Not seen yesterday's game but Pelle has looked much better this season than the end of last. I think I would always pick Long to either play off him or at least have him on the bench to replace him like for like. Despite being much shorter than Pelle, I think Long is really good in the air and of course has bags of pace. He's probably one of the hardest working players we've had for a long time.
It seems that we have a fever, and the only prescription is more Pelle. I'd drop him for at least a couple games, yes. His effort level has been far too low on far too many occasions, and it sends a very bad message to have him consistently penciled in when he isn't working hard enough.
I can't help but admire Leicester when they attack like they did in the second half just then. Something which they have done on a regular basis for about six months now. I do look at us and wonder if that could be us if Pelle is removed. Maybe Davis too. Particularly when/if we have a fit and firing Jay (and Bertrand back).
I think the key thing here is JayRod. At the moment he's way off the pace, albeit getting better. This affects Pelle tremendously because he depends upon service and he's getting little quality, at the moment. Personally, I'd play Long instead of Jay right from the beginning, for achieving results, but we have to bring Jay along, so we're going to have to put up with this for a while longer. I am also thinking that Davis is no longer doing what we need. There's just not enough link between Davis, Tadic and say, Mane. Davis and Long seem to have a better understanding between them.
This is exactly the out ball we would have if we played Long instead of Pelle and used Long like Leicester use Vardy and no one is going to convince me that Vardy is a better player than Long. Instead of a high ball up the middle. We can knock it down the channels and get defenders turning. Neither tactic is rocket science, but it can be effective and ask questions of the opposition.
A good part of that is on him, however. The less work Pelle does off the ball, the higher the degree of difficulty for those providing service. Threading a ball through to a player who is being closely marked simply isn't an easy task.
Strewth you guys really like knocking our players. Pelle has scored 5 and has is it 3 assists? In 10 games is that not better than an average striker? Ok he may not be leading the scoring averages but he is doing better than most if not all premier strikers. Also the whole Saints team have not been particularly brilliant as we don't seem to have been playing to a consistent pattern this season. You cannot blame Pelle for that in my view although I do think he could do with a bit more help on the goal scoring front. I am not sure why RK persists in the way he uses Pelle or why in the main we have changed to the long ball game more. It is wrong though to criticise one player for our current lack of goal scoring opportunities in my view.
I think that a large part of the problem is when either JWP or Davis play in the crucial AM position. Neither have the creativity to play there effectively, they are good CM players but their goals and assists records from open play are not good enough. Now this problem might be rectified when Clasie gets fit and has a run in the team. I think that Ron has been a little cautious in his team selection, getting to grips with letting in goals before scoring them because our defence is pretty new and unsettled. We are missing the natural width and quality that Ryan Bertrand gives us on the left and the side has been a little unbalanced. I don't like to knock anyone, but I see Davis as more of a back up when Clasie returns and Juanmi get more chances to play.
Agreed. I have so much hope riding on Clasie - I am much more anti-Davis than I am anti-Pelle, and I have been for about 18 months now. Cedric Fonte VVD Bertrand Vic Romeu Mane Clasie Tadic Jay Something like that, in some sort of 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or 4-2-1-2-1 type formation, jumps out at me as being just as good as what we have been able to produce when at our best over the past two years. Just as good, if not better (particularly defensively) than Leicester or Swansea or Palace. But so, so much rests on Clasie being as good as I hope he will be. (Much more so than resting on Jay getting back to old self, because if those other ten cogs are working, then I wouldn't have too much issue with Pelle rather than Jay. But I will never be satisfied with Davis playing that attacking CM role).
Personally, I'm not blaming Pellè as an individual, more the untouchable approach that RonKo has with him. Sticking with him come hell or high water whilst he shows his petulant side towards his own players and those irritating flicks are a mixed message to send to players and fans alike. No one wants to see him struggle, but sometimes I'd like to see Ronald put him out of his misery for once and sub him rather than see him point to the turf angrily or scowling at a linesman after falling over himself mid air. Or maybe see some anger from Ronald that might fire players and fans alike up.... That he and others won't be just left out there come what may.
For people wanting to replace Pelle with Jay. What has Jay actually done this season? Yes I know he has been out ages etc. But if in some peoples views he should replace Pelle, shouldn't he be at least well you know be scoring?
Other than Long, Jay is the only alternative to Pelle in the squad to lead the line. As well as this, other than Juanmi. Jay is the only difference to our attacking unit to last season. The same attacking unit which often struggled to break teams down. Apart from Chelsea away, I can't think of a game without Pelle and he was rarely subsituted last season either. I think with Jay we can afford to drop Pelle and explore other options for different defences
