SOUTHAMPTON manager Mauricio Pochettino has an admirer in the shape of Sunderland head coach Paolo Di Canio. The duo are two of the newest Premier League bosses. And last season the rookies were locked in a relegation battle when the Italian first arrived at the Stadium of Light in April â the two teams going on to share a 1-1 draw on Wearside on their way to securing survival. Back then, they hoped to be competing in the same league at a higher level in the following campaign. And Di Canio travelled to the south coast tomorrow hoping that the pair are still on course to do that â though he accepts Southampton have put themselves in pole position by investing £35million on three new players to add to an already impressively emerging squad. The Sunderland boss told the Echo: âI had a long conversation with Pochettino last season after our game at the Stadium of Light. âI liked him â he was very good, very intelligent, a good lad and I like his style of football. âHe wants to play football with movement and understanding and he wants it to be attractive and exciting. âI wished him the best of luck because we are in a similar situation. âHe was new to the Premier League and so was I, and we both want to establish a good reputation here. âHe made an impact at Southampton, but, when we talked last season, we talked about how we both hoped we would both stay up and maybe go on to compete for higher places in the league.â Di Canio thinks Pochettino has every chance of doing that, given the investment going on in an already prospering squad. He said: âThe signing of Pablo Daniel Osvaldo is a good one â for the future, heâs going to be a top quality footballer who will give them good service. âThey are a good side and, if they integrate the three new signings in what is already a good system that suits them, they can easily finish in the top 10. âWhat impresses me is that they now have a good substitutesâ bench â that is crucial in this league, because you need to make changes in games which can improve your side. âThey play 4-3-3 and they know how to use it, they pass the ball well, so it will be an interesting contest. âBut we will look to do well. âWe will look to pass the ball out from our own half and cause problems and there are two or three areas where we can tighten up.â Cant wait for Saturday! You guys wont sit back like Fulham did last weekend and neither will we so I expect a very attractive game of football.
Anything other than the dire, sower of garbage that you served us last December will be good thanks I still have an occasional nightmare about how we lost that game and how dire O'Neil's tactics were. I have a little niggle that PDC may go against all he has said and try to stifle us a little more than he's indicating. If we score in the first 15 minutes, I think we'll go on and turn you over comfortably. If not, or you score first, then I think you won't be as adventurous as some people are thinking you will be.
I think if Sunderland come to St Mary's and try to attack us, we'll destroy them. We struggle to break down teams that go very defensive, but we thrive when there is space, such as against the big teams we beat last season.
If Sunderland are going to come and try to play an attacking game, passing out from the back then I can only see a home win. This is the sort of game where our pressure higher up the pitch will pay off as opposed to Newcastle away last year where their direct style made our pressure redundant by bypassing the midfield with long balls. As has been said above the teams we struggle against are the ones who sit back. So if Sunderland do come and play attacking as Di Canio has said then I think we will be in for a comfortable 3-0 home win. Should Sunderland sit back then its going to be a long afternoon and I predict a 1-1 draw.
De Canio is one of those people - Luis Suarez is another - who you end up warming to in spite of your best intentions. He's a football man through and through, an entertainer, and a lover of the beautiful game. So what if he's also a nutter. Rather him than Jose "Ten behind the ball" Mourinho, who the press seem to love.
I apologize for last season's display at your place, yes we won (somehow) but MON's style was atrocious and imagine having to put up with that all season! Di Canio wont play to stifle, we dont have the players to do that anymore and he has promised attacking football so it will be open and for that reason I can see a lot of goals. You have every right to be confident that with it being open you will win but I still have that slight hope that because we are sum what of an unknown quantity it could all just click.
Or Sunderland could equally claim that our style of play favours them better than us sitting back. It's who is best at the pressing game...my money is on us, but mustn't get too complacent.
