Saints V Arsenal build up & match thread

That simply wasn't the game I've just watched.

 

We had purpose, pace, intensity, but just lacked the final quality and movement needed in the final third.

 

Tadic was a little below par, Redmond had a poor game. Gabbiadini was isolated but worked hard. There were plenty of good performances.

 

The biggest problem was, when the full backs got into good advanced positions, there was a lack of movement inside them resulting in hopeful crosses with not enough players attacking the ball, or it had to come backwards.

 

We tried to play an open, fast, expansive game but that inevitably game them chances, and the difference was they had the quality to put two away. Otherwise very little between the teams.

 

But there is no way you can call that a bad or boring performance.

 

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I think its you that may have been watching a different game. It wasn't as excruciatingly bad as Hull but it was still awful. Disjointed, slow build up, Tadic having a mare (again), Davis passing dreadful and shooting, no service etc for Gabbi, Redmond ineffectual, even Romeu playing us into trouble a few times, 2 shots on target, 2 goals. The only good performances were Stephens(again) and Cedric. Terrible game, but at least an improvement on the last home performance.

Not the worst game, first half I thought we looked at the races second half started ok knocked on the door, as soon as Arsenal scored we just vanished into our shell and we became disjointed.

You can blather on till the cows come home about the CBs doing better with the Sanchez goal, but the bloke has the ability to make many players look a chump in spades, thats why so many of the big fish are sniffing round him. That Jack Stephens sliding tackle in the first half was superb, measured, precise, and the presence of mind to kick it away from danger while still on the ground, if that had been VVD there would have been a few on here knocking one out to that.

As I have said before, overall we just look like a bang average French Ligue1 team, why do you never see French football on TV here...... because it is as dull as ditch water. It's been said above already we are generally so pedestrian in attack and then fanny around letting the oppos get themselves set, we are too polite.

Claude carped on post match usual tosh, "we are making good play but not clinical enough.... it's is a problem" I am a fat bloke in the stand, I can see the subs when they are made are just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic get out of the rut and change the formation, don't bring Long on and stick him on the wing leaving bloody Tadic to lose the ball at will in the middle, Long can win balls in the air, be a bloody pest and give Gabbi scraps to feed off, just mix it up with 2 up front: the earth is round!! Long on the Wing is as much point as a jellyfish... pointlessly floating around and stinging stuff that gets close: get me out of the stands to play out there I will be just as pointless.

Glen on League one minus 10 blog often referred to the Aston Villa formation in their relegation season as 4-5- 70 yards - Benteke increasingly we have looked similar 4-5- 70yrds Gabbi, watching Claude and Eric working diligently on their colouring books making out they are thinking seriously about which deck chair to swap..... makes me wonder how much influence Mr Black has on stuff. Well to be honest Claude, Eric, and Dave all look capable of turning milk sour just by looking at it.

Finally, as I note the content of my bottle has reduced as I type this tripe, the substitution of Tadic tonight, did anyone else notice Gabbi was standing in readiness to head to the touchline then number 11 went up on the board, the Paddington stare Tadic gave Gabbi was priceless.................. sorry Dusan you were bloody shoite again all night, if Claude had taken Gabbi off to bring on J Rod there would have been a riot.

night folks

We didnt score because we didn't get enough players in the box enough of the time.

Will we ever score again?

It's slipping away.

Well at least Puel tried something different with 3 strikers.

 

Problem is look who he took off again. JWP for Boufal.

Look Andy, JWP had a tidy first half; made a few neat passes, put in a good cross and covered a lot of the pitch, but he wasn't really influencing the game in attack or defence in the second half when we were 1-0 down. Boufal for JWP was the right sub. By all means talk up Ward-Prowse but don't inflate his influence in the second half last night.

Pamplemouse you have to be Puels son, brother or lover! No right minded Saints fan can seriously believe that he is up to the job. THE PLAYERS ARE NOT PLAYING FOR HIM. You have lost the plot ..........end OF!!!

So who are they playing for? They are Southampton players and Southampton pay their wages, Puel is the Southampton Manager and their boss, if you don't perform for your boss and your employer then you deserve to be fired!

