The Pressing Game

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Itchen Masack

Well-Known Member
Jul 8, 2011
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Saints always get lauded for always playing a fast tempo pressing game, but recently I just don't see it. Is it the large number of injuries or just my imagination at work here?

I see us playing pressing football against the 'best' sides, but not against the 'lesser' sides and there was very little evidence of it against Spurs today. If anything they were doing it to our defence instead.
 
I think you are seeing something. I watched the Chelsea away game on television and thought we weren't pressing a lot apart from a 5-10 minute spell just after halftime. I wonder if the legs are tiring a little as I don't think we have pressed as much as previously.
 
Same pattern last year...when Poch arrived we were pressing at every turn, but in the final few games of the season it seemed to have lost its edge. I would imagine that it's fatigue.
 
Or it could be with a lot of players out ,we can't press as well with the players that have come in?
 
Fatigue? Tired !?! We've played 17 games in 20 weeks since the season began. That's bloody easy going.
 
Geordie fan in peace - I watched your game against spurs expecting you to win... YES..... I DID.

What I noticed clearly was a hard working side with 7-8 players doing their job... But onto my point.

You had a player not doing a hard working job.

Lambert was sluggish as hell.... You needed a player of his caliber to really get amongst that spurs defense and he was weak, slow and wasteful.

Lallana looks class and I can see him moving on to a top team.

You will be top half this season but I think you missed a good chance today!
 
Geordieginola said:
Geordie fan in peace - I watched your game against spurs expecting you to win... YES..... I DID.

What I noticed clearly was a hard working side with 7-8 players doing their job... But onto my point.

You had a player not doing a hard working job.

Lambert was sluggish as hell.... You needed a player of his caliber to really get amongst that spurs defense and he was weak, slow and wasteful.

Lallana looks class and I can see him moving on to a top team.

You will be top half this season but I think you missed a good chance today!
Click to expand...

No chance. He's as loyal as it gets. Stayed at Saints through the relegations and the administration, so why the hell would he leave now? He has said himself he has no interest in leaving Saints.
 
Geordieginola said:
Geordie fan in peace - I watched your game against spurs expecting you to win... YES..... I DID.

What I noticed clearly was a hard working side with 7-8 players doing their job... But onto my point.

You had a player not doing a hard working job.

Lambert was sluggish as hell.... You needed a player of his caliber to really get amongst that spurs defense and he was weak, slow and wasteful.

Lallana looks class and I can see him moving on to a top team.

You will be top half this season but I think you missed a good chance today!
Click to expand...


He never left us when we were in League 1 and the Championship despite interest from Premier League teams, so why would he want to move now?
Be careful slagging off SRL on this board!!...I agree that this wasn't one of his better days though.
 
Itchen Masack said:
Saints always get lauded for always playing a fast tempo pressing game, but recently I just don't see it. Is it the large number of injuries or just my imagination at work here?

I see us playing pressing football against the 'best' sides, but not against the 'lesser' sides and there was very little evidence of it against Spurs today. If anything they were doing it to our defence instead.
Click to expand...

You know when you first see something and your jaw drops. Then you see it again and it pleases you, but then you see it so often it just becomes normal...yeah thats it
 
Saints Alive said:
He never left us when we were in League 1 and the Championship despite interest from Premier League teams, so why would he want to move now?
Be careful slagging off SRL on this board!!...I agree that this wasn't one of his better days though.
Click to expand...

Because hes getting recognition, more than ever, because he has ambition..... and because he is a class player who can play at the highest level. No offense meant here but we have a similar situation with Cabaye. We know hes world class and can move on and you cant knock a player for having ambition. I am sorry but if he wants to fulfill his own ambition he needs to be playing Champions league football.....
 
Geordieginola said:
Because hes getting recognition, more than ever, because he has ambition..... and because he is a class player who can play at the highest level. No offense meant here but we have a similar situation with Cabaye. We know hes world class and can move on and you cant knock a player for having ambition. I am sorry but if he wants to fulfill his own ambition he needs to be playing Champions league football.....
Click to expand...

Strange how you know more about everything to do with him, including his motivations than any of us do....
 
Geordieginola said:
Because hes getting recognition, more than ever, because he has ambition..... and because he is a class player who can play at the highest level. No offense meant here but we have a similar situation with Cabaye. We know hes world class and can move on and you cant knock a player for having ambition. I am sorry but if he wants to fulfill his own ambition he needs to be playing Champions league football.....
Click to expand...

