[video=youtube;_ZIOQ1c_YfM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZIOQ1c_YfM&feature=plcp[/video] I found this on Saintsweb, haven't watched it yet but this should give a good insight into how good Ramirez is.
Saw Ramirez play a few times last season (once in the flesh!). He is a classy, classy player. Very lightweight however and is seen as a bit of a fancy dan. Similar to Lallana. I'm not expecting an instant impact, and would imagine Adkins will try to get a bit of weight on him. From the reports I've seen (see Rupert Fryer on twitter, south american expert) he thinks Saints are a good fit, not too much pressure on him personally. Personally, I can't wait to see our team now. I saw Ramirez score at the San Siro against Milan last season and he can do things with the ball which other players wouldn't even think about, if he gets his head right he may be very special. I do fear a club like Spurs/Chelsea will be in for him next year and he will be another waste (Victor Moses/Marko Marin). Mayuka is being touted as are best signing by people in the know, and he was excellent in the ACON last year. I think if we manage to stay up this year then we will be in a great position for next. I just pray the reactionary fans which are propping up on Solent sod-off. Hopefully this forum has some more level-headed Saints fans...
Thats strange most people in the know would know Steven Davis is the best signing by a long long way .
Buying Ramirez is astute in the fact if we go down we will get a good return on him . Realistic you see , the board and some Saints fans .
Ramirez made the most passes for Uruguay last night.. (48/353) not sure what his completion rate is for those 48 passes. He also had the most shots for Uruguay 3/7. Uruguay recovered 99 balls last night, Ramirez recovered 13 of them which was the 2nd most in the team. Shows he's very much an all rounder which would suit the Saints style, let's hope he can put some good performances in!
Ramirez was a class apart in that match, you can just tell by the way he does the simple things that he has immense skill, in fairness he had quite a bit of space but even when he didn't he was able to pick a pass or on one occasion glide past two players. Importantly it seems that Ramirez won't be a luxury player either as he frequently filled in for the left back and picked up his man. What makes me so excited about him is that I think Southampton will be perfect for him, and he perfect for Southampton. Last year we were too dependent on Lallana and Lambert for creativity and with Ramirez in the team everyone will benefit from that little bit of extra creativity which I think might sway quite a few matches in saints favour.
Just listened to Rickie Lambert on the Premier League podcast. Interesting question was asked, saying how Ramirez is getting on in training, and it turns out they haven't trained together yet. I imagine he'll get his first session tomorrow, considering he may still be in Uruguay. Hopefully they'll be some sort of footage on Saints Player of Ramirez. I'd be surprised if he starts against Arsenal.
I would also, same with Yoshida, who I think will probably be meeting the team for the first time today.
I think although he hasn't played yet, Yoshida is our best signing because if we didn't sign a CB and one of ours got injured then we'd be playing someone like Seaborne/Stephens. Best player to have signed so far I think is Clyne, but he needs new boots! I'd expect Ramirez to take over that title once he starts playing regularly.
Maybe they will unveil a classy centre back who is premiership quality who has been deep deep undercover................................
I'd be very hesitant to call Yoshida our best signing considering none of us know how good he is, and he's not had incredible reviews from all corners of the globe (or even the Netherlands).
No he has not , I pointed out last year his team shipped more goals than any other in the Eredivisie and got whalloped for it as being negative , nothing like the truth getting in the way of well the truth I suppose..........................................
Interesting little stat that is. Obviously VVV aren't one of the bigger clubs in Holland so maybe he will develop mo0re around better players. Can't recall ever seeing him play so it will be interesting to see how we get on. I was sceptical when we signed Tadanari, but he looks like he could still develop into a top notch player.
Only saw brief snippets of the game yesterday, getting pissed with Colombian mates after thier great performance. Ramirez really does get fouled alot which points to two posibilites 1. he is a cheating diving scumbag (which I do not think he is, 2. he is a tricky bugger and the defenders can not cope with him (which I think is the case). He earned alot of freekicks in dangerous areas which bodes well for Rickie, But Ramirez will be fighting for freekick duty and he is a lefty
Don't think he's lightweight, he's surprisingly strong when he wants to be, I mean he's 6ft tall and all of about 12 and a half stone, he's the kind of player who can dribble closely with the ball while bustling through players, kind of Yaya Toure like but nowhere near the powerhouse that Yaya is obviously. His main problem, like a lot of continental 'flair' players, is that he's a bit theatrical, if you want to call it that, which I think is what gives him that 'lightweight' title, so hopefully we can push that out of his game. But yeah, he's not going to put Nemanja Vidic on the deck, but he can handle himself against most full-backs, and probably outrstrength most of them, which will probably be who he's coming up against. He was the joint fifth most fouled player in the top European leagues last year. And it's a bit of both. He does go down easily and do the old 'roll around clutching my legs/face' routine sometimes, but he did also legitimately get fouled a lot.
