Match Thread: SAINTS vs Arsenal

I'm backing Guly to open the scoring in the first five so we wont need to worry about how he's received. I thought it was nice for Rickie's goal when he and Schneiderlin both pointed to Guly and were very praising of him and welcomed him into the group hug where they ruffled his hair like the cheeky chappy he is, think it shows that they know he is not a universally popular player with the fans, but is popular with the players.

I think Lambie mentioned it before the Stoke game, but Guly is a bit unpredictable, for us and other teams, and very much an unqualified substance. Teams will have seen plenty of Rickie, Gaston, Puncheon and even Rodriguez by now, but Guly they wont have seen much of and is tough to legislate for so he could end up catching them off guard. Hopefully, anyway.

Hopefully he will also have taken great confidence from dismantling the leagues best defence (And no-one will have told him they were without their best defenders) and will have put his miss completely out of his mind!

 

I was sat on the left side of tha stand at stoke. When the players walked to the tunnel in the corner (at half and full time) there was a large proportion of the fans cheering Guly. Genuinely.

 

We’re just concentrating on what we’re going to do and that’s what we’ve gone and done,” Nigel told Saints Player. “We know Arsenal are a good football side, wWe’re just concentrating on what we’re going to do and that’s what we’ve gone and done,” Nigel told Saints Player. “We know Arsenal are a good football side, we know they’ve got threats in the team, but we’re going to concentrate on what we’re doing. We’re at home, it’s going to be a full house, it’s New Year’s Day, on the telly and it’s going to be a cracking game so we’ve got to enjoy it.”

Despite a heavy defeat in the reverse fixture during September, Adkins says there’s plenty of belief within the squad that Saints will at least match their opponents in Tuesday’s evening kick-off at St Mary’s.


“We actually outpassed Arsenal that day,” the gaffer recalls, “and for half an hour we did very, very well. Jos goes off injured, they scored a goal, and then for Maya Yoshida it’s a ‘welcome to the Premier League’ after one day of training with us.


“They were on fire Arsenal though as well. They created problems for us and they will for a lot of other teams, but we’ve learnt a lot from that game; there were a lot of positives to take from it.


“We were very close against Manchester City and Manchester United when you look at those games, so what we’ve got to do is keep on working very, very hard, when the opportunities come a long and keep scoring goals.”


Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Stoke epitomised the presence in front of goal Saints have had of late, but Adkins believes his side have proved they are stronger at the other end of the field too.


“We seem to have a far better defensive resolve and we’ve got a point from the Stoke game where it’s taken a great strike to deny us a win, but we’re playing against the best players and we have to remember that.


“We’ve had two defeats in the last nine games which shows that we are moving in the right direction.


“Again, we’ve demonstrated that we can score goals, which is important, and we’ve tightened up at the back. The goals against column now means we’re in a far healthier position than we were at the start of the season.”


Having recalled Guly, Jay Rodriguez and Jos Hooiveld into his starting line up over the weekend, Adkins may look to change his team around once more, but confirmed that he will be without his skipper again.


“Adam Lallana won’t be fit for the Arsenal game,” he stated.



“Nathaniel Clyne didn’t play against Stoke City and we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s available for selection or selected to play against Arsenal.”e know they’ve got threats in the team, but we’re going to concentrate on what we’re doing. We’re at home, it’s going to be a full house, it’s New Year’s Day, on the telly and it’s going to be a cracking game so we’ve got to enjoy it.”


Despite a heavy defeat in the reverse fixture during September, Adkins says there’s plenty of belief within the squad that Saints will at least match their opponents in Tuesday’s evening kick-off at St Mary’s.


“We actually outpassed Arsenal that day,” the gaffer recalls, “and for half an hour we did very, very well. Jos goes off injured, they scored a goal, and then for Maya Yoshida it’s a ‘welcome to the Premier League’ after one day of training with us.


“They were on fire Arsenal though as well. They created problems for us and they will for a lot of other teams, but we’ve learnt a lot from that game; there were a lot of positives to take from it.


“We were very close against Manchester City and Manchester United when you look at those games, so what we’ve got to do is keep on working very, very hard, when the opportunities come a long and keep scoring goals.”


Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Stoke epitomised the presence in front of goal Saints have had of late, but Adkins believes his side have proved they are stronger at the other end of the field too.


“We seem to have a far better defensive resolve and we’ve got a point from the Stoke game where it’s taken a great strike to deny us a win, but we’re playing against the best players and we have to remember that.


“We’ve had two defeats in the last nine games which shows that we are moving in the right direction.


“Again, we’ve demonstrated that we can score goals, which is important, and we’ve tightened up at the back. The goals against column now means we’re in a far healthier position than we were at the start of the season.”


Having recalled Guly, Jay Rodriguez and Jos Hooiveld into his starting line up over the weekend, Adkins may look to change his team around once more, but confirmed that he will be without his skipper again.


“Adam Lallana won’t be fit for the Arsenal game,” he stated.


“Nathaniel Clyne didn’t play against Stoke City and we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s available for selection or selected to play against Arsenal.”

 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on Twitter:

"Really looking forward to going back to where it all began for me tomorrow. So many amazing memories there! #StMarys #Saints"

 

So was i lovelocum, and i second that ! tbh i find that the proportion that gives Guly support is huge and the anti-Guly-at-any-cost brigade are so minimal - quite a few get frustrated by Guly at times but mostly not in a nasty way.

 

Just watched Adkins on Player...good to see him back to his bright-eyed, bushy-tailed manic best. Makes you feel better about a game and the future just listening to him.

 

If Guly starts then I'm going for a 3-2 Saints win. If he doesn't then I'm going for a 4-1 loss.

 

Yes he should be on prescription!

 

Saints Official Calendar for January features Danny Fox and Frazer Richardson are they likely to tempt fate today? Not sure either will start?

 

Don't fancy Danny defending against Walcott and Oxo!

 

Perhaps he knows something we don't, like having a world class centre back lined up? We always talk about the first goal being important and today is just as important. Arsenal are unbeaten so far this season after scoring first!

 

An early Wilshere sending off in a Paul Scholes type challenge may be just what is needed...

 

Wilshire or Cazorla will do for me, I'm not bothered which.

As decent and as threatening as Theo, Chamberlain and Podolski are, it's those two who generally run the show when Arsenal are on it.

 

Matt Le Tiss got pitchside!! This is his location for the day apparently.

please log in to view this image

 

Surely he's not being allowed to commentate?

 

If you look carefully enough in the top left you can see Nicola with a sniper rifle.

 

Haha good one Mikey! Let's hope he has a bullet for whinging Wenger too!

 

Tiss is doing some punditry for Sky it seems. He's stood pitchside with Alan Smith talking about the WBA/Fulham game on Sky Sports 1.

 

Wonder who has his season ticket

 

Hope Guly plays on the wing in front of Le Tiss.