Bottom line is that if you can't score, you can't win! We're asking the defence to give us a chance of a scoreless draw every time just to get some points. They held out well today until a piece of Sanchez magic literally turned them on their backsides. Granted they went missing for Giroud's goal. He scores like that all the time so how come the defence wasn't allowing for that? Let's face it, we are a mediocre team, devoid of ideas and destined to wallow in mid-table at best unless we sell again in the Summer and then relegation is very much on the cards. At least that would make the end of season more exciting. One thing's for sure, if we do sell and don't buy, well then next season is going to be even more frustrating than this one has been. Happy days!

With about 10 mins to go and 1-0 down we bring everyone back to defend a corner. Just don't get that whatsoever. We make scattergun substitutions under puel. Under previous managers substitutions were made with just cause, just feel now we make for the sake of it. It looks like we lose all cohesion after the subs come on and that surely be down to lack of planning on the training ground

We've brought everyone back to defend corners since Adkins days, don't start laying that at Puels door. "Defend as a team".

Thank god we rotated heavily in the autumn/winter (and gave up the Europa League) so we would have a strong end to the season.

in all seriousness, I very much worry about this awful momentum going into next season.

Puel on Arsenal Loss........

it is a big disappointment as we showed good quality with many chances to score

this is a difficult result to accept

this was not a 2-0 game, it was not possible to lose this game by that margin

we played well and showed our qualities

we need to find a good clinical edge

it was very interesting to see the team with fantastic work just 3 days after a great result at Liverpool

The players need to find the solution to make the difference to score

it was the same against a top 6 side, we were fantastic but failed to take our chances

4 or 5 players had good possibilities to score

this is a very difficult result to accept

not sure if we are unlucky at the moment but we need to improve going forwards

we will see what we do at Middlesbrough

they played a good game against sunderland and this will be a difficult game

they have had more rest than us where we will have our 3rd game in the week

we will rotate for this one to keep us fresh

he is approaching the Harry Redknapp level of tosh spoken about a team

One thing is for sure. We STILL have plenty of talent in the squad and with a few additions we could be pressing for the top 6 again. However, Mr Puel is supposed to put in place a game plan that works and he is also supposed to inspire them, he does neither. In fact he almost nullifies his own players with tactics that prevent us from penetrating opposing defences. Last night Gabbiandini was left isolated far to often. Apparently we have had two shots on target in THREE games. If Puel stays we will lose more than Van Djyke this summer and a relegation struggle next season will be a REAL possibility. We need to change Puel now to enable us to keep our better players and add to them.

Some people at a different game than me.....

We did lack intensity. First half was better than the second, but we move the ball too slowly.

Having Tadic in the team is like playing with ten. He has a free role. A free role to deliver nothing.

We sit too deep, we move the ball too slowly. Gabbi gets very little service. He gets very little support.

JWP was our best midfielder last night & got taken off. Davis, Romeu, Yoshida & Tadic guilty of giving the ball away too easily.

Frustrating to watch Redmond moan at everyone then give the ball away that lead to their opening goal.

This game summarised our season perfectly...Southampton NIL..........

Listened to Puel after the game & couldn't believe his 'possibility, opportunity, deserved more' nonsense.

I was all for giving him a chance, but we are dull, pedestrian, slow, fragile & weak.

17 goals in 17 home games........The Southampton way!

Didn't think we were terrible, we had a couple of decent chances in the first half, some good defending too, nice to see us hoofing it away when we need to as that always makes me sh*t myself when we dawdle around with it at the back. Listening to the commentators jack themselves off over Sanchez's goal ("ballet and balance") was annoying, especially as Forster really should be saving that.

I'd drop Davis next game, he had another poor one, and start Boufal over Forster because I honestly don't know why we bother playing with a keeper recently.

Too many players like Davis who will do ANYTHING but shoot. Need much more opportunism

 

 

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But he did shoot, unfortunately his shot was about 5 yards wide and 2 yards too high.

Anyway I thought our front men were pretty wasteful yesterday, getting into good positions and then putting an easy pass astray or losing the ball too easily. Look at that Boufal effort, marvellous skill, beats about 5 blokes and then shoots about 10 yards wide from about 15 yards out.

