I've already admitted I was mistaken and that I was driven by being hacked off at the fact that Fraser is suddenly scapegoat of the month. Sorry. Scapegoating is lazy and tedious and really winds me up. I'm also driven my my local Northam idiot, Mr Potatohead, who jeers Fraser if he plays well and derides him if he makes a mistake. How can anyone win against the emntality of the average football supporter? In the past few years, scapegoats I can remember (without really trying - there are more, I'm sure) have been: Puncheon Guly Maya Targett Redmond Hooiveldt Ramirez Mané It's depressing. They all wore our shirts and they were rounded on by our "fans". Now Fraser's in the crosshairs. Vin
I watched on a stream yesterday, thanks to LTL, and I thought it was an encouraging performance. Plenty of frustrations, especially our forward players inability to see what gabbiadini is doing (some wonderful movement again). Both Redmond and Tadic looked poor - Redmond is at his best running at players and using his pace, but doesn't seem to be doing it. Tadic is ok in flashes, but he is a better player than the one I keep seeing. It is probably confidence in the main. What was particularly encouraging was that the change in coaching is starting to have an impact. Many are still carrying habits from Puel and even Koeman that are not positive(especially the risk averse nature of play), but there were times that we played great possession football and times we were quick and direct. Looked like a work in progress, but change through coaching isn't instant. When I'm coaching I hope to see changes in behaviour and technique over months (I coach elite triathletes), not hours or days.
Oh, and I thought Lemina was fantastic, especially in the second half. Confident that he will turn out to be a great signing
Out of interest, what do you consider to be the negative habits acquired under Koeman? I don't think we were particularly risk averse under him - just happy to play without the ball for long periods, which I personally found frustrating. Under Puel we had a lot more possession but often struggled to do much with it. I suspect Claude may have had difficulty getting his ideas across; Koeman obviously didn't - as a man manager, that looks like one of his strengths.
Definitely. I felt that under Koeman we became increasingly side or backwards passing. Players found the easy ball more and more and became less inclined to go for the risky one. We also focused on the wings and aerial crosses due to Pelle and still do. A great example is JWP - has skill on the ball, can beat a man, but you see him check himself, stop and roll it back or sideways. I think this started with Koeman and got a whole lot worse under Puel (though I'm not a Puel basher). What I saw yesterday in particular was a few more players, and not just the wing backs, looking to make a run or play a risky ball. Happy for anyone to disagree, just my take.
Here's a thing, right. Literally ALL of us can see that Manolo is cripplingly short of service. We can ALL see the clever darts and runs he makes. So you have to believe experienced football coaches, analysts and managers (not to mention players) see this too (otherwise we're all in trouble). You'd hope, therefore, that this is something that is talked about, highlighted, and practiced in training. The part I struggle with is that there were two clear occasions in this game - once with Davis, once with Redmond - where that exact ball was so staggeringly obvious that to have missed it is eye-wateringly amateurish (if, as you'd like to think, it's something that's been drilled in training). I slightly forgive the Redmond one as he took the (wrong) decision to shoot, and I don't mind too much when strikers go selfish, but the Davis one hurts and it's those split second decisions that decide a game.
From the stands or through the cameras the passes may have been obvious. That won't always be the case from pitch level.
I agree. Sort of. Just not with the Davis one - Gabbi could have rolled out a red carpet with bright flashing neon lights screaming "HERE" and it couldn't have been more obvious. You could actually see Davis thinking "which pass" (there were two available) as he had his head up. He went for the harder/worse one. It flummoxed me.
If I was MP2 I'd sit the team down and say "every time you get the ball in an advanced position, look for that run".
And those are the moments that live in the memory, when you draw 0-0. But if Redmond had found the inside of the post after Davis played him through with a perfect pass- after receiving the ball and turning at speed - early in the first half, we'd all be remembering that. Perhaps.
I am very much in line with your thoughts, I have constant battles on the Echo Web site with certain individuals that call themselves Saints supporters, and do nothing of the sort. They select an individual to slag off and with some kind of OCD go over the top. When challenged they come up with the same old "freedom of speech" spiel. There is also the anti Les Reed faction that rear their heads every time there is any kind of a set back. Everyone has a right to their own opinions but to me supporting Saints, means that within reason you support everyone within the team, the club the Board and everything else involved in the running of the Club. Constructive criticism and a bit of a grumble is fair enough but some go beyond the pale.
No, I still continue on my Missionary works, trying to convert! Some of those on there are obviously simply on the Wind Up, some have more sign on names than Saints missed chances. A couple always resort to personal abuse, I suppose it is what makes them tick?
