Half Time: Your thoughts and Predictions

Yes, it is another boring thread about the half way point in the season.

We are now 19 games into the season, and have played every team once, so I thought I would ask for your thoughts in relation to the first half of the campaign. Please answer from the categories below, and expand as much as you like.

Best Opposition Team that you have seen:
Best Individual Player:
Best Manager:
Best Goal:
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad):
Your Prediction for Champions:
Your Predictions for the Top Four:
Your Prediction for Saints:
Your Predictions for Relegation:

I will start off:

Best Opposition Team that you have seen play Saints: Chelsea. Man City were superb, but I think we dropped off when Toby went into midfield. Chelsea have outstanding players in each position and I think they will be the most difficult team to beat this season.
Best Individual Player at St Mary's: Aguero, even if he dives for Penalties... Superb player, who can create and score goals. Hazard was also outstanding last week.
Best Manager: Ronald Koeman. Not being biased, but he had the toughest job over the summer - come in, steady the ship, and sign some players. Many so-called pundits tipped us for relegation, but Ronald has shown his managerial credentials and proved we may well have a shot at the European places. Sam Allardyce has also done very well, especially when you consider the pressure he was under last season. Sean Dyche another who deserves a mention.
Best Goal: Loved Pelle's goal against QPR, but I will actually go for Charlie Austin's strike. The control, and swivel was terrific.
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): Burnley have done well, as have West Ham, and of course Saints. But, I will go for Everton. They have been very, very poor this season in the Premier League.
Your Prediction for Champions: They lead the way now, and I think they will be difficult to get points off. Chelsea.
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal. I think Wenger will do it again somehow, but Saints will give it a good go.
Your Prediction for Saints: 6th. A superb season for Saints, with hopefully a nice run in the FA Cup.
Your Predictions for Relegation: Leicester, Burnley, Sunderland. Nigel Pearson has his work cut out at Leicester, despite a win against Hull. I see a lot of effort, but not enough quality. Burnley similarly, won't have enough, and Sunderland may sneak into the drop zone by not winning enough games.

 

Best Opposition Team that you have seen: Chelsea
Best Individual Player: Eden Hazard
Best Manager: Ronald Koeman
Best Goal: Graziano Pellè vs QPR - (I can't remember the goals by other clubs without prompt)
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): As a club, Everton - surprised they're bottom half. As a player, Ryan Bertrand - I wasn't too pleased with his signing.
Your Prediction for Champions: Chelsea.
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, City, United, Arsenal
Your Prediction for Saints: 6th
Your Predictions for Relegation: Burnley, West Brom/Villa, Leicester

 

Best Opposition Team that you have seen: At St Mary's: Man City. Completely outclassed us. Over the season Chelsea.
Best Individual Player: Eden Hazard.
Best Manager: Mauricio Pochettino.........just kidding. Has to be Ronald Koeman. The best non-Saints manager would have to be Allardyce.
Best Goal: ****ing hell loads to choose from. There's one that stands out for me: David Silva's goal against West Ham.
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): West Ham. They, like Saints have massively exceeded their expectations.
Your Prediction for Champions: Chelsea
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Saints
Your Prediction for Saints: 4th
Your Predictions for Relegation: Leicester, West Brom, Hull

 

Team: City
Player: Hazard
Manager: Koeman
Goal: Pelle v QPR
Surprise: West Ham
Champions: Chelsea
Top 4: Chelsea, City, Utd, Arsenal.
Saints: 5th.
Relegation: Leicester, West Brom, QPR.

 

Best Opposition Team that you have seen: Chelsea
Best Individual Player: Hazard
Best Manager: Allardyce
Best Goal: Valencia vs Hull
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): Pelle looking like a half decent Prem striker
Your Prediction for Champions: Chelsea
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, City, Utd, Arsenal
Your Prediction for Saints: 7th
Your Predictions for Relegation: Burnley, Leicester, Palace

 

Good point about Bertrand. I agree.

 

All of the below is based only on what I have seen live.

