Finn Azaz

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

He’d got into the Championship team of the year at Swansea and Leeds also wanted him, was linked with PL clubs. It was assumed that he’d probably follow Martin (and did) but very underwhelming first season, slightly better last year but this season going forward is what we had expected in terms of set pieces and assists. 

This. He was considered a key part of Martin's Swansea side. Their inverted full back approached worked well with Manning moving across and forward to support. Even then, I recall him being considered better going forward than being a standard full back.

At Saints we had KWP, who was given Manning's role and more, resulting in Manning having to adapt to being on the other side of Martin's system.

Given decent defensive midfield support, we could see good things from him even in a 4. If Still wants a more solid back 4, he'd still be an important game changer from the bench.

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

This. He was considered a key part of Martin's Swansea side. Their inverted full back approached worked well with Manning moving across and forward to support. Even then, I recall him being considered better going forward than being a standard full back.

At Saints we had KWP, who was given Manning's role and more, resulting in Manning having to adapt to being on the other side of Martin's system.

Given decent defensive midfield support, we could see good things from him even in a 4. If Still wants a more solid back 4, he'd still be an important game changer from the bench.

I'm sure Will Still watched the Ireland game last night , Manning was playing as if he had a point to prove , they play again on Tuesday evening away in Armenia so will be up against that Krasnador mush we'd been trying to sign , might watch that one rather than England 

[gio1saints]

4 minutes ago, Football Special said:

I'm sure Will Still watched the Ireland game last night , Manning was playing as if he had a point to prove , they play again on Tuesday evening away in Armenia so will be up against that Krasnador mush we'd been trying to sign , might watch that one rather than England 

Nice spot. Think you are right. Certainly watching that Ireland match with Saints players instead of another episode of same old boring boring England. 

[revolution saint]

2 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Nice spot. Think you are right. Certainly watching that Ireland match with Saints players instead of another episode of same old boring boring England. 

Yes, it was actually a good competitive game last night.  Quality wasn't all that but had a lot more excitement than the England game.  Shea Charles Vs Germany tonight.

[AlexLaw76]

11 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Yes, it was actually a good competitive game last night.  Quality wasn't all that but had a lot more excitement than the England game.  Shea Charles Vs Germany tonight.

At least it is a weeks’ gap between games, assuming no injury for him

[Sheaf Saint]

2 hours ago, Football Special said:

I'm sure Will Still watched the Ireland game last night , Manning was playing as if he had a point to prove , they play again on Tuesday evening away in Armenia so will be up against that Krasnador mush we'd been trying to sign , might watch that one rather than England 

Oh great. I might get the chance to make use of that box of Armenian flags I bought 🤞

[Draino76]

Is this on Amazon Prime? 

[gio1saints]

Just hope both Ryan and Finn play well, ideally Finn scores from a Ryan assist, the ROI win and they get rested early second half so can come back undamaged. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

1 hour ago, Draino76 said:

Is this on Amazon Prime? 

Yes

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

You have to pay for it though in the UK.

[gio1saints]

Put your vpn onto IRELAND.download the RTE player. Go to RTE2. It’s on live and free. 

[gio1saints]

Interesting..they are playing Ryan at left back instead of the lm he ( successfully) played last match….they putting a left midfield in front of him…

[disconnect]

8 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Put your vpn onto IRELAND.download the RTE player. Go to RTE2. It’s on live and free. 

Do they ever have other matches (e.g Championship), or just ROI games?

[Sheaf Saint]

10 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Interesting..they are playing Ryan at left back instead of the lm he ( successfully) played last match….they putting a left midfield in front of him…

Looks like Finn is playing in more of a 10 role as well...

[Turkish]

Interesting that Ryan Manning is currently the top chance creator in the championship, which is some going considering i think he started 2 of the 4 games on the bench.

[gio1saints]

Spertsyan playing on the right hand side if a two man CM - with 4 more advanced players ahead of him. Interesting. Thought he was a more offensive #10 style player but looks like they want him to have as much ball as possible. Let’s see what the fuss is all about! 

[revolution saint]

This Ireland team is so poor.  Although he didn't see much of the ball Finn didn't have a good game either.  Disappointing from a Saints perspective.  Spertsyan looked decent and lovely through ball for Armenia's second goal.

Edited September 9 by revolution saint

[Dusic]

2 hours ago, revolution saint said:

This Ireland team is so poor.  Although he didn't see much of the ball Finn didn't have a good game either.  Disappointing from a Saints perspective.  Spertsyan looked decent and lovely through ball for Armenia's second goal.

Spertsyan is clearly a very good player. Shame he will likely play his whole career in Russia but he doesn't seem too bothered.

