Also, Boufal is direct. De Bruyne had a very difficult first 20 minutes against Napoli last week, but then found his feet. His game is high risk and there’ll be periods it doesn’t work (such as then). But then he, his team mates, and importantly, the fans there realise that and give the necessary allowances. Now l’m not saying Boufal is anything like his level, but those same allowances need to be made.
A mention for the Referee, he didn't have to find his cards so either he did a good job or neither side put up much passion?
We all know all the answers. If only the board/manager/players would listen to me/you/that bloke over there.
I was going to say don’t believe Wikipedia. I guess he must be 6’2”, I seem to remember a guardian article saying he was 6’. He doesn’t look it, especially when wanyama is 6’0”
He let a lot go. Probably rightly. Burnley are a physical side, but not really dirty. We didn't need to tackle hard because they never really threatened, until the 10 minute passage leading up to their goal.
The squad we have is really poorly assembled. The players at our disposal don't complement each other's game at all. It's just really a bunch of decent/good players thrown together in a mix without any plan or idea. And while this isn't the best bunch of players, it also seems to me that Pellegrino doesn't have a clue of how to get anything from it. And we need a manager who'll have a plan of how to use the players we have effectively. I just don't see a point in playing two inverted wingers who aren't much good at cutting inside and running at people (Redmond occasionally does, Tadić never), and also having Gabiaddini as a target man and then play to his weaknesses, and not to his strengths. He can't be a focal point of the attack and lay off the ball to his teammates like Pelle would do. But he can utilize the space behind the defence to a devastating effect. But he can't do that if we're going to play a possession based football and allow the opposition to get back into formation and sit deep and not go at them with pace and directness. Our whole attack just makes no sense at all.
One thing I noticed was that Gabbi never won any balls in the air, both Long and Austin did after they came on.
If you're going to play long balls to forwards, then you put Long in the attack as he's going to make the most of it. But the best thing would be not to play long ball.
Well this is it. To me MP2 is trying to use a system and style he believes makes us organised and hard to beat, rather than looking at the players we have and thinking “how can I get the best out of this group, and maximise their abilities”. Therefore we now have a situation where a large group of players are playing to a style and system that is uncomfortable to them, and it’s demotivating (unsurprisingly).
As we have no idea what to do with the ball, we should let the opponent have it. We should sit deep, stay tight and compact and defend as a unit and we really shouldn't have any problem with this given the players we have at the back. And then when we get the ball, we should aim to score in five seconds. This style of play would suit the most Long, Manolo and Boufal. So probably a 5-3-2 where the rest of the team picks itself.
Would any of us have been excited if we'd signed Glen Murray in the summer- No. He has scored 3 games running now cos he gets in the box and Brighton get the ball in the box instead of dilly dallying about. We could REALLY do with someone up front who can head a ball, not just for scoring but knockdowns too.
Or, we can stop obsessing about getting the ball wide and crossing it in, as we don’t have the personnel to make that an effective tactic. “Oriol, Steven. When you get the ball, head up. Where is Sofiane? Where is Manolo? Look for them, get the ball to them. Your wing backs are your last resort”.
I’m getting bored real quick of Southampton and the attitude. Haven’t heard a peep out of Reed of late, I wonder why? He’s in charge of the signings of players and managers, and his recent success has been pretty dire. How much is he paid for obviously his unsackable role?
I've taken my time before posting, as I don't want to be over emotional like I have been at times in the past on here. I remember thinking we should be thinking about replacing Koeman when he went through that shocking run. Since he proved me wrong by turning it around that season, I am hesistant to call for a manager change. I would say, however, that pellegrino so far has been an absolute disaster. I can see no logic in any of his substitutions, or tactics. He keeps making the same mistakes time and again, and is slow and unresponsive. The Wolves game was the first time I thought he might be out of his depth. I came away wondering why on earth he didn't change from 3-5-2 after the first 20 minutes when we were so awful. Nothing I have seen since then has convinced me he has the skills to turn it around. Although it is not his fault he has been given such a mediocre squad, he is losing must-win games. I have become accustomed to Southampton being a very well run club since the liebherr takeover, but the last couple of seasons the whole club seems to be in decline. This is why I think it would be harsh to sack Pellegrino at this point. I am very scared by his post match comments that everything is rosy though. Interesting times ahead. I can see us flirting with relegation if things continue. We are not "too good to go down" if we can't score, and concede easy goals every week.
Perfect mate The Davis header last week was our first headed prem goal since Jan 16. That should tell us something. We are never a threat when we constantly play the ball out wide and a high cross goes in. With the players we are currently using, spot on, getting it wide should not be the default, find the forward runs. Going forward though we need a strong physical forward player who can head a ball. So many goals are scored this way and we are missing out.
Where did you manage to dig that up? I've found a couple of places that disagree with you: http://www.squawka.com/players/wesl...eason-2017/2018#819#all-matches#1-10#by-match https://www.msn.com/nb-no/sport/fotball/wesley-hoedt/player/sp-id-80302000000167075 http://www.voetbalzone.nl/speler.asp?uid=300856 http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2017/09/05/scout-report-wesley-hoedt/ https://sofifa.com/player/216774/18/158897 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Hoedt https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/wesley-hoedt/profil/spieler/253765 https://www.whoscored.com/Players/141172/Show/Wesley-Hoedt https://www.premierleague.com/players/6194/Wesley-Hoedt/overview It's a sign of strength to say "Yes, I was wrong". I even have it as my signature. Vin
Sorry that's completely wrong. All the people of loud voices in the Northam were screaming for us to "get it out wide" and "whip it in" the whole match through. I hope you're not suggesting that they haven't got a ****ING clue what they are talking about? Vin
