Ron's explanation of how Southampton works should be written in stone outside SMS. I hate it when fans talk of lack of ambition as if spending lashings of money immediately is the only type of ambition to have. Building season on season with sustainability in mind is the safer way....Blackburn Rovers took the title, but fell away very quickly. 'We have been to the edge of the abyss'.....remember that. Sounds like Fonte got a bollocking I didn't approve either, but I think he got his lead from what Ron said in an earlier interview. Ron has a habit of philosophising and being truthful that is grist to the mill for the British media. I know in one interview he had momentary panic in his eyes as he tried to clarify what he had said when he realised how the wind was blowing from subsequent questions. Back to the Ron we know and love.
With punch bolassie and zaha they have the potential to shred us. I would be tempted to bring Yoshida in @ CB and play 3 at the back here. (if people insist on playing classie alongside Vic). 2 options; stek Cedric yosh fonte vvd Bert wanyama classie mane Pelle tadic OR stek Cedric fonte vvd Bert wanyama romeu Davis mane tadic Pelle Option one may take pressure off Cedric and allow him to build confidence. Option 2 includes 2 hard tackling DM's who should scare off their fast skillful players (either that or we'll be down to 9 men in no time).
We may well lose away to Palace, but mustn't build them up to being bigger than they are. They aren't Man United....to be honest, Man United aren't Man United this season. We have beaten Chelsea away (ok, not much of a challenge ) and drawn with Liverpool to name but two, so get our mojo back and we can get a win.
I like option 2 a lot better. Have we ever actually played 3 at the back successfully? We tried it in the Liverpool game second half, and look how well that turned out (although admittedly Caulker was one of the 3). I think we should stick to the tried and tested formula of Tadic and Mané teaming up with the full backs and Davis, Wanyama, and one of Clasie/JWP/Romeu giving cover.
Normally I'm in agreement. Last year when everyone was banging the 3 at the back drum I felt it was unnecessary given our strength in midfield. This year teams are cutting through us and Ronald has shown that he doesn't have as much confidence in our std back 4. I also feel that the wanyama partner merry-go-round must stop and we need a settled defensive midfield.
this one included - our next 4 games look really difficult !! My confidence is a bit low so i watched this last night.
Would be happy with a draw TBH. Lawro has gone for a home win so that gives me some optimism. Am sure AP will have his side fired up - hope we play well from the kick off and hold them for the first 20 minutes to take the sting of out them and not concede in the first half. If we manage that; we might get something from this game.
Must accept a draw when playing away...important not to lose and those odd points mount up (without damaging our GD), but let's not tell the players that.
Crazy idea but should we set up for defensive solidarity and try and hit them on the counter? 3 CB's wanyama and romeu in the middle and long Pelle mane up top?
I think we should definitely set up for defensive solidarity as going there and attacking them will just play into their hands imo. Don't need 3 at the back to do that though.
If it was only since last season, you would say it is the players we lost. However, we have deteriorated since the start of the season which suggests we need better organisation.
The important thing to remember is that we have only lost once away from home this season. Some of you seem to be suggesting that we are in terminal decline. I agree our defence has taken some knocks lately but we are able to field our strongest lineup (apart from Fraser) for this game. When Cedric, Fonte, Van Dijk, and Bertrand have been on the pitch together this season we have conceded 5 goals from 8 games, including 2 clean sheets. The 2 goals conceded in the Leicester game were partly down to Ron substituting Yoshida for Cedric just before Vardy scored his first. We aren't as tight as last year, but some of that has to be down to the merry-go-round in midfield, where we have hardly fielded the same lineup twice running, plus Stek is possibly less reliable than Fraser. I think we can win this one. 2-1 Saints.
i think a lot will depend on how well we play and how well palace play. The team that play best will probably win but not necessarily. Thrown-in win % could be crucial
The exact shade of yellow is also important. A nice subtle, pale lemon tint is often more effective than your feet looking like bunches of bananas.
