Saint86

partly, perhaps, but Puncheon and both CB's were at fault too. Much more to do with terrible passing and lack o effort when losing it.

what problems? Funny, the new guy gets your praise, despite diving in and not getting tight enough to their striker at corners, but Fonte gets the dig. Preconceived opinion of his showing or what? Fonte was top notch so much so I'd have to drop Yoshi rather than him if Jos was to come straight back in.

didn't notice him leaving us exposed.

aye? It'shis short passing that means we keep possession reducing the pressure on our back four.

damn the lad with faint praise. He dominated the middle giving us the platform to win the game.

didn't see that at all. The one thing he didn't do was track back, tackle or out his head where it hurts. Completely attacking. He played up front most of the game. No idea where you get the idea that he could play as a defensive midfielder.

he helped turn the game. Sluggish in the first half, he got hold of it in the second half. You might be right about there being better out there, but until then he is the best option at right midfield.

Mediocre. Really? He won almost every header, kept the ball and linked up well with Ramirez all game. What are you expecting if him?

I agree cbez. Up and away is an over oppinionated no it all who clearly didn't watch the game. Their goal was due to clyne and punch ****ing around at right back and giving the ball away a few times in 1 min. They were two of our worst players first half along with Morgan. Fox was unlucky to be subbed but for whatever reason it was a good sub so fair Doom's to Nigel. Richardson was solid and clyne was inspired on the left allowing him to use his pace through the middle and cut inside at speed against slow turning mid fielders like a bloody rapier to their under belly. Who new he was good at left back. Also, the guy who said he was left footed above... who were u watching? It was noticeable that he stayed off his left foot and avoided using it.

Morgan improved second half and puncheon is just an enigma. Can be so dangerous going forward but equally he can loose the ball just as much. His passing was average, his goal was a lucky reflection and the first goal was a massive error by him tbh. Loosing the ball for no reason by the side of the box. As I said poor first half. Lambert was also crack first half and looked off the pace. Lallana was hands down our best player, worked so hard, tackling back, beating their players at ease and great assist for the first goal. Ramirez was quality but still needs time to gel. And yoshida was solid. I actually think that jos may have trouble getting back in the team. Keeps being clumsy at this level and fonts was imperious today. For this who couldn't see the highlights or the game.. yoshi was good. Tall for a Jap, at least to my mind, very good in the air. Good control of the ball, confident in possession and a good passer. Also, our defence didn't look slow at any point today. And benteke, bent and abonglahor are not exactly slow.

In midfield Davis was a literal beast. Worked hard, some good runs and passing and ran the show. Second half him and Morgan gave Gaston the time to pull the strings.

Also can the idiots stop going on about Ramirez being signed as a right winger on other threads. As I've said on several threads and been lambusted for, he is going to be central attacking mid or left wing, with mayuka on the right... oh look. Isn't that what we played today? 12million to play him out of position.... ye right.

Maybe the ideal season (for some) is just being in a league which we can actually win and in which we aren't just making up the numbers?

This doesn't exist, and has never existed. If it has then we have been failing for 100 years. Saints. win a league. Jesus, is that why alpine is always depressed...

Yep - this is much more likely I would imagine, but with GR and Lallana swapped.

FFS, GRam is not a right winger. What the hell is wrong withe people. He is going to play central mid behind the front 3 or left wing with the lallana in the midfield role. We have Puncheon and Mayuka as the right wingets and lallana and Guly can both play there. We are not paying a £12m for this lad to stick him out on the right Surely. I am like wtf everytime I read this. Nothing i have seen on him has been at right mid/wing.

He is not going to play right mid. He will play central attacking or left wing. How can we have had a massive thread on him, several videos and people not know where he will play.... hope he doesn't read this forum.

My worry about the defense at this stage is less about the personnel and more about the coaching. If you look at Arsenal's defence it is the same players as last season but they are defending much better this time around. Most observers and 'experts' would say that this is down to new defensive coach Steve Bould. Having seen their disarray at times last season this would suggest that contrary to what some on here would have us believe, decent coaching can and does make a difference no matter the players. Now yes I am aware that Arsenal have a couple of experienced international players at the heart of their defence but you get my point. They also have a right back who was playing in League 1 just over a year ago. The fact is that our defence looked shaky at times last season and playing up a level is compounding this. Individually I don't think our defence is bad but I think we are lacking something in how they and the team are coached to defend. I'm not saying I want Adkins out but I think he needs to improve here. At times last season I felt it was as much about how the midfield defends as the back four and Saturday's performance would seem to bear this out. The promising thing here is that against Man U the midfield did their defensive jobs superbly on the whole.

 

There have been too many individual errors as well and this could be for a number of reasons but I'd suggest the pressure on the players this season has ramped up significantly and this is something they need to deal with ASAP.

