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alehouseboys

By alehouseboys,
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mcbendy

mcbendy

Posted
Posted
Perhaps having worked with David Watson for a year he has improved. A lot of Gazzaniga's problems when he played for the 1st team came from poor decision making (and that then affected his confidence) which can be taught, he has a lot of other good attributes to be a decent keeper.

 

I agree with this

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Give it to Ron

Give it to Ron

Posted
Posted
Not been very impressed with Cucold Martina. Not expecting to see too much of him in the coming season.

 

Really why not he had a very good first half. Considering he is supposed to be a cross between Melia, Chatterley and Jermaine Wright I was surprised how decent he was going forward.

Never let us down defensively either?

What did he do wrong apart from 2 crap throws?

 

 

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stevewanyamasfcs

stevewanyamasfcs

Posted
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Thought Caulker did alright. Made some good tackles and won most of his aerial duals. Passing was ok but his mobility worries me a bit.

 

I wasn't keen on this 4-1-4-1 formation we played though. Especially when you had Reed holding and JWP and Juanmi in front. Just looked non existent in the second half at times. Felt this just isolated the striker aswell which made Mane look even worse up top. Looked better when JWP sat alongside Reed and Mane went behind jrod.

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The Cat

The Cat

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Really why not he had a very good first half. Considering he is supposed to be a cross between Melia, Chatterley and Jermaine Wright I was surprised how decent he was going forward.

Never let us down defensively either?

What did he do wrong apart from 2 crap throws?

 

I thought he did ok too. Wasn't particularly tested defensively but looked sharp going forward.

 

I wasn't going to go today but got hassled into it by the kids. Worth it purely too see Rodriguez's goal and Tadic's back heel a few minutes before which took half their defence out of the game.

 

Juanmi impressed. Always wanted the ball and likes to drive forward with it when he does get it. Caulker was fine apart from the goal when he seemed out of position.

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derry

derry

Posted
Posted

I went to the game. In the first half the four forwards attempted to make runs but I nearly lost the will to live watching JWP going sideways and backwards instead of putting the runners in. Of course they had to abort the run when the ball went sideways or be offside. I don't know who told him he was a dead ball specialist because his end result was awful. Bottom line was the poor ever so slow build up going sideways and backwards completely negating the forwards.

 

Juanmi looked useful as did Caulker. Davis needs to pack it in, Gazzaniga looked very assured in the second half. Targett is very one dimensional with a poor delivery. Martina looked better. Wanyama usual and Harry Reed looks far better than JWP. Long was block tackled and looked as though he had injured something. Rodriguez, brilliant goal, some good patches but still needs time. McQueen struggled but McCarthy was ok.

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mcjwills

mcjwills

Posted
Posted

Went today and we were not exactly pushing ourselves to the limit today. Thought Caulker played better in the second half when he switched to the right hand side of center after Fonte was substituted. Juanmi is going have to get used to being hacked down as he is a typical flair player that will be cynically cythed to stop him. Wanyama was a beast and he is going a major player this year with Morgan gone. JROD was a bit off the pace but what a cracking strike. Think mist of the players had thier thoughts on Thursday and we're not risking an injury.

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The9

The9

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Quite pleased to see that when playing in position and after a few weeks with the club, Martina didn't look out of place and has a lot more potential than he showed in his first appearance. Decent enough crossing, though he was a little leg-wavy and lethargic closing down on one occasion second half in front of us.

 

Caulker got caught a bit flat-footed early on when the ball came to his feet, and I have absolutely no idea who was meant to be marking their scorer when he was in 10 yards of space in the box with neither Targett nor Caulker where you'd expect them to be. Overall though, fairly sound, nearly got done by a through ball but recovered. It was interesting to see we played him in his preferred right side CB position second half. Yoshida, solid enough except getting caught in possession on the edge of the box and JUST got a toe in as the player was about to go past, so only nearly gifted a gilt-edged chance this time. The other occasion wasn't his fault, Gazziniga put Reed under pressure and Reed shifted it on to Yoshida with 3 players already on him, can't expect much in that situation.

