saintwbu

That yellow kit is lovely, the Saints badge looks a little bit off though, so not sure if that’s genuine.

Then what would Lingard being in there be for? I mention Watkins because he’s only picked 2 actual strikers, which seems a bit weird, but as I say i’m basing it on logic/weakness of the squad. Southgate picked 4 right backs, so i’m not sure he operates with the same approach.

I think Lingard may get in, but I do think based on logic/areas of weakness in the squad it should be JWP or a striker (Watkins)

Blimey, amazing what a good run of form over a short period can do. No one mentioned Chris Wood until about February and now all of a sudden he’s become a player everyone likes!

Given he was the final sub tonight, behind Godfrey at CB, I would be absolutely shocked if he’s there for any reason other than some experience and to make up the numbers. One for the future, but definitely not there on merit this season.

La Liga winner, right back in La Liga team of the year, plays in one of the best defensive teams in the world under probably the best defensive manager in the world, and was arguably our best player at the last World Cup. Wouldn’t say he’s lucky to be there!

It’s like the days of us and Exeter having Flybe on almost identical kits #mems

Appreciate that quote probably seems silly now, but I think he’s right in saying Mario Lemina could be world class. But there’s reasons he isn’t and why he ended up with us, but on his day he was a class above. I also remember him absolutely dominating Pogba for us on at least one occasion.

Maybe it’s playing on the same pitch as us that raises his game, maybe he’d been amazing every single game for us in that case.

And whenever he plays us, he’s got Olivier Giroud syndrome where he scores against us no matter how shit his form is. Even scored against us for Liverpool!

I think this in principle is okay, but the problem was that if Spurs did take that approach then Rose would’ve been one of the first players replaced. Poch saved his career, he was about to be binned by Spurs but Poch’s system got the best out of him. He didn’t pull up any trees at Newcastle and has found himself not even registered in Spurs’ squad this season. He’s not right for us imo.

Is this the new ‘people think we can do better than a European Championship winner in Cedric!?’ - how’d that one work out? Rose is not good enough for us, his attitude stinks, and we can do much better. Bertrand is a far better player, letting him go to replace him with Rose would be so stupid.

He’s only a couple of goals behind Watkins despite only playing about 28 games this season. Minutes per goal he’s almost identical to DCL and Bamford, all of whom are much better than Watkins in that regard. I’m very surprised that in a 33 man squad Ings didn’t make the cut, I would’ve understood him not making the 26.

Would be a shame to give up on him, shows glimpses of brilliance. Ralph seems to play him mostly to try and shackle a winger rather than for his attacking ability, which leaves people saying ‘he hasn’t done anything’ when actually he’s been doubling up on the oppositions most dangerous player all game. He’s normally done a good job in that regard this season.

I don’t think they really spent the £50mil they got from Wan-Bissaka, and they’re getting some high earners off the books with a few decent young players coming through. Potentially, it’s a good opportunity for a manager to come in and build from scratch. Equally, it’s a big risk and more often than not wholesale change for small clubs ends in relegation.

People bemoaned us not taking the £12mil for Targett from Fulham, only to sell him a year later for £17mil having probably only played about 5 games more in that time. Selling him was a good deal for us, he wouldn’t be the player he is now without leaving us, we needed the money like we always do. I’m pleased for him, he was decent for us, but he was never going to replace Bertrand and needed games.

It always felt like he would be an easy sell this summer. I don’t think the club expected him to come good, hence why he didn’t start the first couple of games, they got lucky that he suddenly transformed. Presume the intention was for Salisu to be Bednarek’s partner, but then Jannik stepped up. So it’s an easy sell we weren’t expecting to be able to make. He’s had a good season, shown why he was signed, but he’s one we could probably get a decent few quid for in a market short of decent CB’s who can play a bit.

I’d take him again on loan, i’d hope we aren’t looking to spend any money on him

Doesn’t seem much of a coincidence to me when it’s the same shit group of players that have struggled for years

In the first 28 minutes, Ralph’s tactics had us dominating the game and creating 3 or 4 great chances that should’ve been scored. Then some poor individual defending and goalkeeping results in two quick goals in a couple of minutes. Which part of that is Ralphs fault?

When I opened this thread I was really hoping to find a deep analysis of whether Wesley Hoedt was signed to keep Virgil Van Dijk happy. Thankfully my prayers were answered.

Their squad isn’t bad at all. Trossard, Webster and Maupay cost over £60mil combined, former England internationals Welbeck and Lallana, Ben White who’s been touted at over £30mil and Lamptey (albeit injured a lot) who’s been linked to Bayern Munich, as well as numerous other internationals in their squad. The ‘hipsters favourite team’ means the sort of team that people watch once, see they can pass it about a bit and say ‘Potter’s doing a great job there’ when the numbers simply don’t back it up. They’re average at best, Potter has done an average job at best.

They’ve dropped the most points from winning positions of any team this season, more than even us. It’s definitely not just strikers that are their problem, they sometimes end the game with 6 or 7 defenders on the pitch but still can’t hold onto a lead. He’s the hipsters favourite, they’re the hipsters favourite team at the moment, they play ‘such great football’ but don’t score goals and don’t win many games, and haven’t done for two seasons now.

Fair point!

Maybe for once the club has realised that not every single signing you make can be made with a view to what you’ll sell them for in a few years. Jonny Evans, Gary Cahill, Craig Dawson, all have signed for similar size clubs to us in recent years with no future value but adding immense value in the immediate term. Resell value doesn’t mean much if you get relegated 👍🏻.