Saint86

Okay, this is much better - we're attacking and pushing up with the wing backs. This is the only way this formation works.

Azaz seems up for this at least.

Its both a crying shame and a good job that boro are shit

How deep can we go.... this is worse than Southgate for england ffs, i want to give him a chance but he uses every opportunity to come across as utterly tactically illiterate.

Well brace yourself, because we're going to win this and the cup game 😆

I think this isn't far wide of the mark. By all accounts the players wanted rid of still (or at least a significant set of players did). I would say it now looks like they've played to get a young manager the players like the job... and are now reverting to type under a manager that basically has no real authority over them. Its long been rumoured that we have a rotten dressing room, and sadly the same core group of players have never been moved on...

Tonda played 3-4-2-1 (which let's be honest regrets to a 5-2-2-1) with the u21s. Its mandated throughout the club. Seems most likely that Still (who wanted to play 4-2-3-1 but didn't) and tonda were instructed to play the same way with the first and B teams by the club when all things are considered. It's that or a previously successful manager (in Still) openly wanted to play a formation that he had the players for, but inexplicably didn't... Whilst the new "succession planning u21 coach" just happened to play the same formation that Still was reluctantly playing... Ralph was hardcore advocate of his 4-2-2-2 for pretty much his entire career until SR arrived at saints... then in they came and all of a sudden we changed to 5 at the back, and so it has largely continued. Selles did briefly try to revert back to the traditional 4-2-2-2 Ralph formation but to no avail. Jones was a 3-5-2 mananger. Juric core formation was also 3-4-2-1. Simon rusk played a 3-4-2-1 primarily, or a 5-4-1. The only real exception really was when Wilcox was here and appointed Martin, who was seemingly left alone to play "his way", and for all his flaws (of which there were many), the period playing 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 under martin was the only successful period under SR. Obviously then Wilcox left and Martin started adopting more 3-5-2 variants over last year's absolute car crash season 🤔.. Could all be pure fluke and coincidence, but it's a shite formation and we seem to be seeing an awful lot of it under SR.

If we don't get promoted, we won't be able to afford him regardless.

Had a good game today, and made a fantastic save near the end to keep us in it for a point 😛

Scienza with that little steal and run down the left then... 5 Millwall players back and only archer committed forward. Never going to carry much threat with such defensive tactics.

So start of 2026, who is supporting eckert as mananger and thinks he's the man to take us up?

So obvious to everyone, except perhaps rasmus and his data driven reinvention if football?

Need to bring Ralph back. It's the only way 😌

This. There has been enough noise and signs that strings are being pulled from afar. Need ankerson out of the club asap. Or do people still think it's a coincidence that we're playing 5 at the back?

He's shit. But I guess we wait for the clappers to slowly realise that (as always)...

Not likely under this Southgate clone.

Couldn't watch this game (the joys of grass roots kids football tournaments)... whats the verdict? A well won point against the 10men league leaders, or 2 points dropped?

Exactly this 😄

So a 4-4 draw incoming?

Thanks for letting us know... Out of curiosity, at what point did you A.) Realise this fact? and B.) feel that signed up members of a Southampton Football Club forum would need this fact explaining to them? 😅

I think this is an overly simplistic view of the "tippy tappy" football (or passing it around at the back). We do this both when we're attacking and when we're defending. When we're attacking its fine - we draw the opposition onto us with the two wide CBs moving out wide, and Baz and the other CB covering central. At least one of the WBs is then slightly further forward to provide width across the middle and crucially to be set for the counter attack. We bait the opposition onto us and then quickly transition up the pitch - either via a driving run from fellows/scienza, or by having created a pocket of space for the likes of jander/downes/AA/Azaz etc. I have no issue with this, we turn the opposition around and get them running to thier own goal with space for our very talented (for champ level) attacking players to move, run, and either take on or pass through the opposition. This is far better than under Still, where we played with an almost arrogant like style of having to push right up all the time and having limited opportunities to break through an opposition that was sat in two deep defensive lines basically in their own 3rd, and where we were open to the counter. I would prefer to see us play very similar even in a back 4 - with a central deep lying CDM to provide depth to the midfield, one all round CM (Jander), one central mid in a free role (azaz), and AA up top and given freedom to float and run at teams. We would be devastating on the attack, and generally stronger with a central midfield 3 and an actual anchor man. My issue is when we go into what i am going to call Tonda's "defence mode" (his attacking play is superb). But its when he decides to stop attacking, seemingly take far less risks with the ball, and drop much deeper that we really do come a cropper. At this point we essentially pull the wing backs in as almost full backs and sit very deep with a flat back 5. We then only have the two CMs, who get overwhelmed by the opposition in the middle of the pitch which further stifles our counter attacking play and also starves possession from our attackers - essentially suffocating most of the threat we should be posing. In addition to that, the now defensive full backs, narrow CAMs/ST, and narrow CMs essentially remove any width for us in the central and final 3rds - this also greatly diminishes out ball options from the defence and further allows the opposition to push right up onto what are now essentially our defensive full backs... and that then means that they can overload our full backs with either the first man crossing, or passing it back to the supporting player to cross from deep... Which is why when you watch us we get absolutely bombarded by crosses. And given we have a keeper that (lets face it) isn't great at commanding his area, plus 3 cbs who are all pretty average in aerial defensive challenges - this just turns into an utter car crash. We go from playing to our strengths (attacking players in space, using baz as a sweeper keeper or for his distribution), to nullifying basically all our attacking play and dropping deeper to invite crosses our defence and keeper are terrible at defending. And given we have done this in every game under Eckert, the only assumption i can make is that this is a deliberate tactical ploy and is how he wants to play - not something he is learning from or likely to change. In essence, i just don't think he has the bravery needed to keep us playing attacking football over say 70min, and instead he opts for the defensive parking of the bus once he's decided we're far enough ahead, which essentially is us ceding the pitch to the opposition and daring them to come and score goals. He certainly isn't a manager who follows the "attack is the best line of defence" mantra, but he needs to find a mid ground as a minimum, because honestly his defensive set up is just shit, no 2 ways about it.

If you stop and think about it, that is actually ridiculous - its just straight up Orwellian style censorship of light hearted humour🤦‍♂️.

That sounds about right tbh. Football is a funny old game, and by all accounts, their having their own little wobble recently (albeit in relative terms).

Over a 46game season you'd have a point - but thats actually the point the rest of us are broadly making. Whereas since you take umbridge with that, i can only assume you think a 6 to 8 game sample size for a completely fresh manager is enough to extrapolate the rest of the season from, despite us not playing well in over half of those games and being damn lucky to have got 3 of those 6 wins. But Yeah... those of us that are worried about the tactics, game management, and overall performances (and what it will mean for future dropped points) are the ones chatting "bollocks" 🫣.

Well regardless, it was still a well below par / shit performance.