It's much to soon to write him off. It's a massive culture shock, and WBA were very effective at dealing with Sir Rickie as well.
It was noticeable that both Pelle & Taidc got caught a couple of times dwelling in possession. I don't watch the Dutch league but every bangs on about the pace in the premier league and I expect that is something they'll have to adjust too. Hell Lallana needed a whole season to get fully up to speed and he still couldn't last 90 minutes Shame Tadic didn't connect with his shot when he cut inside in the 2nd half. I hope we've not got another attacking midfielder with questionable shooting abilities. His passing is very good and certainly a step up on Lallana IMO.
We need a hit man, otherwise fairly sound, I would imagine the side will get better the more they play together? I don't think playing JWP and SD works, they seemed to get in each others space too often, I would prefer to start with JC, MS and VW in a midfield three. Hopefully some of the others will get a run out at Millwall. Pelle wins a lot of headers but they never seem to end up in our possession, needs working on.
Awfully boring game, lacking in quality and attacking threat. However the early home games to Sunderland and West Ham last season were also dire, and things ultimately came in the end. At least an offensive display like that, coupled with Koeman's post-match comments on such, should increase the likelihood of us signing a winger over the next week. Maybe another offensive player too? Very impressed with Forster, but then I expected to be.
At times today I thought we were practising hoof ball ready for the WHU game, that's going to be a real neck stretching exercise!
Went over to SaintsWeb...wish I hadn't. A few people trying to keep a sense of proportion in a mad house. We have to remember that last season we had disappointing games as well...usually after we got above ourselves following a good game.
Pretty much a work in progress on display today. Solid at the back which was good to see, seems Bertrand is getting some stick but I thought he had a decent game. Nobody had a shocker, The team are going to have to work harder around Pelle with their delivery and support. Giving him hard to control passes with 2 defenders wrapped around him he's never going to come out of that looking good. The confidence isnt there yet as was evidenced when he held off on the edge of the box, couldve shot, couldve played somebody in but froze. If the fans dont shut him down and the team clicks I reckon he will start banging them in. It took JRod weeks to start scoring and weeks more to become convincing. Pretty disappointing game all round but hey, 1 point is better than none.
Good idea the fans getting on Pelle's back....as we all know, nothing like fear to improve decision making.
One positive was Forster though. Looked very comfortable, and commanded the box well. Defensively we were good today, despite not really being tested. Shocked that we are not first on Match of the Day.
Some positives, already mentioned by many, and I think that the new strip looked stunning. The main problem is that I can't remember the last Saturday when West Ham played more attractive football than Saints. Defence looked sound but the ball spent most of its time in the air off numerous player's heads.
Saw you walking down Britannia Road, probably about 2-2:10pm, unless there is another one of you wearing a Schneiderlin French shirt.
we're not going to replace the core of a team that trained with each other for 5 years in a couple of months. If this is the tough times it's not too bad. Shane long was pretty bad though.
Positives: 1) Forster gives me confidence. Not to say Artur wouldn't have kept a clean sheet today aswell, but Forster is definitely no downgrade. Made the crucial Borucesque starfish save near the end, and has the added height bonus when dealing with any crosses, which he seems to deal with impeccably. 2) Yoshida had a very good game for me, and has in the past been regularly underrated by some. Yep, he's not a standout PL starter at CB by any means, but I do think he's a decent player to have available in the squad for days like today when Gardos isn't fit yet. 3) We do still boss the game in the centre of the park, that is our strength. Negatives: 1) Lack of movement anywhere from 40 yards out or less. I understand it's early days and new players take time to get used to each other's games, but in neither half did we have enough of the right forward options or runs to give the ball carrier choices. Quite often seemed that bar for the nearest player making an obvious run there was little in the way of decoy runs to free space for another player or co-ordination of runs to confuse a resolute WBA defence. This includes a lack of midfielders gambling to get on the second ball when we hoofed to Pelle, and also a lack of additional men in the middle with Pelle when the crosses came in. 2) Slow/incorrect decision making. Both Pelle and Tadic were the main two who did this this for me today, but this is not a surprise as they get used to the tempo of PL football. It just seemed to me that Pelle's decisions were slow giving West Brom too long to recover their positions, and Tadic has a tendency to try the hollywood pass through the middle sometimes on the occasions he does have a willing overlap outside. 3) Overall Lack of goals/assists in the side. With the greatest respect, unless Pelle and Tadic hit their potential form quickly, we already know there is not a LOT of goals in the rest of the side. None of Wanyama/Schneiderlin/Davis will score or assist many from midfield, and Long won't from the wing (for the respective positions they play). There is some hope that Ward-Prowse will improve his return with time, but I'd say that's not going to happen overnight. He's a player who does all the simple technical things very very well, as well as switching play cross-field and taking set pieces, but he's not YET someone who shows the instinct for playing that killer through ball, or beating his man through any form of trickery. So basically at the moment we pin all our attacking hopes on two signings from the Eredivisie. Summary: We need two or three more signings with a bit more guile or trickery, the ability to unlock stubborn defences and teams that only come to play on the counter. Obviously, we've got Gaston and Jay-Rod to come back which may help this, but Gaston has to be filed under 'delicate flower' for now regardless of his level of ability/not. Jay as we know will still be out another couple of months minimum, and it'd be a bit unfair to expect big things from him straight away either upon his return. He too will have to get used to his new teammates, even though we know his ability to get good runs in behind and stretch defences. So, I'd love to see the likes of a Belhanda or a Welbeck join up at this stage. Pressure's on the board, they've got 8 days to deliver (if we have any serious aim to match last season's points total). Blue line under it, and onwards and upwards. COYS!
dont know you guys are worrying so much, reading the responses you would have thought we just got beat! We are not entitled to be beating anyone. People worrying about pelle, need to calm down, not every signing needs to go down as exceptional or crap, no he is not gonna bang in 20 plus, but he will come good, J rod didnt exactly bang them in at the beginning. Osvaldo has quality but he didnt either. It will just take him time to adjust. Also we seem to forget that this team is very new, we are gonna have a slow start, but we will build and get better!
Agree with the vast majority of this SS, the only bit I would question is that while you're correct that there should not be an over-reaction to one/two poor performances from any player (Pelle) I also wouldn't go as far as to say "he will come good" as that is the bit that's up in the air rather than being proven either way at this stage. I would also have to emphasise some caution though regards the early season fixtures appearing easier than those later. This means if we're still gelling and dropping points in these fixtures, and there's no guarantee of points in the harder fixtures, points may become more difficult to come by even once we've gelled. No panic for me just yet, think that we'll get about 44-46 points unless we sign another 1 or 2 and the team starts gelling quicker, but could get back to last season's 56 with another signing or two in the attacking positions.
I agree with Latviandream that we will have to give JRod time when he returns. He is not going to be the same...not because he won't have recovered, but because he has to get used to a different team as well. He took time to settle before. I read that although he scored a lot for us, he needed a lot of chances to do so....will he get those without Lallana and Lambert in the side? He may have to adapt, so hope people don't get on his back as they have with Pelle.
