If you think about it we have only failed to win in the last 3 league games. Two losses and a draw, its not the end lf the world and can be turned around. Looking on the bright side, it is the fa cup third round draw on monday and both the skates and eastleigh are in!
Now now. we will play blindingly well in each round and get to the QF then not show up for that match. This is Saints and we have always done this.
Cedric does a lot of good things as well. He gets caught ball-watching, but things like that can often be fixed. I don't mind bringing in an RB for competition or even as a first string option if one is available at a cheap price. But that seems unlikely. At this point, I kinda feel like we might as well play Cedric and see if he improves. If not, make a move in the summer. We do have some Academy guys we could maybe bring in as backups/subs and see how they do. The situation doesn't seem all that dire to me just yet. It's looking like maybe Europe isn't in the cards for us this year, but no way are we getting relegated. Mid-table finishes are kind of boring and a bummer, but it's also a great opportunity to bleed in some youth, maybe try some different things out. You don't get that luxury at the extremes of the table.
I can't believe, having just read through this thread, that there has been no word written about the sloppy pass, that conceded possession, that led to the corner, from which Villa scored. Some players clearly have protected status, whereas others get ripped to shreds. Moving on, the result should have resembled the score from last season, and for what it's worth, I would have taken Pelle off for Long, at the end, because Mane was still giving them problems, and Pelle wasn't, by then.
We didn't take our chances, but that is a lot better than not making any. I know how I would have felt if we had lost...and I feel a lot better than that. Going to be a middling year I think, but I like to think it is a pause rather than a stop.
I like Cedric for his attacking play, and most of the time he defends very well. A team that is set up with attacking full backs knows the CB's and DM's have to cover for them, and the wide front players also have to track back. If those things don't happen then the full backs can obviously be exposed and have a lot of running to do. On the Academy players, isn't Bevis Mugabi supposed to be our best prospect at RB?
Also looking down into the drop zone when did one of the youngsters get more than 20 minutes? Seems that policy went out the window so there's not much to come from the under 21's. Gallagher played 20 games, Reed, Hesketh, Gape etc never get a look in now.
This is the reason why so many fans were so angry about us limping out of Europe playing hoof-ball. It is highly feasible that we are not going to be seeing qualification for Europe through league position again for quite some time - so our showing this season was very frustrating [especially the hoof-ball game]. Having said that this squad is clearly not good enough for the Europa League, so it seems it was a blessing in disguise. If we don't maybe get a few better players in will we need to look for a manager who has to be happy with his best players leaving at the end of every season and trying to get cut-price replacements? At the moment I can't see this grand-plan actually working very well and I did think that when we were winning - this run now puts even more pressure on everyone. Ho-hum as it ever was
He is a good tackler and has pace to burn. He was actually statistically man of the match today. Opta and whoscored have him as man of the match. Nine tackles, three dribbles one, one aerial won. Three clearances, an interception, a blocked shot, four accurate crosses. That's a very decent game on paper, but he's prone to falling asleep and did do it today. He has potential and is a raw talent. The big problem is sometimes he switches off completely and fails to go with his man. He has a big concentration problem it seems. Somehow it needs to be drilled into him to always be alert. If that means that Fonte has to shout at him all game then so be it. It's just a gut feeling that Koeman might look for a right back in January, potentially to displace Cedric. He clearly isn't happy with Cedric. Cedric is definitely alright though and has big potential to improve. Whether he does or not time will tell. Perhaps his confidence is shot after Yoshida has been picked over him a few times. I do feel like to strengthen our squad we need at least a back up right back. It makes sense to get one to at least compete and rotate with Cedric.
I remember Virgil putting it out for the corner, but can't remember what happened before that. Who was the guilty party?
All things considered I would just like to point out that we are 12 points behind the leaders and only 2 behind the Europa contenders. Ain't so bad.... I mean, are we going to get any worse in front of goal?
Fonte's distribution today was shocking. His awful pass lost possession and then they got the corner.
I've been very critical of Fonte this season. And one or two others - Beefy for example - have also picked up on it at times. But yes, generally I would agree with you that some players have protected status. As rubbish as their goal was, it wouldn't have been a corner in the first place had Fonte not given it away so, so easily. And it's not the first time this season he's had a poor game with the ball.
