Suspect that will be the team that faces city, minus maybe Guly and Fonte. Surprised some people did think much of Lallana today thought he was quality fantastic passing and his usual godlike control of the football.
Difficult to make any sort of judgement as to how one performance might predict our ability in the Prem next season especially after a friendly. For the first half an hour I thought we were totally out-classed and struggled to get hold of the ball. We looked like a Championship side and only Clyne and Guly seemed to have any flair. I was impressed by the former. Lambert looked out of sorts but then thundered in a couple of spectacular shots. As you would expect, Schniederlin and Lallana looked good at this level. A repeat of the first thirty minutes will see Saints ripped to threads against the likes of Man Utd and City. After this initial period, I think we adjusted well and the team started to gel. Once we found our feet, I think the team started to look a bit better from what we have seen over the last few seasons from a technical point of view. I was impressed even more during the scond half. Richardson looked good as did Jos but there was a lot of criticism of Fonte in my part of the stand. Ward-Prowse fitted in nicely but didn't seem to make the impression on my that Luke Shaw did. This is the first time I've seen him play and I felt that he looks absolute quality. J-Rod and Sharpe also looked hungry to prove themselves at a higher level. If you can take anything from the match, perhaps the central defence needs beefing up. Despite my earlier reservations, I feel that that performance showed a degree of improvement since last season but the question will be whether it will be good enough for the Premier League. i feel more confident after watching that match.
This would worry me. As I watched the first twenty minutes I just thought "Blackpool". I don't want us to be as naive as they were in the Prem.
My worry is that we preform as poorly as Debry oor Swindon about 20 years ago. I think we will struggle to pick up any points in the first 5 games - Wigan will probably be the easiest match. I hope that the difficult fixtures mean we are not cast adrift immediately. This would be my main fear and I don't think it is too unreasonable. The fixture list hasn't been kind to us this season. Would have preferred a home match against a team we could turn over.
I thought Saints played extremely well last night. The youngsters, The new boys and Lallana were exceptional. I felt nervous every time Hooieveld was in possession, he looked shaky and Fonte made a few awful decisions. I think we need two centre halfs (but not Dann). Up top Lambert was ineffective and needed more support. more pace up top is needed. This Lens guy sounds just the ticket....or a Walcott type player that can play on the right wing or up top in a three. I thought Saints passing was unbelievable at times and we pressed up very high after the first twenty mins which unsettled Ajax. Teams that sit back too much (England) are just asking for trouble against better opposition. We looked like we have focused training on one touch football and the most impressive thing was the movement off the ball. It's what makes Spain so good! Clyne was the first halfs best player and Lallana in the second half.
Ian, don't worry too much. They are justified fears, however Nigel will be looking at the positives. Worst case scenario is that we are bottom with no points. I think we will have two or three points, depending on the Wigan result. The fixtures have been kind to us; no-one expects anything from three of those first four games and if you look at the end fixtures, they are kind. In the bad old days of the 90's, I would look straight at the April and May fixtures and decide if we'd stay up. Our last 8 fixtures have Spurs away and the rest all games where we can get plenty of points.
PL quality players = Clyne, Morgan, Lallana, Guly, Fox, Rodriguez, Cork, Kelvin, Davis, Tadanari PL Squad players = Ward-Prowse, Richardson, Butterfield, Shaw, Lambert, Sharp, Jos Forget it = De Ridder, Chaplow, Hammond, Fonte, Barnard,
Not a bad summary Godders. My question marks would be over Fox in the Prem (I am a Fox fan), but that lad kept running at him yesterday and he kept backing away into the penalty area.. could be dangerous tactic, and Tadanari. Haven't seen enough of him yet. I do think they both will be ok, yet I'd like to see them performing there first. I'd also stick hammond into the squad players section.
Blackpool nearly stayed up though. On paper, their squad was pretty average, but they came as close as they did because they got a foot on the ball and tried to assert themselves in matches. You don't try you don't get in this league. Holloway has learnt from his mistakes, and I can see Blackpool getting promoted again if they keep hold of Ince and Phillips. Considering their finances h\e been tight, their model hasn't been a bad one.
