Walker-Peters also had a terrible first half. Presumably like Walcott due to a lack of games. At least Ings looks sharp again.
We always look vulnerable defensively against teams who play two strikers as it is essentially 2 v 2. The centre backs were given no protection in the first half but was better in the second as we dropped a midfield into the middle when required.
It may be argumentative on here because of anonymity. However, compared to Twitter we can thank ourselves lucky!
I only caught a chunk of the game but I have to say that I think we're just so much better with a fit Stuart Armstrong on the pitch as when he's missing. He's often the one driving us from defence into attack. Undemonstrative, so you don't always notice his contribution. Utterly professional. I used to feel the same about Steven Davis. I fear losing him more than I fear losing Danny. Vin
I agree to an extent. Armstrong is a key for us and he's such a threat when he's driving forwards into the opponent's half. And it's great he signed a new contract not so long ago. But Ings is a quality, quality forward. Players who can finish like Danny are not easy to find and we may not have him for much longer as a result. It's also his hold up play and his link up play which stands out to me. He's an intelligent player who can score from half chances. Putting the ball in the net is the hardest thing to do in football, hence why good strikers cost a lot of money. Look at the strikers we have now or have had in the recent past. Che, Long, Pelle, Austin. All did or are doing a decent job for us (I really like Che) but not at the same level as Ings. Look at Che yesterday, went clean through and put it wide. I didn't feel massively confident he was going to put it away. Whenever Ings pulls back his right foot to shoot I expect the net to bulge or at least the keeper to be tested. I've never had that feeling before with a Saints player. If Danny leaves this summer so be it but I'll still be very disappointed because I love watching him in a Saints shirt. When I went to the Sheffield United game in December I spent quite a bit of it just watching him off the ball. I would rank Danny JUST above Armstrong. We know Armstrong isn't going anywhere which is great but if Ings signs a new deal here I'll be over the moon and I'll go into the middle of Portsmouth and shout at the top of my voice: "DANNY INGS IS THE KING OF SCUMMERS!"
And an absolute bargain at £7m from Celtic. And as Tom said, really glad he signed a new contract in January keeping him here until 2024.
Absolutely agree about Armstrong's importance to us. But I wouldn't be comparing him to Davis. He's twice the player of Davis. He's the player I always wanted Davis to be. He's Steven Davis with goals. Yesterday I believe he equally Davis' tally of the PL goals for us. In less than half the time. In a much weaker Saints team. Having never experienced PL football before. Having spent the majority of his Saints career in the bottom half of the table. If you asked me at the half way stage who my player of the season was, the answer was incredibly easy (almost as easy as Ings last season). It was Vestergaard. But his time out injured, coupled with a slight dip in performances since he returned, means that I now have quite a few different contenders. And right now, I have Armstrong just about out in front.
Yeah, Armstrong is much better than Davis ever was for us. Not knocking Davis, but Stuey is much more of an attacking threat.
Stuart Armstrong makes a huge difference on the pitch. No one else in our midfield runs at oppo defence like Armstrong does. He makes openings pretty often