 

Ward-Prowse for me showed glimpses of improvement, his snapshot moved all over the place when he hit it, and it's certainly something we're lacking in the team. Corners all into the right places, but they're not useful scoring opportunities anyway. Our floating of crosses to the far post must be supported by statistical analysis, but it does not make for happy viewing even if it is probably marginally more effective on more occasions than whacking a shot in from long range. At least his free-kick didn't just miss the target this time. Not sure I'd be critical of him for not playing through balls when more times than not we play simple possession balls and don't really try to get in behind - though obviously holding a pass when the striker thinks you're playing it just leads to offsides.

 

Wanyama and Mane were good without getting near the levels they were at on Thursday, Pelle seems to be much more mobile than he was much of last season.

Kelvin Davis had nothing to do and couldn't stop the goal when left woefully exposed, but hardly his fault, Gazzaniga's passing choices were worrying at times, and he played both Yoshida and Reed into trouble with casual roll-out/kicks on the ground to marked players.

 

Reed hasn't changed his game, works hard but is still snapping into challenges late and inviting cards. On the ball he's safe and effective, which is reassuring.

 

I though McCarthy looked comfortable when he came on, and McQueen obviously had the one break where he was repeatedly fouled. Debayo looked a little hesitant, which is understandable, tried to use the ball well though. We already know what we're getting from Targett, defensively sound but offers little going forward.

 

Juanmi looked pretty decent, almost the polar opposite of how Ramirez started with Saints, he takes a touch and turns tightly either way, beating his man, whilst Gaston always took the same early look and always turned the same way into a waiting tackle - for some reason Juanmi is already way past that point and looks much more of a threat as he's running at defenders.

 

On that note, the (Prem I assume from the kit and logos) ref was clearly using UEFA-approved levels of involvement for his decisions, it was practically non-contact out there.

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Crab Lungs

Crab Lungs

Posted
Posted
If Koeman uses it for gametime in pre-season for those not starting the Europa League games, then perhaps Saints may line-up like this...

 

1305578_Southampton.jpg

 

Koeman has already stated Rodriguez will start. It could be useful to give the likes of Ward-Prowse, Reed, Caulker, Juanmi, Martina, Long & Rodriguez a game if they won't start on Thursday vs Vitesse or Sunday vs Newcastle.

 

That it way too weak

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The9

The9

Posted
Posted
Really why not he had a very good first half. Considering he is supposed to be a cross between Melia, Chatterley and Jermaine Wright I was surprised how decent he was going forward.

Never let us down defensively either?

What did he do wrong apart from 2 crap throws?

 

He was MUCH better than in Salzburg, which is good, because he couldn't have been worse! Looked solid enough - still not a patch on Cedric but a lot more competent backup than he looked like he might be. Whether that's down to knowing the system better or fitness or even sharpness training with better players, he put some decent crosses in and was much better positionally too.

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Toomer

Toomer

Posted
Posted (edited)

If it had been a competitive match Espanyol could well have ended up with two being sent off for a couple of naughty challenges. It was a bit of a nothing game pleased for J Rod took his goal well. Not to sound like a MOG I have nothing against kids being brought to games as they are the future supporters of the club but parents please keep them under control the row behind us mum and dad had three with them one winging and screaming in my mates ear all game the other two continually kicking the back of the seats two rows in front mum and dad with two one them kept banging the empty seats up and down.

Edited by Toomer
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The9

The9

Posted
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LOL at ESpanyol having half The Northam fo 10 fans!!

 

Not really an issue when the Kingsland was completely empty. The two Espanyol fans in the front of Block 42 were moved pretty quickly after celebrating the goal.

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St_Tel49

St_Tel49

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Posted
Really why not he had a very good first half. Considering he is supposed to be a cross between Melia, Chatterley and Jermaine Wright I was surprised how decent he was going forward.

Never let us down defensively either?

What did he do wrong apart from 2 crap throws?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree. He has been brought in as back up and did a good job on the whole. It was noticeable that he dropped back to fill the gap when Jose went forward. He is not better than Soares but he is a decent stand in. I had an impression that he may be more of a CB that a RB. Juanmi impressed me a lot. I thought that he and JWP were virtually running the game. I am not convinced that Caulker is better than Yoshi but I think that there will be plenty of game time for both if we get pass Vitesse

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bpsaint

bpsaint

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Posted

Seems like Koeman felt the same as us, that this game sandwiched between two important European ties was a waste of time. Bit harsh to bemoan the players not being at their best today when motivation was always going to be tough following the performance Thursday, and the impending trip to Holland.

