We have all our quality players in the same areas unfortunately and so they can't all start. Still feels weird to leave KWP out because he's one of the small handful of PL quality players we have, but how do you get him and Sugawara into the same team without unbalancing the side? Maybe try KWP at LW vs Stoke in the cup given LW is a bit of a problem position for us too. If you try him RW you'd have to move Dibling into that AM spot which could work too but then you have to leave Fernandes out which based on his performances, isn't an option. Likewise Downes, Ugochukwu, Fernandes and Lallana all feel like they should be starting, but I'm not sure you can start all 4. Ugochukwu is a bit raw, but feels like a player that could really grow and beast it out with game time and familiarity with those around him. I suppose it's a better problem than not, but would be nice if we could have shared the quality out to a few other areas of the pitch too!!
They are going to love it when they hammer us, can’t see anything but a big defeat here, I’ll go 5-0 Bournemouth
Teams will start doubling up on Dibling so lets put SAA out on the left. He'll be terrifying against an isolated full back.
This has been my concern for a few weeks now. They were excellent against Chelsea who play the same way as us with much better players and caused them all sorts of problems. Only poor finishing prevented them being 2-3 up at halftime. Let's hope they're similarly wasteful on Monday.
This was why I said I was kind of hoping to sell KWP. As good as he is, with Sugawara starting RB, would I rather £20m to spend on a LW or KWP sitting on the bench or playing out of position? Especially as he will be off for free soon anyway.
But they only scored courtesy of us giving them the ball twice and by us not defending a throw in. IF (that’s a big if) we can stop the errors we seem to be able to match teams in terms of not conceding goals from open play, so I remain optimistic
Dibling doubling? We could get whole new thread about rhyming words with footballers' surnames. If only there was a good rhyme for Hunt.
We won’t stop the errors though, because they are caused by how we play. It’s completely unreasonable to expect our keeper and centre backs to never misplace a pass, it’s just not going to happen. You could also argue that we make mistakes because teams press us, so it’s not just us making unforced errors
I call this one the "Aaaah, Bless" derby. BOURNEMOUTH FAN: Ha ha! We're going to beat you in the local derby. SOUTHAMPTON FAN: You think *this* is our derby? Aaaah, Bless!
The errors are a direct result of the opposition pressing though. They're not unforced errors so there's a correlation there with the style we play.
These days I hear Saints fans saying it's not a rivalry far more than I see Bournemouth fans saying it is.
It's a local derby. Fact. Not a historical rivalry, but no reason why it can't become one. Its perfectly okay to have more than one rival. I actually think it's a great way of insulting Pompey. As though we had to get a replacement for them. But honestly, our fans going on about it not being a rivalry, all the time, is like an ex-girlfriend repeatedly calling and texting to tell you she doesn't think about you any more.
