Diabolus Ex Machina

For me it would be... Stekelenburg Cedric - Fonte - Yoshida - Targett Wanyama - Clasie Tadic - Mane - Davis Pelle Long to come on as impact sub if needed (form is good though JRod and Juanmi also good options). This is assuming Clasie is fit to play if not stick Reed in that position - trying to shoe-horn in a Davis or JWP in there upsets the balance of the team and I believe weakens us overall. Davis can help defensively on the left side and is also good at linking play from back-to-front. Once Bertrand is back can go a bit more attacking down the left with the likes of JRod and Long. Caulker still too new to be thrown into the starting line-up whereas Yoshida should have plenty of experience with Fonte.

On the balance of play an away point is a good result. Defensively terrible in the first half but improved towards the end of the game. Think Targett was left exposed a bit by JRod on the left and Cedric needs to be a bit more aware defensively so he doesn't get caught out but think both are still good players for us especially Cedric. Shame the early fouls and booking meant he had to be subbed as he was looking very dangerous going forward. In terms of midfield Wanyama didn't look interested for large portions of the game which put even more pressure on the defence and despite having an overall good game Davis is not a defensive midfielder and I beg the team to stop playing him there unless there's no one else. I hate when teams try putting square pegs in round holes and Reed is right there! Davis is best played in the 3 in front and i'd say is the best at linking play between the defensive mid and attack which is why it's noticeable when he's not there. Having said that I think have Clasie back as a ball-playing CDM will help with this as well. Up front thought Pelle did well and Tadic had a good game while JRod isn't up to speed yet. Long contributing well as he always seems to and Mane a mix of frustrating and brilliant as normal. Was certain he was gonna bury that second chance! One thing I will note is that both Mane and Tadic really need to stop looking at the ref for calls when tackles come in - too many times they just give up on the ball wanting a foul rather than playing to the whistle and it costs us possession. Special mention to Newcastle as well who look improved for this season and could give some teams a tough time. If this had been later in the season when their team was match fit I don't think we would have got back into it.

Targett has done well for us previously, no need to write him off after one poor performance. Wanyama doesn't appear to be offering any shielding to the back 4 though. No effort at all.

I'm a big supporter of him but has made some pretty poor individual errors that half. Then again so have many others.

Whole back four looks shaky and individual errors cropping up as well, need to tighten up for second half. Davis done well and Pelle working hard up front but think JRod and Mane need to do better as it's too difficult to get the ball from defence to attack at the mo. Also seem to be letting Newcastle dictate the style of play. Like the look of Wijnaldum on their team too.

Like that attacking lineup. Think we will have too much for them and think they will wilt if we go ahead. First goal is crucial.

Really do think people underrate him. Never let us down with his performances last season where he played nearly half the games and has improved every year he's been here. No he is not at the level that Toby or Lovren were but I don't think there is as large a gap as others make out. I think a lot of people still think back to his pretty mediocre first season here forgetting that 1) he was new to the country/league/team etc... and 2) he normally was playing with some combination of Davis/Gazza in goal, Fox to his left and Hooiveld/a not yet prem tested Fonte to his right. He's always done a job when needed and has shown his versatility covering both fullback positions when asked. I'm sure we will be getting in someone else to takeover his place in the starting line-up but until then I am more than happy and confident that he can do a job there and am secure in the knowledge that he will do a good job when called upon. Certainly would put him above Caulker in the pecking order at the moment. Must be close to the record number of prem appearances by a Japanese player now as well which would be a nice feather in his cap.

I'd agree with this. Only need to change if anyones feeling especially tired from Europa. Not worried about Erwin being in charge either as i'm sure he's well up to speed with everything and would have a direct line to Ronald if needed anyway.

At least the game gave us another classic Koeman moment VIDEO: https://twitter.com/talkSAINTS/statu...74717485547521

As a spectacle it wasn't very good but a win, clean sheet and through to the next round so can't complain. Almost like an exhibition game after the first goal went in so no need to discuss individual performances. What I would say is that with our increased squad depth and competition for places players really should be taking every chance they can to impress. Good to have a bit of momentum going into the new prem season as well. Bring on Newcastle!

Early goal effectively killed off the game and the tie and we've been playing well within ourselves since. Martina doing a good job at Right back which is good to see. Caulker a bit shaky having some good and not-so-good moments but Fonte looks like a rock next to him as usual. Tadic completely anonymous.

Terrible dive by Wanyama there.

Normally expect him to score those. See West Ham are drawing now too.

That'll do

As an aside I wonder if those 'Scum Army' fans are the same ones that found it hilarious to pretend to be Ched Evans in January? http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ched-evans-mask-yobs-condemned-4919271 Hardly surprising there was some trouble if so. Will give the rest of the fans a bad name.

Not the team I would have picked - would have liked to see Reed and JRod get a run out and would have kept Mane fresh for Newcastle. Sure there will be some subs when we look comfortable though. Not sure how our defensive set up is gonna work? 3-5-2 with 3 CB's, Davis and Martina as wingbacks and Wanyama sitting in front? Should be interesting.

Has shown flashes of brilliance but never able to get a run of games and show he can do it consistently so i'd agree he is overrated based on what he's actually done. Injuries really have hampered him though - from angelmans post that's 13 injuries in the space of 6 years amounting to about 29 months of missed time which is practically 2 1/2 years! You wonder if he ever will manage to reach his full potential or not. Still only 23 years old mind.