Whilst they play in a similar position I think he and Azaz are quite different profiles.

[Spoonman]

5 hours ago, disconnect said:

Do they ever have other matches (e.g Championship), or just ROI games?

No Championship but you’ll get some champions league/europa, plus the odd LOI game.

[Nordic Saint]

9 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Just hope both Ryan and Finn play well, ideally Finn scores from a Ryan assist, the ROI win and they get rested early second half so can come back undamaged. 

I think you may have overestimated them slightly. According to the BBC  player ratings, Manning was one of the worst players on the pitch while Azaz was the worst:

Republic of Ireland

C. Kelleher
5.62

E. Ferguson
4.47

A. Idah
3.99

L. Scales
3.66

J. Knight
3.60

M. Johnston
3.58

K. McAteer
3.57

K. Phillips
3.49

D. O'Shea
3.47

C. Ogbene
3.44

J. O'Brien
3.44

R. Manning
3.32

N. Collins
3.29

J. Taylor
3.23

J. Cullen
3.22

F. Azaz
3.10
 

World Cup Qualifiers: Republic of Ireland World Cup hopes dealt major blow with defeat by Armenia - BBC Sport

 

 

[benjii]

Aribo is probably better, right?

[Football Special]

7 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

I think you may have overestimated them slightly. According to the BBC  player ratings, Manning was one of the worst players on the pitch while Azaz was the worst:

Republic of Ireland

C. Kelleher
5.62

E. Ferguson
4.47

A. Idah
3.99

L. Scales
3.66

J. Knight
3.60

M. Johnston
3.58

K. McAteer
3.57

K. Phillips
3.49

D. O'Shea
3.47

C. Ogbene
3.44

J. O'Brien
3.44

R. Manning
3.32

N. Collins
3.29

J. Taylor
3.23

J. Cullen
3.22

F. Azaz
3.10
 

World Cup Qualifiers: Republic of Ireland World Cup hopes dealt major blow with defeat by Armenia - BBC Sport

 

 

Saving themselves for Sunday hopefully 

[gio1saints]

Both thoroughly anonymous. Disappointed for them - and Saints! Ireland looked clueless whenever Armenia pressed hard. 
Oh- and that Spertsyan guy- he’s a good player it’s obvious. 

[skintsaint]

On 07/09/2025 at 14:33, gio1saints said:

Certainly watching that Ireland match with Saints players instead of another episode of same old boring boring England. 

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

It was actually. I’d got a little bit too excited bout them two and that negative debacle has now altered my perception. Indeed they looked tired to me and I would not now be surprised to see them “rested”- they’ve done a fair bit of travelling what with transfers and Dublin & Armenia and back to Soton and families etc. 

In any case i managed to win £xxx on England on the basis that it was time to stop playing turgid football and I expected decent goals supremacy. TQ Spreadex. 😎. 

As for the ROI match - it was a rubbish performance by them  especially our two. 😤. BUT id rather watch ANY international match with a Southampton player or players than England without if on a same time. Nb yes I know they were not but you know what I mean. 
Jelert & Scienza might just get some  minutes yet come Sunday..

Edited Wednesday at 10:22 by gio1saints

[pimpin4rizeal]

On 09/09/2025 at 18:56, revolution saint said:

This Ireland team is so poor.  Although he didn't see much of the ball Finn didn't have a good game either.  Disappointing from a Saints perspective.  Spertsyan looked decent and lovely through ball for Armenia's second goal.

Already starting to see why he was divisive for boro fans, he seems the type of player that can be invisible for majority of game but still capable of  popping up with a goal contribution 

[goodymatt]

5 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Already starting to see why he was divisive for boro fans, he seems the type of player that can be invisible for majority of game but still capable of  popping up with a goal contribution 

There’s a reason why Spertysan and Rudoni were higher up the list, but we can accommodate him drifting through some games if he hits double figures for goals and assists again. That could be the difference between autos and playoffs for us.

The challenge is going to be balance as we could have a few players on the field that don’t work hard off the ball: Scienza, Azaz, Archer (sometimes he does press but mostly not).

[revolution saint]

1 minute ago, goodymatt said:

There’s a reason why Spertysan and Rudoni were higher up the list, but we can accommodate him drifting through some games if he hits double figures for goals and assists again. That could be the difference between autos and playoffs for us.

The challenge is going to be balance as we could have a few players on the field that don’t work hard off the ball: Scienza, Azaz, Archer (sometimes he does press but mostly not).

