Fabrice was marmite really. He was very frustrating, and got heaps of abuse from some quarters, but he was a naturally gifted player in a team of workhorses. Only Anders Svennson in that side came near him for skill.
I totally understand the comment about Puncheon not exciting you. I'm a huge Puncheon fan, and he doesn't even excite me either. He has neither electric pace, nor an accurate thunderbolt shot, nor quick, skillful feet a la Ronaldo or Nani or Taarabt. He's a million miles away from being an exciting winger, who lifts you as a supporter off your seat with anticipation and excitment whilst at the same time scaring the life out of the opposition full-back. But that does not for one second mean that he hasn't been one of our stand out players this season (actually, in my opinion, he's been our number one stand out player this season). The guy has been brilliant for us.
Punch does seem to have struck up a useful partnership with Clyne, especially when we are on the front foot and Clyne can get forward and support Punch to good effect. I've found him (Punch) quite exciting to watch on a few occasions, as he seems to attack with purpose, as oppose to Steve, who lovely guy as he is, seems his days are numbered here?
When Puncheon is decisive and direct he can be our most exciting player bar none, when his head is staring straight down checking if his shoe laces are tied, and he just weaves around cutting backwards and forwards whilst squared up against a full-back but making absolutely no ground, he can be our most frustrating and boring player. The problem with Puncheon is that he's your classic hot and cold player, when his tails up and the team is flowing, he is incredibly dangerous, when he's struggling and the team is grinding away trying to break a team down, he provides almost nothing to the team. Players like Lambert can be having a rubbish day, look miserable and have done almost nothing in the game, then all of a sudden snatch a goal and win you the game, when Puncheon is having a rubbish day he can almost be a liability. He's had a few very poor games but we can also thank him for winning us several points, and for me he'd be up there with Lallana and Schneiderlin in terms of player of the season so far. For me he's a consistent right foot away from being a class player, his dependance on his left completely undermines his ability.
de ridder didnt look good enough in the games he played in the championship, there's no way he's good enough here. wouldnt be surprised if he goes out on loan in january.
I was always amazed by the positive reputation De Ridder has received amongst Saints fans but this post sums it up for me, especially as a more talented player like Guly seemed to attract alot of very unfair criticism. Last season he seemed to struggle to be anything more than an impact player and 50% of the time this was not successful. I wasn't convinced he was really up to Championship level and although I wasn't surprised (albeit disappointed) to see Billy Sharpe move on, De Ridder was one of the first names I imagined would be released back in the summer. Only Jonathan Forte has really matched De Ridder as perhaps Nigel's least successful acquisition. Given a run in the Champuonship, he might be able to establish himself at this level with a smaller club but I think Saints need to start looking towards a higher calibre of winger.
Mikey For me Puncheon is a shoe-in so far as our player of the season. In the first few matches when the rest of the team was struggling with the Premiership it was Puncheon who seemed the only player worthy of this league. Luckily we have started to learn what this league is all about and whilst I could also make a case for Lallana, Cork and Ramirez, for me Puncheon has been uniformly excellent at hime this season and nearly always the "Man of the match" is most games. He seems to get better with each game in my opinion. Cheers Ian
Good post Ian. Hopefully, Puncheon's goal against Reading will prove to be a turning point for him, as he scored it with his right foot! If he could just occasionally go outside the full back and cross with his right he'd be a world beater, as good as he is already.
Puncheon seems to have a good rapport with Clyne. He is also an aggressive, direct player who is always looking to score which is needed on the current side as sometimes Saints try to pass it about too much looking for the perfect shot. But all that really says Puncheon fits into the squad playing what for now is an important role, not that he is necessarily a great player. There are players who are better at that than Puncheon, and in fact Lee or Mayuka may surpass him by the end of the season. Puncheon really plays more as a outside forward looking to score and the problem is that he really isn't that prolific a scorer, just better and more willing than anyone else currently at that position. I also wouldn't mind a more traditional winger who cuts inside less, as Lallana already does that on the left. That would give Saints an extra dimension. And if Ramirez comes good, he should be able to take care of the middle. No need for four players bunching up in the middle.
After January I'm hoping we'd have four decent wingers at the club: Lallana, Puncheon, Mayuka and a new signing.
I think he's right up there as the top candidate for our best player but would make a strong case for Lallana as I think he's been more consistent, less high points but less low points. I think maybe your unequivocal praise as opposed to my slightly tempered praise may be due to some of his better games being at home and some of his worst being away. As I'm guessing from you saying that he has been uniformly excellent at home is because you're a ST holder and have been to all the home games but have not seen the away games other than highlights? Forgive me if I am misinterpreting that but that's the impression I get. Most of his best games, United, Villa, Fulham (defensively), Newcastle and Reading were at home whilst his only good away performance came against QPR. His best games have come when the team was playing well and the other team was not particularly on song. Against Fulham, Spurs, Swansea, Norwich, Sunderland, West Ham, Liverpool and Fulham again, games in which the team generally struggled going forwards, he was mostly ineffective and counter-productive to the team. When his, and the teams, confidence is up, he can be direct and assured in his play, he will get the ball, know what he wants to do with it, and do it, whether that's beat a man, pass, cross, shoot, whatever. When he's not fully flowing and the team is struggling to get any attacks together, he is the polar opposite, he is unsure of what he is doing, he will over-do things, he will try the same things repeatedly such as cutting to and fro to try and beat defenders whilst not making even a foot of ground on them, he will pass up shooting opportunities that he would otherwise take in favour of doing one more cut-back or some such. For these reasons he is not a complete player to me and it makes him a frustrating player at times. All of that being said, I still think he's been very good for us this season and I don't mean to criticise him so much as these are just little niggles I have with his game and things that just undermine him somewhat from my point of view. Unfortunately these things just come down to opinion for the most part rather than anything quantifiable.
I think he'd be better on the wing with his pace and lack of height. Jeremain Lens and I think he'd give great competition to our current wingers and should do a good job for us.