 

I think we have the players to keep us up, even in the weaker area of defense, but they need some real hard work on the training pitch to tighten things up. One thing that will really lead to more mistakes will be pressure from the fanbase and a nervous atmosphere in the ground. Maybe the fact that we believe we belong at this level brings problems here. We're desperate to survive and relegation seems unthinkable. Fans of teams like Blackpool stick with their team no matter what when they're in the Prem because for them it's an adventure. I think we as fans need to look back on the dark days and our subsequent rise out of it and get behind the team no matter what. Relegation may put dent in our plans with players leaving but as long as we still have the financing and support of the Liebherr family there is no reason we can't bounce straight back like WH and achieve our long term goals.

I agree mostly, however one point I take umbridge with is implying that our fans won't stay behind the team. They did at Wigan and man utd whenever we went behind. And frankly, listening to the arsenal game, all I could hear was saints fans aside from the 6 cheers by arsenal fans... we out sang them. I think the fans will be fine. The simple truth is... we owe most of the squad and the staff everything. 3 years ago we were at the abyss, Saturday we were at the emirates. Its a journey together, we can voice our opinion sure, but the negative selection on here seem to be a small minority in the wider world. And that is something to take positives from. By negative few I do not mean those who question our defenders and kelvin. Unless we are winning it is of right to question performances.

I personally think the defends can hack it. I just think our tactics are wrong and I am waiting for Nigel to improve this aspect. I.e. Walcott's goal. The assisting arsenal player ran through our entire midi field without being followed. One pass, a shot, and a layoff and it was 6. Passer not pressed and runner not followed.... needs addressing. Our defenders couldn't follow every arsenal run, the full backs were always 2v1, and the midfield again did not press the passers. I really don't blame the defence. Also, kelvin needs to come out more. The near post goal he didn't close down at all and gave geranimo the entire goal to shoot at. His confidence is dropping and his performances are 2. I never thought he would be a top pre keeper but on form he can hold his own. So play up super kelv, we need u!

This.

 

Strachan arrived when we were heading for relegation (in not dissimilar circumstances) and he revived a small but better balanced and effective squad and clearly inspired the best from them. He always said 'defend from the front' and we played with good shape with talented strikers (as we have now). Sure we were often out of our depth even then, but his strength was mixing talent with effective journeymen players which achieved some stirling results.

 

He was not perfect but we could learn some lessons from him.

May be my memory, but didn't we finish 8th just before this under hoddle. Don't know what u call heading for relegation

Who could be better? His whole plan is about stability, steadily building, integrating the academy players, playing good football. Adkins knows the club and players inside out, is a good coach and can improve players. A big name would have their own ideas of doing things, want their own staff and more player turnover. It's pointless. Clubs are praised when change brings short term success, but how often do rash early season sackings bring about long term success? Personally I hope Adkins is here for many years. If you get a good manager, you'd be daft not to back them through the toughest periods. All great managers have had moments they could have been sacked.

I agree Adrian (unlike your penalty claim the other night ) Nigel is clearly a gem and he is Nicola's man through and through. I don't think he'd go if we got relegated even. Unless we didn't put up a brave fight. And the obvious point is that Nicola is stubborn as an ox and hates the media messing with the club.

Media say sack Adkins....... Nicola is likely to do what... unless we are on course to do a derby Adkins is safe for me. He is young and learning all the time, and clearly a damn good coach. These morons who want him out are just that... morons.

It strikes me that much fun can be had pretending to be pol posters on this thread. If they really are that fascist that they are banning people that step out of line or appear to be saints... if you have a pol login. Time to start play acting

Mike bassets on the arsenal thread think we signed him as right mid. No ****ing clue tbh. He's playing as CAM or LW and we will swap AL and GR between those 2 positions until we see what works best.

Great penalty?

 

There's a reason he's missed loads of pens. He puts loads down the middle. Great penalty takers never do.

Pirlo?

Are you suggesting Pirlo chips all his penalties down the middle?

No, you suggested that great penalty takers are never shoot down the middle. Owned yourself twice there :-) England must have a bad effect on you

Great penalty?

 

There's a reason he's missed loads of pens. He puts loads down the middle. Great penalty takers never do.

Pirlo?

Travesty that Lambert and lallana can't even get a cap with crap like well beck, cleverly and Bertrand get on. What a joke. Reminded me y I hate watching England. Who are we kidding. As a nation, we are ****. Fans and pundits generally have no clue. No wonder club football is more important than England. Actually involves flair.

**** me, watching this is 2 hours I will never get back.

Nice one. I'm going to the game tomorrow so that's helped me decide what shirt to wear :-)

It had better b proper red and white stripes. Not this semi pink ******** that forest used to wear!!!

On a serious note. Congrats to Adam and a good touch by him to mention saints academy. A true captain in the making.

Since he has been called up I am surprised Lambert is not there. Sturridge is out as is Walcott. Very thin on me ground and he as the bet Englishman on pitch vs united... or is hod son blind?

Aussies are full of how straight talking they are etc. etc. It's a load of crap.

 

And it's weight, not wait. Bit of straight talking for you, listen more in your English lessons.

 

However, I do think that Yoshida should replace Jose, even if its just to take the poor lad out of the firing line. He looked shot against Man Utd. Yoshida's pace should help Jos as well.

 

Why buy him if he's not better than what we've already got?