It's been an utterly bizarre season. I can't believe we are still in the same season that included me watching us beat Inter at home, play at the San Siro and play in a major Wembley final. I wish the season finished after the EFL Cup, since then it's been a total ****ing disaster for the most part.

I think its you that may have been watching a different game. It wasn't as excruciatingly bad as Hull but it was still awful. Disjointed, slow build up, Tadic having a mare (again), Davis passing dreadful and shooting, no service etc for Gabbi, Redmond ineffectual, even Romeu playing us into trouble a few times, 2 shots on target, 2 goals. The only good performances were Stephens(again) and Cedric. Terrible game, but at least an improvement on the last home performance.

In the cold light of day I just read a number of reports of the game and am greatly relieved to see that all journalists covering the game saw what I saw, the real game, rather than your agenda-driven interpretation.

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We didnt score because we didn't get enough players in the box enough of the time.

The midfield don't get forward quickly enough to support our lone striker. That much is obvious but they must be playing this way under

Puel's instructions. We are set up too defensively and that will get us nowhere in this league.

Look Andy, JWP had a tidy first half; made a few neat passes, put in a good cross and covered a lot of the pitch, but he wasn't really influencing the game in attack or defence in the second half when we were 1-0 down. Boufal for JWP was the right sub. By all means talk up Ward-Prowse but don't inflate his influence in the second half last night.

From The Times this morning:

'Southampton still attacked but moves tended to break down when Boufal became involved'

Didn't think we were terrible, we had a couple of decent chances in the first half, some good defending too, nice to see us hoofing it away when we need to as that always makes me sh*t myself when we dawdle around with it at the back. Listening to the commentators jack themselves off over Sanchez's goal ("ballet and balance") was annoying, especially as Forster really should be saving that.

 

I'd drop Davis next game, he had another poor one, and start Boufal over Forster because I honestly don't know why we bother playing with a keeper recently.

Oh do give it up. There was nothing wrong with Forster last night.

Didn't think we were terrible, we had a couple of decent chances in the first half, some good defending too, nice to see us hoofing it away when we need to as that always makes me sh*t myself when we dawdle around with it at the back. Listening to the commentators jack themselves off over Sanchez's goal ("ballet and balance") was annoying, especially as Forster really should be saving that.

 

I'd drop Davis next game, he had another poor one, and start Boufal over Forster because I honestly don't know why we bother playing with a keeper recently.

Oh dear. Very few keepers would have got anywhere near either of the goals.

Yes, Davis gave the ball away on occasions but that was because he was trying to make things happen with the creative pass. He did not have a bad game.

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Will we ever score again?

No I don't think we ever will.

I find it hard to understand how Long & Rodriguez can have been so unable to score this season when in many matches they had countless opportunities. They really have to depart the club.

Nathan Redmond and Tadic *****ed and moaned all night and were absolutely ****e.

Redmond has had the odd good game but he gives the ball away all the time and got knocked off the ball in countless occasions.

The stats don't lie we need a clear out

Yes we need a clear out this summer including the manager, just not good enough. I don't understand what the manager says after each game and now the players are copying him about possibilities and opportunities. Just score some goals and win a few games thats all we ask.

We will not score again this season if things don't change quickly.

Anyone trying to compare that performance with the Hull one is being hugely unfair. We were the better team in the first half than and Arsenal team with much to play for, and should have been ahead bar a good bit of goalkeeping from Cech. Second half we had lots of good attacking moves, with two outstanding crosses from Bertrand in particular, but the confidence in front of goal is very low. Sanchez really was the difference with two great bits of quality, the first his goal and the second his wonderful cross for the first header. That is why he could move for £70 million. For the rest of the twenty one players there wasn't much in it.

I thought Bertrand was outstanding and Gabby worked his socks off. As others have commented we need a player who has much greater off the ball movement to get in and around Gabby as Mane did with whoever he played with last year. I left the ground feeling it was a cruel result.

A very long journey Saturday and hoping to be rewarded with goals which hopefully is the start of a good week to close the season out. Three poor results though and things will be very negative heading into the summer.