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mcjwills

mcjwills

Posted
Posted
Not really an issue when the Kingsland was completely empty. The two Espanyol fans in the front of Block 42 were moved pretty quickly after celebrating the goal.

I hope the whinging people that got them thrown are not going to Vitesse in the home supporter areas. It was a friendly for gods sake and were not doing any harm.

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The Cat

The Cat

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Posted
I hope the whinging people that got them thrown are not going to Vitesse in the home supporter areas. It was a friendly for gods sake and were not doing any harm.

 

Exactly. If it had been that much of an issue the stewards would have moved them to the away end before the start of the match. It's not like they were inconspicuous, most of them had shirts on.

 

For their goal, Target was marking the chap who scored but ran into the centre when the cross come to make a challenge because Caulker was AWOL. Ball then ended up at the feet of the player Target left who deceived Davis by shooting straight at him.

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CHAPEL END CHARLIE

CHAPEL END CHARLIE

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This game was - as you might expect - typical preseason fare mostly, disjointed, mildly disappointing and of little significance. Like others I thought that Steven Caulker was perfectly OK and Juanmi looked busy enough - it will be certainly interesting to see how he settles into the PL. Martina too seemed to fit in nicely. Some of our home grown youngsters however did little to further their cause - Targett was 'missing in action' for their goal and he seldom worked himself into good crossing positions. JWP was pretty anonymous and Harrison Reed distinctly unimpressive I thought.

 

Great to see JRod back after such a serious injury and THAT goal was easily the best moment of a dull (if inexpensive) match. I must add here that at times it was obvious that JRod currently lacks that exceptional pace that was such a key element of his game. Now, it is of course to be expected that a player in his situation will be somewhat 'rusty', but I do worry that he's 'lost a yard' as they say ... we can only hope this is a temporary problem.

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aussiesaint20

aussiesaint20

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Posted
I hope the whinging people that got them thrown are not going to Vitesse in the home supporter areas. It was a friendly for gods sake and were not doing any harm.

 

Completely agree. Two Espanyol fans in their teens, in team colours, celebrated the goal and were then abused and threatened by a few "adult" Saints fans trying to act all 'ard. These same fans called the stewards over and pretty much forced them to move the Espanyol lads. It was a friendly FFS. Embarrassing and unnecessary. Fair play to the Espanyol fans for taking the abuse with good humour. They've travelled all that way for a friendly. It's not exactly a Scouse fan celebrating a Lovren goal in the Prem. With 500+ Saints fans having tickets in the Vitesse seats for Thursday I hope they're a little less fu**wittish than the handful of morons in the Northam today.

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markr27

markr27

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There was some chap in the Itchen as well today screaming out every five minutes - his intentions were to inspire the team, but no one around had any idea what he was shouting.

Steven Davis had a good chuckle at his chant as he warmed up along the touchline as well.

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Redslo

Redslo

Posted
Posted
Alex Ferguson signed Massimo Taibi, your point is non existent.

 

The fact that people with demonstrated good judgment and expertise sometimes make mistakes does not reduce the relative value of their opinion when it is compared with someone with no positive track record in either respect.

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Hamilton Saint

Hamilton Saint

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For me the most important thing about today's game -- and, I know, it seems an obvious point -- was that goal by Jay.

 

Did it not seem, in the final phase of last season, that we lacked just the sort of finishing that Rodriguez showed today? Didn't it seem to be that we wanted to "walk the ball" into the net? We need more of the quality long-range shooting that Jay demonstrated today. I hope we get a lot more of that from Saints this season.

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

Posted
Posted
There was some chap in the Itchen as well today screaming out every five minutes - his intentions were to inspire the team, but no one around had any idea what he was shouting.

Steven Davis had a good chuckle at his chant as he warmed up along the touchline as well.

 

Presumably he was Spanish and seemed to be supporting Saints

 

By the sound of him he had lost his Care in the Community helpers on the way in.

 

Still he caused no problems and actually got a few rounds of applause

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alpine_saint

alpine_saint

Posted
Posted
For me the most important thing about today's game -- and, I know, it seems an obvious point -- was that goal by Jay.

