My measured response to last night... we were boringly average. Sadly, I can already see a pattern emerging for not only performances, but the subsequent results gained and excuses made. None of it good. It was all very "13th to 16th" in the League-ish. Long is not the answer up front on his own. Did he and Redmond exchange a single pass? How anyone can look at our starting XI and bench and think that is strong enough for a campaign on two fronts, is beyond me. I was thinking we needed 2 more "ready to go straight into 1st team" players. Now, I think a minimum of 4.
Ian, in two matches we've had 37 attempts at goal. There are plenty of attempts, they're just not being executed well.
Something to ponder. Saints COULD afford to pay £89.3m for a single transfer. (I know a player of that calibre wouldn't come to us, but it's not a lack of financial clout that is holding us back in the transfer market)
Koeman's sides sometimes had spells of futility, but ye gods were they well organized. I think it's telling that we had two season in a row where the goals dried up and we still won 1-0 several times in short order. And when the leash came off, we were pretty damned good in open space, particularly with Long up top and Mane wide. Early on, we're just not stretching defenses enough; while we have taken plenty of shots, more than half of them have come from outside the box (it was less than a third last season). We aren't going to score from 25 yards with any regularity...our midfield does some things well, but that's not one of them. Part of the reason we weren't so great at it under Poch, IMO, is that we didn't look to attack quickly enough off of those changes in possession; we'd pinch the ball in a potentially dangerous area, but by the time we made up our minds to attack, the opposition would have men behind the ball. Under Puel, the concern isn't merely that we won't look to attack quickly enough, but that we cannot; our two strikers are being pulled to the flanks, so if we do wrest possession away, Tadic is the only person forward, and he isn't exactly a player likely to break behind the defense (his natural inclination is rather much that of a midfielder: he wants to come toward the ball, receive it and initiate)...and his passing ability is diminished somewhat if there's no one to whom he can pass. Some of both, for me. In both matches, our defensive shape has dissolved pretty easily when placed under pressure, and the fullbacks have been left on an island. Tadic being left forward doesn't help; he isn't a great defensive winger, but he tracked back (as did Mane, who was/is a tenacious little bugger without the ball, even if he's a lousy tackler).
Harsh but not unfair. Long did well for us last year but he was never prolific enough to be our number one striker. We absoutely need one attacking mid, possibly two with a left sider attacker but the question is will we be able to use Austin and JRod. We've got attackers but they've barely seen action for months.
Long is a good player, but I think he peaked last season having the likes of Mane & Pelle opening up gaps for him to exploit. Defenders don't have that distraction right now and on his own, Long is quite an easy player to mark (as was shown in the Euros where he didn't get a sniff). And as shown last night, if he does get a good opportunity he's more likely to fluff it than score from it. He will chip in with 10 or 12 goals, which is ok if there are 2 or 3 other players also scoring that many for us. I don't think there are. Sadly, I just can't see J-Rod doing anything. Austin, maybe, but not as a lone striker.
That assumes that all the money gained from transfers sits in an old treacle tin on the mantelpiece and isn't used for anything else at all, such as paying players' wages or the 250 (I think) other employees of the club or even any other running costs. Vin
You can see all that after two games? You must be a very rich and succesful gambler then, with foresight like that. I think we all know we need to strengthen. Won't be 4 players though, as you obviously realise.
My favourite comment was "I swear Poch, Koeman and Puel are the same person tactics wise." - No, he wasn't being ironic. Vin
And that it is unnecessary for a company to keep a contingency fund. I know CBK wasn't being serious, but we are caught by two things...1) wages structure 2) as said, that kind of player won't come here.
The comment about Long and Redman not linking up has also been made by Merrington. Redman is the big plus this season but I would concur that Austin and J-Rod are big injury risks and I am not convinced that we will ever see the kind of form from the latter again that led to his England call up. The question mark over Koeman regarding the youth players is interesting as I have also been impressed by Targett. I would have liked to have seen more of Harrison Reed but was really surprised that JWP was retained as he is a squad player at best. Other than these three players, the fact that so many fringe layers have also been moved on this summer seems to strongly vindicate Koeman's argument especially as I think Ward-Prowse got more first team game time than his ability warranted. Interesting to see that he was on the bench last night. Just hope that he stays there!!
I realise this. It would be a huge stretch to pay that for a single player, and the owner would probably have to chip in. But, they could do it. They really could. So, why are we still shopping for bargains? Why can't we even attempt to sign a player from another current Premiership team? (more than backup goalkeepers) I'm not for throwing dosh all over the shop, but if you have the money, what good is it sat in a bank? Unless of course it's now going somewhere else.
Which still, at current, leaves a very large wedge of money above and beyond any of those expenses. No one is against running the club sustainably, but in the current climate, one can flex some muscle in the transfer market and still be extremely prudent. Current numbers aren't yet out, but our wages and turnover have been diverging sharply even before the large jump in TV revenues and sponsorship deals we saw this summer.
Made this point myself earlier. We need 50-60 goals a season. Not at all clear where they'll come from. I'm backing Redmond to outscore Long this season but Long's scoring record isnt great 6-10 would be about expectation. We are manned up to be hard to score against and not score many - yet again. But we're adopting a new formation which absoutely requires us to take more than one in 37 chances because we are a lot more likely to concede. Tricky times.
Some people judging the team so harshly after two games is a bit naive. Yes it's clear that we need 1-2 more attackers, but we played some good football and made chances. Yes we need to convert them, but creating chances is a good sign. I'd be more worried if we weren't.
