SaintTex

League stats through 29 games in 2014-2015 Lallana - 18 starts | 4 goals | 3 assists | rating 7.06 38 games in 2013-2014 Lallana - 37 starts | 9 goals | 5 assists | rating 7.24 In fact.. of the big 5 who left: Shaw, Lambert, Lovren, and Lallana will all have worse player ratings and less playing time this season than they did the year before at Southampton. Chambers will come out about the same for this season as he did last.

Honestly, let's just secure 6th place. I have no idea what I would have to do to my soul in order to root for the Scousers in a Liverpool v. Reading FA Cup Final.

that is pretty amazing. I am optimistic for a good run to finish out the season

Forster had a good game. the good - I am not sure how you can complain about his positioning in the second half. For every stop he was in perfect position. He had to react quickly to well struck balls, but he didn't have to dive or leave his feet to do so. the bad - I felt like he completely gave up on the Costa goal. 9 times out of 10 that ball is going to go be headed to the far post. Forster was leaning to the near post. Plus, his body language during the play was as if he was griping at the bad defensive positioning (which there was) but hey, you know, make the save, and then gripe at your defense. I almost feel like he sold out the team on his effort, as he knew it would mostly be blamed as a defensive error. Make the play Forster! That being said... I think he is a very good goalkeeper and only going to get better. Who, not in the Big6, would you trade him out for?

Tottenham - goals against for the season: 42 Southampton - goals against for the season: 21

well the title of this thread was Weekend 14/15 Mar - Other Games. Thought that would be a pretty good place to speculate about what others are doing.

so of the remaining weekend games that matter to us: 1) Obviously, we want to beat Chelsea 2) again, obviously, we want a Liverpool loss 3) Spurs/United.. that is a tough one. ........a) Spurs win, they stay ahead of us, but then we are 1 point off of fourth (if we beat Chelsea) ........b) Man U win, we pass by Spurs into 6th place or even 5th place if Liverpool also loses, but we are 4 points off fourth place (if we beat Chelsea) ........c) They draw, we pass by Spurs into 6th place or even 5th place if Liverpool also loses, but then we are 2 points off fourth place (if we beat Chelsea) I guess the draw is the best, but you also got to factor in the joy of Pochettino losing. decisions, decisions... what do you root for?

he should incorporate a Cruyff Turn into those moves. Cassette tape? Is this from the '80s?

this would be a good get. I don't think he would get much interest from the top 6, with Tottenham being maybe the lone exception, as those other clubs are going to look to acquire "marquee players". If he wants to play, but also move up in the PL club pecking order, I would think Southampton would be a good fit for him.

12 La Liga matches appearances : 1 start | 11 of the bench 209 minutes this season. (Matt Targett has more EPL minutes this season) I don't think the guy really wants to play. He knew he would only get table scraps if he moved to RM, but he went anyway.

----------------Forster------------------ Clyne--Fonte--Alderwiereld--Bertrand ----Wanyama-------Schneiderlin------ --------------Djuricic------------------- Mane----------Long--------------Tadic bench: K. Davis, Elia, Pelle, Yoshida, Gardos, Davis, JWP None of this 3-5-2 nonsense. Go with a 4-2-1-3. I would start Forster, Clyne, Fonte, Toby, Bertrand, Vic, Morgan every game here on out - if healthy - without fail. So really, it is about finding the right places/scheme for the other 4. Djuricic has the creativity to play the #10. Tadic needs to be on the left. Drop Pelle. Mane will have to adapt on the right.

i disagree. I think the pressure should be there. if we had beaten West Brom along with CP, you might have a case; but we picked up a loss we didn't expect, we need to pick up a win we don't expect. going into the match against Chelsea on Sunday we could be in 7th place.

this might work. Southampton 9 - 0 CP -----------------------------Forster-------------------------------- -----------------------Fonte--------Toby-------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Clyne-Elia-Wanyama-Djuricic-Long-Scheiderlin-Mane-Bertrand

Just drop Pelle so you have 11. Seriously though. no more 3-5-2. Clyne and Bertrand are going to go forward regardless. having a third CB just takes away a player we could use up front. --------------------- Forster----------------------- Clyne---------Fonte--------Toby--------Bertrand ----------Wanyama---------Scheinderlin-------- ----------------------Djuricic----------------------- ----------Elia---------Pelle---------Mane----------

Sadly, what we get for a 7th place finish is another summer exodus... pretty good, but not good enough to keep our best players who have the quality to "move up" to clubs that 1) can pay large wages and 2) play European football. of course, these are the very players that make a 7th place finish possible. And around and around we go. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.

I keep wondering who is this mythical striker we missed getting? No one ever mentions names. It's always this vague platitude that the club/board "lacked ambition". Who was out there for the taking? Ready to make the move at a price that made even close to sense? I am ok with dropping Pelle a game or two, and try something different. But what quality striker moves occurred in the EPL this January by any club?

