This is already the best Saints side of the PL era, though not yet the most successful. In truth we weren't always that great to watch in the Strachan era (sorry Gordon), except for one night in January vs Spurs that lives in the memory. What that side and this have in common is that not many opponents could work out how to play us, then or now.
Yep, certainly lives in mine, and I don't forget the previous Wednesday 1-0 either. I came back from St Mary's praying that I'd set the new video recorder correctly, and phew, yes I had. There it was almost bang on the start of the MOTD tune, with Lineker in buoyant mood, Hansen predicting a Saints win and Lawro sitting on the fence. Gary even mentioned how popular Mark was in these parts, so the reputation is well known and goes back a fair while. HT came and Gary's buoyancy had disappeared [can't blame him, his old Spurs club were being totally dominated], and Hansen and Lawro were saying that the score was flattering them. FT came and they were effusive in their praise of Saints. 4-0, and Spurs were lucky to leave having conceded that few. I have since transferred that game to DVD and still occasionally play it.
Totally agree with this. I actually said at the time that our Championship side was maybe the best ever and we have obviously moved on since then. The standard of the opposition has also improved of course, which is why we may never achieve our best ever position.
Bridge was lucky to play with Marsden who was able to cover for him when he was attacking. Bridge never had the confidence to match his ability. The ball was like a hot potato to him sometimes. Compare that to when Bale came in. He wanted the ball all the time, took the free kicks and corners and was always involved. Shaw is more like that, no fear.
The centre back pairing is difficult, Lundekvam was probably the best footballer and Svensson the most physical. But Fonte is not far behind Lundekvam in football skills and Lovren is easily the best all-rounder. Not sure who I'd go for from that lot.
Bridge vs Shaw was the only hard one for me really. I was erring on the side of Bridge to be honest because he was darned good but in the end I went for Shaw as he is better at recovery due to his speed and is undoubtedly stronger physically. I did like Bridge though.
Bridgey wasn't exactly slow, plus he could run up and down the left all day and all night if need be, he was that fit. Occasionally, I do wonder about Shaw. Defensively he is very good indeed, getting rarely caught out, because of his good positioning, and he's quite tigerish in the tackle. He's also very good going forward, though his end product isn't consistent. Then again, he provided Jose with the cross against Arsenal. What the hell, he's brilliant. Fully paid up member again. Next..!
