Can't have physios on while the ball is in play. Inevitably the ball would travel towards the player who is down injured and would put both him and the physio at risk. But I do agree something needs to be done about players faking a head injury.
Fair play to Rusk for sorting the defence out in just 2 games. Horrific from an attacking perspective, disjointed and lacking in any ambition, the players looked like they didn't know each other going forward. But that is not on Rusk he had to sort the defence out in the limited time he had and give us something to build on. Over to you Ivan
We’ll it was a pleasure watching us win a point and getting a clean sheet MOTM contenders for me had to be the 3 CDs, Bedders edges it Word of warning, I’ve seen Saints teams before that could defend when they didn’t attack and attack when they didn’t defend However, in the situation we’re in, I think this was exactly the performance that we needed Dibling really shouldn’t be playing up front, it’s a waste of his talents at the moment
After sleeping on it, much the same as everyone on here. Solid defensively, but toothless up front. That isn't a bad thing in our position as it is better than the other way around. Concede maybe 1 a game and you can still get something out of it - even if it is not justified. Concede 3 or 4 and you will end up will no points. I have said it probably a hundred times since Martin went, but it really does go to prove that 'his philosophy' is **** and will never work. We are one of the crappier teams in the PL no doubt, but not 8 points worst than the least crappy if it wasn't for RM.
Sadly that won't happen. Firstly, TP isn't suited to press and secondly Juric likes to play a 3-4-2-1 so unless Archer plays deeper it won't happen unless we're chasing the game.
But, you have hit the nail on the head. If tactics need changing mid game that go against his 'normal' style, he probably will. Under RM we could be (and usually were) chasing the game, but just passed around aimlessly between ourselves
Yep, use TP to hold up the ball/be a focal point. One good thing about Che was his hold up play. It was his finishing that let him down
Funnily enough, whilst I felt it best for both Saints and Che to part ways, he be far more effective in a 3-4-2-1 formation at the top. I’d also be wanting Archer as one of the two behind the main striker. Oh and a new striker. And please Santa, take AA back to your shop floor to make gifts with the other elfs.
Boxing day match thread under construction, a second large mug of coffee will help the creative juices.
Wasn't impressed with the referee yesterday either. Somewhat inconsistent with his decision making. It was also the same ref who let a pre-season friendly turn into a pre-season punch up when we played Lazio. He didn't manage the players well on that day and wasn't great with player management yesterday either. Against Lazio, he was far too slow to realise the temperature of the game was reaching boiling point and lost control. There was no danger of that yesterday, but you could see the frustration of the players with him. It's all well and good knowing the laws of the game inside out but if you can't communicate effectively with the players then you're always going to struggle.
Ref watch seemed to be undecided on the KWP penalty, having watched the replays I am of the opinion that it was the last tap tackle on the line that was the critical moment and to me it was a foul, if it had been a big club against us, I reckon it would have been given because VAR would have looked at more carefully
It is that inconsistent application that drives us wild. Seen so many decisions against us that in other matches get ignored. Then comments like ‘not a foul in a match like this’ as if big clubs have a completely different rule set.
