Fox played much better today and to me was not to blame for the goals. I am still of the opinion that he will need to be replaced at the end of the season if not sooner if Saints want to be a safe mid-table team but I have no complaints about him today. He played well enough that if he can do this consistently he should be able to hold the fort until the cavalry can arrive. And for him, he justified a place in the squad at least as a rotation member for now. And as long as he gets a chance to play, he has a chance to make me eat my words which hopefully happens as it is good for Saints as well as the fact that I like him and hope he succeeds. Hooiveld was the same story to me. Unlucky today though it continues to look like he has his hands full and is marginal at this level. He might make it, he might not but he did enough today to get by. I was a bit disappointed with Lallana, and this isn't the first time. To say I blame him for either goal is a bit harsh. He's a creative force and should be freed from having to assume too many defensive responsibilities. He's not a great tackler and probably never will be. But I do think he could be a bit smarter about his positioning and knowing when to go for it and when to hang back a little. I don't expect him to stop attacks, but I do expect him to be able to slow them down a little and hopefully give the defenders time to set up. I thought he was a bit negligent today as far as that goes, but not for lack of effort. I think he still hasn't adjusted to the speed with which Premier League teams can turn a defensive position into a dangerous counter attack but he can learn. Puncheon had a surprisingly good game for me today. When he is on the pitch, he usually gives good effort on offense and defense but I don't think he typically plays with much intelligence. But today he was good.
Agree with all this. I got the impression in the post match interview that Lallana was aware that he had let the team down a bit. He left Fox horrible exposed on more than one occasion.
Another week another thread about Danny Fox? He was inadequate, but no where near as bad as Maya filling in at right back. Why the **** was there no reserve full back on the bench? ****ing disastrous subs by Adkins yet again.
Hoover was a rock for us last season, but his class wasn't carved in stone, we took him for granite that may have been a mistake.
I don't think people are "blaming" Adam for the goals, more a case of saying they weren't Fox's fault. Adam was used in mitigation for the case of defense for Mr Fox. The jury are contemplating their verdict.