Yep, that’s been my thinking too. If we’re expecting a front four of Archer, Scienza, Azaz and Fellows to press high up the pitch then it’s probably only Fellows who has done that effectively in the past. 
Defensively we’re not blessed with much pace in the cbs if we play Stephens and THB either so playing a high line to condense the play is going to come with some risk.

I reckon we’ll play more of a mid block which might not be a bad thing as it should invite the opposition onto us a bit and leave a bit of space for the forwards to exploit 

[Dusic]

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/25454357.kieran-scott-explains-rav-van-den-berg-finn-azaz-middlesbrough-exits/

Interesting comments from Boro DoF that Azaz was aware their fans were a bit indifferent about him.

Hopefully he gets off to a good start here.

Edited Thursday at 08:07 by Dusic

[goodymatt]

1 hour ago, Dusic said:

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/25454357.kieran-scott-explains-rav-van-den-berg-finn-azaz-middlesbrough-exits/

Interesting comments from Boro DoF that Azaz was aware their fans were a bit indifferent about him.

Hopefully he gets off to a good start here.

It’s encouraging that their head of football implied that it was strange some of their fans didn’t take to him, given the numbers he produced for them. He was clearly well rated internally but when a player wants to go, it’s usually best to allow it, as we know all too well.

I’d much rather have a player that produces numbers consistently than someone who works incredibly hard but it doesn’t amount to anything. Very interested to see how Azaz does with so called better players around him.

If he scores and/or assists on Sunday then he will be off to the best start possible with our fans. Watford was a free hit for him after 1 training session and he still went close to an assist and forced a good save. I think he will be a success here.

[SNSUN]

9 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Already starting to see why he was divisive for boro fans, he seems the type of player that can be invisible for majority of game but still capable of  popping up with a goal contribution 

One of our best ever players fit this exact description. And if he's half as good as Matt was, he'll prove to be an excellent signing.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

On 09/09/2025 at 23:23, Nordic Saint said:

I think you may have overestimated them slightly. According to the BBC  player ratings, Manning was one of the worst players on the pitch while Azaz was the worst:

Republic of Ireland

C. Kelleher
5.62

E. Ferguson
4.47

A. Idah
3.99

L. Scales
3.66

J. Knight
3.60

M. Johnston
3.58

K. McAteer
3.57

K. Phillips
3.49

D. O'Shea
3.47

C. Ogbene
3.44

J. O'Brien
3.44

R. Manning
3.32

N. Collins
3.29

J. Taylor
3.23

J. Cullen
3.22

F. Azaz
3.10
 

World Cup Qualifiers: Republic of Ireland World Cup hopes dealt major blow with defeat by Armenia - BBC Sport

 

 

Well done Azaz, for acclimatising so quickly to the Southampton way. 

[pimpin4rizeal]

55 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

One of our best ever players fit this exact description. And if he's half as good as Matt was, he'll prove to be an excellent signing.

Hehe don’t think it’s the same thing .. I’m getting the feeling azaz is getting a bit overhyped on here .. the fact Middlesbrough fans where a bit torn on him probably says something when he’s got as many goal contributions as he had there .. he seems to not get into space as well  if those ireland games are anything to go on 

no agenda against azaz from me I watched the Ireland games out iof excitement to see our new signing  but he was poor in both . And seems to amble about in crowded areas which in turn makes him see little of the ball 

Edited Thursday at 17:15 by pimpin4rizeal

[hypochondriac]

Was shite today after being the worst player on the pitch for Ireland in the week. I have to say given he's our most expensive signing this summer I'm pretty worried abut him. We were told he is anonymous in big games and Middlesborough fans weren't too fussed to lose him. I'm not sure he has the character required to be a guaranteed starter in his position. 

Edited yesterday at 17:57 by hypochondriac

[revolution saint]

5 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Was shite today after being the worst player on the pitch for Ireland in the week. I have to say given he's our most expensive signing this summer I'm pretty worried abut him. We were told he is anonymous in big games and Middlesborough fans wrrrnt too fussed to lose him. I'm not sure he has the character required to be a guaranteed starter in his position. 

Definitely got his limitations - no real physical side to his game so he's not going to impose himself on games and he doesn't seem like he can dribble either so I don't expect him to cope that well when he's being tightly marked.  What he can do is pick a pass and his finishing looks decent from clips and his record at both Plymouth and 'Boro.  

He was our third choice and in an ideal world we'd have had either Spertsyan or Rudoni but we're here now and the team will need to work on finding him with accurate passes rather than just lumping the ball aimlessly forward.  I think it can work out for him but we're going to have to do a lot of work on the training pitch.

