just knackered and couldn't finish 90 minutes. Fergie won that match because he had his ace on the bench to come on and win the game. Scholes is obviously a lot better than Cleverly, but he'd be pooped after 60 minutes of being chased by Schneiderlin and wouldn't have had the same impact on the game. Sometimes we'll need to take a similarly pragmatic view about Lambert because he won't last 90 minutes of a very tough game either.

Pretty much, were you expecting him to walk straight past Lambert and into the team? When players earn the sort of influence that Lambert has here, backing them up is a right pain in the arse. As a good player, he needs game time and on the wing he's had more of it because we didn't have the quality in depth out there. He's good on the ball and I'd rather him than De Ridder or Guly out there. He'll get his chance. If we wanted a winger, we'd have bought one instead. He'll get his big chance.

This is very narrow thinking tbh. Even if Lambert remains uninjured, he's a big bloke who won't last 90 minutes of every game, so alternative gameplans need to be worked on. He's not getting any younger either, so we'll need alternative plans for the longer term future. Nigel Adkins says "it's about the squad, not just the 11" in pretty well every interview he does and cliched as it is, he's absolutely right.

It's pretty obvious that Rodriguez has quality and it's not best used on the wing. Lambert isn't going to play 90 minutes of every game and Rodriguez will play the central role more as time goes by. In Lee and Mayuka, we have two forwards who are more ofay with wide roles, so we'll definately see Rodriguez more in the middle as the season goes on. In time, we'll be glad we signed him. Lambert has earnt his influence over the last 3 years and that sort of influence has to be earned however good you are. Rodriguez isn't going to fill Lambert's boots straight away. Influence is why players like Lampard, Gerrard, Giggs and Scholes still play at the top despite not being the players they used to be. Their teams just haven't been patient enough to let someone else earn the influence or they've been content not to do anything about an aging, influential player.

If we're still in the game, I'd much rather bring Lambert on than take him off. Can he last 90 minutes of chasing defenders? Probably not. It's about managing the squad, not making statements about who is better than who. Arsenal aren't good enough to be 3-0 up after 60 minutes and if they were, starting Lambert wouldn't make a whole lot of difference anyway. I don't understand your hostility to the gameplan that very nearly worked up at City and would have worked had it not been for their enormous reserves of quality.

-------------------Davis------------------------- Clyne-----Yoshida-----Hooiveld-----Fox/Shaw ------------------Morgan------------------------ --------------Davis-----JWP--------------------- Puncheon-------------------------------Lallana -----------------Rodriguez---------------------- Gazzaniga, Fonte, Richardson, Cork, Ramirez, Lambert, Mayuka If we can grind out the first half, I reckon we can get a result with that quality on the bench. Arsenal aren't going to let us see much of the ball and starting Lambert would mean 45 minutes of him chasing and wasting his limited energy. Like the City game, he'll be a mega substitution. With fresh legs, he stands a very good chance of scoring or playing a killer ball. Puncheon had a great game on Sunday and Ramirez will have a big impact too if he's as good as he's cracked up to be. Liverpool rather gave up the ghost, didn't press them like they should and made it too easy. We'll be right in their faces and I feel we can come away with something if we get a chance to play our own game. They aren't as clinical without Van Persie and early season, I think this is an opportunity. 2-1 Saints win.

---------------------Davis Clyne-----Stephens-----Turnbull-----Shaw -----------------JWP-----Cork --------------------Lallana Puncheon-------------------------Rofriguez -------------------Lambert One day maybe haha! Add a couple of class defenders and that's not a terrible side.

I'm confident of staying up. If the worst did happen though, our team is full of young assets that we could sell or mould into our next team. We wouldn't be lumbered with a host of aging journeymen on silly wages. That was where Pompey's parachute payments went, We'd be in a position to invest the money back into the team to mount another challenge. Hopefully it doesn't come to that as nothing comes easily in the Championship, but we've been smart in making sure we'll be in a good place whatever the ouitcome.

Any player will want to play for the most prestigious club that's offering. At the moment that's us. The money we're offering is probably about the same as what others would offer, but the clincher is that we'd make him a key player rather than a bit-parter/future prospect. Players play for themselves at the end of the day and if their attitude is right, will give their all for the team that pays their wages. Few players actually play for the clubs they have their hearts set on. The fact he has chosen uus is good enough for me.