Ian, sorry but I have to pick you up on the following - 1) Bring them back from where Claude took them? I think we’re worse now, but we all know your feelings about Claude! 2) Cedric has been one of our more consistent, better performers this season. His crossing has been poor, but then there’s nobody really to cross to. The obsession we have with wing play is downright bizarre given our personnel. It’s also clearly a tactic, which comes back to the manager. 3) I quite like Long for his effort, but would have no issue moving Austin along at the earliest possible opportunity. I certainly don’t feel sorry for him. He’s getting paid vast sums to waddle about the pitch like a Sunday league player. 4) Boufal has had two games, and only one on the ten position, yesterday. For me he was our MOTM yesterday, until MP2 decided to take him out of the game by isolating him out wide. 5) I’d drop Davis the second Lemina comes back into fitness.
Ian, just give it up about Puel. You say there was nothing to suggest he as anything other than mediocre, yet he took Nice to the Champions League and Lyon to a Semi-final. He then took us to a Cup Final and came 8th only have the players with his m for two thirds of a season. He had a clear plan. Not everyone liked it but he had a plan. I haven't seen any plan from MP2 yet still you seem to think things are better. Your grudge seems to be clouding your view. I'm finding it a little embarrassing and bizarre now this fixation you have with him. Did he try it on with your wife or something?
The amount of times yesterday where Oriol or SD got the ball, Gabbi made a smart run, yet they rolled it wide to Cedric or Ryan was driving me mad. Again.
Laces For what it was worth, I thought that David was the best player on the pitch in the first half. Boufal illustrated once again his skill but I am frustrated by the fact that he seldom brings much to the team performance. Merrington singled Boufal out for criticism yesterday which did strike me as unfair because he could have chosen a number of our players but I think Boufal generally gives another level to the meaning of being "mercurial." Certainly, he does not add anything to the squad's performance in the way Lemina has done. As far as improvements on last season are concerned, we still don't tend to give much away but I do believe we have generally been more ambitious - it is just the fact that the ambition has not been matched by the ability.
If you want Boufal to bring something to the team performance then you need to see him play for a minimum of 6 starts (possibly more) and then judge him from that point forward. He's started two and possibly thats the most he's started consecutively. He will Always be mercurial unless he's given that run and in that run, people hold off the judgement until he's through the run. Here you are, classically judging him after two starts. Two starts where he has shown that he wants to be positive.... but hey, let's knock him back now before he gets too creative.
I think we need to nail Boufal down in that ten position for quite a few games (I mean, it's hardly like we have any better candidates for there!) - what was noticeable yesterday was that yes, he lost the ball a couple of times, and yes he boobed a couple of passes, but he was happy to drive forwards centrally with the ball, and take players on. That served a dual purpose of scaring the Burnley defenders, and also oddly seemed to inspire Tadic and Redmond to (finally) try the same thing on a couple of occasions.
Actually Laces we need to tell Boufal to not give the back away or lose it.... then he'll roll 10 yard square passes all day and the fans can moan that we never try anything risky. It's a joke (not you). Our fans don't have a clue sometimes.
I really don't think the problem is the manager. We have sacked Puel because of the dull/negative football and mediocre results and now we are discussing doing the same to Pelligrino after just 10 games. Stop blaming Van Dijk and Bertrand because you dislike them. The problem clearly doesn't lie with our defensive. Last season and this season we have been excellent defensively and have (imo) one of the best defensive units in the league with Romeu and Lemina protecting Van Dijk and Yoshida. Forsters form has been poor I will give you that. I rate both Austin and Gabbiadini. Neither are target men so they need creative players behind them to start off attacks - this is what we lack. Long isn't good enough despite the fact he "runs a lot". The players we have that play in the 3 positions behind the striker this and last season have been Davis, Tadic, Boufal, Redmond and Ward-Prowse. Davis: Not a criticism but he just isn't a creative player and shouldn't play there. Tadic: Has been poor for a long time. Personally I don't think he is good enough for saints and we should get rid. Boufal: Not shown anything since we have signed him except the odd moment of class. I'd like to see him play in a stronger team as well as give him a run of games to prove himself. Redmond: Always looks like he will create something but rarely does. Very positive but end product is crap. Ward-Prowse: Gets a bit of a free pass because he is an academy player. Nobody knows his best position. He isn't a wide player, certainly not a no.10 and don't think he has the attributes to be a complete holding player. I like him but he needs to figure out his best position and make it his own. The reason Puel and Pelligrino have struggled is because they don't have the tools to break down defences. Look at Burnley yesterday. They sat in for 70 minutes because they know we wouldn't be able to create anything and then made a couple of changes and got a 0-1. Hopefully we will be able to carry on utilising what, overall, has proved an excellent recruitment system and spend a little more in the next couple of windows (including the van dijk money) and get in some good attacking midfield players so we actually carry some sort of goal threat from midfield and can break defences down.
I'm interested you thought SD was the best player on the pitch first half. He was efficient and careful, but for me he was terribly, terribly negative in that first half. There was one great piece of play where he took the ball on and up the field, but otherwise his first thought was constantly a safe sideways move, rather than any kind of dynamism.
And I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.... but we have Ian complaining Boufal is too mercurial. Would he be happier if Boufal rolled everything wide to the full backs? Be ironic, as that would be Puelesque and not to Ian's liking. Against Brighton, Boufal tried a couple of passes in behind defenders that didn't quite make it, but it was the right thing to try in the right area of the pitch. The lad also chases back and makes tackles and interceptions, just in case anyone honks he is lazy and just "a talent"
Not really. Palace were floundering under Pardew at the time. Anyway, we could play this game all day. The issue is, have we improved under Pellegrino. On yesterday's evidence I'd say we have, a bit. And surely no one expected us to blow Burnley away yesterday?
But you're talking here purely in terms of tactics and skill, and not in any way about motivation and psychology. That for me is the part we're failing so terribly at (as I've bleated on about on this thread). You're saying you can't blame VVD or Berty for performances, but again you're talking about ability and tactics. I'd suggest that their mental attitude is something that could be part of the malaise that seems to be somewhat prevalent right now. I also think that with the right kind of manager, with the right kind of charisma (essentially someone tougher than CP or MP have shown to be) could nip that in the bud. I don't in any way think we have a group of bad players here, I think we have a group of uninspired players. As a result, I don't think either CP (who I think is a good manager in the tactical/cerebral sense, but not a motivator) or MP2 (who I think is a lower level manager generally) have been right for this squad of players. It needs someone with a clear message, a clear set of tactical plans and a clear sense of the identity of themselves and their teams. And someone who can drag a group of demotivated players up to believe in themselves and the 'masterplan'. For that I blame Les and the recent appointments. They've been poor.
The highlighted part. There were a lot of those "okay it didn't work, but I like what you are trying" moments yesterday.
I remember when Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon a little while back. If you asked an English player whether he thought he could win going into a final, they'd invariably say "well it's going to be a tough game, and with the right application and luck I certainly have a chance". Goran, when asked, said "IT IS MY DESTINY". We need a bit more Goran in Southampton right now.
I suspect he got that self belief off the back of his previous results. What we need is a bit more Andy Murray. He doesn't say a lot, he just gets it done. And when he gets beat he comes back stronger.
Well if Boufal "has not shown anything" then we might as well pack up and go home. Why do fans insist on going over the top? Why can't you say something like he hasn't shown the consistency or I'd expect a goal of the season run every other game? Boufal has shown what he can do and now it is down to the management team to use that regularly. Yes Boufal has to show it regularly but he hasn't been given the run of games to do it.... like you said yourself. To say he hasn't shown anything is beyond belief.