 

Did it not seem, in the final phase of last season, that we lacked just the sort of finishing that Rodriguez showed today? Didn't it seem to be that we wanted to "walk the ball" into the net? We need more of the quality long-range shooting that Jay demonstrated today. I hope we get a lot more of that from Saints this season.

 

good post.

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Professor

Professor

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Posted

The disappointment in Koeman's post-match interview understandable. Pleased that is how he feels as he clearly knows where improvement is needed. He didn't show frustration because, as he said, it is still pre-season, some players are new to the team, and JRod is still regaining fitness. The goal conceded was poor. No one marking the Espanyol scorer - should have been Matt Targett but he'd had to cover for someone else in the centre but even then, a better keeper might well have saved the shot. On that evidence I doubt that Kelvin is still good enough to be the No.2, which may be good news for Gazzaniga.

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Whitey Grandad

Whitey Grandad

Posted
Posted
This game was - as you might expect - typical preseason fare mostly, disjointed, mildly disappointing and of little significance. Like others I thought that Steven Caulker was perfectly OK and Juanmi looked busy enough - it will be certainly interesting to see how he settles into the PL. Martina too seemed to fit in nicely. Some of our home grown youngsters however did little to further their cause - Targett was 'missing in action' for their goal and he seldom worked himself into good crossing positions. JWP was pretty anonymous and Harrison Reed distinctly unimpressive I thought.

 

Great to see JRod back after such a serious injury and THAT goal was easily the best moment of a dull (if inexpensive) match. I must add here that at times it was obvious that JRod currently lacks that exceptional pace that was such a key element of his game. Now, it is of course to be expected that a player in his situation will be somewhat 'rusty', but I do worry that he's 'lost a yard' as they say ... we can only hope this is a temporary problem.

 

According to an article about Jay in The Mail today his speed has increased from 9.1 to 9.3 metres per second.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3183174/Southampton-striker-Jay-Rodriguez-nearing-competitive-return-newly-wedded-star-vows-come-better-ever.html

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Verbal Kint

Verbal Kint

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Posted
On that evidence I doubt that Kelvin is still good enough to be the No.2, which may be good news for Gazzaniga.

 

He's been written off by many, but I think Gazzaniga has some talent. He's still very young for a keeper and he's significantly better than Kelvin now. I'm happy with him as no. 2 until FF is back

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Minsk

Minsk

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Posted
Strange decision to start Davis ahead of Gazza. I don't really get it.

 

I don't think it was a matter of 'starting ahead of' more like one got a half each; as with Fonte/Maya, Pelle/Mane, Long/Tadic, etc. Indeed, I would say the fact KD was in goal while Fonte was on the pitch (as opposed to Maya) is indicative that Gazza is thought more highly of. I would certainly have Gazza ahead of KD now, as I think he has improved a lot recently.

 

I hope the whinging people that got them thrown are not going to Vitesse in the home supporter areas. It was a friendly for gods sake and were not doing any harm.

 

...who then missed the goal as they were being escorted from the Itchen to the Northam!

 

I didn't see the point in them being moved either and felt quite gutted for them when they missed the goal. They did seem to take everything in good spirit though.

 

Presumably he was Spanish and seemed to be supporting Saints

 

By the sound of him he had lost his Care in the Community helpers on the way in.

 

Still he caused no problems and actually got a few rounds of applause

 

I actually thought he was Italian. A lot of his chants were aimed at Pelle. About halfway through the second half someone must have informed him that Pelle had gone off, then he aimed a couple of chants at JRod. To be honest, I thought he was quite amusing.

 

As for the match......

 

Obviously JRod's goal was the highlight in a sunny Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. It was always going to be that kind of match in between the two Vitesse ones. Martina and Caulker both looked solid enough, without setting the world alight. To me, Juanmi looked a bit lost when having to come deep, but very dangerous in and around the opposition box. And I thought JWP had one of his better games. Espanyol were certainly a dirty team and would have had at least two red cards had that been a competitive match. That said, it was good to see no seeming ill effects to JRod having been clattered a few times. Jay isn't yet as fast as he was, but seems to have bulked up a bit too. He certainly looked more effective in Pelle's role than Mane did.

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