[AlexLaw76]

40 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Was shite today after being the worst player on the pitch for Ireland in the week. I have to say given he's our most expensive signing this summer I'm pretty worried abut him. We were told he is anonymous in big games and Middlesborough fans weren't too fussed to lose him. I'm not sure he has the character required to be a guaranteed starter in his position. 

He was mint for Plymouth and a baller at Boro

when our main tactic is to launch the ball from 40 yards out, players like him will be shite 

Edited yesterday at 18:33 by AlexLaw76

[saintant]

He's probably as pissed off as we are if not more so. He came here thinking and probably being told he was joining a side that will play cohesive attacking football, playing through the lines and down the wings and centre. What he found himself in the middle of today was a complete shitshow of a team that could not pass the ball and resorted to lumping it long to a small centre forward. We'll be hoping he gets better but equally he'll be hoping the team start playing proper football - if not he may as well go in January for the sake of him and us. If we buy players like Azaz let's play in a style that suits his game otherwise we may as well buy cheap rubbish and save our money.

[egg]

I was in the Itchen/Chapel corner and was watching him loads.I doubt those runs would have been seen watching on the TV, or as easily from other parts of the ground.

In the first half, he made loads of little runs into pockets, but the midfield didn't get hold of the ball enough to use him, ditto Archer. They weren't bust a gut runs, but enough to find space, and offer himself up for the ball.

Second half, his runs were more obvious, and we had more of the ball. He didn't use it as well as he should have, but he found loads of space still.

If there's a criticism, I'd have liked him to drop in and demand the ball, but with full backs sitting deep, midfielders not breaking the lines, the wingers being pressed, what would have done with the ball as he was the bloke who's job it was to link the play. 

With a properly functioning midfield, and centre backs who don't just welly it to a small lad up top, I think he could be really effective. He was a victim of tactics and poor performances all round today. 

[Osvaldorama]

2 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Was shite today after being the worst player on the pitch for Ireland in the week. I have to say given he's our most expensive signing this summer I'm pretty worried abut him. We were told he is anonymous in big games and Middlesborough fans weren't too fussed to lose him. I'm not sure he has the character required to be a guaranteed starter in his position. 

Harsh to single him out in what was a shit team performance  

I thought you can tell he has quality. Good touch and made some good runs. Not much came off for him today but it’s his first home start ffs. 
 

Absolutely no need to slate him already 

Edited 23 hours ago by Osvaldorama

[Nordic Saint]

22 minutes ago, egg said:

I was in the Itchen/Chapel corner and was watching him loads.I doubt those runs would have been seen watching on the TV, or as easily from other parts of the ground.

In the first half, he made loads of little runs into pockets, but the midfield didn't get hold of the ball enough to use him, ditto Archer. They weren't bust a gut runs, but enough to find space, and offer himself up for the ball.

Second half, his runs were more obvious, and we had more of the ball. He didn't use it as well as he should have, but he found loads of space still.

If there's a criticism, I'd have liked him to drop in and demand the ball, but with full backs sitting deep, midfielders not breaking the lines, the wingers being pressed, what would have done with the ball as he was the bloke who's job it was to link the play. 

With a properly functioning midfield, and centre backs who don't just welly it to a small lad up top, I think he could be really effective. He was a victim of tactics and poor performances all round today. 

I had an equally good view of him and he was standing and walking a lot of the time. When he did break into a trot, his runs were always slow enough to ensure he never won any 50/50 balls. Shea Charles was trying to cover for him by doing the work of 2 players. Azaz may be suited to less competitive games where he is given more time, as you can see he has some skill. But, our midfield looked noticably more competitive in the final quarter after he went off. .

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

I had an equally good view of him and he was standing and walking a lot of the time. When he did break into a trot, his runs were always slow enough to ensure he never won any 50/50 balls. Shea Charles was trying to cover for him by doing the work of 2 players. Azaz may be suited to less competitive games where he is given more time, as you can see he has some skill. But, our midfield looked noticably more competitive in the final quarter after he went off. .

Funny how he is able to do it at Plymouth and Boro.

are tactics are fucking terrible. That is why we look horrific going forward. Would be the same if Rudoni or that Armenian was here.

expect Fellow and Leo to look shit if we don’t make big changes to how we play 

Edited yesterday at 19:20 by AlexLaw76

[egg]

1 minute ago, Nordic Saint said:

I had an equally good view of him and he was standing and walking a lot of the time. When he did break into a trot, his runs were always slow enough to ensure he never won any 50/50 balls. Shea Charles was trying to cover for him by doing the work of 2 players. Azaz may be suited to less competitive games where he is given more time, as you can see he has some skill. But, our midfield looked noticably more competitive in the final quarter after he went off. .