Anyone trying to compare that performance with the Hull one is being hugely unfair. We were the better team in the first half than and Arsenal team with much to play for, and should have been ahead bar a good bit of goalkeeping from Cech. Second half we had lots of good attacking moves, with two outstanding crosses from Bertrand in particular, but the confidence in front of goal is very low. Sanchez really was the difference with two great bits of quality, the first his goal and the second his wonderful cross for the first header. That is why he could move for £70 million. For the rest of the twenty one players there wasn't much in it.

 

I thought Bertrand was outstanding and Gabby worked his socks off. As others have commented we need a player who has much greater off the ball movement to get in and around Gabby as Mane did with whoever he played with last year. I left the ground feeling it was a cruel result.

 

A very long journey Saturday and hoping to be rewarded with goals which hopefully is the start of a good week to close the season out. Three poor results though and things will be very negative heading into the summer.

Good grief. A balanced, sane comment. And accurate. Thank you!

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but they have better players than us.

 

we have better players than Everton and WBA so why are we so far behind them in the league?

So what's happened to all the " I'll be happy with a cup final and mid-table brigade" then ?

I thought we did pretty well last night and as someone has just said some excellent goalkeeping denied us at least one goal, there were also so decent last ditch tackles from Arsenal's defence.

Better than Everton?

Wasn't awful but another uninspiring performance. Never felt like we were going to score and once we went one down I just knew we wouldn't get back into it. I'm a big Davis fan usually but he was very poor last night, and Gabbiadini just has no chance to influence the game when he's so isolated.

Whether you're in the Puel in or Puel out camp (I'm just meh about him) the fact is our home form has been very poor. In fact it's the 4th worst in the league. That's not good enough - especially as much of our recent success over the last few seasons has been built on SMS being a difficult place to get results

Wasn't awful but another uninspiring performance. Never felt like we were going to score and once we went one down I just knew we wouldn't get back into it. I'm a big Davis fan usually but he was very poor last night, and Gabbiadini just has no chance to influence the game when he's so isolated.

 

Whether you're in the Puel in or Puel out camp (I'm just meh about him) the fact is our home form has been very poor. In fact it's the 4th worst in the league. That's not good enough - especially as much of our recent success over the last few seasons has been built on SMS being a difficult place to get results

Sadly, the growing number of negative critical fans who expect glorious success all the time is beginning to contribute to the atmosphere at home games.

What's happened to the principle of supporting and encouraging the team, whatever?

There was plenty to be encouraged by last night, but it seemed the frustration of not getting the final pass and finishing right became overwhelming.

We have too many Johnny-come-lately fickle fans.

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I'm not surprised at the reactions here: Puel out, drab football, no cutting edge, etc.

However, would just like to say I thought we played fantastic in the first half.

I was proud of the performance for most of the game, thought the players ran, pressed and harassed the opposition, always looking for an attacking outlet or over-the-defense pass.

I was surprised at the energy and tempo we played with.

- Bertrand/Redmond combo was proving impossible for Arsenal to handle, only when Bellerin came on for the Ox did it calm down a bit.

- JWP, Gabbiadini and Romeu pressed Arsenal's midfield from front and behind

- Thought we were an attacking threat all first half. The fact that Arsenal were limited to counter attacking was pretty significant. We never let them play their football.

- Had several shots on target, shame one of them didn't go in

- Second half we pressed until the goal, after that had spells but Arsenal got back into it and we were more stretched.

All in all, for me I'm a bit indifferent to Puel, I think he won't be one of our all time greats, but that's OK. Very few are. His team selection was good, but we are limited by injuries and individual motivation (e.g. Tadic). I don't think he plays negative football necessarily, we absolutely played anything but negative football for most of the Arsenal Match. At liverpool, OK, we ground it out (1 point away from home). Boring but necessary.

Proud.

Anyone trying to compare that performance with the Hull one is being hugely unfair. We were the better team in the first half than and Arsenal team with much to play for, and should have been ahead bar a good bit of goalkeeping from Cech. Second half we had lots of good attacking moves, with two outstanding crosses from Bertrand in particular, but the confidence in front of goal is very low. Sanchez really was the difference with two great bits of quality, the first his goal and the second his wonderful cross for the first header. That is why he could move for £70 million. For the rest of the twenty one players there wasn't much in it.

 

I thought Bertrand was outstanding and Gabby worked his socks off. As others have commented we need a player who has much greater off the ball movement to get in and around Gabby as Mane did with whoever he played with last year. I left the ground feeling it was a cruel result.