What I expect... I expect we will offer him a new contract I expect it will be for favourable wages without breaking our current pay structure (i.e. could make him our highest paid player but nothing ridiculous) I expect he will prefer to wait and see what his options are I expect a top 4/6 team will come in with an offer for a high amount and much higher wages than we can afford I expect he will leave This will be the pattern for any of our players that are in demand and wanted by the teams above us. We just don't have the financial power to compete with those above us (at least as long as the Liebherrs want us to be self sustainable). I'd say the only way we could get a player to stay is if they really do love the club and have a connection to it. Think that's what annoyed people so much about the Lallana transfer - if anyone was gonna stay you thought it would be him but even he jumped at the first chance of money and glory.

Thanks for that. Good to get a second look at some of the action. Would anyone be able to point out the parts where Yoshida makes the mistakes i've seen referred to? At 5:00 mins into the first half video he does a headed clearance while going backwards and the second ball isn't dealt with by Clasie. He then helps push the attacker out wide to reduce the angle for the shot which goes wide but as this wasn't on target I don't think this is the one people are talking about. The other chance I remembered occurs at about 25:00 mins into the second half video where Yoshi goes to clear a ball to the sideline and it's nodded back in by Brown (I think). Davis then let's his man go past him and Fontes man goes the other side of him resulting in the shot on target. Is this the one that is apparently all Yoshida's fault or am I missing another one? Video is all right there if anyone wants to check. Personally I didn't see an awful lot wrong from him in either case is all.

Clasie has had 1 friendly and now 60 minutes of competitive play as a Southampton player. Way too early to suggest it was a bad transfer. You could also argue that with Wanyama chasing down absolutely everything it was better for Clasie to hang back in the gap behind and hence not get so involved. He did play in a semi-final in the last world cup as well as playing the full game in the third place playoff match against Brazil (Netherlands didn't concede in either game losing in penalties to Argentina and beating Brazil 3-0) and the Feyenoord fans certainly seem to think he's a big loss and i'd rather start forming an opinion on those things as a basis then the minimal time we've seen him in a Saints shirt so far.

Didn't play great but scored 3 and kept a clean sheet so job done. As our first competitive game of the season wouldn't expect us to be at our sharpest anyway. Clasie looks like he will take some time to get up to speed with his team mates/tactics/formation etc...but that will come with time. Don't think there's reason to be too hard on him this early - has big shoes to fill which may lead to unfair comparisons and anyone would look less impressive with Wanyama being so awesome next to them! In terms of our other new signings Stekelenburg looks assured in goal and made a good save when required, Juanmi showing he has some class with his chipped assist to Long (who again shows what he can do with his hustling creating his own chance, though also showing his frustrating side as he also messed it up) and Cedric looks really good especially going forward. Special mentions go to Davis who never seemed to stop working and Mane who truly is looking world class at the moment - forget Liverpool or United coming in for him i'd be more worried about Barca and Madrid! Targett also looked at home in the first team and was good to see Reed get a run out as well. Can look forward to the 2nd leg now knowing there's a bit of a cushion and wondering if we will rest some first teamers in preparation for the Prem?

Bit of a surprise there's no JRod on the bench but Long and Juanmi should be sufficient attacking options if we need them. No recognised CB on the bench either though I guess McCarthy or Martina can play there in a pinch. Should still have enough to do them over though. COYS!

Does seem to be a bit up himself. Did a good job for us while he was here and continued the upward trend we were (already) on but it was hardly all up to just him. Only being here for a season and a half means his accomplishments can't really compare with some of our other recent managers and Koeman has already out done him in even more difficult circumstances. I'd also point out that the end period of his time with his previous club Espanyol wasn't exactly great either. If I were him i'd be more worried about his current team. You know Levy wants top 4 but he just doesn't have the squad for it. In fact, although they've strengthened defensively with Toby, Trippier etc...they seem to be shipping a lot out elsewhere - Paulinho, Holtby, Capoue, Kaboul, Stambouli & Friedel have all left already with the likes of Lamela, Soldado, Adebayor and Townsend all rumoured to be possibly on the move. Spurs exodus anyone? At the very least their squad depth is taking a hit. Add in the current injury to Lloris and the fact that Kane is pretty much carrying the attack by himself and i'd say they need to get a lot of players in before the deadline if they want to finish in a good position this year - could be the one we aim to overtake for top 6.

Good post and all things that would help make it possible, however how many of those could apply equally to all the other teams above us as well and how many of them would need to be in place for us to improve enough to displace (at least) one of those higher teams who also have much greater resources (i.e. money) at their disposal? It didn't happen last year where you could argue many of these things were in place for us. My point is not that we can't do it but that after coming so close to breaking into the top 6 last season it appears that some of the fans expectations are that we should be doing as good or better again this season without grasping just how difficult that would actually be - especially with the added European games. I have faith in the team but just tend to think some people are expecting way too much from the team based on an expectional peformance last season (i'm aware that it's the vocal minority that are saying this in the main and don't presume this to apply to all fans).

I agree with what you are saying and think I just used the wrong wording trying to make my point. Saying the players we get would be 'inferior' is wrong but like you say we have to gamble on more unproven or 'under the radar' type players than the bigger teams would. We have had more successes than failures so far but even that has only taken us so far which is more where my point is heading towards - can we get a squad that will perform better over a season than the teams above us when they have more options available to them due to higher budgets, standing etc...which includes taking players directly from us (including any successful academy products as has been seen recently with Shaw & Chambers and the likes of Walcott previously). It's not that it can't be done necessarily but seems unlikely which is why I think people need to temper their expectations. We have done exceptionally well over the last 5 years but there is a bit of a glass ceiling and to crack it will take more than a season or two. Still, if anyone can give me an explanation of how they think we can overtake any of the teams above us while also taking into account how the teams above us are still improving and evolving i'd be interested to hear.