Best Opposition Team that you have seen: Chelsea, by a whisker. Man City were very, very good yes, but I suspect that Chelsea would have replicated what Man City did to us in the second half had we also lost Morgan at HT vs Chelsea and moved Toby into midfield to cover.
Best Individual Player: Toby for us. Hazard for our opponents.
Best Manager: In terms of tactics on the day, Mark Hughes. With slightly limited playing ability at his disposal, he came to our place with a plan during our great run, and it very almost paid off. They sat back, and hung in the game. Even when we went 1-0, he didn't change it. And then for the last 10 minutes, they absolutely went for it. Ultimately they were one kick of the ball away from the plan coming off. Compare that to Martinez for example, whose tactics saw Everton totally exposed at back from the 60th minute onwards, despite also only being 1-0 down at the time. It was like watching Arsenal defending at their worst.
Best Goal: Pelle vs QPR, just beating Vergini's OG.
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): Team? Us. Player? Yoshida. Result? A tie between the 8-0 thrashing and the comfortable Everton win.
Your Prediction for Champions: Chelsea
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, City, Utd, Arsenal just holding off Liverpool (unless Liverpool go deep into the Europa League, in which case Arsenal will hold them off by a distance)
Your Prediction for Saints: If Jay comes back as good as he was, and we can get at least 12 games out of him, then I think we have every chance of a top six finish. Otherwise I see us ultimately finishing 7th or 8th. Spurs and/or Liverpool going deep into the Europa League would help us finishing top six too.
Your Predictions for Relegation: Leicester, Burnley and take your pick. It will depend heavily on who does what in the transfer window. Based on current squads though, I would say it is between QPR, Palace and Sunderland. With the squads they have, in contrast I don't think Hull or WBA should be going down. Likewise, Bruce and Pulis (if appointed) know what they're doing down there.

 

Best Team at st Mary's; City. They outclassed us a little, in a way that Chelsea didn't.
Best player; Van Persie. 2 chances, 2 goals, although we handed them to him.
Best Manager; Ronald Koeman,all the way.
Best Goal; Mane's last Sunday
Biggest surprise; us being 4th in Jan
Champions; Chelsea. Crown em now.
Top 4; Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal
Saints; 6th
Relegation; haven't been paying too much attention to that end of the table.

 

Best Opposition Team that you have seen: Chelsea
Best Individual Player: Eden Hazard
Best Manager: Ronald Koeman
Best Goal: Graziano Pellè vs QPR ....Charlie Austins against us wasn't bad...
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): Liverpool underachieving after spending over £100m.
Your Prediction for Champions: Chelsea.
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, City, United, Arsenal
Your Prediction for Saints: 6th/7th
Your Predictions for Relegation: Burnley, Palace,Leicester

 

WBA got Pulis, they won't be relegated.

 

I've only been to one game so far this season, the Newcastle trouncing, but to base my views on that would be a bit limiting. So this is from TV streams

Best Opposition Team that you have seen: Man City. As has been said, the only side so far who were so far above us we couldn't cope with them.
Best Individual Player: Aguero. He has to be the best striker in the world right now. Hazard a close second though.
Best Manager: Nobody has done as good a job as Ronald Koeman.
Best Goal: Pellè's against QPR. Close second Schneiderlin's against Newcastle.
Biggest Surprise (Good or Bad): As I said on the "half season" thread, Ryan Bertrand. I honestly never thought he would be that good. Sorry Ryan.
Your Prediction for Champions: Chelsea.
Your Predictions for the Top Four: Chelsea, City, United, Saints.
Your Prediction for Saints: 4th.
Your Predictions for Relegation: Burnley, Leicester, Hull.

 

Team: Chelsea
Player: Hazard
Manager: Koeman
Goal: Pelle (QPR)
Surprise: Liverpool
Champions: Chelsea
Top 4: Chelsea, City, Utd, Arsenal.
Saints: 6th.
Relegation: Leicester, Hull,Palace.

 

1 Chelsea 46
2 Man City 43
3 Man Utd 36
4 Soton 33
5 Arsenal 33
6 West Ham 31
7 Tottenham 31
8 Liverpool 28
9 Swansea 28
10 Newcastle 26

I have looked at the top of the PL...can't see any other clubs realistically being involved in the European spots. Although only a few points behind, I can't see Swansea and Newcastle being consistent enough to finish higher than midtable. That leaves 8 for 6 European places (assuming someone at the top qualifies for Europe via a cup). Biased or not, I think we will be more consistent than West Ham. That leaves 7 for 6 places (can you see where I'm going ). However, it stops there....tough to call after that as Liverpool and Spurs are coming into form...especially Liverpool. The good thing is that it is in our hands. Worst scenario 7th, best scenario 4-6th. What a great season this has been so far.

 

Can't see Saints being lower than 6th. Hoping for 4th still. Liverpool will be below us. Tottenham have a chance of finishing above us if they can get it together. Between Arsenal, Saints and Tottenham for that 4th CL spot IMO.

 

A lot of people are writing west ham off but they arguably have far more squad depth than us and are looking to add.

Our defense is better but they have better depth at goalkeeper and striker.
Their midfield is good but only when they play narrow and two strikers. They are now weak in quality on the wings and usually force strikers there.

Although the same can be said with us with Jay's injury and mane clearly being better central. We spend a lot of time moving Davis out wide. Still a hangover from poch's distaste of wingers

For them it depends on the African cup. If song ends up going and they do not secure loans as cover quick enough they could have a January dip (not sure what their fixtures are). Without song and kouyate their midfield is the same as the one that struggled last year. They will probably resort to Carroll to Nolan

 

All I have to say is that we have Koeman as manager...he is our ace in the hole.