 

A very long journey Saturday and hoping to be rewarded with goals which hopefully is the start of a good week to close the season out. Three poor results though and things will be very negative heading into the summer.

A reasoned analysis as usual. However, I felt that our lots of good attacking moves fell apart when it came to the final decision, whether that was a cross, a pass, or a shot. For a long time this season I've been of the opinion that it's down to the players not being quite good enough, but we know Gabbiadini has good enough movement and instincts, for all Tadic's flaws around his work rate and speed of play, he normally has a pretty good end product, Redmond has been improving over the last few months, and both full backs are capable of good delivery. So maybe it's not the quality of players, maybe it's the instructions. And that comes down to the manager.

This isn't a stubborn belief by any stretch, but the more thinking I do about what has been happening on the pitch, the more I arrive back at the manager's door.

I'm not surprised at the reactions here: Puel out, drab football, no cutting edge, etc.

 

However, would just like to say I thought we played fantastic in the first half.

I was proud of the performance for most of the game, thought the players ran, pressed and harassed the opposition, always looking for an attacking outlet or over-the-defense pass.

 

I was surprised at the energy and tempo we played with.

 

- Bertrand/Redmond combo was proving impossible for Arsenal to handle, only when Bellerin came on for the Ox did it calm down a bit.

- JWP, Gabbiadini and Romeu pressed Arsenal's midfield from front and behind

- Thought we were an attacking threat all first half. The fact that Arsenal were limited to counter attacking was pretty significant. We never let them play their football.

- Had several shots on target, shame one of them didn't go in

- Second half we pressed until the goal, after that had spells but Arsenal got back into it and we were more stretched.

 

All in all, for me I'm a bit indifferent to Puel, I think he won't be one of our all time greats, but that's OK. Very few are. His team selection was good, but we are limited by injuries and individual motivation (e.g. Tadic). I don't think he plays negative football necessarily, we absolutely played anything but negative football for most of the Arsenal Match. At liverpool, OK, we ground it out (1 point away from home). Boring but necessary.

 

Proud.

This.

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Not quite sure where to start with that, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as some are saying.

 

First half we really should have gone ahead, they were there for the taking I felt. Their back 3 was all over the place and the width was exposing the formation and their wing backs. We were let down by a lack of quality with the final pass once we got in behind, Redmond especially guilty of that in the first half. But the intensity was there, the purpose was there, we just couldn't make it count.

 

2nd half was a totally different ball game, obviously Arsenal re-shaped a little - but what on earth was said to the players? We stopped doing what we were good at in the first half, it all became too central and we became frustrated. This played into Arsenals hands and they got a grip, although they still didn't really play with huge pace or purpose. But once we stopped doing what made us tick in the first half, it was always going to be a back to the walls job. Now, was that something which was said to them? Were we told to change it? Or did Arsenal really improve that much? Probably a combination of poor half time management by us and a good one from Arsenal.

 

Another game goes without a goal, this has been the most non-season at home that I can remember for a long, long, long time. I know I keep saying it, but it's like this season has just never started, I'm still waiting.

 

Puel didn't do himself any favors with the 2nd half, still can't bring myself to listen to his pre or post-match stuff, but I don't think we're a bad side, we're not miles away from anything - but you do start to wonder if it's the management and instructions holding the players back, are we being told to play within ourselves and not take the game to teams? There was 40m odd worth of attacking talent out there in Tadic, Gabbiadini, Boufal, Redmond at points in that game. We really should have got a goal or looked more likely. I feel sorry for Long, there are goals in him...but I don't think we know how to utilize him - or jay....or boufal correctly.

 

Long summer ahead, big thinking to be done. Don't think he'll go personally, but a few players will likely go before him.

I couldn't get to the match as I was working, and after spineless and sorry 0-0 displays I wouldn't have bothered to make the long journey to Southampton. However it does appear that we showed up in the first half and played better football until Arsenal's superior quality and tactical nous overwhelmed us. So I feel better about this 0-2 loss and nil points than our hapless one point 0-0's.

Bad management for whatever reason is to blame, and we have the quality upfront so there is no excuse for our appalling goalless run.