Come on dude, seriously. Just stamp prat on your forehead. You offered nothing to the conversation, spouted nothing but mildly racial discrimination and gave bugger all debate. Attacking spelling on this forum. I'm actually embarrassed that you're English right now.

Not sure If this has already been posted on here (can't search for some reason), however it may be of general interest for some and gives player stats, football manager style, for the opening 3 games. Interesting from saints perspective is that we cover more ground than any other team both in total and on 2 occasions and the same again for Morgan vs other players. Lays to bed any questions about our overall fitness... although whether we need a bit more to keep the pressing going for 90 minutes is another question. Either way it highlights what a good coach Nigel is for this aspect of pre season.

Also worth noting is Lambert comes 4th on the chances created per match stats... clearly more than just a goalscorer and he played less than half a game vs city. Also lallana is mister unlucky in relation to shots without a goal, 2nd only to bale. Clearly more to come from Adam then! I think all in all these are some promising numbers.

Enjoy, and sorry again if someone has already posted this as it is from the 3rd September.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2197890/Premier-League-season-far.html

Not sureIf this has already been posted on here (can't search for some reason), however it may be of general interest for some and gives player stats football manager style for the opening 3 games. Interesting from saints perspective is that we cover more ground than any other team both in total and on 2 occasions and the same again for Morgan vs other players. Lays to bed any questions about our overall fitness... although whether we need a bit more to keep the pressing going for 90 minutes is another question. Either way it highlights what a good coach Nigel is for this aspect of per season.

Also worth noting is Lambert comes 4th on he chances created per match stats... clearly more than just a goalscorer and he played less than half a game vs city. Also lallana is mister unlucky in relation to shots without a goal, 2nd only to bale. Clearly more to come from Adam then! I think all in all these are some promising numbers.

Enjoy, and sorry again if someone has already posted this as it is from the 3rd September.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2197890/Premier-League-season-far.html

Why do people think GRam will replace puncheon at right wing? Nothing I have seen about him suggest we would use him thus. He plays left wing or CAM. personally I think it is interesting that we signed him and put lallana out wide again. I see him and AL playing CAM and LW between them until we see what is the most effective as a team. With that in mind...

Davis

Clyne......yoshi....jos......fox/Shaw

Morgan........Davis

Ramirez

Puncheon.........................Lallana

Lambert

Subs - Fonte,mayuka,Richardson,Lee, JWP,JayRod,Gazza

That may not be spot on for the starting team depending on whether we risk the debutants, but after 2 weeks I would expect them to play. We may start with A more defensive midfield 3 but with the players we have now and the fact that we can't defend I would like to see us go attacking and have punch, lallana and GRam all playing together.

Didn't he play left back at times? Or has my memory gone to pot?

Also we build from the back. Hence the penalty....

Thats simply not good enough. The SFC management have known for months these areas needed addressing. But no, we focused most of our transfer resources on sexy attacking options.

 

I'm not the greatest fan of Pardew, but credit where credits due - he built from the back first, I seem to recall.

Wasn't Lambert one of his very first signings?

Just back from the game. Was gutted but traffic has given me some perspective.

It comes down to bad subs. Adkins first real mistake, but he will learn.

Lambert was tired so I understand that change. I also feel that fresh legs were required but the introduction of Guly was bad. Did nothing and all confidence was gone. We lost all our attacking threat. And y was jayrod not played as centre forward with the new guy out on the left where he has played before.

Very strange that we would play the pacey short dude as a target man over our stand in number 9 for Lambert. we ran out of ideas with this 3 off the pitch like the 3kick that we just rushed at the end.

I think the big issue was the bench. No one to really sure up the back or midfield with. That will not be the issue when yoshi can play and cork is fit.

It was a gutting defeat to be sure, and we can't afford many more of these slips. However, a lot of positives in that we had them on the ropes and played some cracking stuff. Again mistakes (Clyne this time) have cost us and this needs to be addressed. Also the people who slam Adkins' need to bare in mind that we outplayed united for 80min.

Promising signs from punch, Adam, Lambert, Davis, Morgan and jwp who were all superb. I do not understand y fox plays so tight to the cb which allows the winger to overlap him and get in behind. He always does it so I'm assuming that NA wants him to play that way. Very narrow. Maybe to counter the goals scored by Sandro and tevez?

I think we will be okay still, but we are making it hard for ourselves! We shall improve though and we are having a steep learning curve which will only benefit us after the arsenal game.

Interesting to reflect again on the poll results.

 

I'd say that most football fans tend to be over-optimistic about their clubs in most respects.

 

But 57% of those who voted in this poll were on the wrong/pessimistic side (myself included).

 

Some sort of proof that SWF posters and readers are disproportionately miserable bastards?

Right, so u needed proof of that. Lol!!!

Fulham have done some terrific deals, fair play to them

They also sold Dempsey for £6m - spurs have one of the deals of the season there.

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.

Le tissier and Keegan instantly spring to mind. And Gaston Ramirez didn't snub tottenham's contract offer at any point. Carry on...

He plays on the left

He playes on the riiiight

Emmanuel Mayuka

Makes Lallana look sh*te

Makes your fullbacks look ****e?