Waiting for Spurcat now. Will be interesting to hear if the U21s were playing 4-3-3 at AVBs' behest (I assume the high line was his) , or the Academy independently decided on it.
Certainly improved in the 2nd half, but to say he was only as bad as Chiriches is damning with faint praise.....
4-3-4? No wonder they looked so good last season! How could Southampton be expected to defend against Adebayor when he can fly, anyway? please log in to view this image
What today's game showed me is that 4-4-2 isn't the solution to every game and I do wonder if Sherwood will stubbornly stick to that way of playing in every game. Sure, we'll be entertaining but we'll be pulling our hair out at the goals and possession we give away. I like 4-2-3-1 when that formation is used to attack in numbers and sit deeper in away games but AVB was too conservative and left attackers isolated. 4-4-2 today was the polar opposite and showed what players can do if given freedom but we were so exposed at times. Somewhere along the line, we need to find the right balance. But it is early days. Sherwood deserves credit for getting us a tough away win and three points. It could have so easily gone the other way and we'd all be on here talking more doom and gloom. As it stands, we still have a season to fight for which must be something to be pleased about.
Hang on - in that post-match interview Sherwood's not saying "I'll do the job as long as they need me" but "I want to do the job permanently or not at all". After that win he seems to be unashamedly thinking about how this can help his negotiations. Understandable, to be honest, but did come across a bit badly I thought. Great win, though - and I am actually happy to have Sherwood for the next few games at least. I think he's the man, right now, who can inject a bit of confidence and simplicity. Long term I'm not sure how centre midfields of Eriksen and Dembele will fare against better teams. I'm even starting to convince myself that Lamela has got real talent to come out. Anyone else noticed his increasing accuracy with his passing and confidence in possession recently? He set Ade off for our first goal nicely. I remember earlier in the season his passing success (for non-simple passes) looked like 1/10. Now I'm finding myself trust him with the ball and not expect him to lose it. And surprise surprise - new manager comes in and finds himself a very decent striker whose been ridiculously underused. And Bentaleb shows 100m worth of talent how to "gel" into a new team.
On Ade's performance, from the BBC: "You'd swear the transfer window was about to open." Never a dull moment with us. Very Harry-esque. When Spurcat posted, I certainly took it seriously. I still don't like Sherwood, but I liked the lineup. No reason to be poor and dull when you can be poor and lively. Soldado's poor as a striker, but I wish the rest of our midfielders could pass, make decisions and cross as well as he does. Bentaleb, eh? Sounds like a computer program.
Rose started slowly but has a pretty good second half. Chadli has been getting better match by match but he started from a pretty low level. Lamela was prepared to mix it, which is good but he needs to wake up. A loan to QPR would make him as a player.
Oh - and I'm even starting to not mind seeing Chadli. (Is it just that my expectations have reached rock bottom?). And yeah - I like seeing him on the right in a way. He's ****ing huge and he's not slow so if he can simply knock the ball in front of him he could reach the byline for a cross very often. Not sure how much I trust his technique but on the right we could just use his pace and power especially against tired legs.
Rose is still feeling his way back from injury but I would want BAE back tomorrow if possible. For me Rose has never looked an improvement, though that may change.
Him, Carrol and Ade coming back into the team could make this this one of the best January(ish) windows for years. That's about 35m worth of talent - of proven EPL quality in two cases and a very promising youngster whose already shown some promise in the English game. Big, big boost to the squad, potentially.
My thoughts exactly! My worry is that Sherwood will prove to be just as one-dimensional as AVB, and that we'll merely be swapping one way of screwing up for another. Sure, it will be more exciting to watch Sherwood's way of screwing up that it was AVB's, but most of us would rather we didn't screw up, which ever way we play. What we really need is a manager who can achieve the difficult task of balancing the best of AVB (and there was plenty that was good about him) with the best of what we saw today under Sherwood. What we absolutely do not need is another Ozzie in charge. Well, that is, if we actually want to get CL football.
"What we really need is a manager who can achieve the difficult task of balancing the best of AVB (and there was plenty that was good about him) with the best of what we" got from Arry ?? Others have already said this. AVB set his teams up well for away games, Arry gave you a first 45 min WHL blitzkrieg. There are plenty of players in this squad to do both (that is the point of assembling such a squad) .
My overall player reviews today: Lloris: Pretty shaky still. Some really dodgy decisions rushing onto the ball and punching when he could have caught the ball. We need the old Lloris back pronto! Walker: Some good runs going forward. A few times he overplayed with back heels and tricks when the simple stuff will do. Shows too much overconfidence and arrogance for me. Rose: Understandably not fully match fit but did okay. Caught in possession a few times and got away with it. Could have been punished easily on another day. Eriksen: Was it me or was he anonymous again? Did some good work hustling and pressing to get the ball back but rarely linked up with the front two which was his primary role. Dawson: Decent but some rash and panicky defending at times. Chiriches: Also had a shaky game and one run forward led to lost possession which we could have paid a heavy price for. Lamela: Totally ball watches and comes into midfield when it isn't necessary, leaving a gaping whole for saints to score through. Needs to wake up and get with the pace of this league otherwise he could find himself on the scrapheap fast! I'd like to see him out wide hugging the touchline more, trying to make runs to the by line but always cuts in. Should be tried more on the left. Dembélé: Decent game but got caught in possession a fair bit. Was exposed not having a defensive midfielder alongside him. Got injured so not a full match to reflect on. Soldado: Great running to the flanks and provided a superb cross for Ade's opening goal. On another day with more confidence, would have scored a few. Given time, patience and the same kind of service, he will come good. Adebayor; The great enigma. Why can't he play like this every week? Sigurdsson: Average for me. Again, too much cutting inside and made the midfield overcrowded and complicated. Would prefer to see Lamela on this flank to see how that pans out. Subs: Chadli: Made a real impact on the right. Clearly more comfortable on that side of the field and showed he does actually have more potential than we first may have thought. Encouraging. Bentaleb: Could have discovered a real talent in our ranks there. For a debut, looked comfortable on the ball. Never panicked. Always in control and kept things simple. Defoe: Did a job but such a short stint on the pitch meant his role was to simply keep the pressure on the Saints defence.
From the BBC website: Southampton 1-1 Tottenham Tottenham loanee Benoit Assou-Ekotto "Good luck to my man Emmanuel Adebayor. And to the manager for his first game. Need three points today!!!"
Can't disagree with much of that although very concerned about what was meant to be a more 'regular' CB partnership. Also get very frustrated with Dembele who appears unable to play a fast pass.