A reasoned analysis as usual. However, I felt that our lots of good attacking moves fell apart when it came to the final decision, whether that was a cross, a pass, or a shot. For a long time this season I've been of the opinion that it's down to the players not being quite good enough, but we know Gabbiadini has good enough movement and instincts, for all Tadic's flaws around his work rate and speed of play, he normally has a pretty good end product, Redmond has been improving over the last few months, and both full backs are capable of good delivery. So maybe it's not the quality of players, maybe it's the instructions. And that comes down to the manager.

 

This isn't a stubborn belief by any stretch, but the more thinking I do about what has been happening on the pitch, the more I arrive back at the manager's door.

Spot on on the outcome of the attacking moves, they broke down at the last phase as a rule. But isn't that why Utd pay Ibramovic 15 million a year or whatever and players like Sanchez are worth 70 or 80 million? You pay for what you get and that's why 14 million £ strikers aren't as clinical as 80 million £ strikers.

Spot on on the outcome of the attacking moves, they broke down at the last phase as a rule. But isn't that why Utd pay Ibramovic 15 million a year or whatever and players like Sanchez are worth 70 or 80 million? You pay for what you get and that's why 14 million £ strikers aren't as clinical as 80 million £ strikers.

That's oversimplifying things and suggests valuations are always accurate. It doesn't account for undiscovered talent and late bloomers. How much was the Leicester team worth last year?

That's oversimplifying things and suggests valuations are always accurate. It doesn't account for undiscovered talent and late bloomers. How much was the Leicester team worth last year?

Always the same argument, Leicester, Leicester, Leicester. It was a one off freak situation based on one or two players that they got lucky with. If you want a striker who's established in the game and guaranteed to score goals in the PL then that's going to cost you a lot of money. Alternatively you can go for less and hope you get lucky on occasions.

I'm not surprised at the reactions here: Puel out, drab football, no cutting edge, etc.

 

However, would just like to say I thought we played fantastic in the first half.

I was proud of the performance for most of the game, thought the players ran, pressed and harassed the opposition, always looking for an attacking outlet or over-the-defense pass.

 

I was surprised at the energy and tempo we played with.

 

- Bertrand/Redmond combo was proving impossible for Arsenal to handle, only when Bellerin came on for the Ox did it calm down a bit.

- JWP, Gabbiadini and Romeu pressed Arsenal's midfield from front and behind

- Thought we were an attacking threat all first half. The fact that Arsenal were limited to counter attacking was pretty significant. We never let them play their football.

- Had several shots on target, shame one of them didn't go in

- Second half we pressed until the goal, after that had spells but Arsenal got back into it and we were more stretched.

 

All in all, for me I'm a bit indifferent to Puel, I think he won't be one of our all time greats, but that's OK. Very few are. His team selection was good, but we are limited by injuries and individual motivation (e.g. Tadic). I don't think he plays negative football necessarily, we absolutely played anything but negative football for most of the Arsenal Match. At liverpool, OK, we ground it out (1 point away from home). Boring but necessary.

 

Proud.

A well and accurately worded post Eddie, glad we have some sensible posters on here.

I'm not surprised at the reactions here: Puel out, drab football, no cutting edge, etc.

 

However, would just like to say I thought we played fantastic in the first half.

I was proud of the performance for most of the game, thought the players ran, pressed and harassed the opposition, always looking for an attacking outlet or over-the-defense pass.

 

I was surprised at the energy and tempo we played with.

 

- Bertrand/Redmond combo was proving impossible for Arsenal to handle, only when Bellerin came on for the Ox did it calm down a bit.

- JWP, Gabbiadini and Romeu pressed Arsenal's midfield from front and behind

- Thought we were an attacking threat all first half. The fact that Arsenal were limited to counter attacking was pretty significant. We never let them play their football.

- Had several shots on target, shame one of them didn't go in

- Second half we pressed until the goal, after that had spells but Arsenal got back into it and we were more stretched.

 

All in all, for me I'm a bit indifferent to Puel, I think he won't be one of our all time greats, but that's OK. Very few are. His team selection was good, but we are limited by injuries and individual motivation (e.g. Tadic). I don't think he plays negative football necessarily, we absolutely played anything but negative football for most of the Arsenal Match. At liverpool, OK, we ground it out (1 point away from home). Boring but necessary.

