There's hardly a massive drop-off after our current eleven. Yeah, we don't go twenty-deep in quality, but we can make changes to the starting lineup.
I am not too sure what to make of Palace so far. They beat Sunderland, which is more than we did, and conceded just a single goal at Old Trafford, but then I watched Their game v Swansea and their defence was a shambles with alarming gaps appearing. If Saints front four get their act together this could well be a game where we boost our goal difference, otherwise we may be looking at another frustrating goalless draw.
The last game and a half we have been excellent, not expecting us to be that good for the 90 minutes but a few brief spells of superiority and we should win this easily. With Gaston I think he's a front runner that needs the game to be open, I wouldn't fancy bringing him on if we are needing a goal against a tight defence, he can pick a pass better than anyone in our team but he plays a loose game that isn't suited to a tight defence where there is no space in between the the opposition's defence and midfield. He has excellent technique and should be able to play it in tight as well as anyone on the team but that's not the way he plays and I would prefer davis to come on until Gaston can demonstrate that he can keep the ball efficiently when there isn't an option on. Case in point was against Norwich where he kept looking for a ball in behind when there wasn't one. He will change the dynamic of our attack but there is too much of a risk of him not clicking with the rest of our team unless the game is open which is where he is at his best. I like the way we have played 2 strikers in the last game and a half and can't understand the criticism of it tactically as it has worked well, Lambert had a poor game against Liverpool but we outplayed them tactically. The 25 minutes when we didn't have 2 strikers we defended and counterattacked excellently but Osvaldo was isolated and I wouldn't conclude from those 25 minutes that we would be a better side playing with only 1 striker. A few more matches together and I think Lambert and Osvaldo will have the understanding and midfield-fullback support to operate better than any alternative.
Match day! Far too early to be a 'must win', but this is a great opportunity to answer those questions (that make Mauricio explode): can we beat lesser opposition?, can Dani and Lambert work together?, can we score from open play?, can we win at home? etc. MP (quite rightly) thinks we are playing well, goals will come and the number of games played is too small to come to conclusions. We are in a good position and a win here would make it eleven points from the first six games, which is near the target set by many to be a great start to the season if we are to finish top ten (which we will).
As Mauricio said, we are doing well (points-wise) without the strikers firing on all cylinders, what will it be like when they do? We seem to be a team that need to make a lot of opportunities in order to get the requisite number of goals (not a new phenomenon, we were doing this under Adkins)...we have to stop hitting the woodwork and (as MP said) making heroes out of goalkeepers. Respectful pause to remember our own hero, Boruc. I have an impossible dream: that we score early and get at least three goals.
The missus has bet me I can't go the whole day without knowing the football score until MotD! 15 years ago that would have been easy but now its everywhere. From 3 o clock no forum, no internet, no phone! Then I have to put up with x-factor as well. Lucky I have my PS3
The only time I tried it...it worked...then I watched the highlights of the most boring England 0.0 I'd ever seen. Never tried again.
I'm feeling confident enough about today to risk admitting how confident I am, without fear of putting the hex on us. We have the best squad of players we've had at Saints since Chris Nicholl got sacked, and there's been plenty of signs this season that the clapped out Nissan is about to become a softly purring Jag. Hopefully, today will be the day. On the other hand, my inner pessimist is whispering convincingly that we're in for another 90 mins of frustration. But I shan't be listening to him.
I am confident for the team and the manager...not for every game individually (because any team can lose)...but over the whole season. That doesn't happen often for a Saints fan.
If you want, we can have a 'look away if you don't want to know the score' thread - then tell you when it's safe to come back to us Sent from my iPhone
My only concerns about today is that Lawro is predicting a Saints victory and, worse still, I can see use getting a two goal winning margin. My final score predictions are usually off - so I won't tempt it by adding more hexes for todays game. Missing St Mary's so much this season - cannot wait to get home for the Xmas break to catch a game...not sure about sitting in the cold however...
This was going to be the first game I could make this season, but marooned at home on sick leave...so my son will be my representative at SMS. Won't care as long as we get 3 points. COYR
