Southampton need Gastón Ramírez to pull them together in midfield

Article courtesy of The Guardian's Michael Cox. I think he has a point, for what it's worth.

There was space today between the back four of WHU and their midfield, which Gastón could have exploited.

It did seem a little unbalanced today, and that led to the CF, be it Lambert or Osvaldo, being drawn deeper and deeper to obtain possession.

I'm really keen to see how he links up with Dani. I like Osvaldo from the bits I have seen, he appears to have great movement and awareness, and I feel Gastón's style would suit him too.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/15/southampton-gaston-ramirez-mauricio-pochettino


Thoughts?


DTLW

 

To date I have seen little from Gaston that hints that he can improve the teams performance so far but would be delighted to be proven wrong

 

Give him a chance definitely, we need to try something different because it isn't working at present

 

We've needed that since we signed him, but he hasn't done it. He's basically a trequartista.

 

Said this from day 1. I personally think he and Osvaldo will work very well. Throwing the controversial (and very possibly incorrect) opinion out there for discussion - Osvaldo is a far more accomplished striker than Rickie, and as such plays in a way that would suit bigger teams, much like Gaston potentially. If we want to progress, and I mean *really* step forward, we need to trust this type of quality and allow it time to blend, rather than rely on more industrial traits.

Like I say, just a thought, and not one I'm committed to, but perhaps am leaning toward. Be interesting to hear other thoughts.

 

Wasnt at the game and only got to watch on telly, but something didnt seem right today in terms of the players linking up in the final third.

Although initially I thought the front 3 may work, I think today showed that combination had its limitations, there seemed glaring holes in our midfield, that combined with some wayward passing from a lot of players today meant that Lambert dropped further back.

As I tweeted earlier, I was surprised that MP didnt try something different in terms of style against a very one dimensional Wets Spam team, who despite being beset by a lot of injuries, were let off the hook by us and will be well glad of a point. Putting Gaston on in place of a largely ineffective JayRod and going 442 with RL and PDO up front would have seemed a reasonable last throw of the dice, rather than letting the game peter out the way it did.

As Ive put on a different thread, Gaston has got to do a lot to impress me, but today seemed like an ideal chance for him to come on and offer that creative spark.

Just my opinion though...

 

I was saying the same to my mates saying he needed to come on!

 

I'm normally pretty positive but some of the selections are causing me to scratch my head. Why isn't Ramirez playing? Why isn't cork on the bench? Where is Maya Yoshida?

I want these points explained so I can relax and go on thinking the best about everything.

 

Personally I think one of Ramirez or Davis should always play. Which depends on the form on the two, the opponent and whether we are home or away. Ramirez is a frustrating player and has been poor at times but he should have started today or at the very least got on the pitch with it being a home game against a side we expected to dominate. You only want two of Rodriguez, Osvaldo and Lambert starting. They all have a natural instinct to lead the line. Starting with three players wanting to do that at the same time is too many.

One of Lambert or Osvaldo needs to drop to the bench for the next game since Rodriguez is a counter attacking threat or an outlet if Liverpool get on top. If we want to play on the counter then I'd start with Osvaldo and bring in Davis for Lambert. If we want to take Liverpool on and outplay them then we should start with Lambert and Ramirez for Osvaldo IMO.

 

Dark Lord, there has been plenty to see that could improve the team, what hasn't happened, is Ramirez showing any consistency. Buy me a beer and we can discuss this

Right now though I think Gaston needs to prove his worth and I wouldn't be turning straight to him. Surprised he didn't come on today as 30 minutes at the end could have swung it.

 

I can understand you asking the first two questions. But with just two goals conceded in four games, and a relationship seemingly developing between Fonte and Lovren, I'm not sure we need to be concerning ourselves with Yoshida too much.

 

That article sums up my thoughts very well. It's baffling why he played no part today.

I'm getting quite concerned about Pochettino's reluctance to use him, Cork and Yoshida, although I accept the international games may be playing a role there.

I'd love to know the reasoning behind these decisions because it's difficult to see them as very successful.

 

I agree. But he wasn't on the bench. It's curiosity mostly!

 

As for Yoshida, I am genuinely in agreement with him that Fonte and Lovren are better. Cork not being on the bench is hard on him but I can understand it given the competition, and Ramirez is just so unreliable and there's a chance he's no more impressive in training than he has been on the pitch.

 

If Cork is not starting then he is a waste as sub because he offers little extra in attack.
If something happened to Wanyama or Morgan then Davis or JWP could play there.
You could argue for him instead of Chambers, but not for me.

 

I thought Lovren and Jose played well together (albeit against a poor attack).

 

Indeed. As you say, the limited/poor attack needs to be taken into consideration, but over the full 90 today I am half tempted to give Fonte MOTM. And I'm very quickly developing a man crush on Lovren. Could be the best since Killer.

 

I'll be keen to see Lovren against the top teams. So far, he has impressed me defensively and with his willingness to drive forward with the ball when the space is there. I'll ignore the one time he did it and knocks it straight out today (must have hit a bobble)

 

I think they do play well together.

 

It absolutely baffles me when the masses proclaim 'we needed Gaston to do............' or 'this game would've suited Gaston'.

The former statement is usually baffling because yes we needed Gaston to do....'insert action here' but so far in x number of games he hasn't shown he can do said action.

Then we get the 'This game would've suited Gaston' statements. Why is that? He has looked relatively good for very very few short moments at best. He would be coming in to replace Jay Rodriguez or Adam Lallana or Rickie Lambert.

Now I know they play more games and therefore have had more good moments than Gaston but what exactly has Gaston done for anyone to say 'he would've done this or that or that a game would've suited him? He is obviously a good technician but he is not and has not shown it consistently enough to oust Rodriguez or Lallana even though they aren't playing that well.

Bored of hearing he had a good game aginst Sunderland. We lost that game. Bored of hearing how well he played against Spam last season. He wasn't great at all but he scored from a ball that rebounded back to him after being blocked. The guy was anonymous for most of the Barnsley match and no doubt got a rocket up his ....for that but he scored a lte goal so he played a blinder.

TBH I think he is on the downward slope now in terms of Pochettino's plans and 12m may well buy something that Pochettino sees as more useful to what he wants in January / next summer.

Yes we need to keep good players at the club and the squad needs to improved to compete at the higher level we want to be at but that doesn't mean fill the ranks no matter what the performances.

I was surprised he was not put on today and I think that shows that maybe the doubt (or frustration) is showing from Pochettino.

On a positive note at least he isn't as bad as Jarvis is