 

Proud.

I thought that it was an entertaining game and that we played well up till the final ball which was too often slightly misplaced or intercepted.

Sadly, the growing number of negative critical fans who expect glorious success all the time is beginning to contribute to the atmosphere at home games.

 

What's happened to the principle of supporting and encouraging the team, whatever?

 

There was plenty to be encouraged by last night, but it seemed the frustration of not getting the final pass and finishing right became overwhelming.

 

We have too many Johnny-come-lately fickle fans.

 

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Let's be honest mate, we have been f*cking shlte at home for most of this season.

Puel's tactics and lack of goals have numbed the footballing minds of many fans.

17 goals in 17 home games = fail.

0 goals in 3 Europa away games - fail.

i want to like him, but i've never warmed to him.

Having said that i try to support the team at games and not join in with the boo boys, but i understand why they do.

We had five lightweights in attacking options, Boufal going round in circles, Davis, couldn't hit a barn door, JWP, Tadic and Redmond (maybe we should play in yellow!). A lack of mobility and goal threat is costing us. Rodriguez scores, dropped, Long scores, dropped, Clasie scores, dropped. A pretty good striker neutered.

Puel is obsessed with passing the ball around and possession so picks a lightweight team that can't even do that competently. Personally I would prefer more directness with Rodriguez Long and one from, Redmond, Tadic, Boufal, Davis and JWP with Austin available as another option shortly. Gabbiadini playing off Long and Rodriguez coming off the left as he used to play. I also prefer either Clasie or Hojbjerg who played well at WBA alongside Romeu. Both Gabbiadini and Romeu are being overworked by the lightweights who are picked every match but deliver nothing worth having.

I couldn't get to the match as I was working, and after spineless and sorry 0-0 displays I wouldn't have bothered to make the long journey to Southampton. However it does appear that we showed up in the first half and played better football until Arsenal's superior quality and tactical nous overwhelmed us. So I feel better about this 0-2 loss and nil points than our hapless one point 0-0's.

 

Bad management for whatever reason is to blame, and we have the quality upfront so there is no excuse for our appalling goalless run.

Do we? Really? With Austin out, the only player who looks remotely like getting goals is Gabbiadini. With Long and Rodriguez as our only other strikers, and too many midfielders who don't know how to hit a decent shot, is our lack of goals really that surprising?

Spot on on the outcome of the attacking moves, they broke down at the last phase as a rule. But isn't that why Utd pay Ibramovic 15 million a year or whatever and players like Sanchez are worth 70 or 80 million? You pay for what you get and that's why 14 million £ strikers aren't as clinical as 80 million £ strikers.

Yes, someone who can stick the ball in the net is often the difference between the top teams and the rest. It's also why (at least in my view) we were struggling earlier in the season, especially once we lost Austin. But Gabbiadini does (or did!) appear to have the instincts and finishing ability to be classed as a genuine goalscorer. Ok his all round game is not on the same level as Hazard or Sanchez, but what we appeared to be lacking was someone for that very last stage, of which he fits the bill. It all clicked for a while, but now it looks like there's a problem elsewhere.

I think we need Tadic and/or Redmond to have a good game, and neither of them did yesterday. Again I am left wondering how much of this is due to the individuals and how much down to the manager.

Yes, someone who can stick the ball in the net is often the difference between the top teams and the rest. It's also why (at least in my view) we were struggling earlier in the season, especially once we lost Austin. But Gabbiadini does (or did!) appear to have the instincts and finishing ability to be classed as a genuine goalscorer. Ok his all round game is not on the same level as Hazard or Sanchez, but what we appeared to be lacking was someone for that very last stage, of which he fits the bill. It all clicked for a while, but now it looks like there's a problem elsewhere.

 

 

I think we need Tadic and/or Redmond to have a good game, and neither of them did yesterday. Again I am left wondering how much of this is due to the individuals and how much down to the manager.

