mrfahaji

Yeah I think we were, with Boufal left wing back...! It actually seemed to work better to be honest, though not sure how comfortable I would be with Sofiane forming part of our back five

I guess that's partly my point. It doesn't matter whether it's easy for him, he still did it, and to the level that other players in our ranks wouldn't have done so well. It wouldn't surprise me if he was saving himself for the next club, which would be pretty disgraceful, but I don't think he has shown anything other than being a bit of a ***t in the off-season (and since). Still shouldn't sell to Liverpool at any price, it's too funny seeing them flounder - not sure I could take them being good while our fortunes go down the sh1tter...

I’ll admit that I don’t remember him “busting a gut” during the game, but then I’m not sure which of our players did. I mean, if we’re going to criticise players for looking half-ars£d, I give you Ryan Bertrand...!

Haha, when I saw that goal back I immediately thought how it’s basically my approach to scoring on fifa, particularly in the dying minutes of the game when you need a goal

Not at all. I think he’s a pr1ck. But I also thought he was good. Having seen the highlights now, I agree that there were a couple of moments to be concerned about (1st goal and the bit leading up to their flukey crossbar moment, but not the 2nd goal), perhaps he is still rusty or perhaps he will prove to be a little lackadaisical in covering the ground - time will tell - but there were also countless times where he did something good. Towering headers most notably, as well as being a threat at corners, something we have sorely missed. Sure, maybe these aspects of the game are things which require less “effort”, but rather than me being an apologist I think it’s more likely that those who have convinced themselves VVD doesn’t care (which he probably doesn’t, to an extent) are also victims of confirmation bias in that every mistake is ‘evidence’ of what they suspected.

True about Romeu, think he is the only player who could’ve done more, but ultimately he was a way back and was always going to struggle to catch Perez. The fact is, it was a good attack but our defenders did enough to restrict them to a shot from a fair distance/angle. It had to be a fantastic strike to score from there. Forster makes a mess of it and gives Perez a second bite of the cherry, which he takes.

People slating VVD either didn’t go to the same game as me, didn’t see the same game as me, or simply didn’t watch the game at all. He showed what we’ve been missing by being on the end of virtually every ball in both boxes. The first goal was scrappy all round, which included van Dijk’s sloppy clearance, but hardly the only mistake leading up to it. I seem to recall the second goal being something of a parting of the Red Sea, with defenders being dragged all over the place. Let’s be honest, if Forster had not been so thoroughly sh1t for both goals, we wouldn’t be looking to apportion blame elsewhere anyway. Yoshida was also excellent today, even putting a ball in from the left wing that we have been crying out for all season!

I don’t have any time for VVD but he was a mountain at the back today, felt like he cleared every ball they put into the box. As for calling Austin a waste of space... he was on the pitch for how many minutes? Gabbiadini was pretty poor in the first half, showed no more mobility than Austin would have done (mainly because we refuse to play to his strengths), yet second half still shows why he should be on this pitch by scoring a goal (well, two). Our problems stem from the way the team set up and are compounded by the way one or two individuals play. We’re not terrible, we’re just predictable. Haven’t been home long, but think I’ll wait for the dust to settle before adding a full debrief on the game though.

Shall we just accept that Redmond is guaranteed to play no matter how he has played in previous games? Bit of a strange one, putting a lot of faith in Romeu and Lemina to win the midfield battle.

I’m going to whinge if Long is CF and Redmond is playing. Can just about handle one or the other, especially if Long plays on the wing instead of Redmond, but putting out the same team will be a bit frustrating. Waiting for the team in the car, then going to walk down. No matter what the team, come on Saints, we really need a result today.

It dawned on me today how little I care about the Premier League. Didn’t even bother to check the scores. There’s not one thing that it has brought it to a head, but I think the incessant barrage of top-6 only coverage coupled with the influence of agents and push for the big clubs to get even more money, with no apparent desire to introduce anything to help the competitiveness of the league. I obviously don’t want Saints to get relegated to be in it, but a glance to the Championship suggests it is a much more interesting and exciting division. Saints’ struggles may of course compound these feelings, but I’ll be there tomorrow nonetheless!