Runs and ball winning are different things mate. If you did watch him, you'd have seen him in all sorts of positions to receive the ball.

Charles spent the game covering the atrocious Downes. 

The difference in the last quarter was that Downes went off. There was no other midfield addition - AA and Stewart went up top. 

[skintsaint]

29 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Funny how he is able to do it at Plymouth and Boro.

are tactics are fucking terrible. That is why we look horrific going forward. Would be the same if Rudoni or that Armenian was here.

expect Fellow and Leo to look shit if we don’t make big changes to how we play 

He has hardly trained with us to be fair. Signed a day before his first game with us then shipped off for Int. Duty.

[LGTL]

I thought he played pretty well at Watford and surprised at the stick he’s getting after today. We were basically playing with 10 men thanks to Downes, I’d be aiming the criticism his way personally. 

[beatlesaint]

1 minute ago, LGTL said:

I thought he played pretty well at Watford and surprised at the stick he’s getting after today. We were basically playing with 10 men thanks to Downes, I’d be aiming the criticism his way personally. 

We were playing with 9 then cos as well as Downes Aziz was fkin dreadful. He was a little better second half but it was a low bar.

[Osvaldorama]

16 minutes ago, LGTL said:

I thought he played pretty well at Watford and surprised at the stick he’s getting after today. We were basically playing with 10 men thanks to Downes, I’d be aiming the criticism his way personally. 

Absolutely no one at the ground was giving Azaz stick. 
 

Maybe his movement was more noticeable in person. He was nowhere near the worst player today. 

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Osvaldorama said:

Absolutely no one at the ground was giving Azaz stick. 
 

Maybe his movement was more noticeable in person. He was nowhere near the worst player today. 

He made the wrong decision a couple of times in key areas, with about 15 to go ball came to him edge of the area and it looked like a pass was on to play Frazer in, he tried a croqueta and lost it, by no means the worst but was quite ineffective 

[saintant]

5 minutes ago, Turkish said:

He made the wrong decision a couple of times in key areas, with about 15 to go ball came to him edge of the area and it looked like a pass was on to play Frazer in, he tried a croqueta and lost it, by no means the worst but was quite ineffective 

Not sure any of our players should be trying skills as advanced as a croqueta - few of them can even do the basics from what I'm seeing so keep it very simple lads.

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, egg said:

I was in the Itchen/Chapel corner and was watching him loads.I doubt those runs would have been seen watching on the TV, or as easily from other parts of the ground.

In the first half, he made loads of little runs into pockets, but the midfield didn't get hold of the ball enough to use him, ditto Archer. They weren't bust a gut runs, but enough to find space, and offer himself up for the ball.

Second half, his runs were more obvious, and we had more of the ball. He didn't use it as well as he should have, but he found loads of space still.

If there's a criticism, I'd have liked him to drop in and demand the ball, but with full backs sitting deep, midfielders not breaking the lines, the wingers being pressed, what would have done with the ball as he was the bloke who's job it was to link the play. 

With a properly functioning midfield, and centre backs who don't just welly it to a small lad up top, I think he could be really effective. He was a victim of tactics and poor performances all round today. 

What I noticed is that we bypassed him quite a lot in the first half, we didn't play into him at all. Like you, I always noticed him in between the lines in pockets of space but we never found him.

Second half we did start to find him, and getting him in space between the lines is where he comes good. He's not going to chase back into CM, or tackle to win the ball back, we need to get the ball to him - preferably on the flaming ground.

Maybe like you say he was a bit passive in the first half and was 'waiting' for it, rather than demanding it, but that will probably come with games and more familiarity with his team mates. 

But at the end of the day, if we keep lofting the ball into the strikers or out wide onto the flanks, he's never going to get into the game.

[saintant]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

What I noticed is that we bypassed him quite a lot in the first half, we didn't play into him at all. Like you, I always noticed him in between the lines in pockets of space but we never found him.

Second half we did start to find him, and getting him in space between the lines is where he comes good. He's not going to chase back into CM, or tackle to win the ball back, we need to get the ball to him - preferably on the flaming ground.

Maybe like you say he was a bit passive in the first half and was 'waiting' for it, rather than demanding it, but that will probably come with games and more familiarity with his team mates. 

But at the end of the day, if we keep lofting the ball into the strikers or out wide onto the flanks, he's never going to get into the game.

This is one of biggest and most basic problems - can we please get a coach in who knows about playing between the lines. The reason we never found him is because the rest of the idiots are not used to and have no clue how to play between the lines. I imagine Azaz was pretty baffled and not a little frustrated to play alongside others with no basic appreciation of how the game is meant to be played. Will Still needs to get this sorted and quickly.