Schneiderlin is great at retaining possession and moving it on, something that Hammond and Chaplow cannot do.
In my over 1,000 Saints games I've seen, I have to say, I have never disagreed as strongly about what other fans see in a player as I do Schneiderlin. I really don't get it. He doesn't score. He doesn't create. He doesn't tackle. He slows the game to a crawl. He's not missed when he's out of the team. What am I missing?
Stephens has hardly had chance to get to know anybody yet, he improved in the second half Saturday and I am sure he will get a lot better with a few games under his belt, unfortunately we haven't got that kind of luxury, people that are put in have to hit the ground running.
He does tackle, and when he does, he retains possession of the ball. He can pick a pass out, as he has done on many occasion, and his range of passing is great. None of our CMs can pass the ball as accurately as him, and I'm sure if he was put in an attacking role he would score, he has a good shot on him as proven in the Toulon tournament pre-season.
Remember Schneiders against Blackpool? He was absolute class all game! He's got it in him and I think playing at a higher standard suits him. Agreed that stephens, schneiderlin, chambo and lallana looks a bit lightweight though.
Schneiderlin's game against Man U in the holding role in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation (diamond) shows how good he can be. I feel he'll be better against less "grit & determination" style teams.
What do you lot make of this stat then... Of the 13 defeats we've suffered this season in all competitions, Schneiderlin has played in 9 of them. When he hasn't played, we've only lost 4 games.
It's very easy to find stats which go in ones favour. Prior to his injury against Walsall, Morgan had played in 11 of our 15 league victories. Personally, I don't think my stat or your stat has much relevance over Schneiderlin and his ability, value to the team etc.