I think people are getting a bit carried away, as saint-crinny says above, things aren’t working as they are so why can’t we give Boufal a chance, in the same way we’ve given Redmond god knows how many chances to find some form? He has so far suggested he will be a disappointing signing but also shown the occasional glimpse of offering something that we’re missing.

From that Watford game, yes! This is the match that a shot from 25 yards hit straight at the keeper in the 92nd minute caused riotous celebrations around the ground, remember.

He was responsible for one of the few bright moments in the game against Watford. He actually took someone on and got a ball into the box. While the final pass could have been better, it was more due to the lack of support/movement that it didn't result in a goal.

Thanks, enjoyed listening to that. I went to see Michael Cox at his book launch but obviously there wasn't much Saints focus in his discussion, so good to hear his insights on us. Generally quite perceptive too, as you might expect.

Went to see 49ers-Jags but it was so one-sided it was boring. My friend is a 49ers fan and even he wanted to leave before the end! I think the Wembley crowd suffers from having a mixed fanbase, so as UnbelievableJeff says, it would benefit from actually having a London team (though slightly hypocritical of me to want this given my feelings towards PL matches being hosted in other countries, never mind teams moving). It's an easy game to make lazy criticisms of, most of which are either not true or misinformed - the main one being "it's so stop-start". I would agree, however, that any sport where the teams have to stand around on the field waiting because the "commercial breaks" haven't finished is a little bit backwards, but that's more to do with America than NFL. I've been to see games in Atlanta and Tampa, both were good experiences, although having not watched or played the game growing up, there are lots of moments where at best I don't spot the intracacies of a play and at worst have no idea where the ball is until the play is over

Unfortunately England's biggest weakness is central midfield. The likes of Henderson and Dier can do decent jobs but they're not going to dictate a game. A guy at work was relating a story he had from a coach, who said "no matter what your problem is, the answer is always your midfield". And even though that of course is a little extreme, there is at least some truth in it. I was surprised to see Winks played, but given we had already qualified I don't see the harm of giving a promising youngster a run out, he's got more chance of turning out to be the answer than our other options at the moment. Shame, because it's rare to have such a reliable goal threat up front like we do with Kane, can see England mirroring Saints a fair bit - lots of decent pieces, but never quite feeling like it's all there or all clicking.

It's depressing how predictable this is... Forster Cedric van Dijk Yoshi/Hoedt Bertrand Lemina Romeu Boufal Davis Tadic Gabbiadini PLEASE! At least TRY it to see how it goes. I did have 'Boufal/Long' but seems like Shane is injured.

Have a habit of picking games to attend after the international break unintentionally. After the Watford embarrassment I hope we don’t have to rest key players, hopefully the extra day will help with that. Did Japan and Gabon have internationals?

Amazing how many people would have Pelle in our best XI, ahead of Lambert. I thought he must have been one of the WORST players we'd ever had judging by a lot of comments and reactions on here during his time at St Mary's...

Doesn't mean he was a better player. Don't get me wrong, he was still good in his final season, but I just felt he had lost half a yard. Perhaps more assists suggests (and I wouldn't dispute) he continued to improve his all round game, but his attacking prowess lessened, in my opinion.

Obviously not, else we'd get him out of retirement and play him

Funny that these quotes have just cropped up here, I was about to post something in the Stoke match thread on a very similar topic that captainchris was alluding to. Ask yourself three questions regarding the lack of good english managers (less so for coaches but still applicable): 1) are english footballers generally an intelligent bunch? 2) do get a break in English Football management, do you invariably need to have played professionally? 3) do you need to be fairly smart to be a successful manager? I would say No, Yes and Yes. If that's the case, it exposes the flaw in the setup and why don't have many good english managers, and to a lesser extent, coaches.

I reckon Championship was his best season, but he was still good in our first Premier League year, it was only the second year up where you could really notice he had lost a step. But then Liverpool bought him, lol.

He used the F1 analogy to make that point, and I countered that I am interested in the also-rans, but think it would be better if those also-rans had the chance to be more than that. I accept that I may be in the minority though. I went to Fulham-Hull the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it, because it actually felt real, not some plastic occasion taking place so that people in Thailand can cheer in a bar. Football counts for something deeper than just bragging rights, director profits and shirt sales, but there is a nagging sense that every step they introduce weakens whatever that intangible feeling is.