Yep I thought that, looked very composed on the ball and made some nice passes. For some reason he doesn't seem to do as well in Europa games*, but I've liked him every time I've seen him play in the PL. *I'm probably being harsh
Pretty much what alot of saints fans have been saying for awhile tbh. Good luck for the rest of the season
Thanks for the vote of confidence! You've hit on exactly most Saints fans' main concern. If Charlie got injured we'd be in trouble, but he needs more support than he's been getting on the pitch lately.
We looked so much more positive today and Sims brought a great feeling of enthusiasm and fearlessness. I was certain when he went on that run from our half he was going to have a 'Michael Owen' moment like against Argentina. But, it won't be long until he gets on the score sheet if today is anything to go by. So is that McQueen, Hesketh and Sims all handed their debuts under Puel?
We have said time after time on here until we are blue in the face, we are one quality striker short. That's enough as a minimum. It doesn't help that two extremely good strikers were stolen from Saints at the end of last season, yet again, and they haven't been adequately replaced really this time around because it was thought that Jay Rodriguez would be upto speed by now, and Shane Long continue his support striker form from last season. I always thought that was a bit of a gamble, which is strange because Saints don't gamble. So the numbers must have been favourable, but they haven't come out yet for JayRod. Still, we may be extraordinary and do business in January. It may be a player we couldn't get in time for the new season. However, we don't generally do business in January, so I doubt it. And we'll certainly mount an assault on the top half anyway.
It's pretty much the same formation. The main difference was Hojbjerg. JWP was quite good as well. Between those two we controlled the midfield and that created spaces and opportunities for everyone else. It helped that Sims is an attacking player and looked to drive at the defense, but he was able to do that because the midfield sucked other players in. But I don't really care. It's arguing over semantics. Call it 4-3-3 or 4-1-2-1 or whatever you want. But we got more out of JWP, Hojbjerg, Sims than we have gotten out of Clasie, Davis, Tadic so if that continues then just do whatever you need to do to get those players on the pitch.
Issue I have seen is Long obviously rates himself very high. Which doesn't reflect in his performance. If he buckles in and accepts he is understudy to Austin - he may be useful for you. You need to keep hold of your CBs anyway in January. That is very important
That was a nice bit of icing on the cake. And injuries did play a role. But still, Puel had options other than Sims but was still unafraid to hand him his debut. If he had used say, Clasie, and then given Sims a nice run out in the second half I think we all would have been pretty happy with how he was integrating the youth. But he started him, and it turned out to be more than just trying to get him some playing time. Sims made a significant impact in the game.
here we are from Koeman! "I wasn't aware of Josh Sims when I was here and he is not my problem - I work for Everton, not Southampton." yesssss !
The media do their level best to sell every single player in the Saints squad. If anything happens it is because Saints have pre-planned for it. However, this is something that Southampton FC needs to address - that is, stopping this talk, and stopping this reputation for allowing players to leave. It has gained ground over the years simply because we are so good at spotting talent and nourishing it. Media talk may be nothing in itself, but what it does is create the environment, and the possibility. Eventually, Saints will stop this phenomenon of losing players. The club will grow big enough financially to hang onto players long enough to achieve things other than just 'doing well' or 'punching above their weight'. Thing is, there's a few of us who are getting on a bit, and have been supporters for most of our lives, and understandably we'd like to see Saints achieve things sooner rather than later.