For a big cheque with lots of zeros you buy what you can't for half or a quarter of the price...consistency, the ability to do it under any circumstances and often when it's most needed, like Sanchez yesterday. But these blokes are few and far between and when you unearth one under a stone somewhere you need to be able to hold on to him. For example, the Boufal dribble and shot late on yesterday. Do you think Sanchez or Aguero would have blasted the final effort 10 yards wide? No, back of the net, that's the difference between top class and so-so I'm afraid.

I'm not surprised at the reactions here: Puel out, drab football, no cutting edge, etc.

 

However, would just like to say I thought we played fantastic in the first half.

I was proud of the performance for most of the game, thought the players ran, pressed and harassed the opposition, always looking for an attacking outlet or over-the-defense pass.

 

I was surprised at the energy and tempo we played with.

 

- Bertrand/Redmond combo was proving impossible for Arsenal to handle, only when Bellerin came on for the Ox did it calm down a bit.

- JWP, Gabbiadini and Romeu pressed Arsenal's midfield from front and behind

- Thought we were an attacking threat all first half. The fact that Arsenal were limited to counter attacking was pretty significant. We never let them play their football.

- Had several shots on target, shame one of them didn't go in

- Second half we pressed until the goal, after that had spells but Arsenal got back into it and we were more stretched.

 

All in all, for me I'm a bit indifferent to Puel, I think he won't be one of our all time greats, but that's OK. Very few are. His team selection was good, but we are limited by injuries and individual motivation (e.g. Tadic). I don't think he plays negative football necessarily, we absolutely played anything but negative football for most of the Arsenal Match. At liverpool, OK, we ground it out (1 point away from home). Boring but necessary.

 

Proud.

I agree. I have written before about the difference between being a supporter and a customer. We have too many with the mindset of the latter on here.

Don't get me wrong, I want to win big time and it's why we travel all over the country to support the team. But backing people to learn from mistakes and improve seems to be a thing of the last for some.

Key words in any fair summary are: VVD, Austin, Pelle, Mane and Wanyama

I agree. I have written before about the difference between being a supporter and a customer. We have too many with the mindset of the latter on here.

 

Don't get me wrong, I want to win big time and it's why we travel all over the country to support the team. But backing people to learn from mistakes and improve seems to be a thing of the last for some.

 

Key words in any fair summary are: VVD, Austin, Pelle, Mane and Wanyama

We had the same problems when VVD and Austin were fit as we do now. Yes, we might have picked up a few more points than we currently have if they'd been fit but let's not pretend that people weren't equally frustrated by our style and lack of goals earlier in the season because they were.

Our failure to adequately replace either Wanyama or Mane has cost us. IMO we didn't even try to replace Vic as Hojberg isn't the same profile of player. Boufal was arguably a decent replacement for Mane (well as decent as we could have attracted in the summer) but his performances haven't been good enough this season.

We had the same problems when VVD and Austin were fit as we do now. Yes, we might have picked up a few more points than we currently have if they'd been fit but let's not pretend that people weren't equally frustrated by our style and lack of goals earlier in the season because they were.

 

Our failure to adequately replace either Wanyama or Mane has cost us. IMO we didn't even try to replace Vic as Hojberg isn't the same profile of player. Boufal was arguably a decent replacement for Mane (well as decent as we could have attracted in the summer) but his performances haven't been good enough this season.

As I believe I said at the time, Boufal isn't a goalscorer in the vein of Mané, I doubt that we recruted him as such.

I have written before about the difference between being a supporter and a customer. We have too many with the mindset of the latter on here.

/QUOTE]

 

I know where you are coming from the price perspective mea

Meant to say I know where you are coming from but at one level we are all customers being asked to pay an hisrotirically high price for the promise of jam tomorrow.

Get Puel out. We were ragged, we were poor, our passing was well below par. We need to act now. With a few new signings in the summer we can still be decent, but our decent players look confused and its obvious to me that they don't believe in Puel. I am not going OTT but if Puel stays i fear many players will want out and a relegation battle next season is VERY LIKELY!

Complete Tosh. Obviously you were not at SMS

Get Puel out. We were ragged, we were poor, our passing was well below par. We need to act now. With a few new signings in the summer we can still be decent, but our decent players look confused and its obvious to me that they don't believe in Puel. I am not going OTT but if Puel stays i fear many players will want out and a relegation battle next season is VERY LIKELY!

Utter gibberish. The game was nothing like that.

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