Match Day Thread Southampton vs Arsenal FA Cup 4th Round 28/01/2017 KO 5:30PM

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saintkeef said:
More to the point had Saturday's game been a Prem game would so many players have been rested because of Tuesday? I think not. Cynical I know but there's more to this defeat than meets the eye - mark my words.
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As I've said a couple of times....Puel would have had the same problems, but would probably have played a slightly stronger team. The FA Cup is down on our priorities (because we have qualified for Wembley already) but the situation was aggravated by recent events. Now we have a clear run at PL matches (apart from the final).
 
This may have already been said, or at least alluded to (I've read the whole thread, but I may have missed it), but...

Was yesterday's team, consisting almost entirely of 2nd choice players (or worse) in every position, Claude's unsubtle way of pointing out to Les Reed and the Saints FC Board that we don't have strength in depth, and although Claude has produced some very good results with our 1st team (such as Wednesday night), some things just won't happen without investment in new players.

This is not to say that we use the last two (three?) days of this transfer window to splurge ridiculous amounts on any player who is still available, but maybe Claude wants to be sure that the board understands that it has to invest to progress. It may also be a way of highlighting this to any Chinese-backed suitors for Katrina's hand in business.

Alternatively, it is just a load of spherical objects, and we should give up now <doh>
 
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There are no subtle factors here....we play a lot of games, we achieved one of our targets (a final), and the FA Cup is a low priority (in these circumstances). If we won....brilliant; if we lost....bearable; draw...not on your nelly.
 
Every team has a season where things aren't quite so good in the league...the secret is for it not to be a disaster. This isn't the beginning of the end...it's a hiccough. My concern is that we may have a couple more long term injuries which will make the second half of the season a struggle. Let's hope we get this covered in the next 2 days.
 
so often contradictory views on youth and confidence.
Whenever a young player bursts on to the scene. The default viewpoint amongst the pundits is about how the young player is carefree. They play with just a love of the game and without the burden of expectation.

When a young team are part of a heavy defeat that joie de vivre is suddenly destroyed as easily as a snowflake. How will they recover?
Football is a tough business and if a player can't recover from a loss then they're not going to have much of a career.
Any minutes on the pitch against strong opposition are good minutes. Some will learn and improve others will fade away
 
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saintkeef said:
My comment isn't unique on here today but for the sake of clarity this was Claude's way of telling Les the squad lacks any kind of depth. The point being that miracles can only happen once a season so beware.
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Fair enough. I thought you were implying some darker purpose. My mistake.
 
saintkeef said:
My comment isn't unique on here today but for the sake of clarity this was Claude's way of telling Les the squad lacks any kind of depth. The point being that miracles can only happen once a season so beware.
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Miracles we have done, the Impossible takes a little bit longer.
 
On the issue of Saints making 10 changes yesterday. It wasnt so long ago that we were so stretched for players that we had only one or two possible viable substitutes for games. The fact that we had a squad that allowed us to make 10 changes must show some progress. We havent got two first teams, so we do the best we can. Watford lost to Millwall, I know it wasnt 5-0 but they lost. The lads that played yesterday did their best against a stronger team. Still rather not be a Liverpool supporter.
 
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I still think we didn't need to make quite so many changes. No reason why Forster couldn't play for example.

I understand the need to make changes but you should try remain competetive imo. People can say forget Swansea or league v cup etc. But I think it's a valid point because had it been a league game then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have seen that team.

I'd have played Maya for sure. Stephens is young with a handful of games to his name and seeing as that's our first choice pairing at the moment they need games together imo.

The other thing is getting spanked like that is no good for the kids confidence.
 
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I was just, for a minute there, following yet another text from yet another gooner, feeling a bit annoyed about last night's result.

Then "Hey Jude" came on the radio, and without thinking I stretched my arms out wide and began to sing...

La la la
La la la laa

Shaaane Looongg!!!

And now I'm on top of the world, ma.
 
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I don't think Puel had any option but to rotate the squad yesterday but I do think he went way too far with the changes. I can't see why we didn't have Yoshida backing up alongside Gardos who I feel had to be selected to allow Claude to look at what he has to offer to the first time. In addition, the midfield was woeful and would have been massively assisted by either Romeo or Davis. I can appreciate why many fans are disappointed but had we had the likes of Austin, Rodriguez, Targett, Boufal, Van Djik, and JWP available the starting 11 would have been different.

There are several points I want to raise. I don't understand what has happened to Harrison Reed as he looks a totally different player from the one who was so promising a couple of seasons ago, There were rumours of Man Utd looking at him and comparisons with Paul Scholes but under Puel he doesn't look Premier League quality. The whole can be said for many of the other midfield players. There are moments of class from Hojbjorg but also far too many moments of madness. If he is seen as a replacement for Schneiderlin, I really feel that he needs some individual coaching as he is looking less of a credible selection with each game . When I saw him first, I thought that he looked like the best acquisition during the summer and now he looks like a piece of work in progress at best. Regarding Clasie, there are moments where he looks terrific but, again, these are too rare. I am not convinced. The other player who really staggered me was Lloyd Isgrove. I must admit that I was surprised he was still at the club. Sorry to say he is way out of his depth and I can't recall him touching the ball in the second half.

As remarked in an earlier comment, the squad needs some urgent additions. I would say that we have been treated cruelly by the injury crisis but there is no quality amongst the more marginal players. The biggest plus was Josh Simms who struck me as inheriting Shane Long's contagion for never wanting to give up and always attacking. This is a young player I really like and, I am sure, someone with an attacking spirit who is going to be loved by the fans.

The other point I wanted to add was that I wish we had taken the FA Cup more seriously. When I first started following football as a nipper there was almost a stigma in being dumped out of the cup. No one wanted to lose to a lower league team and to be the victim of an act of giant-killing was sufficient to put the mockers on the rest of the season. The FA cup is still the best cup competition in the world. I wish Claude had treated it with a bit more respect.
 
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