It's just one game and we are only on matchday 1 of 38, but Brentford and Watford winning (who many would expect to be in the mix) against good opposition just adds that bit more pressure on us/manager. Come out fighting lads.
Not thought of that so much, but yes, Oriol and JWP not firing on all cylinders is some what of a handicap.
Yes it is just the first game of the season but it's also the same old crap Saints have been serving up under Ralph for most of his tenure. I have always backed Ralph and like most of us, I recognise that he is working with limited resources, but even I can't find any excuse for the way his team roll over so easily and fold up under pressure. This is his third season and he has utterly failed to sort out what must be one of the poorest defences in football. I would have thought that getting the defence sorted out would have been the first priority any manager would do but Ralph would rather work on automatism and other weird ****. Sort the defence out, even if it means we are as boring as ****, and we will start getting somewhere. We can't lose if the opposition can't ****ing score. It really is that simple. Then concentrate on banging in goals and pretty, pretty pressing play and all the automatism. Have I lost it with Ralph? Not just yet but I am absolutely sick and tired of all the gutless turn overs and his inability to read what is happening when the opposition make a few changes and then rip us to shreds. If any of us had a leaky roof we would get on and get it repaired as a matter of urgency. I'm beginning to think Ralph would just work out a way to move the water buckets around the house more efficiently to catch the drips. Forget the buckets Ralph....fix the ****ing leaks.
If you would like to give Ralph a few million quid to sort out the problems rather than the small budget he has compared to most premier league clubs I'm sure he would oblige
To me CB is one of the most important positions in the premier league especially. Liverpool with VVD, City with Dias, Man Utd with Maguire and now Verane. Obviously they can all go and splash cash for the best, but to me we need to sign a leader, someone with experience to be able to game manage, especially when teams come at us (first 15 minutes of the second half etc). Looking at our sales, and reducing the wage bill, go and get a decent proven CB for £20 million, as his worth would probably be the difference between mid table or a definite relegation battle.
A lot of newbie teams win a few early games in the PL. My hope is that within a few weeks, disasters are averted, even if we lose, but that tactics change asap when Plan A isn't working. If there is no change there then 'we' will have to reassess the situation. New players, young heads, everyone fit, it takes time, once again we have to be patient for a while is my approach. Not easy but that's the way it is.
Ok, agree that £ is an issue. But, when something isn’t working and you have proven tools to fix it, then why not. In this case Stuart Armstrong is very capable and almost always has an impact on the game. Unless he wasn’t quite fit, in which case he shouldn’t have been on the bench.
First, I really rate JWP and he does an immense job. But we need a true blood and guts leader on the pitch and unless a typical Saints youngster is really exceptional we won’t find one without actively pursuing one. Hate to say it, but we miss a Fonte type dreadfully.
The defence has never been the same since Jose and VVD left and we still lack that leader that marshalls the defence. Salisu may turn into that player but he is still raw at PL level. We should absolutely get in an experienced CB with whatever is left from the Ings and Vester money.
We lack experience in defence still and need another midfielder to help control the game, we consistently lose control of the midfield 2nd half. There is a lot of work to do in this window if we are to stay up or indeed get to mid table but i suspect it wont happen. We cannot just buy young players, a one tactic policy wont work. Yes it can be the primary approach (and i like it) but there has to be some balance
Think a massive part of yesterday can be put down to how good Doucoure was. We lost the midfield because he was immense and probably should have added Diablo in a three instead of taking off Romeu
“Boring as **** …” - isn’t that what got Puel the sack, even though we ended up 8th? As I said to someone (who was moaning about how boring the football had become) at the time “be careful what you wish for - we may end up playing exciting football but losing and getting relegated …” So now those moaners want us to go back to “boring football”? ****ing fickle football fans …. (Nice alliteration there )
We've raised about £55m in transfer fees this summer (and that's before you include the wages saved). We've spent about £30m this summer. So that's still almost half the budget unspent (and that assumes we started with a nil budget). Burney, Everton, West Ham have barely spent a penny. Norwich, Watford, Newcastle, Brentford and Leeds I think have all spent less than us - and without the benefit of raising us much as we have in transfer fees. Granted, we're not in the same boat as Brighton - who seemingly still have the £50m for Ben White burning their pockets - but our net spend to date should mean that there is still money to spend. And whilst the likes of City and Chelsea are splashing the cash, it's not like the entire league is and leaving us behind in the process. We've spent more than many, and should have the capacity to continue to do so. I looked at that Burnley XI yesterday, and my immediate thought was "you can always rely on Burnley to pick the same team season-after-season". They just don't buy players, period (and unlike some of us, they actually have been taken over!)
Not disagreeing but I’d say their midfield looks the same more so, gaping holes with WHU just blitzing forward. I think we can do something up their if we get it right in the middle (and the back).
