We really are a second half team this season, is it that RK reads the game tactically and adjusts accordingly or is he just a great motivator? Either way, it is fantastic that we can raise our game and it augurs well for the season.
It's such a contrast from Poch. Where we'd dominate the first half then slowly fade away into nothingness throughout the 2nd half.
Better that than the other way round. It's only been a few games but if he can get them playing like that in both halves, we will be very comfortable this season. I'm not getting too excited because it is only one result. But if by November/December we're still playing this well I'll be very confident of a top half finish.
The main difference is that our performances last season were so reliant on T**tbeard and he would fade badly in the second half dragging the whole team down until MP took him off
I think Koeman has a plan B and is also good at inspiring players (even possibly with a half-time rant). He admitted he was angry at half-time against Millwall.
Ronald is very flexible with his tactics, and seems a really good motivator. Some of the football second half today was sensational.
What I am pleased about is that this was the type of game we struggled in last season (despite it being a very good season). So far, we've played well and lost against a good side (Liverpool), struggled without conceding against a defensive side (WBA), and then pulled off a good result against a team that we will probably be close to at the end of the season (WHU). I think we are looking like a good side and Koeman looks like he could be a good manager in the PL...looking forward to this season now after a dreadful start to the summer.
Early days, but he might well be an improvement. He has a fantastic energy and is a lot better at tackling back. If he can start scoring a few we'll have a diamond on our hands.
I was wonderring about the turnabouts during the HT as i was watching and the thought popped into my head that "Lets not forget he's new to the PL. Maybe the first half is to test and analyse while the second is all about exploiting weaknesses based on the info gained earlier."
Still learning of course...not just about the league, but also about the talents and character of our team.
I got into an argument last season with FLT over this last season when we had issues on offense despite looking good in spurts. I said that a big part of the problem Saints had was not that we didn't take our chances in the first half, but that we didn't do enough to continue creating chances in the second half. I realize that's the sort of thing that is easier said than done, but it can make a difference and a good manager will find a way to do it. Not all the time, but more often than MP did. That was my one criticism of him... you'd think with all of that training we'd tire teams out and dominate at the end but it never happened.
I find it astonishing that when MU have a poor result (such as the 4-0 to MKD), that Van Gaal strolls off signing shirts for fans. Now I'm all for fan interaction, but SAF would have been crashing off down the tunnel with steam coming from his ears. LVG's actions just smack of ego and "I'm the star". I would never want our manager to do that. Shocking really, but then RK did allude to that part of his personality previously. Now I'm just off to get some new acronyms.
