mrfahaji

The trouble is, Tadic is our most creative player, by quite a long way I'd say (though Boufal could be). He does things in games that others don't or can't. The problem now is that he doesn't do it enough, and doesn't assert himself enough. Eventually there comes a point where one or two great moments, especially with our woeful finishing, are not worth it. I would leave Tadic on the bench for a few games and bring him on later on if we're struggling to break teams down. I feel he's stuck in a rut at the moment, every performance is the same. Maybe he'd do well from observing the game and being more focused when he's comes on.

Easy win. For Huddersfield. In all seriousness, I'm hoping that midweek is a blip down to new formation etc and doesn't dent the team's confidence. It will no doubt be a tricky game, but hopefully Huddersfield being at home and full of confidence will encourage them to attack a bit more and give us more space. We struggle a lot when teams sit back and defend, as invariably we still manage to give up a few good chances from set pieces/crosses. I can see a 1-1, hopeful of a win but wouldn't be surprised if we lost. Just want to see us play with some added zip.

I've always liked and rated Tadic, but although he still does the occasional good thing in matches, it has been a long time since he's had a really good game overall. If he 'slows things down' too much, and I know why people say that, then why did he have so many good games in Koeman's side, which was a lot more about direct, fast attacking play? Could it actually be that our current 'slow build up' brings the worst out in him because he's become trained in holding the ball and looking for a safe option? He has good vision and is always looking for a good pass, so what he needs are other players to make good runs. Gabbiadini offers this a bit, and then he gets support from Cedric, but that's it. I don't think our game is set up to have lots of players getting forward. I know it's going to be hard to replace Mane, but perhaps we miss someone who plays more directly. I.e. picks up the ball and runs AT the defence, gets them backpedalling. I thought Redmond would do this but he's also guilty of the 'cut back and pass' mentality. I'd have thought Boufal would be capable of it too, whether wide or central. Both players are guilty of problems with their mentality. Not sure Tadic is ever going to change, but sometimes I wish he'd show a bit more determination to make his mark on a game. He's too quick to let his head drop and shoulders sag as soon as things don't quite fall for him. Bournemouth at home last year was the perfect example where even within a game he had periods of looking brilliant and others looking terrible and totally deflated. Boufal needs to work on his decision making but I think he is still in a position where he can improve, because you see flashes of improvement before he reverts to type.

aaaaand that's a wrap. Pathetic.

Good news is that IF we equalise and take it to penalties, we've still got Tadic on to take one.

That story about the agents sounds about right. If it's true that the 'toxic' atmosphere is really due to his agent being upset about the Koeman scenario, well I hope lots of awful things happen to the said agent in every aspect of his life. Scum.

Not always that easy. I'm happy that we've got a DM and a CB who are intended to be starters, both in time to play in August. It's not ideal but you can't have it all - I'm just glad we signed a couple of players we need! Obviously going out the cup will be a shame as it's a chance gone to experience Wembley again. But even if we didn't go all the way, it's also a good chance for the younger/fringe players to get some competitive game time, so disappointing they're not going to get that if we don't get this back.

Not 0-0 now...

He's always looked for the pass first, would sometimes explain his tendency to delay shots, and the copious number of "just hit it man!" posts on here as a result. Never thought he was actually bad at finishing though when it came to the crunch. He certainly seems to have lost confidence in that area.

Ok thanks.... I was starting to lose my patience with all these reports of "live on the official site"!

Ok, I've got the radio there and text commentary. Is that all it is, or is there a live stream as well? If so I can't see it anywhere!

Feel stupid for not knowing this, but where is Saints Player? Is it a live coverage or just radio?

Yep, even that is being optimistic - 100m is a deceptively long way to maintain max speed! A friend of mine was one of the fastest in the county in his mid/late teens over 100m and clocked a best time of 10.74s. Footballers are obviously extremely fit, and most have a bit of pace, but there's a big difference between them and those who compete at athletics events. You might get a couple who could dip under 11s, but most of the supposedly "rapid" players would probably be between 11s and 12s.

Agreed, I wasn't trying to draw many conclusions myself, more disputing the original claim from Faz that the stats "show that JWP isn't slow".

Well that's put a spanner in the works regarding my "Long for goalscorer" prediction...

Actually, the one you posted finishes with "it's a hoot hoot, at Paulton's Park", I'm sure the one I remember was the other way round

Yep, the Nowhere Men mentions him, particularly (iirc) about his excellent distribution.

The person who has travelled the most metres in 1 second has run the fastest, i.e. m/s is a measure of speed, not time. That being said, does Austin really have a higher top speed than Shane Long...?

That Paulton's Park advert doesn't ring a bell, sounds more like a budget Jamiroquai tribute act. I remember one that finished more along the lines of "Paulton's Park, it's a HOOT HOOT!"

I don't think many people would be surprised at Romeu's lack of speed. But he plays in a holding position, whereas JWP plays in a position where he has to buzz around and cover a lot of ground, and sometimes gets in wide positions where he might be required to beat someone. This is when his lack of pace is glaring, as I'm sure it would be if Romeu suddenly found himself on the right wing! Edit: Also, looking at the stats again, he is one of the slowest in most categories, so actually maybe people are "seeing" reality; being faster than Romeu doesn't mean he's fast.

A google search simply for "Wesley Hoedt", and the first thing that shows up is a picture of van Dijk with something about Liverpool. The Express, obviously. Yawn.

Silly, unreasonable Southampton are not willing to let their European Championship winning defender leave in the last week of the transfer window unless cash-strapped Chelsea are willing to pay more than Burnley have just shelled out for Chris Wood.

From a personal perspective, it does rather compromise my want for Birmingham to do as badly as possible this season...

No... V!

Why, are they planning on playing him on the right?