1 goal in 5 matches. not good.

I feel like we taken more shots at the goal, however, they all have flown 20 feet above the crossbar though. It like watching a U12 game.

I feel very fortunate that when I organise sex parties I don't have a grumpy manager looking over my shoulder.

looks like we have the easiest path compared to our competition. Obviously, 6 points in the next 2 matches is required to stay in the race. The weekend we play Chelsea our competition either plays each other or plays Top 10 teams. (so we even if we lose to Chelsea, there is a chance our competition won't make huge gains. Swansea vs Liverpool United vs Tottenham Arsenal vs West Ham

------------------Forster ---------------- Clyne--Fonte--Alderweireld--Bertrand -----Wanyama ------Schneiderlin------ ----------------Djuricic------------------ Mane ---------- Pelle -------------Tadic 01) against West Brom you go with 4 defensive backs... but Clyne and Bertand can still be aggressive defensive wingers effective offensively on the wings. I think you burn an offensive player you need up front, if you play 3 DF (alderweireld, fonte, yoshida) and also have Bertrand and Clyne on the pitch. 02) the no-brainer Wanyama and Schneiderlin pairing as DMs 02) you put Djuricic as CAM, let him facilitate/distribute to Mane, Pelle, and Tadic. 03) you put Tadic on the left, where he played his best football with us. (Tadic and Bertrand play off each other on the left, Clyne and Mane play off each other on the right) 04) at the front 3 forward positions Mane, Pelle and Tadic can be switched with Long and Elia or any combination as the game situation warrants. Maybe the front 3 at some point is: Elia--Mane--Tadic or Elia--Long--Mane or Elia--Pelle--Tadic 05) Reed or Davis can relieve Schneiderlin or Wanyama as required. 06) I hesitate to suggest JWP could be flipped easily with Djuricic, but JWP has shown a nice touch on through ball passes and his set piece ability is the best we got. He just needs to be more aggressive and assert himself. anyway, just a few thoughts.

I could see Toby, Nathan and Morgan.. If JayRod doesn't see the pitch this season, what do you think he is realistically worth to other teams? Without seeing him play for over a year, he is a huge risk, too many unknowns. I think he stays. He is going to have to show that he still has value and the only way he can do that is play. I know there were rumours last summer, but Fonte seems like a lifer to me. I think by most accounts he has exceed his career expectations. He is the captain of a damn good EPL team right now. I don't see him going. He seems pretty content.

not to be negative, but I thought that was what he was doing during the 10 days leading up to the Liverpool game.

Do you think this looks realistic? West Brom (A) - W Crystal Palace (H) - W Chelsea (A) - L Burnley (H) - W Everton (A) - D Hull (H) - W Stoke (A) - D Tottenham (H) - D Sunderland (A)- D Leicester (A) - W Aston Villa (H) - W Man City (A) - L 6-4-2? Finishing with that record gives us a 51% chance of finishing 4th, according to this website. http://www.sportsclubstats.com/England/Southampton.html or how about this? plausible? West Brom (A) - W Crystal Palace (H) - W Chelsea (A) - L Burnley (H) - W Everton (A) - D Hull (H) - W Stoke (A) - D Tottenham (H) - D Sunderland (A)- W Leicester (A) - W Aston Villa (H) - W Man City (A) - L 7-3-2? that gives us a 78% chance of being in 4th place or how about this? West Brom (A) - W Crystal Palace (H) - W Chelsea (A) - L Burnley (H) - W Everton (A) - D Hull (H) - W Stoke (A) - D Tottenham (H) - L Sunderland (A)- W Leicester (A) - W Aston Villa (H) - W Man City (A) - L 7-2-3? gives us a 64% chance of being in 4th. I am trying to remain optimistic. We are not in great form right now, but we get everyone back from injury and suspension, all of those results seem plausible, considering our season so far.

Yes, Djuricic could have stayed up, but Can's hand was on his left shoulder pulling him back while in the Penalty Box. Kane went down with less yesterday and was rewarded. I think Can took a calculated risk there and thought the referee wouldn't call a penalty in the first minute of the game. I hate that this is what it comes down to, but Djuricic was right to go down. Was more blatant. Allen never even touched the ball and denied Djuricic what might have been a pretty easy scoring opportunity. Could have easily been a red. Mignolet's call was tougher. I don't buy the "hit his chest first argument". He was clearly trying to stop the ball with his hands. However, the linesman wasn't able to get back quickly enough to get a good enough angle to determine Mignolet's position in the box. Replays show he was out barely, but that is with the benefit of the replay. Lovren's handball gets called sometimes, sometimes not. As much as I hate Lovren, it wasn't intentional in my estimation. Even then sometimes it gets called. This time it didn't.