I understand where you're coming from, but Cabaye has only been at Newcastle for a couple of years and has no particular love for the club. Lallana came through the ranks at Southampton and has grown in stature as the club has, this is a guy that bleeds red and white. He will get "better" offers, and he's already had plenty by the way, and stayed, but it would take something truly extraordinary for him to leave.
 
Geordieginola said:
Because hes getting recognition, more than ever, because he has ambition..... and because he is a class player who can play at the highest level. No offense meant here but we have a similar situation with Cabaye. We know hes world class and can move on and you cant knock a player for having ambition. I am sorry but if he wants to fulfill his own ambition he needs to be playing Champions league football.....
Click to expand...
He said he wants to be playing here in his 30s and to have his kids play for us. Plus, he's not exactly Messi so it's not like he's so good he must be in the CL. If our Chairman's ambitions come true, we'll be in the CL in a few years, just as you may be with a bit of luck and more purchases!
 
I personally think Lallana falls in to the Shearer category in that playing for his home town team means more than any amount of trophies etc.

Only way I could see him leaving is if you went down (not a chance of that happening) as that would then result in him losing his place in the England squad.
 
Graham Carr's Binoculars said:
I personally think Lallana falls in to the Shearer category in that playing for his home town team means more than any amount of trophies etc.

Only way I could see him leaving is if you went down (not a chance of that happening) as that would then result in him losing his place in the England squad.
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I actually felt bad for him in League One because he was the best player in the division by far and felt like we were holding him back. We struggled to gain consistency until the last few months (ironically when Chamberlain got injured!) and it was a relief to be promoted as our squad was by far the best on paper. He was quite inconsistent in the Championship, yet still managed to be in the shortlist for the Player of the Season Award! We're currently seeing the real Lallana of whom we saw in League One and for glimpses in the Championship.
 
His form is as good now as it was in league one, but clearly he's a much, much better player than he was to be able to maintain that form in the premier league.

He's always had the touch and technique but he's added a lot more to his game. If only he could shoot!
 
pass the football said:
His form is as good now as it was in league one, but clearly he's a much, much better player than he was to be able to maintain that form in the premier league.

He's always had the touch and technique but he's added a lot more to his game. If only he could shoot!
Click to expand...

His finish today wasn't too shabby...
 
Jose Fonte baby said:
He was quite inconsistent in the Championship, yet still managed to be in the shortlist for the Player of the Season Award! We're currently seeing the real Lallana of whom we saw in League One and for glimpses in the Championship.
Click to expand...

inconsistent in the Championship? I remember when he got injured ans we wondered how we would cope without him. We did cope so we got through that.

Maybe by inconsistent you mean we ended up 'relying' on Lambert more than we had which was more down to Adkins changing tactics to long diagonal back post balls rather than the Lallana/Lambert pass and move show which we did in L1.

First Geordie fan above is a typical modern fan (I haven't written young because lots of old heads are being brainwashed by the Matrix) but how can you compare a player who is playing for the club he came through the academy of, who is captain of that club, who has quite literally grown up with that club, that openly states he wants to retire with said club, with a player who:

*Has only been in the country let alone the football club for a couple of years
*made his decision based on a mix of financial gain and personal ambition.
*Has already made clear he will jump ship if the right offer is on the table.

Second Geordie poster has it right. Lallana will stay at Saints forever is he is good enough for where Saints are. He would probably even refuse to leave if someone offered a crazy amount that the Chairman wanted to accept.

As for the OP question. We pressed against Villa. It's not something that we only do against top opposition BUT injuries and fatigue are hitting us bad now. SRL is struggling (or) appears to be due to whatever tactic he is being asked to do but then so does Osvaldo. I dare say if Rodriguez was given that lone striker berth he would do too. Pochettino's fluid system is quite alien to the English Football fan who still harps on about strikers being judged by goals. This style means the front 4 should be judged as a unit and the accumulative goals should be what all four are judged on.

I think it would be interesting to see what the average goal per game is with SRL up front compared to Dani is. Very hard to gauge because SRL has been there for virtually every game, but I think even if we had Suarez there he would probably score less than at Liverpool because of the way we play.
 
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